Hebrews 1

Notes

Ver. 1. To convince you of the superior excellency of the gospel dispensation above that of the law, I would have you seriously observe that God—who anciently, at different times and in several degrees, and in different forms of dreams, visions, and immediate impulses, gradually communicated his mind relative to the redemption of sinful men to our forefathers by his servants the prophets, 2. Has now, when the Jewish constitution is drawing to an end, and under the last dispensation of his grace, given us a far more complete manifestation of his will in the gospel, by a messenger infinitely more glorious—even his eternal, only begotten, and incarnate Son; who, being by nature the most high and only true God, has an original right to inherit all things; and who, as Mediator, is God's first-born, Head over all things to his church; and by whom, in the strictest connection and co-operation, he made the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, and forms all the different ages and dispensations of time and eternity; 3. Who being, in his divine person, the illustrious brightness of the glory, and the most exact character and image of the person, of the Father, having the very same nature and essential properties, and supporting and governing all ranks, orders, and individuals of creatures by the almighty operation of his own will, when, as our great High-priest, he had, by his own obedience and suffering, made pardon possible for all people, did, in virtue of his finished atonement, and in correspondence to the dignity of his person, ascend to heaven in our nature, to take possession of a glorious state, the most fixed, durable, and inexpressibly exalted; 4. Being in his person, and in his office of Mediator, inconceivably superior to the highest angels—having by nature and by his Father's appointment, a name, title, and character far too high to be applied to any of them. 5. For (to consider this matter with respect to his divine nature) whom, even of the loftiest angels, did God ever represent as his essential, his eternal, his only begotten Son? 6. Nay, when he brought him into our lower world to obey and suffer in our stead, he required all his holy angels to pay all divine honours to him, as his Son and their Creator. 7. Again, when he speaks of angels, those noblest of creatures, he represents them as created to be his servants, for executing his will with great strength, speed, and activity. 8. But, in a manner inexpressibly more exalted, he represents his Son Christ as a divine person, the true God, whose dominion is everlasting and unchangeable, and as ruling his extensive empire over all things with infinite equity, truth, and righteousness; 9. And as one who has a natural and necessary regard to holiness and equity, and hatred of all iniquity, and who has brought in an everlasting righteousness, and is furnished with gifts, graces, and glory infinitely above the measure of angels or believers. 10-12. Yea, as the Creator of heaven and earth, who himself existed from eternity, and as unchangeable in himself, while he blesses all creatures for their good: 13. But which of the loftiest angels did ever God call to sit enthroned in majesty, power, and glory, at his right hand, till sin, Satan, death, and all his and his people's enemies should be subdued under his feet as vanquished rebels? 14. Nay, are not all these spiritual beings placed in an infinitely lower station, being no more than messengers and servants of Christ, whom he employs in revealing his mind to, and in protecting, serving, and assisting in life or death, all the faithful; who, under him, are, by faith and through grace, called to be highly honoured, and eternally to enjoy his complete salvation?

Ver. 1. More literally—'In many parts and in many ways God, in ancient times, having spoken to the fathers through the prophets.' The four first verses form the general introduction to the book. In them Paul propounds his subject with great beauty of language, and with still greater rhetorical skill. His first object is to contrast the two dispensations—the New and the Old; and thereby to prove to the Jew the transcendent superiority of the former. The first point of comparison is as to the mode or manner of revelation. The Old was given 'in various parts and in various ways.' It was not revealed to one person, or at one time, or according to one uniform plan. This is indicated in the first verse. One thing is specially worthy of note in the present day. The apostle begins this sublime epistle by an acknowledgment of the divine authority of the whole of the Old Testament. God spake it all. He spake not merely by but in the prophets, as the Greek signifies. By his Spirit he took possession of them. Their words were thus made His words. This is, in fact, the foundation of Paul's whole argument. P.

Ver. 2. The worlds cannot mean the arrangement of dispensations, but the creation of the material and visible universe, agreeably to Jn. 1. 3, and likewise of its invisible powers, agreeably to Col. 1. 16, 17. C.

Ver. 4. Paul's object now is to institute a comparison between Christ, the Revealer of the New dispensation, and the angels through whose ministration, in some way which we cannot now fully discover, the Old dispensation was revealed, Ac. 7. 33. The degree of Christ's superiority to angels set forth in this verse consists—(1) In the name he obtained; and (2) In the way he obtained it. The name is Son, in its higher and peculiar sense, implying perfect equality with the Father. He obtained it by inheritance. Though Son from eternity in his divine nature, yet in his twofold nature, God-man, this name was not strictly his until it was conferred. He obtained the name therefore, but he obtained it by a right inherent in his divinity. P.

Ver. 6. And again, &c. Rather, 'But when he hath brought again the first-born into the world'—a manifest description of the resurrection of Christ, whereby he was demonstrated to be the Son of God with power, Ro. 1. 4. C.

Ver. 7. 'Who maketh his angels winds;' i.e. servants of his will, as the winds are—swift, powerful, unseen, in the execution of his purposes. 'And his ministers a flame of fire;' i.e. he makes them act by and through the lightning, carrying out the mysterious chemistry of nature, and often executing swift and terrible judgment. P.

Ver. 8. Thy throne, &c. With the view of evading the evidence afforded by these words to the Deity of Christ, they have been translated, 'God is thy throne for ever and ever.' But, in addition to the fact that the nominative is often in Greek used for the vocative, especially by the Attics, the Hebrew cannot be translated in any other way than as it is given in the authorized version. C.

Ver. 9. Thy fellows. Prophets, priests, and kings—all partakers of some office with Christ. Some prophets and priests, some priests and kings, &c., but none of them uniting, as he did, the three offices in one person. C.

Ver. 14. The Greek is more expressive than the English. It does not simply mean that angels have, in isolated and extraordinary cases, been sent on missions of mercy to man; but that they are ever thus being sent forth. It is their normal work. We have many cheering instances in Scripture. Angels took Lot out of Sodom; protected Elisha from the Syrians at Dothan; told the shepherds of Bethlehem that the Messiah had come; delivered Peter from prison, and Paul from shipwreck. The psalmist says, the 'angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them;' and Christ says of little children, that angels watch over them. P.

Reflections.—Blessed be God that he hath spoken so much in mercy and grace to men, and that we have so full evidence of the divine authority of both Old and New Testaments. Wisely hath he suited the manner of his revelations to the state of his church and the necessities of mankind. And now we enjoy the fullest, the clearest, and last discovery of his will that is to be expected on earth. Unbounded is the glory of our Redeemer, as the Son of God and our Mediator. Being essentially one God with, but personally distinct from and equal to his eternal Father, he is the creator, proprietor, and preserver of all things. His blood, infinitely precious and powerful, atoned for and purges away our sins; and in virtue thereof he is enthroned at the right hand of God: there he for ever reigns the self-existent Jehovah, the eternal and immutable God, the object of adoration to angels and men! How honoured then are his saints, who are members of his flesh, his blood, and his bones! Safe are they under his care, and guarded and ministered to by millions of his angels. And rich is their provided, their prepared, their faithfully secured inheritance of eternal salvation. How dead then ought they to be to this perishing world and all its concerns!