Lesson
19 July 21, 2005
NKJ Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are in Hebrews 1 forging ahead
rapidly. We will get to verses 6 and 7 this evening. Last time we did a review
of the Davidic Covenant. As you go through the first part of the chapter there
is a discussion about the fact that in these last days God has spoken to us by
means of His Son. This term Son is loaded with nuance related to His Davidic Sonship. The concept of Sonship
is immediately related to the fact that He has been appointed the heir of all
things.
Vs. 1 After God spoke in a variety of
fragments and in various forms in time past to the fathers by means of the
prophets
Vs. 2 He has in these last days spoken to
us by the Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom he also
made the ages;
Vs. 3 Who being the radiance of His glory
and the exact image of His person, and Upholding all things by the word of His
power, after he had by himself made purification for our sins, He sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty on High.
In verse 4 we are reminded that He
has a name more excellent that they.
NKJ Hebrews 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He
has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
That relates to His Davidic
kingship.
NKJ Hebrews 1:5 For to which of the angels
did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And
again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall
be to Me a Son"?
In verse 5 a quote from Ps 2:7 is
linked with a quote from Ps 89 or II Sam 7:14. This indicates that the sonship is a Davidic Sonship. So we took time last session to look at the
Davidic Covenant. I want to review
it briefly. The passages are II Sam 7:11-14(the central text), I Chron 17:10-14 (also an important text), and Psalm 89 (a
meditation on the Davidic Covenant). We see from these passages four basic
points.
4.
The house referred
to is David’s dynasty. Throughout the Middle East at the time of Christ’s birth
there was a tremendous fervor for the Messiah. Even in Gentile nations the word
about this Jewish expectation had spread throughout the Parthian Empire and into
the Roman Empire. There were people who had a Messianic expectation. They were looking for the appearance of
the Son of God as the Son of David. This is clearly seen in Luke 1:32 in
Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about the birth of the Messiah. It is
foundational for understanding who Jesus Christ is.
The Davidic Covenant is foundational. You have to understand the Davidic
Covenant or you don’t see how Jesus Christ fits into the overall plan of God. Phase
one is the First Advent and accomplishes salvation, the payment for sin. That
is only the first part. The resolution of evil and resolution of God’s plan
comes to fulfillment when Jesus returns at the Second Advent and establishes
the kingdom. That is when all the covenants from the Old Testament are
fulfilled. The Abrahamic Covenant, the land covenant,
the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant all come to fulfillment at that
instant when Christ returns at the Second Coming.
This is indicated in several passages
related to Jesus’ birth. Gabriel is making the announcement of the birth to a
somewhat astonished Mary.
NKJ Luke 1:32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of
the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
You can’t understand Gabriel’s
announcement if you don’t understand the significance of this. This is the Davidic king. He is the one
upon whom Israel placed all their hopes for future glory and their destiny. Later
on in that same chapter, it begins with the announcement to Zecharias
who serves as the high priest going into the Holy of Holies that his wife who
is barren is going to have a baby. That baby will be John the Baptist. He
doesn’t really believe it so he is struck dumb, speechless until the baby is
born. When the baby born (John the Baptist) suddenly he can speak again. In his speech when John the Baptist is
born he says the following.
NKJ Luke 1:68 "Blessed is
the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and
redeemed His people,
NKJ Luke 1:69 And has raised up a horn of
salvation for us In the house of His servant David,
Zecharias is doctrinally oriented. He knows the Scriptures. He
is able therefore to interpret what is going on in history during his time. That
is true for any believer at any time even in the church age when there is no
prophecy to be fulfilled. We can discern what the trends are and have the
ability to accurately interpret the trends of history because we can do it from
a framework of the Word of God. It gives us that eternal reference point that
allows us to properly understand what is happening in history. We can have real
objectivity. Zecharias goes on to say the following
in this hymn of praise about the birth of his son.
NKJ Luke 1:70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since
the world began,
NKJ Luke 1:71 That we should be saved from
our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,
NKJ Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember
His holy covenant,
God is going to perform mercy. What
covenant is that?
NKJ Luke 1:73 The oath which He swore to
our father Abraham: 74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the
hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
See how significant this is! Zecharias in his understanding of doctrine pulls it all
together and shows that this is the Savior from the house of David that is a
fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Hebrews 1:5 introduces us to the Davidic sonship
and the session of Christ – His role as David’s Son, not as the Davidic
king, His future inheritance and the role it has for us today. We understand
what Jesus is doing today because of what is going on in Psalms chapter 2.
We got into the first part of a
five-point sermon. Each point concludes with a challenge of exhortation to
obedience. Those exhortations contain warnings to believers about the fact that
if we fall apart in the Christian life there can be devastating circumstances
and consequences not just for time but also for eternity. He lays the foundation
for the rest of the book. That is that Jesus Christ is the most significant
person in history. He is not just another prophet in history; He is superior to
the angels. He is superior because He has inherited a Davidic name. He connects
them together.
NKJ Hebrews 1:5 For to which of the angels
did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And
again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall
be to Me a Son"?
The verse quotes directly from Ps
2:7 and then II Sam 7:14.
“Today” here is the resurrection of
Christ. There is a dedication by the Father that this is a begotten Son. He was
not begotten then. He was begotten eternally. This is a declaration related to
His fulfillment of the plan for salvation and hypostatic union that qualifies
Him to be promoted to heaven.
Now he goes to a second verse to
support this. Then he goes to II Sam 7:14.
NKJ 2 Samuel 7:14 "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the
rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Hebrews 1:5 lays the foundation that
connects Psalm 2:7 to II Sam 7:14.
NKJ Psalm 2:7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
Three things are important here. Try
to focus on this. We have been in Psalm 2 a lot so this ought to be good
review. Each time I try to tweak it a little bit so that you understand it a
little better.
It starts off with the Son speaking.
What decree is He declaring? This is not God’s eternal decree. We have all studied the doctrine of the
divine decrees. That is not what he is talking about. This is a specific
decree. The contents of the decree are laid out in verses 7-8. The declaration
is that Jesus is the begotten Son. This happened at the resurrection. The next
part of the decree is then given.
NKJ Psalm 2:8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your
inheritance, And the ends of the earth for
Your possession.
So the first part of the decree is
this elevation and recognition that occurred at the ascension. The second part
of the decree is the request for the nations. The idea of inheritance is
possession as it indicates in the parallel of the second strophe.
This is what you are going to own. When
you own a piece of property, what is the piece of paper called? It is a title
deed. This decree is focusing on His qualifications in verse 7 and the content
of the title deed that is the whole earth. The decree is in essence a summary
of this title deed that God is giving the Son for the ownership of planet
earth. Who runs things on planet earth right now? We all know this. It is
Satan, the prince and power of the earth. So Jesus Christ will take ownership
of the earth at some future date.
We saw in Revelation chapter 5 and
saw that this decree is essentially the scroll that the Lamb takes and begins
to open that are the seven seals of judgment. They are the seven seals of
trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments. The seven seal are the judgments that
come about during the tribulation period as the Lamb of God takes ownership of
the planet. That culminates when He defeats the kings of the earth at the
Battle of Armageddon. That is a reference to Psalm 2:9.
NKJ Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a
rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' "
We studied that same thing in
reference to believers in Revelation chapter 2. The reign of Christ in the
millennium is characterized as this rod of iron reign even though it is perfect
environment. That means that the
climate is going to be great. It isn’t going to be too humid. It isn’t going to
be too cold. No ice storms. No floods. None of that. It
will be perfect government and recognition of establishment principles. No
nation will be legitimizing homosexual marriage and any of those other things
that are going on today. It will be perfect government, perfect administration,
perfect judicial system, perfect legislation, and perfect everything. One thing
won’t be perfect. All the babies born in the millennium will have old sin
natures. Sin natures have to be controlled. So there will be a rule of iron
because you still have to control the total depravity of the human race.
That is one of the lessons of the
Millennial Kingdom. It’s not the environment. It’s not the education system. It’s
not the legislature. It’s not the fact that Democrats are in office or that the
Republicans are in office. It’s not the fact that there is a monarchy or
communism. The problem is man. Every man has an old sin nature. That is the
problem. It is not the
environment. We all want to blame
the environment. That has been true ever since the Garden of Eden. The whole
period of the Millennial Kingdom is characterize in chapter 2 as a rod of iron
government but it begins when Jesus Christ returns to crush the opposition, the
kings of the nations, at the end of the tribulation. That gives us our context.
This is a written decree that gives
ownership to the Lord Jesus Christ of planet earth. He takes ownership when? At the Second Coming. Did He take ownership at the First
Coming? No. Did He inaugurate the
kingdom at the First Coming? No. What happened at the First Coming? He offered
the kingdom. It was rejected so it was postponed. This is foundational for
understanding what is going on here.
NKJ Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the
firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship
Him."
The basic point to get the summary
of the importance of the verse is that the angels are going to worship the Lord
Jesus Christ. That means the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to angels. Don’t
lose sight of that. That is where his argument is going. There are some
interesting things that are going on here because of this particular quote. Hebrew
1:6 quotes from the Old Testament that all the angels will worship him.
There is some disagreement on how to
understand this and how to interpret it. The first major issue is how you
understand this little word “again.” It is always the little words that are
important in understanding a passage. I have so much fun when I come to a
passage like this. It has certain
interpretive problems and you have got to figure out what these things mean and
what their significance is. You don’t just play a guessing game. You don’t just
come along and say as a pastor-theologian that you like a certain option best. That
is what a lot of guys do. It makes sense to them. That is a post-modern
response. No, you have to go in and you have to do a lot of investigation. Now
what we have seen in verse 5 is that you have two citations from the Old
Testament. Basically what the writer is saying is, “This here and again this
here.” The again in this verse adds another quotation to the first quotation. Got
it? So he adds one thing to what he already said.
When we come to verse 6 is he using
“again” in the same way? In other words is it saying, “And when he again says.”
“Says” would be understood from the context. It would be ellipsized.
That means it is left out of the context. Is he just adding a third quote to
the list? Or does the word “again” modify the verb? That would mean, “But when
he brings again the first born into the world”. That would be Second Advent. If
you take it the other way the idea would be his First Advent when all the
angels sang at the birth of the Lord. So what is it? First Coming or Second
Coming?
There are reasons to analyze this. We
don’t want to make an educated guess at this. So here are the options. Does
again indicate the First Advent or the Second Advent?
Is it “And it says again” or is it
“But when He comes again?”
So are you talking First Advent or
Second Advent? There is a big difference. It opens up the interpretation of the
whole passage. How do we resolve this? There are several different things you
have to investigate when you go through this. First of all we should notice that in verse 5 “again” is
used (the Greek word is palin)
in an introductory formula. But in the Greek of verse 6 it is linked with a
conjunction and a temporal particle hotan meaning at
that time, whenever or when. It has the opening conjunction but. In the Greek
you have a strong adversative conjunction alla. It is clearly translated
but. It shows a contrast. You have another conjunction de. This can indicate ongoing development “and” or a contrast as in
“but”. Now the translator has to make a decision. Is he saying “and” in a continuation
of the same thought or is he offering a new or additional thought or is there
some sort of contrast going on here. The way you figure that out is to look at
how the author tends to use the word.
NKJ Hebrews 1:13 But to
which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make
Your enemies Your footstool"?
The “but” here is the Greek word de. It is the same word we have in verse
6. That shows that the writer has a preference of using that particle to refer
to contrast and not a continuation. So, you have to analyze the author’s
writing style.
The second thing that reinforces
this is the verb itself. That is the verb “brings.” That is the aorist active
subjunctive mood of the Greek verb eisago. It means to bring or to lead something into
something else. It means to bring it from one place to another. He brings the
First Born from one place into the world. The aorist is a constantive
aorist. That simply views the act as a whole. It doesn’t make a distinction as
to its beginning, its progress, its end, its result or the manner of the
action. It is simply a summary of past action. But the subjunctive mood is very
important to understand because the subjunctive mood is used in clauses like
this to indicate a future action. If it was the First
Advent it would be past action. But this is subjunctive mood. “De” indicates a contrast as the stylistic
preference of the author. The aorist subjunctive in a temporal clause indicates
a future event.
Third we have the word ‘world’ here.
He brings the first born into the world. The Greek word for world is oikodomeo. It is
related to the word for house and dwelling. It has to do with looking at the
world as a place that is inhabited. Now it is used again in chapter 2:5.
NKJ Hebrews 2:5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in
subjection to angels.
The verb to come is future. So, we
have a future tense.
A fourth reason has to do with the
quote itself. This is where it really gets interesting. Sometimes I love a good
investigation. It’s a lot of fun. The quote comes out of the Old Testament. It
corresponds to a verse that is not found in the Hebrew Masoretic
text (It is the basis for our translations of the Old Testament.) but it is
found in the LXX of Deut 32:43. It is added at
the beginning of the verse. It pops out of nowhere. There are two clauses there that are not in the Masoretic text. The writer of Hebrews quotes from the LXX all the time. He is not quoting the Masoretic
text. This is the text that everybody used. The apostles used the Greek
translation of the Old Testament. So he quotes Deut
32:43. It is the song of Moses. It is prophetic. It is one of the most
frequently quoted sections and familiar passages of the Old Testament in the
New Testament.
If you were a Jew you understood
Deut 32 as a challenge of Israel to obey God. But there is a prophetic element
here that they would fall by the wayside and eventually return to God and God
would restore them. Now the question is if you look at your Bible I would bet
that when you look at the little letter “a” at the end of the quote and you
look at the middle column for the cross-reference, it says Psalm 97:7. I bet
most of them say that. You may scratch your head and ask where Deut 32:43 comes
from. What was interesting as I came through this is that when I looked at
commentaries that are written by a-mills (He doesn’t believe in a literal
millennium. He believes that Christ will return but not to establish the
kingdom because we are already in the kingdom. You knew that. You saw it in the
news with all the crime! That is right. We are not in the millennium.) they consistently go to Deut 32:43 as their basis because
the context in their view is not clearly the Second Coming and millennial. But
Psalm 97 is an enthronement psalm.
Most of the psalms in the 90’s are enthronement psalms. They praise and prophesize the Davidic king, the Messiah on the
throne of Israel. Is this the king of a spiritual kingdom or a literal
kingdom? A literal kingdom. So they don’t want to go
to Psalm 97. So they go to Deut 32:43 and they may be
right. So we have to make a decision. Is this from Psalm 97 or Deut 32?
Now Deut 32:43 is
the first line in the Greek. The second line is the transliteration of the
phrase as it’s found in Hebrews 1:5. Notice that they are identical - the same
form of the verb. The verb ends with osan. The same word and the same word order,
except for the word angels. But, who are the sons of God in the Old
Testament? The angels. He substitutes angellos for the sons of God for bene ha elohim when it is brought over into
Hebrews 1:5. But when you look at Psalm 97 verb here it doesn’t have the same
ending. It is an ”ate” ending indicating an aorist imperative. So it is not a
direct quote. On the surface looks like it is a direct quote out of the LXX of Deut 32:43
Let’s go back to Deut 32 for just a
minute. You see that you can’t understand the New Testament unless you
understand the Old Testament. The Jews that were reading Hebrews were thoroughly
conversant in Deut 32. This is a crucial passage in the Old Testament.
In verse one Moses calls upon the
heavens and the earth as witnesses to this contract that God has made between
Himself and Israel and the outworking of the provisions.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:1 "Give ear, O heavens, and I
will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
He isn’t talking about the heavens
and the earth or about immaterial bodies in space. He is talking about the
angels and all mankind - the inhabitants of heaven and the inhabitants of earth.
These are the witnesses. In fact Deut 32 is written according to what is called
in the Hebrew the riv
format. That is basically a prosecutor’s document. It is a lawsuit against
Israel. Moses is presenting this
case against Israel based on a contract dispute between God and Israel. That is
the basic thing that is going on here. He warns Israel that if they don’t
fulfill the conditions of the Mosaic Law then there is something called the
five cycles of discipline and they will be kicked out of the land not enjoy the
blessing. Eventually they will return and God will defeat all of their enemies
and bring them back into the land.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:36 "For the LORD will judge His people And have compassion on His servants, When He sees
that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, bond or free.
That is a restoration at the end of
a lengthy period of apostasy when they are out of the land.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:37 He will say: 'Where
are their gods, The rock in which
they sought refuge?
Where are the gods that Israel has
been chasing after for all of these years?
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help
you, And be your refuge.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:39 'Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I
heal; Nor is there any who can
deliver from My hand.
He is telling them to finally
recognize that He is the only God.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:40 For I raise My hand to heaven, And say, "As I live forever,
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:41 If I whet My glittering sword, And
My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And
repay those who hate Me.
What is coming out of Jesus’ mouth
in Revelation? A sword.
My enemies are the enemies of
Israel.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:42 I will make My
arrows drunk with blood, And My sword shall devour flesh, With the blood of the
slain and the captives, From the heads of the leaders of the enemy." '
What does that remind you of? What
event do you think is being described in these verses? It is the Battle of
Armageddon. This is the same event referred to in Psalm 2 when the kings of the
earth gather together and conspire against the Lord and He comes and destroys
them.
NKJ Deuteronomy
32:43 "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the
blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide
atonement for His land and His
people."
Before you get to the first phrase
in the LXX it says “Worship Him all you
angels”.
This seem to makes sense to me. Why?
Because at the beginning of the chapter, it says to give an
ear. Who are the witnesses? They are the inhabitants of the heaven and
the inhabitants of the earth. So now when we get to the end and you have this
reaching its culmination it says to worship. So it seems to fit. The point I
want to make is that this is talking about an event that occurs when? At the First
Coming or Second Coming? The Second Coming. So if you
are a-millennialist and you think you can go to Deut
32 and get support of your view that this is First Coming, you can’t. This is
Second Coming terminology.
Now turn with me to Ps 97
As I said earlier it is an
enthronement psalm. The one being enthroned or put on the throne of David is
the Messiah. This is written in praise of that future event. It is written as
if it has already occurred, but it hasn’t.
NKJ Psalm 97:1 The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let
the multitude of isles be glad!
This is when the Messiah has come
and established His rule.
The islands were always the Gentile
nations.
NKJ Psalm 97:2 Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and
justice are the foundation of His
throne.
NKJ Psalm 97:3 A fire goes
before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.
What does that image remind you of? Second coming and the destruction of the unbelievers in the armies
of the anti-Christ.
NKJ Psalm 97:4 His lightnings light the
world; The earth sees and trembles.
NKJ Psalm 97:5 The mountains melt like wax
at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the
whole earth.
NKJ Psalm 97:6 The heavens
declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory.
NKJ Psalm 97:7 Let all be put to shame who
serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.
Didn’t we just get through dealing
with the problem of idolatry in Deut 32 leading up to verse 43? Do you see any similarities?
There is a command there. The word
for gods in the Hebrew is elohim. It is a generic term for god or gods. It should be
interpreted as supernatural powers. Not gods or deities per say. We would refer
to them as angels. That is how the LXX translates
Psalm 97:7. “Worship Him all you angels.” So whether the background of Hebrews1:6 is Deut 32 or Psalm 97, (It could be either one.), the
writer under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can pick up either one. What do
both of these phrases refer in their original context to the First Coming or
the Second Coming? The Second Coming. So we have
several reasons now why this refers to the Second Coming. The use of the
contrastive de at the beginning
indicates a contrast. The aorist subjunctive indicates future tense. The word oikodomeo is used
in context to refer to a future event. And then the quotation of Deut 32:43or
Ps 97:7 can also refer to a future event.
What is the context then?
NKJ Hebrews 1:6 But when He brings again the
firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship
Him."
So this is Second Coming. This is
not talking about the angels worshipping Jesus at His birth. It is talking
about the angels worshipping Him as the returning Son of David to establish the
kingdom at the Second Advent. This is the same kind of thing that we see
throughout the Scripture. The angels recognized Christ’s authority and that His
authority is greater than theirs. There are a couple of other verses that
indicate that.
NKJ John 5:23 "that all should honor the Son just as they honor
the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent
Him.
The same honor is due both the Son
and the Father. The angels worship them both because they are both undiminished
deity.
Another reference would be Rev 5:6 and following where we see
the worship of Christ because He is worthy to open the scroll and because of
what He did on the cross.
Now let’s get into the verse
itself.
NKJ Hebrews 1:6 But when He brings again the
firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship
Him."
That word for first born is the
Greek word prototokos
meaning first born. It is used of
Jesus in several passages including Matt 1:25, Luke 2:7, Hebrews 11:28, Romans
8:29, Col 1:15, 18, Heb 1:6, and Rev 1:5. So this is a title that refers to
Jesus. We have a little difficulty understanding this because in our thinking
first born means first in time as if there is a temporal progression. He was
the first one born. The idea of birth indicates there was a time when Jesus
wasn’t. That was called Arianism. It was a heresy
that was condemned at the Council of Nicea. There was
no time when Jesus was not. He always has been. Prototokos doesn’t mean simply
first in birth order. It has to do with the special status of the first-born.
There is the second meaning. It pertains to having a special status associated
with being the first-born. You could actually be the second born but because of
various reasons you could supplant the first-born in time and have the double
blessing go to you. The term is used that way of Jesus Christ as the first born
of His humanity in terms of resurrection. It is used in an absolute sense of
Jesus Christ as first-born. A better word for you to use is pre-imminent one.
That’s the idea here. That He is the pre-imminent one. Now we see this applied
to Jesus in 5 basic passages. The other passages list Him as first-born in
terms of resurrection.
It refers to His pre-imminence in relationship to His work on the cross.
There it is resurrection as in the first fruits.
This is also first fruits.
The significance of the term here is
related to His inherited right over the angels
NKJ Hebrews 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He
has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
NKJ Hebrews 1:6 But when He
again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of
God worship Him."
That is when He received His inheritance, at the Second
Coming.
The indication is that the Son is
superior to the angels. And then they are to worship Him. The word for worship
is the Greek verb proskuneo
in the aorist active imperative form. It means to express an attitude or
gesture, one’s complete dependence on or submission to a high authority figure.
It means to bow down to the king. Literally proskuneo means to bend the knee,
to bow down in submission, to subordinate your will to someone else’s will. It
is not raising your hands. It is not speaking in tongues. It’s not singing
praises. It is a mental attitude of subordination that you are putting yourself
under authority of someone who is higher. That is what worship is. It means to
put yourself in an obedient position to the Lord. The
highest form of worship is studying the Word where you say, “I am going to
listen to the words and let God tell me how to think. I will change that way I
think so I can bring my thinking into conformity with that of God the
Father.”
So Jesus Christ will be brought into
the inhabited world and at that time God the Father tells the angels to bow
down in subordination to Him.
NKJ Hebrews 1:7 And of the
angels He says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of
fire."
In this particular verse we have a
quote from Ps 104:4. This is our fourth Old Testament quotation in Hebrews.
NKJ Psalm 104:4 Who makes
His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.
That is the New King James
translation.
The LXX reads.
Who makes his angels, spirits; and his servants flames of fire.
The Masoretic
text reads.
Who makes his angels winds, His servants devouring flames.
You see that same idea. This
indicates something about the character of angels. They are spirit beings. They
look like flames or light. The key word here is the word “makes”. What does
that indicate? That indicates that the angels are creatures. But Jesus Christ
isn’t a creature. He is eternal.
The writer quotes this verse because
it indicates angels are creatures and the creatures are always subordinate to
the creator.
NKJ Psalm 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with
honor and majesty,
NKJ Psalm 104:2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the
heavens like a curtain.
Notice the idea of being the
creator.
NKJ Psalm 104:3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,
When we get
into Hebrews 1:7 the emphasis is on angels as creatures. This will be contrasted to the Son in verse 8 who is
seen as the Davidic King who sits on the righteous throne. There we have two
more quotes from Ps 45 and Is 61.
We will come back and address those next time.