Daily Meditations

Hebrews 2:7 The roles of men and angels Psalm 82 opens our eyes to the existence of the “elohim” or the “sons of God” who worship daily in His presence and who contribute to the activities in the heavenly courts or the “great assembly”. Many believe that these are just human rulers and leaders but there is good reason to take this one step further and today’s verse supports the theory that the Bible gives us an insight into the activities of heavenly beings. Scripture teaches that there are those who are faithful and obedient servants of the Lord but others who have wilfully chosen to disobey Him. As our text shows us, mankind is created to be just a little lower than these celestial beings. We were originally crowned with glory and honour and meant to reflect the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord over all living things. Our role was to manage and protect His earth and all of creation and to rule with justice and righteousness. Angels would be available to help in this task, but it...

Hebrews 2:6 What is mankind? In Job 7:17-18, the writer asks the question; “ What is mankind that You make so much of them, that You give them so much attention, that You examine them every morning and test them every moment?”  In truth, we are the crowning work of God’s creation, made in His image so that all humanity is worthy of honour and respect and should never be murdered or abused. We are raised above all other created life to be God’s representatives and to rule the world as He would rule. Genesis 1:26-30.  In very short time after creation, Kings and rulers arose on the earth who made statues of themselves and demanded worship from their followers as if they were gods! Then worship turned towards God’s created objects like the sun and the moon and the stars, so that He has been brought to despair at times and poured judgement upon mankind, simply to save us from ourselves and the deluded taunts of the evil one.  We are not far from yet another bout of such judge...

Hebrews 2:5 Jesus, the ruler of the world to come However important some of the Jewish readers of this letter deemed angels to be, they could never compare with the Son of God! The prophets had long testified that He would not only be ruler of the Jews but also King of the whole earth. For instance, listen to these words from Isaiah 11:10, “ In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious.”  Isaiah 42 begins as follows,  “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.”  And then, in Isaiah 66:22-23 we read,  “”As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will Your name and Your descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.” The Satan used ...

Hebrews 2:4 Signs, wonders and miracles How gracious the Lord is (or should it be “was”)! The Word, back in the time of Jesus and the early church, was firstly attested by signs, wonders and various miracles. I grew up at a time when such things were frowned upon in churches, where they were unheard of. There was no expectation that anything extraordinary might take place, so long as we studied and taught the Word of God we were fulfilling our role as the people of God. Miracles, signs and wonders were exclusively for the early church and for the apostles, primarily to give them a kind of spiritual “leg-up” as they began their seemingly impossible mission of taking the Gospel to the world. It’s interesting to note that the church of Jesus Christ is still divided on this issue, there are counterfeits for sure and wildly inaccurate claims made by some, and mind-control techniques used by others, but I have certainly witnessed remarkable acts of God’s grace in my life and of others, for w...

Hebrews 2:3b What a great salvation! The author of this letter has more than one terse warning for his readers, as we shall find out. Chapters 3-5 carry warnings against unbelief and unfaithfulness and there are further admonitions in chapter 10 and chapter 12 of this book.  We have been offered an incredible gift from heaven; the Son of God has come to our planet to bring God’s salvation to all men. He came with endless parables and teachings that enforced His message but then He did something so amazing that it still baffles believers of all ages across all continents. He offered Himself as a living sacrifice for all sin and willingly took our wickedness and shame and the ensuing judgement, as our substitute. It really is possible to escape from the inevitability of judgement and death because Jesus Christ took our place. He came with an offer from the throne of heaven, “Have faith in me, surrender your life for me and I will give you eternal life.” “ If the Son sets you fre...

Hebrews 2:V3a       “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?”  These are chilling words, the previous verse has set the scene, the history of the Jews had, and has, been turbulent to say the least. Their relationship with the Lord God had gone through many phases and rarely are they found to be in a faithful and obedient affiliation with Him. There are countless instances described in Old Testament history where the people went astray, both corporately and individually, and they had to suffer the consequences. As Verse 2 says, “ every violation and disobedience received its just punishment. ” And now the writer, quite justifiably, asks us the obvious question. “If they didn’t get away with it, why should we?”  Too many treat the Christian faith as an optional “add on”. They can “take it or leave it”, they attend church when they feel like it or when there’s nothing better to do and they consistently compromise with the world. The co...

Hebrews 2:2 The message spoken through angels  This verse can cause confusion. What is the “message spoken through angels?”  There is no doubt that Moses had direct encounters with the Lord God and he heard God’s voice speaking to him. However, the Jews believed that the Law was given at Sinai with the assistance of angels. “The Law” was their most sacred text and the term was often used to summarise the whole of the Scriptures. When Stephen preached to the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling Council) before they sentenced him to be stoned, he said this, “ Moses was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.”  Acts 7:38.  “You have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”  Acts 7:53. Paul also records that , “The law awas given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.”  Galatians 3:19. The author of Hebrews picks up this them...

Hebrews 2:1 Pay attention! Chapter 2 of Hebrews starts with a warning! Firstly, it is important that we reflect on what we have been told and what we have heard about Jesus Christ. Remember, this was written at a time before the New Testament Scriptures were collated and made available to the infant church. The only way to receive the message, the Gospel, was through word of mouth. We greatly underestimate this today, tracts, pamphlets, books, on-line sources are all great, but the message was first passed on simply by speaking it and the recipients simply heard it! Sharing our testimony and the Gospel is primarily a “word of mouth, person to person” responsibility and that will never change. What was it that these early believers heard? It was the news that God had come to the world in human form and that He had been crucified for our sins and He rose from the dead. The message was about Jesus; it gave the world a hope that had never existed before or since. The Apostles and others we...

Hebrews 1:14 Will angels minister to us today? And so we are already at the last verse of chapter 1 of Hebrews. What a journey it has been! If there was any doubt about who takes centre stage in this letter, well there cannot be any longer. It is Jesus the Christ, who is presented as being equal to God His Father and far superior to any other heavenly creation or angels.  Are angels unimportant? Is their mission of no consequence? Not at all, and the verse before us tell us why. Who will inherit salvation? It is you and me and all who believe in the sacrificial work of Jesus, it is His church. And the relationship between Jesus and the angels is now revealed, He reigns, the angels’ task is to serve. Who is it they minister to? It is all who truly believe and who will inherit the salvation of the Lord. Putting it simply, the Scripture is telling us that angels are there to serve us, at the bidding of the Lord! We could go on and exchange endless stories or testimonies of the occasio...

Hebrews 1:13 Sit at my right hand The author of this wonderful letter is still trying to make his point that Jesus Christ the Son of God, is far superior to any angel. Remember that this is written primarily to Jewish believers and thus any argument could be settled by quoting from the Scriptures, which were sacrosanct in Jewish thinking. If the Psalms said it, then it must be true, especially a Psalm of King David, and this quotation does indeed come from the pen of David and is the opening line from Psalm 110. In that Psalm God speaks to one who is sovereign over David, who is his Lord, and tells that Lord to sit at His right hand.  The right hand is, as we know, a position of favour and authority and to sit in this position suggests longevity and permanence. Jesus was offered this seat on His return to heaven and this verse repeats what we are told in verse 2 . “After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. ” In other words,...

Hebrews 1:11-12 Heaven and earth will perish This chilling statement is found elsewhere in the Scriptures, creation is not timeless and eternal, it has limits, it will eventually be wound up and replaced.  “ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation   will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.” Isaiah 51:6 “ All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up   like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered   leaves from the vine, like shrivelled figs from the fig tree.”  Isaiah 34:4 Revelation 21 takes this a step further by describing the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, very different to the world we currently inhabit. The encouragements offered by Hebrews chapter 1 tell of this eventual annihilation but then adds that the Lord “ remains the same, His years will neve...

Hebrews 1:10 Jesus is God! There is no question that to ancient minds the origins of the earth and the universe were credited to the gods. In the case of the Jews this was, of course YAHWEH, he was, and is, the God who surpasses and exceeds all others and so we worship Him. We give Him the credit for creating this earth and all who live in it. Those who doubt Him or willingly berate Him only have to stand outside in His creation for a few seconds and at least a billion reasons for His existence and His creative powers are all around them. In the earth beneath their feet, in the plants, insects, animals and birds that surround them, in the air that they breath and in the skies over their heads. There’s no way that all of this came into being by accident or even as a creeping process over millions of years. What a joke! How deluded do you have to be to believe such nonsense? We believe that the LORD laid the foundation of the earth and that the heavens are the work of His hands. What a G...

Hebrews 1:9 Set high above His companions The longer we spend meditating on the role and status of the heavenly creatures, the more convinced we will become that they are spirits with free will, just like us humans! The revelation, in Psalm 82 and other places, that the heavenly courts are places where celestial beings meet with God and discuss His actions and His decisions as they play out on earth, is mind-boggling! The awareness that there are angels who have attached themselves to the Satan and willingly chosen to obey him rather than God, shows that these creatures are not robots, they have the ability to make choices and must suffer the consequences, just as we do.  The Son of God stands head and shoulders above them all because He was unstintingly obedient to the Father’s will and proved this, despite living on earth for thirty plus years and rebuking all the temptations and lures that the enemy could throw at Him. Jesus was unbelievably obedient and demonstrated in His ever...

Hebrews 1:8 Jesus carries the sceptre of justice Do you remember the words of the Angel Gabriel when he visited Mary and foretold the birth of her child, Jesus? These are Gabriel’s words, “ He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give Him the throne of Hs father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.”  Luke 1:32-33. Gabriel was a high-ranking messenger angel, but he did not seem to be in doubt about the status of the child that was to be born to Mary. The quotation here in Hebrews comes direct from Psalm 45:6, and is attributed to the sons of Korah, these men were Levites who served the Lord at His temple and were particularly responsible for the music and singing etc. They predicted that nations would fall at the feet of the Lord God and that His throne would be eternal and He would rule the world with a sceptre of justice. The Jews ascribed these endorsements to the Lord God, but the writer of thi...

Hebrews 1:7 Who or what are angels? Let’s just familiarise ourselves with the meaning of the word “angel.” In Greek this was  angelos , which means “messenger” or “agent.” So, in Psalm 104:4 where we first read,  “He makes winds His messengers and flames of fire His servants”  we are probably reading about the work of angelic beings. In fact, wherever there is tangible interaction between heaven and earth that is dictated by God, angels are the agents who carry out His business and who act for Him.  This has quite an impact when we consider events on the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples had gathered in an upper room and  heard the sound like the blowing of a violent wind. Then they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of th em.” Acts 2:2-3. It seems that angels were called upon to prepare the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit, that they formed something like a corridor of welcome so that the Spirit could enter the...

Hebrews 1:6 Jesus is superior to angels Once again we have an Old Testament quotation, this time from Deuteronomy.  However, it’s true meaning is not clear in the NIV translation. Apparently, in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint (the earliest Greek version of the Old Testament, available before Christ came), Deuteronomy  32:43 is translated as follows:  - “Rejoice you nations, with His people, and let all the angels worship Him, for He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will take vengeance on His enemies and make atonement for His land and people.”  The reference to angels does not appear in some other versions of this text but it was clearly in the mind of the author of Hebrews who must have used a Greek version of the Scriptures. Perhaps because this would have been familiar to most of his readers? What is also evident is that the Jews believed the verse from Deuteronomy referred to Yahweh, or to God Himself, and yet we now see it being used ...

Hebrews 1:5 You are my Son We are about to read seven different Old Testament quotes that reveal that Christ is superior to the angelic beings. These quotations had existed for centuries but were not fully understood until they were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus. The first quote comes from Psalm 2:7 and is repeated in Acts 13:33 where Paul preached in a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, a city in modern Turkey. His sermon encompassed large chunks of Jewish history, and he explained how Christ was crucified and then raised from the dead by God. When this happened, God was saying to all creation, this is not just another king who is subject to me and who is loyal to me,  “You are my Son and I have become Your Father . ”    This conversation took place when Jesus returned to heaven at His ascension. He had been “born again” just as we have been, and He assumed a whole new status and relationship with God His Father. He became “the  firstborn  from the dead.” The whole o...

Hebrews 1:4 He is greater than the angels One of the themes of this extraordinary letter is the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all other created beings, including the angels. He also far exceeds what the Old Testament writers perceived and what had previously been revealed to Israel.  Historically, the Jews had regarded angels as the most exalted beings under God, they associated angelic beings with many events in their history including the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai. Now we are being told that Christ was superior to the angels and that He has a superior name to theirs. The writer does not seem to be inferring that “Jesus” or “Yeshua” or “Christ” is that name, rather that because He is declared to be “the Son,” He has a title and connections that exalt our Lord far above all angelic creations. However, we read in Philippians 2:9 that He has been  “given a name that is above every name and at that name every knee should bow.”   The suggestion is that His rank and ...

Hebrews 1:3c He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven This verse is so brimming with truth and content that we have to break it down, for it starts to lay the foundations for the rest of the Book of Hebrews. There is one more startling statement here which is almost impossible for us to completely comprehend. Firstly, we are reminded of Christ’s mission and purpose when He came to planet earth, it was to provide a way for mankind to be purified of their sins. The one, single, driving motive for His visit was not to heal the sick, or to feed the hungry or to tackle demonic powers, it was to be the once-for-all sacrifice for sinners. He came to rescue us from our wickedness and to wash us clean through His blood. Paul puts it like this, “ Jesus Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”  Titus 2:14. Later chapters in the Book of Hebrews will explore this theme in much m...

Hebrews 1:3b Jesus is the exact representation of God have no arguments with the doctrine of the Trinity, even though it does not appear in the Bible. What does slightly worry me is that many Christians rank the three persons, so that God the Father is top, Jesus Christ is next, albeit slightly diminished, and then, at the bottom,  comes the Holy Spirit! That may not be deliberate or necessarily the position taken by all, it is certainly not what is taught here in Hebrews. Jesus did, of course, hint at deference to His Father when He said things like “ I must be about my Father’s business.”  We unwittingly read this in a human context and assume that He was behaving like any good, obedient Son. He was! But the relationship is far more complex than the paternal one that we humans understand. The man who walked the earth as a humble healer and teacher from Nazareth was and is, fully and wholly God!  Every quality and attribute that we assign to God the Father is e...

Hebrews 1:3a The exact representation of His being We all know how impossible it is to actually look at the sun in the sky. It is so bright, so brilliant, that unless there is cloud cover or we are wearing dark glasses, we will damage our eyes by trying to observe this heavenly wonder. But, the sun would not be the sun unless it shone brightly, would it? The glory of that heavenly object is revealed by the radiance that pours out of it. It is the same with Jesus Christ the Son of God, He has always existed, but His true glory is that the fulness of the radiance of God Almighty that shines from His being. He is God and everything that we can possibly know about God shines out from Christ, everything that God wants us to know about Himself can be seen in His Son.  The author of Hebrews takes this a step further, Jesus is not just a well-designed replica of the original, He is an exact representation of God. If we look closely, we cannot see anything that would distinguish the Son fro...