hebrews 1 3 greek text analysis

The word of God came and commissioned them to govern in earthly things; for it might be no more than in judicial matters. This, accordingly, is not His rest; it served as a sign and witness of it, but nothing more. That is exactly what the writer to the Hebrews saw. The word rendered here purged means purified or expiated; see notes on John 15:2. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Now when promises were given to the fathers, they did not go beyond the earthly glory of Christ; but known to Him were all things from the beginning, yet He did not outrun the course of His dealings with His people. Jesus exaltation"sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (verse 3). There is not one of the divine perfections which has not the counterpart in him, and if the glory of the divine character is seen at all by people, it will be seen in and through him. The revelation of God in Jesus was complete and was presented in Jesus himself. By the first word we are reminded that without Christ there is no light, but only darkness; for as God is the only true light by which it behaves us all to be illuminated, this light sheds itself upon us, so to speak, only by irradiation. He pervaded, as it were, the whole atmosphere of the house of God. Uninspired men could never have drawn such a character as that of Jesus Christ, unless that character had actually existed. With this vast angelology there was a very real danger that the angels would come, in men's belief, to intervene between God and them. But for this very reason, it was not complete. Such is the force of the comparison. But there it is; and when we begin to prove the divine certainty of every word, we weigh and weigh again its value. Of these the principal ones were Raphael, Uriel, Phanuel, Gabriel, the angel who brought God's messages to men, and Michael, the angel who presided over the destinies of Israel. Here it probably means effulgence. The epistle to the Hebrews never speaks of either. Had it been by the word of his wisdom, then controlling or governing would be compatible; but as it is power, doubtless sustension or preservation is the most congruous idea. They may have a singular place as servants, and a spiritual nature accomplishing the pleasure of the Lord; but they are only servants. (8:23-27). He then reminds us that Christ is not to be less esteemed because he is not seen by our eyes; but, on the contrary, that this was the height of his glory, that he has been taken and conveyed to the highest seat of his empire. Athenagoras spoke of God moving the mouths of the prophets as a man might play upon a musical instrument and of the Spirit breathing into them as a flute-player breathes into a flute. From the glory of his sufferings we are at length led to consider the glory of his exaltation: When by himself he had purged away our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, at his Father's right hand. As in everything else, so in this, He has the pre-eminence; but it is a pre-eminence founded on a common ground. A man becomes a Christian, and at once he has elevated, practical views of God. What fare was the gospel of grace! On the one hand are the promises, the oath of God, taking up His ways with Abraham; and, on the other hand, the hope set before us, that enters into what is within the veil. The Sons will is the express image of Gods will. They are not the objects of His concern in the work here described; "but he takes up the seed of Abraham. When, therefore, thou hear that the Son is the brightness of the Fathers glory, think thus with thyself, that the glory of the Father is invisible until it shines forth in Christ, and that he is called the impress of his substance, because the majesty of the Father is hidden until it shows itself impressed as it were on his image. Such is not the priest that God has given us, but one who, though man, feels for us after a divine sort. It is readily allowed that the Fathers, and many since their times, have written unguardedly on this mysterious subject: but their errors, instead of leading us to reject the doctrine entirely, should lead us only to examine the Scriptures more fully, and form our opinions on them alone. It is to Christ in heaven, then, that Paul, writing to the Christian Jews, first directs their attention. It ought also to be observed that frivolous speculations are not here taught, but an important doctrine of faith. Some of them, the seraphim ( H8314) , the cherubim (see keruwb - H3742) and the ofanim ( H212) (-im is the plural ending of Hebrew nouns) were always around the throne of God. It is evident that he opens with our Lord as "apostle and high-priest of our confession," in contrast with the apostle and high priest of the Jews. What has there been to bring people into the rest of God since then? The order in which God spoke to men in those times that went before the gospel, those past times: he spoke to his ancient people at sundry times and in divers manners. There is no doubt that the writer meant his readers to hold fast, that He who suffered all things on earth is the same Jesus who is now at the right hand of God; but the first place in which we hear of Him is as Son of God on high according toHebrews 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-14, and there it is we see Him as Son of man according toHebrews 2:1-18; Hebrews 2:1-18. The brightness of God's glory, the express image of His substance; the upholder, not of Israel or their land only, but of all things "by the word of his power." Before all worlds God meant to have this. The word is applied to the sun and stars, 1 Corinthians 15:40-41; to the light which Paul saw on the way to Damascus, Acts 22:11; to the shining of Moses face, 2 Corinthians 3:7; to the celestial light which surrounds the angels, Revelation 18:1; and glorified saints, Luke 9:31-32; and to the dazzling splendor or majesty in which God is enthroned; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 1:17; Revelation 15:8; Revelation 21:11, Revelation 21:23. What can be the effect of such prejudices of interpretation (no matter who may have endorsed them) but to muddle the gospel of God's grace? For this is an anticipation of one of the most important of all the arguments in the Epistle, that namely beginning at ch. He is the exact and complete representation of God because He is the Son of God. Moreover, they "tasted the good word of God." "Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). This is the way in which we Christians naturally think of Christ in that which is nearest to the sinner's need and God's answer of grace. That he thinks it worth while to do this proves the place that belief in angels had in the thought of the Jews of his day. He does not say that we have entered, nor does he mean anything of the sort, which is clean contrary to the argument and aim. God's method of communicating his mind and will under the New-Testament dispensation, these last days as they are called, that is, either towards the end of the world, or the end of the Jewish state. But the epistle to the Hebrews never goes so far as either. The character or impression of his hypostasis or substance. you remember verb pres-mi/pDe-imp 2nd-p pl of the def art gen-pl-mas of prisoners noun gen-pl-mas as adverb having been jointly imprisoned participle perf-pas-par They did not eat or drink and they did not beget children. They never rule. Hence all is taken meekly, but with none the less agony, from Jehovah's hand; and less or other than this had not been perfection. The emphasis is taken out of one place, and put into another, without the slightest reason. It shows how naturally, so to speak, they have forgotten the Jew as having a special place in the word and purposes of God. There is nothing to forbid the natural mind from being attracted by the delightful sweetness of the glad-tidings which Christianity proclaims. The angels worshipped Him: God now salutes Him as God; for such He was, counting it no robbery to be on equality with God, one with the Father. But it may truly and fitly be said that whatever peculiarly belongs to the Father is exhibited in Christ, so that he who knows him knows what is in the Father. When he had completed his tumbling, he knelt in adoration; and then, says the legend, the statue of the Virgin Mary came to life, stepped down from her pedestal and gently wiped the sweat from the brow of the acrobat who had offered all he had to give. It is indeed a profitable philosophy to learn Christ by the real understanding of faith and experience. He used the talent he had in the service of Jesus Christ. With admirable wisdom indeed the Lord directs the work and the workmen, but never exclusively; and the apostle Paul is here, as just shown, the proof of it on one side as Peter is on the other. Not every Christian knows that a mere angel, as such, is but a servant; not every Christian understands that man was made to rule. When speech failed they used the method of dramatic action (Compare 1 Kings 11:29-32; Jeremiah 13:1-9; Jeremiah 27:1-7; Ezekiel 4:1-3; Ezekiel 5:1-4). There was one truth that Paul laboured yet more to hold up than that one body, wherein is neither Jew nor Greek the glory of Him who is the head of it. Hebrews 1:4. : "Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. The apostle here enters into everything of value for the way. I. (4.) That doctrine cannot militate against the proper eternity of the Son, since, while it uses the term generation, not more human, but with every thing of human informity separated from it, it supplies also the adjunct eternal. Whatever some indiscreet advocates of the eternal Sonship may have affirmed, it should never be forgotten, that the ablest friends equally with the author, contend that there is no Derivation or communication of essence from the Father to the Son. Although the terms Father and Son indicate a relation analogous to that among people, yet, as in the latter case, it is a relation between two material and separate beings, and in the former, is a relation in the same Spiritual essence, the one can throw no light upon the other; and to attempt to illustrate the one by the other is equally illogical and presumptuous. And the express image of his person; this intends much the same as the other phrase; namely, equality and sameness of nature, and distinction of persons; for if the Father is God, Christ must be so too; and if he is a person, his Son must be so likewise, or he cannot be the express image and character of him; And upholding all things by the word of his power; the Syriac version renders it, "by the power of his word", to the same sense, only inverting the words. They were filled with the thought that the One who had created the world would also be the One who redeemed it. In fact, messenger is the more common meaning. There are not two Gods - as there are not two suns when the sun shines. As then it is pointed out that there were formerly many portions, so also were there many modes in the prophetic communications of God. The idea that this is the point debated is so perfectly foreign and futile, that to my mind it demonstrates exceeding prepossession, if not looseness, of mind, as well as a lack of subjection to scripture, in those who allow their theories to override the plain word of God, which is here conspicuous for the absence of that infinite truth. There is another reason also why the epistle to the Hebrews diverges very sensibly and materially from the rest of the writings of St. Paul, that it is not, strictly speaking, an exercise of apostleship at all, but of the writer (apostle though he were) as a teacher, and here a teacher clearly not of Gentiles, as he says elsewhere, but of Jews. Not so. From age to age they had spoken, always fitting their message to the age, never letting it be out of date. Seven facts in these verses stress the Sons unique greatness and the culminating character of His revelation. Jesus is God's glory; therefore, we see with amazing clarity that the glory of God consists not in crushing men and reducing them to abject servitude, but in serving them and loving them and in the end dying for them. Of the persons by whom God delivered his mind under the Old Testament; they were the prophets, that is, persons chosen of God, and qualified by him, for that office of revealing the will of God to men. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.". Think of it. There were millions and millions of angels. Here there is a comparison of God with the sun; he is encompassed with splendor and majesty; he is a being of light and of infinite perfection. He immediately appeals to the voice of the Spirit in the Psalms: "Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. It is always a failure when the teacher as such is prominent. The holy brethren, then, partakers of a heavenly calling (not earthly like Israel's), are told to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus, who is faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses in all his house. God, doubtless, rested from His works; but even God is never said then to have rested in His works. None of the ancient prophets sustained such an office as this, none was sufficient for it. I do know how people can explain away this ascription of infinite power to the Redeemer. (3.) They were thought of as having more knowledge than men, especially of the future, but they did not possess that knowledge by right but rather because of "what they had heard behind the curtain." For if Peter, as is known, were the apostle of the circumcision pre-eminently, it was through him that God first of all opened the door of the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles; and if the apostle Paul, with the concurrence of the heads of the work among the circumcision, had gone to the Gentiles, none the less did the Spirit of God (it may be without asking those who seemed to be somewhat at Jerusalem) employ Paul to write to the believers of the circumcision the most consummate treatise on the bearing of Christ and Christianity upon the law and the prophets, and as practically dealing with their wants, dangers, and blessing. It is partly, indeed, to the shame of Gentiles, that they do not even see the difficulty for a Jew. It refers to all in God that is bright, splendid, glorious; and the idea is, that the Son of God is the brightness of it all. But we have this blessed result of his acting outside his own ordinary sphere, that it is the finest and indeed the only specimen of teaching properly so called in the New Testament. Why impossible? Psalms 102:26-27 is a reference to God and not to the Son. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary, Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. The writer introduced the concept of inheritance here and proceeded to develop it in this epistle (cf. Analysis of Hebrews 11:1-3. [Note: Ellingworth, p. The apostle had to put them down, and tell them, with all their high-flown wisdom, they were such that he could not discourse to them about the deep things of God. But there is: "for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Behold man in Christ, and then be amazed at the wonders of the heavens. It is one of the most interesting psalms in the whole collection, and of the deepest possible moment as preparatory both to what is now brought in for the Christian (which, however, is hidden here) and to what it declares shall be by-and-by for Israel. Ed. We must allow that there is a degree of impropriety in the language when what is borrowed from created things is transferred to the hidden majesty of God. In Jesus God has entered humanity, eternity has invaded time, and things can never be the same again. C. J. Vaughan has pointed out that this passage tells us six great things about Jesus: (i) The original glory of God belongs to him. When he further says, by himself, there is to be understood here a contrast, that he had not been aided in this by the shadows of the Mosaic Law. Then he speaks of the various constituents that make up the word of the beginning of Christ ( i.e., Christ known short of death, resurrection, and ascension). Justin Martyr spoke of the divine coming down from heaven and sweeping across the prophets as a plectrum sweeps across a harp or a lute. They brought God's messages to men. There were great difficulties, circumstances calculated especially to affect the Jew, who, after receiving the truth with joy, might be exposed to great trial, and so in danger of giving up his hope. What need of further proof after this? Besides being apostle of the uncircumcision, he was a teacher; and God took care that, although expressly said to be a teacher of Gentiles, his should be the word to teach the Christian Jews too; and, in fact, we may be assured that he taught them as they never were taught before. Image -- "stamp" metaphor of a soul - Colossians 1:15. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the kings mother; and she sat on his right hand (1 Kings 2:19). The universe would not continue to exist if it were not that Jesus maintains it. pre calculus grade 11 formulas Hebrews 1:1, 2. They who overlook this connection and carry their philosophy higher, weary themselves to no purpose, for they do not understand the design of the Apostle; for it was not his object to show what likeness the Father bears to the Son; but, as I have said, his purpose was really to build up our faith, so that we may learn that God is made known to us in no other way than in Christ: (11) for as to the essence of God, so immense is the brightness that it dazzles our eyes, except it shines on us in Christ. God hath appointed him to be heir of all things. The writer to the Hebrews does it by choosing what are for him a series of proof texts in which the Son is given a higher place than was ever given to any angel. This Bible layout provides an inline view of the Bible text with MGNT or TR Greek inflections, parsing codes, and Strongs data in the Greek word order. (15), Sat down on the right hand, etc. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. As a man he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane; he bore his cross to Calvary; he was nailed to the tree: yet then the heavens grew dark, and the earth shook and the dead arose as if he were God. Again, from Dr. Cothran. Jehovah from above answers Jehovah below; He owns that the smitten Messiah is Jehovah of stability and unchangeableness equal with His own. He shows besides a difference between him and the Levitical priests; for they also were said to expiate sins, but they derived this power from another. We may easily understand that every soul truly born of God would and must break forth into thanksgiving to hear of a deeper glory than he had first perceived in Christ, We must not look on the Lord according to our experience, if there has been simplicity in the way God has brought us to the perception of His glory; we must endeavour to put ourselves back, and consider the prejudices and difficulties of the Jew. or the son of man, that thou visitest him? It is quite true that it is the Holy Ghost's object to bring the rest close to us, so as to make us always conscious of the little interval that separates us from the rest of God; but still, let the interval be ever so short, we are not there yet, we are only going towards it. Go to Parallel Greek. The Structure of Hebrews: A Text-Linguistic Analysis, George H. Guthrie, 1998, Baker Books The Epistle to the Hebrews, L.D. This is the most sonorous piece of Greek in the whole New Testament. The first was when God made the creation; but was there any entering of man into that rest? Both unfit the soul for going on with God; and the reason why they so hinder is because they are precisely the things in which man lives. . Christ Himself was infinitely more precious than even the church which He had loved so well, and for which He gave Himself. Because of who Jesus is and what he has done, God has given him a position far above all things, angels included (3b-4). He then contrasts Himself with the great commanding truth of Jehovah's own permanence. He was in intimate union with the Father, and was one with Him, in certain respects; though in certain other respects, there was a distinction. ], "The literary structure of the exordium [Hebrews 1:1-4] exhibits a concentric symmetry (A [Hebrews 1:1-2 a] B [Hebrews 1:2 b] C [Hebrews 1:2 c] C [Hebrews 1:3 a-b] B [Hebrews 1:3 c] A [Hebrews 1:4]): the conceptual correspondence of Hebrews 1:1; Hebrews 1:4 serves to frame the several statements concerning the Son in Hebrews 1:2-3 . The excellent author already quoted has well remarked: I cannot conceive what object they have in view who admit the Divinity, but deny the natural Sonship of our Saviour, unless it be to get rid of the strange notions about communication of essence and subordination which have prevailed so much; and in this case, like too many disputants, in avoiding one extreme, they run into the other.). First, He is the "heir of all things." Often the angels remonstrated with God and laid objections to his purposes. It did not express a general likeness but an exact duplication of the original. Accordingly, we are next shown the provision of grace, not for the rest of glory, but for those who are only journeying on towards it here below. But how different from the character of the Lord Jesus! As Sir William Watson said of them, "So to the wild wolf Hate were sacrificed, The panting, huddled flock, whose crime was Christ.". And so, we are told, that Christ, while He was and is this glorious person in His nature and right, nevertheless as man did not glorify Himself to be made an high priest; "but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee; as he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. One of the most interesting things is to see how time and again the prophets are characterized by one idea. Not that these were not true and important in their place: no one disputed them; but they were in no way the power, nor even characteristic, of Christianity. 13. In fairness however, it should be remembered that, like many other theological terms, the term in question, when applied to Christs Sonship, is not to be understood in the ordinary acceptation, as implying derivation or extraction. It is thus He was represented. The word of the Lord upholds or supports, or is the pillar of, all things. The common belief was that the angels were immortal; but there were some who believed that they lived only one day. To uphold or to bear here means to preserve or to continue all that is created in its own state; for he intimates that all things would instantly come to nothing, were they not sustained by his power. What is there to be compared with creation, or with His people settled in Canaan by the destruction of their foes? But, as in other sad cases, the error is often combined with ample learning of the schools, though with lamentable lack of divine teaching even in foundation truth. God lived surrounded by his angelic hosts ( Isaiah 6:1-13; 1 Kings 22:19). There can be no higher idea of omnipotence than to say that he upholds all things by his word; and assuredly he who can hold up this vast universe so that it does not sink into anarchy or into nothing, must be God. In divers manners, according to the different ways in which God though fit to communicate his mind to his prophets; sometimes by the illapses of his Spirit, sometimes by dreams, sometimes by visions, sometimes by an audible voice, sometimes by legible characters under his own hand, as when he wrote the ten commandments on tables of stone. Far greater was the price Christ paid for his human creation, buying them back when they had fallen into sin and were thereby forfeit to Satan. To the Ephesians he does develop our blessing as in and with Christ in the heavenlies. The image stamped on coins, seals, wax, expresses the idea: and the sense here is, that if God be represented under the idea of a substance, or being, then Christ is the exact resemblance of that - as an image is of the stamp or die. The law, as he had said elsewhere, was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Thus, the Hindus speak of the incarnations of Vishnu; and thus Homer, and Virgil, and most of the ancient poets, speak of the appearance of the gods, and describe them as they were supposed to appear. He would say much more about Jesus as Priest-King in the following chapters. The bold and unhallowed speculations of some of the fathers, and of the schoolmen, and divines after them, have produced infinite mischief, having occasioned hindrances to the reception of the truth respecting our Saviors divinity, which would have otherwise never existed. It means properly reflected splendor, or the light which emanates from a luminous body. This is the glory of the person of Christ; the fulness of the Godhead dwells, not typically, but really, in him. Flowing from God's grace, Christ's death is the ground of reconciliation for the universe. For instance, 2 Samuel 7:14 is in the original a simple reference to Solomon and has nothing to do with the Son or the Messiah. And again, I will put my trust in him." He says that the revelation of God which came through the prophets was in many parts (polumeros, G4181) and in many ways (polutropos, G4187) . He came from God, and went to God. It was not the time, nor is it of that nature. He revealed God by being himself. love. We shall see also His Sonship presently. But here there is another evil altogether. 10 million Ukrainians without power because of Russia. 4. But Jesus is infinitely greater than Moses, for he is the splendour of God's glory; and. They consequently cannot enter into the feelings of the Jew; and by such the authority and use of this epistle was grievously slighted. And now (Hebrews 5:1-14) we enter upon the priesthood; for it is a priest that we want who stand already accepted by sacrifice. It is not the glory of shattering power but the glory of suffering love. There is nothing that is in God the Father that is not reproduced in His Son Jesus. He says it all, no doubt, about the baptized; but there is nothing about baptism as the ancients would have it, any more than, with some moderns, the progressive steps of the spiritual life. Entdecke Epistle To Hebrews: The Greek Text With Notes And Essays in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! It is the self-conceit of the Gentile, (Romans 11:1-36) not their faith, that makes the Jewish difficulty to be so little felt. The Targumist on 2 Chronicles 2:6 uses a phrase very much like this, of God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain; because, adds he, , "he bears", or "sustains all things by the arm of his power"; and the words are to be understood not of the Father, upholding all things by his essential and powerful Word, his Son; but of the Son himself, who upholds all creatures he has made; bears up the pillars of the universe; preserves every creature in its being, and supports it, and supplies it with the necessaries of life; rules and governs all, and providentially orders and disposes of all things in the world, and that by his all powerful will; which makes it manifest, that he is truly and properly God, and a very fit person to be a priest, as follows: when he had by himself purged our sins; the Arabic and Ethiopic versions seem to refer this to God the Father, as if he, by Christ, made the expiation of sin, and then caused him to sit down at his right hand; but it belongs to the Son himself, who of himself, and by himself alone, and by the sacrifice of himself, made atonement for the sins of his people; which is meant by the purgation of them: he took their sins upon himself, and bore them, and removed them far away, and utterly abolished them, which the priests under the law could not do: and when he had so done. Jesus perfectly reflects Gods "glory" (doxa), meaning He perfectly reflects Gods "magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace" (Thayer 156); that is, He reflects majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.". He would lead them on, and this with gentle but firm and witting hand. Of this my mind has no doubt. The Jews divided all time into two ages--the present age and the age to come. The first chapters of Acts describe that thousands of Jews came to believe. Another point of interest which may be remarked here is the intimation at the end compared with the beginning of the chapter. The right hand of the Majesty on high As it were associated with the supreme Majesty, in glory everlasting, and in the government of all things in time and in eternity; for the right hand is the place of the greatest eminence, 1 Kings 2:19. We may account for the former, because the writer was not confining himself to that which fell within the proper sphere of his apostleship. There is something of interest even here. [Note: See Cleon L. Rogers Jr., "The Davidic Covenant in Acts-Revelation," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:601 (January-March 1994):81-82. The purification of sins by Christs sacrifice is related, on the one hand, to the establishment of a new order of relationships between God and mankind, and on the other hand to obedience (Hebrews 10:1-18, especially Hebrews 1:8-10) and moral effort (Hebrews 12:1-4). We never reach that height in the epistle to the Hebrews; never have we the body here, any more than unity. In the Old Testament the law was given directly by God to Moses, without need of intermediary. It is not in the least a question of a person individually born of God, and so sealed by the Holy Spirit. He taught them the value of the living oracles that God had given them; for this is the beautiful characteristic here. The divine attributes of being "the brightness of his glory" and "the express image of his person" lend effectiveness to all of His work. It is the effect of the gospel on the dark soul the shining on the mind of Him who is the only true light. (i) The revelation of the prophets had a variegated grandeur which made it a tremendous thing. Consequently, the rest is but coming, not come; it is future. Supposing a man had been the adversary of Messiah here below, there was still the opening for him of grace from on high. They were created either on the second or the fifth day of creation. Just as one cannot separate the suns shining from the sun, neither can we separate the Divine nature of Christ from that of the Father. He wielded the power which God only can wield, and he manifested a character in all respects like what we should suppose God would evince if he appeared in human flesh, and dwelt among people and this is saying much. What he deduces is, "Let us use diligence therefore to enter into that rest." The goodness, the love, the glory of His person only drew out the deadly enmity of man, and specially of Israel; for they were worse than the Romans: and all this He, in the perfectness of His dependence, takes from Jehovah. "when he had by himself purged our sins." And in this sense do the orthodox fathers take this term, hypostasis, considering it to be threefold in God, while the essence () is simply one. 3. For the gospel includes a discovery of the great events that shall befal the church of God to the end of the world. Contrariwise, he would lead them on to find what they had never yet seen in their Messiah, and, wonderful to say, he founds his proofs, not on new revelations, but on those very words of God which they had read so superficially, the depths of which they had never approached, nor had they so much as suspected. Who but God could have dictated that this same chapter (Hebrews 6:1-20) should depict the weakest faith that the New Testament ever acknowledges? And yet they never doubted the eventual victory. Greek Texts. Touch Him on the human side, it is hardly less fatal than on the divine. Paul, would show them thus the infinite dignity of the Messiah whom they had received. This seems more than a general share in the presence of the Holy Ghost, who inhabited the house of God. II. He is dealing with them as much as possible on their own ground, though, of course, without compromise of his own. He is not only the Son of God, but Son of man; and they are both, I will not say equally necessary, but, without doubt, both absolutely necessary, whether for God's glory or for His salvation to whomsoever it may be applied. Moses found the government of the Israelites such a burden that he altogether sank under it. That which Gentile theology has brought into the matter, namely, the work of the Lord on the cross, or the application of it to meet the needs of the soul precious as it was to the apostle, as it must be to faith has no place whatever in the apostle's argument. Dods illustrates "the express image" by comparing the marking on a coin: "the express image" denote(s) the impress or mark made by the graving tool, especially the mark upon a coin which determined its value; hence, any distinguishing mark, identifying a thing or person, character. He took the choice place of honor and authority in relation to God the Father (cf. We may see a similar hindrance every day. But it means He is the God of Creation and providence who guides the universe on its course. But though it be not the Apostles object in this place to speak of what Christ is in himself, but of what he is really to us, yet he sufficiently confutes the Asians and Sabellians; for he claims for Christ what belongs to God alone, and also refers to two distinct persons, as to the Father and the Son. To stop short for them was to go back. Many obstacles there are to the entrance of light through the word, but there is none more decided than the force of religious prejudice; and this would naturally operate most among the Hebrew saints. The angels had many duties. "For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." It is that from which our word character is derived. 5. But on these I hope to enter, if the Lord will, on another occasion. The "right hand" generally refers to the place of honor. Speaking of "the brightness of his glory," Bloomfield says: The Redeemer is the true and proper representative of the Infinite Perfection of the Deity; intimating that he is that to the Divine Father, which the solar light incident on our world is to the same light as the source of its emanation (468). This last should be, that He does not take up angels; He does not help them. He sees the world and the thought of men enter, as it were, into a new beginning with Christ. While Jesus Christ is presently in authority over all things, in the future God the Father will subject all things to Him in a more direct sense than the one in which they are now subject to Him (cf. There were, in particular, the seven angels of the presence, who were the archangels. Never would Paul weaken the personal rights or the official place of the Anointed of Jehovah. We can conceive the communication of a material essence by one material being to another, because it takes place in the generation of animals; but the communication of a spiritual, indivisible, immutable essence is altogether inconceivable, especially when we add, that the supposed communication does not constitute a different being, but takes place in the essences communicating., Dicks Theology, vol. "It would be misleading to think of Hebrews 1:1-4 as stating a thesis to be proved, or as giving a prcis of the following argument. True affection is prudent for its object when peril is nigh, and delights to help effectively, instead of being indifferent whether the way of it wounds those whose good is sought. "God," says he, "having in many measures and in many manners spoken in time past to the fathers in the prophets, at the last of these days spoke to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." The "rest" was still beyond. And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? The early communications were but refracted rays, not the light unbroken and complete. (15) The word here used means properly purification, but is used for expiation by the Sept.; see Exodus 30:10. This is not at all the case with ordinary Gentile thought. "Therefore," (adds he, inHebrews 6:1-20; Hebrews 6:1-20) "leaving the word of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to perfection." (13). Every word which is employed is of great importance, and should be clearly understood in order to a correct apprehension of the passage. We have here an account, 1. Now this is the second part of the doctrine handled in this Epistle; for a statement of the whole question is to be found in these two chapters, and that is, that Christ, endued with supreme authority, ought to be head above all others, and that as he has reconciled us to his Father by his own death, he has put an end to the ancient sacrifices. Sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high - Of God; see the notes on Mark 16:19; Ephesians 1:20-23. When he had accomplished purification from sins, Jesus is one with the Father and one essence or substance with the Father. He had not yet taken manhood, or made it part of His person. That was over-mechanizing the matter; for even the finest musician is to some extent at the mercy of his instrument and can not produce great music out of a piano in which certain notes are missing or out of tune, and even the finest penman is to some extent at the mercy of his pen. The Son of man has a glory that completely eclipses the brightness of the highest objects. Because of Jesus and what he did we have direct access to God. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.". & in Cant. Hence, although it be only fleeing in an agony of soul to refuge, what is it that God gives to one in such a state? Certainly, then, this refers to the divine right of Christ to receive people's worship, adoration, and obedience. He has laid the basis for the high-priesthood of Christ. Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. As God, he was equal to the Father; but, as God-man and Mediator, he was appointed by the Father to be the heir of all things, the sovereign Lord of all, the absolute disposer, director, and governor of all persons and of all things, Psalms 2:6; Psalms 2:7. The Hebrews, to whom this epistle was written, would, from this and other circumstances, fully understand that the apostle believed Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God. Thus, "Christ as Son over his own house" answers pretty much to the first chapter, as the rest of God by-and-by answers to the second chapter; for I hope to prove it is to be in the scene of future glory. He proves that we cannot safely linger among the Jewish elements when we have heard and received Christian truth; that not merely blessing, not simply power and enjoyment, but the only place even of safety is in going on to this full growth. He has taken his place on the right hand of glory; but the tremendous thought of the writer to the Hebrews is that he is there, not as our judge but as one who makes intercession for us so that, when we enter into the presence of God, we go, not to hear his justice prosecute us but his love plead for us. The point for such an one is, that the reaching (not himself) should arrest and instruct. By it the believing Jew was led into a divine application of that which was in the Old Testament that which they had habitually read in the law, Psalms, and prophets, from their cradle we may say, but which they had never seen in such a light before. The phrase word of his power is a Hebraism, and means his efficient command. It is not a question of revealing, but of rightly applying, by the Holy Ghost, the word they had in their hand. No doubt for the believer, his sins are blotted out and forgiven, and hope anticipates with joy the final deliverance of the Lord. It is under such circumstances He pours out His plaint. Two credentials of the King are noted under Hebrews 1:2, and the other five are given here. For it is impossible [as to] those once enlightened, and that tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and that tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and fell away, to renew [them] again to repentance, seeing they crucify for themselves and expose the Son of God.". Moses, "as a servant," he takes care particularly to say, in everything shows the superiority of the Messiah. Mark, again, the skill with which all is gradually approached how the inspired writer saps and mines their exorbitant (yet after all only earthly) pretensions, founded on the Aaronic priesthood. As long as that course is pursued, repentance there cannot be. He lived on earth as a man - he ascended to heaven like God. But such a usage will not stand the scrutiny of the Greek exegesis of this word (taking out of the text what is there), nor is it in accord with the historical . It is to show his claims to our reverence as sent from God - the last and greatest of the messengers which God bas sent to man. For unto us were glad tidings preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. It is not our faith seizing the rest that Christ gives to him that trusts Himself, as when He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That Christ is eternal with the Father, as the proceeding splendour must necessarily be coexistent with the inherent splendour. There are two ideas there. "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?" Now apostasy, sooner or later, must fall under that judgment. The scriptures picture Jesus as being at Gods right hand (Mark 16:19; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12; Hebrews 12:2; Colossians 3:1). He says that he was the apaugasma ( G541) of God's glory. Jesus sitting down "on the right hand of God" indicates His work is complete. Strong consolation, and that which enters within the veil. They were said to be made of an ethereal fiery substance like blazing light. This personal distinction always supposes one and the same nature. He was the very effulgence of God's glory; he was the exact expression of God's very essence. The doctrine of angels is a lovely thing; but it has one danger. It is not a soul as coming to Jesus; it is not as one whom the Lord meets and blesses on the spot; but here is a man hard pushed, fleeing for very life (evidently a figure drawn from the blood-stained fleeing from the avenger of blood), yet eternally saved and blessed according to the acceptance of Christ on high. (12), The word means here nothing else but visible light or refulgence, such as our eyes can bear; and is the vivid form of a hidden substance. [5] Thomas Hewitt, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. 1:4-14 He was the superior to the angels, in proportion as he had received a more excellent rank than they. It is not a question of making sins right. Apart from passing references to adultery and the love of money (Hebrews 13:4 f.), Hebrews says little about individual sins, and contains no list of vices comparable to Romans 1:29-31; Galatians 5:19-21; or 1 Peter 4:3. The United States of America governs Alaska, because it was purchased from the Russian government for $7,000,000.00 in gold. 3 who is the refulgence of his glory,. But that He, an infant on earth, looked at as the son of the Virgin, that He should be above all the angels in heaven this was a wonder to the Jewish mind; and yet what had in their scriptures a plainer proof? Jesus is not only the creator but also the foundation, the sustainer, of the universe. (iii) The creative action belongs to Jesus. Now he is concerned to prove his superiority over the angels. But still the things which are indent to our senses are fitly applied to God, and for this end, that we may know what is to be found in Christ, and what benefits he brings to us. Accordingly, the Jews always associated angels with the highest idea of beings, next to Jehovah Himself, the chosen messengers of the divine will for any passing vision among men. What is there but Christ coming in judgment? HEBREWS 1:3 th/j duna,mewj auvtou/( kaqarismo,n {B} Although the reading diV auvtou/ kaqarismo,n (46 Dgr* 236 263 2005 2127) may appear to be rather strongly supported, the weight of Dgr* is conside. God can not reveal more than men can understand. It is evidently general, and sets before us a human priest, not Jesus God's High Priest. They did not consider Paul, either in style or topics, at all up to the requirements of the age at least in their midst. The New Testament writers never doubted his ultimate triumph. It can mean effulgence, the light which shines forth, or it can mean reflection, the light which is reflected. He bore everything onwards by the word of his power; and after he had made purification for the sins of men, he took his royal seat at the right hand of the glory in the heights. This is designed to bring in the grand feature of the Christian scheme, that the purification made for sin was by his blood, instead of the blood which was shed in the temple-service. He is not saying that there is a break between the Old Testament revelation and that of the New Testament; he is stressing the fact that there is continuity, but continuity that ends in consummation. Besides, this is the most obvious and common meaning of the word, and so rendered by most expositors; among others by Beza, Doddridge, Macknight and Bloomfield. Of course, this is not the designation of any place, specifically, the throne of God being a metaphor for the control center of the universe, which in the very nature of things, it is impossible for finite and mortal intelligence to apprehend fully, except by metaphorical comparison to things that are familiar. Christ Himself was what made the assembly of God precious to him. The psalmist writes: Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. Strong's: . Why? [6] Clarence S. Roddy, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1962), p. 18. When Jesus speaks, whatever He wants done is done; it may be to calm the winds, to raise the dead, to heal the lame, to forgive sin, or it may involve the creation of the world. Apaugasma ( G541) can mean one of two things in Greek. ; as though he had said, that having in the world procured salvation for men, he was received into celestial glory, in order that he might govern all things. Thus the apostle enters on the vast field that will come before us a little while longer tonight. The drift of the argument is, to show his dignity as he has spoken to us Hebrews 1:1, and not in the period antecedent to his incarnation. It is perhaps impossible fully to understand why such a redemption was necessary, but every verse of the sacred scriptures is oriented to the sublime fact that man's incredible conduct in the garden of Eden cut him off from fellowship with his Creator and left him to languish in the kingdom of darkness until he should be redeemed. The whole, however, is stated in order to set forth the dignity of Christ. The revelation of the prophets was great and manifold, but it was fragmentary and presented by such methods as they could find to make it effective. [2.] They were quite certain that God's love was backed by his power and that in the end the kingdoms of the world would be the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ. "We see not yet all things put under him. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But this is incredible and impossible. Only the Shepherd of Hermas, a Roman text, runs this line. It is evident that it cannot be used in this sense when applied to God, and that this word does not express the true idea of the passage here. somehow it happens, account for it as people may, that there are no elevating practical views of God in the world; no views that engage and hold the affections of the soul; no views that are transforming and purifying, but those which are derived from the Lord Jesus. That is what the writer to the Hebrews means when he talks of God making his angels wind and fire. When a man becomes a Christian he is not asked to abandon all the talents he once had; he is asked to use them in the service of Jesus Christ and of his Church. First, the certainty of every promise being accomplished for Israel and Zion He unhesitatingly anticipates; whilst He, the Messiah, submits to be given up to every possible abasement. But, again, had he been writing according to his ordinary place, nothing was more strictly his line of testimony than to have dwelt on our hope that enters within the veil. There were angels who were wardens of hell and torturers of the damned. Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, CARRY them in thy BOSOM-unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? He Himself undertook and achieved the task alone; and, when He had thus done it, "sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.". Second, the Son "made the world" (Gr. Accordingly, while he intimates thus that all was but partial, being piecemeal and multiform, in the revelations from God to the fathers, he lets them know, in the next verse, that the same God had, in the last of these days, "spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Hebrews 1:3 - Adam Clarke Bible Commentary First, in what manner does it refer to the Redeemer? This is true in regard to the great system of revelation but it is especially true in regard to the views which people have of God. Daily Dose of Greek 2825 Lexington Road Louisville, KY 40280 United States (US) Email: [email protected] From the very starting-point we see Christ, not merely dead and risen, but glorified in heaven. Help us purchase electrical generators for churches. But there was one nearer and dearer to Paul than even the church. No, it was to a man; for He was thus speaking of the Lord as Messiah here below; and this is what gives the emphasis of the passage. NKJV New King James Version. David writes, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Psalms 110:1). It is applied to man - with individual and separate consciousness and will; with body and soul; with an existence separate from others. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. Paul says, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). Touch Christ on either side, and all is gone. The word of God, which comes and searches, tries and deals with us, judging the thoughts and intents of the heart; and the priesthood of Christ, which converts and strengthens, and applies all that is needed here the grace and mercy of our God. The writer referred to the place where Jesus now sits ruling as the Fathers right hand in heaven. By him all things consist. Reduce the glory of Christ, and you equally lower your judgment of the state of man. Ed. and delivers from it. The express image of his person . It is not merely the earth; not only its rocks, mountains, seas, animals and human beings, but it is the universe - all distant worlds. There is none. Hebrews 3:1-19. But hearken "when he had by himself purged our sins," was not the whole Jewish system blotted out by such a truth? And all that the apostle thinks it necessary to cite after this is the connecting link of His present place on the throne of Jehovah in heaven with all these ascending evidences of His divine glory, beginning with His being Son as begotten in time and in the world; then His emphatic relationship to God as of the lineage of David not Solomon, save typically, but the Christ really and ultimately; then worshipped by the angels of God; next, owned by God as God, and, finally, as Jehovah by Jehovah. Mans sins are "purged" when he is "cleansed from the guilt of sin" (Thayer 312) at baptism as a likeness of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. And what is that provision? 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