“Listen up: this is better” -- A study on the Bible book of Hebrews
A 13-week series given in 2020
Given 7 August 2020
bob@jewsforjesus.org.au
Lesson Two: He who assists and warns
Welcome to each of you today as we study and learn together again from the letter to messianic Jews written sometime after the death and resurrection of Yeshua around AD 30 and before the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Even though the book is nearly 2,000 years old, it has a lot to say to us in 21st Century Australia, and dare I say, across the globe. Today we study chapter 2, and if you haven’t yet read it, please, those of you on YouTube, pause the playback, read the chapter, and then press play again to re-join us. Thanks.
Welcome back.
The chapter again features several quotes from the Older Testament as did chapter 1 and continues the theme of Yeshua being better than angels, and this time, takes that further, saying some clear theology about his person and actions. The combination both of exhortation along with this explanation is the point of the chapter today. If Yeshua is God’s Son, then we ought to listen to him and obey him.
Let’s unpack the chapter’s 18 verses line by line and see what it has to say to us as 21st Century people. If you are new to this form of Bible reading, we welcome you especially.
Kal v’chomer
The notion of Yeshua as better than the angels is in the logical consideration of the author, and he opens with that. We have to listen to Yeshua so that we will get things right, in life, in our contact with others, with the historic Jewish religion, etc. He uses a comparative, but it actually has a meaning of superlative. That’s typical of the time. Pay close attention, pay closer, pay the closest attention to what Yeshua taught, otherwise, we might drift, he says. Listening implies compliance, of course, just like the Shema explains. Hearing without doing makes no sense to the biblical authors. (James 2.12, Matt. 7.25ff)
What does the author want us to hear? The Gospel? Nope, he or she uses the phrase “what we have heard.” Remember one of the two overarching themes of Hebrews is “listen up.” Rather than the visible or the touchable like John would call us to, the author wants us to remember what we have heard. Faith comes by hearing and if we recall or even restate the previously spoken and heard words, our faith will grow. Without faith it’s impossible to please God, but the words God spoke so long ago, and now have reissued and reinforced through Yeshua, those are what we should hear. Listen (and do), otherwise you will drift. By the way, this is the only time we see this nautical term in the entire Newer Testament, although it’s fairly common in secular sources of the time.
This is the first warning (of 6) found in this letter. Listen up, or else you will drift.
Lane references “Prov. 3:21 (LXX) παραρρεῖν signifies to lose sight of advice and wisdom. The writer warns his readers that they are in danger of losing sight of the reality of Christian salvation.” That’s a terrific link with the Older Testament. Drifting away from the primary source is drifting away from God. Not a good thing to do, and obviously anyone serious about walking with the Lord wouldn’t want to do so, so the author makes clear what’s wrong with skipping out on some compliance issues.
Verse 2, the word spoken through angels. Wait, when did angels give words? Is it in the wrestling with Jacob or the appearance at the oaks of Mamre with our father Abraham? Perhaps Gideon’s “hail, valiant warrior” is in view? No, I think it’s the giving of Torah itself which will come into the letter again and again. The Jewish tradition wins over against the clear record of Exodus 19 and 20. There we don’t see any angels in the Giving of Torah. But in Deuteronomy 33, we read, “The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.” (verse 2)
The tradition is that angels were there at Sinai. (Psalm 68.17) Certainly that was the understanding in the Maccabean period and by the time of Stephen’s final speech before his martyrdom. (Acts 7.38, .53). That’s where Paul gets it, too. (Gal. 3.19)
One of the most-used literary devices in this letter is what we call in Hebrew ‘kal v’chomer.’ It is known in Latin as an argument a fortiori, meaning “from the stronger case.” It’s a way of saying something like, “if this is true, then by inference, the larger consideration is true.” The old Jewish story was, "If one day with her mother-in-law was too much, kal v'chomer a weekend will be!"
Verse three, the author says, “if the angelic word was inalterable, and carried penalties, how will we escape if we neglect what the Son has said?” Listen, if you got caught behind when you disregarded the Torah, what do you think is going to happen if you disregard Yeshua? There are harsher penalties for those who know more. A policeman may give you a warning if you are new to lockdown in Victoria, but if you’ve been caught before and they find a record of a warning in your profile at the police station, be sure you will be given stricter punishment. That’s what is in view here.
Verse four: God has demonstrated this in giving of Torah with signs and wonders, and now in this new era, where the Son of God has spoken, we are more responsible for more compliance and more penalties if we break with his plans. See?
And what is the substance and subject of the Son’s announcement for which we are responsible? Salvation. It’s his very name. It’s his ministry. It’s his longing for each of us. To be saved, and to live in that salvation with others who share that same faith.
Remember Yeshua told a story or two about a landowner who planted a vineyard and then left others in charge. (Matthew 21:33ff) When it was time for collection of the increase of the fruit, he sent servants, but the tenants killed them. Beating, killing ensued. Finally, the landowner sent his son, sure that the tenants would respect him. But you might know in the telling of the story, Yeshua highlights the pathos with the tenants killing the son. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” He will bring those wretches to a wretched end.” (.40-41) Kal v’chomer.
The World to Come
Verse five: The angels are not held in such responsibility. Only humankind, and the consummate human rep, Yeshua himself, can fulfill this passage, as we read in the first Older Testament citation today. From Psalm 8. God made us, people, a little lower than angels. The author’s argument (and it does sound legal throughout the letter) is that Yeshua is better than angels. OK, he clarified that in chapter 1. But some will say, if God made Yeshua lower than angels for a while in that he became man, then he has lost that privilege forever and thus angels are the new 2ic in heaven. But the author basically says, ‘No, the time of lowering did not diminish the world-to-come aspect of the exaltation.’ And he calls more OT witnesses to the stand to validate this claim, which will continue throughout the book. There is a world to come, olam haba, and that kingdom cannot be shaken, and in that reality of the future, the ‘not yet’ for which we long, the ‘city that is to come’, Yeshua is ever exalted and all things, including angels will be subject to him. COVID-19 or COVID-86 or those who do harm to others will be subject to him. Blasphemers will be subject to him. Anti-theists will be subject to him. Maybe not today, but in the world to come, that will happen. “Concerning which we are speaking” (v. 5)
Seven steps down and up
Verse 6ff: Psalm 8 is highlighted. What is man or the son of man? We and he are less. But only for a while. In light of the real eternity, Yeshua’s downward steps were not a spiral, out-of-control. They were careful, methodical walking points designed to make him human, and a particular human at that.
Let’s read Philippians chapter 2.5ff
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I’ll number those so you see the 7 steps down. They are followed by 7 steps up.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but 1) emptied Himself, 2) taking the form of a bond-servant, and 3) being made in the likeness of men. 8 4) Being found in appearance as a man, 5) He humbled Himself by becoming 6) obedient to the point of death, even 7) death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, 1) God highly exalted Him, and 2) bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus 3) EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are 4) in heaven and 5) on earth and 6) under the earth, 11 and that 7) every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Those steps he took were well chosen. Emptied himself of all that is divine power. Lost control. Became not only a human, but a Jewish man. And a Jewish man under the bondage and subjection of First Century Rome. Humility. Then died, but beyond normal death. He died as a criminal on a Roman cross; executed. All of that was to earn him a place which is exalted. And to identify with us in our situations of life.
Back to Hebrews 2. Verse 6. I find it fascinating that the author doesn’t say “King David wrote.” Every good Jew would know this is a psalm of David. The superscription is read as part of any psalm that has one. Mizmor l’david. Clear as a clarion. Yet, the author says “one has testified somewhere.”
Why? Because it’s in the Psalter. It’s God’s word. It’s not the human author which matters, it’s the divine author. And perhaps it’s a way of confirming his or her own authorship as irrelevant. Or at least subsidiary to the authorship of God.
Verse 8: Again, highlighting the now-and-not-yet nature of the Kingdom of God. All things are subject to the Son of Man, but not yet. Or as Paul said in Philippians, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Yeshua is Lord. But we don’t see that yet.
Verse 9: The author zooms his camera’s lens further on Psalm 8, and although the natural reading of it doesn’t sound prophetic about a single person, the author makes it such. Yeshua is the one who was for a little while lower than angels, and then tasted death (which according to John Wesley is, “An expression denoting both the reality of his death, and the shortness of its continuance.”) and who thus is in view by King David.
Verse 12: Again, the author grabs the Psalter and sings out from Psalm 22.22. The proclamation is in view (and dare I say, in earshot), and the word ‘brethren’ sticks out clearly. When Yeshua is exalted and has all things in control, he will still call us ‘brethren.’ The point being that in his lowering, in his kenosis, in his becoming human, he personally identified with us. Not only as a duty, but in a family sense and became and learned to be one of us. He felt our feelings. This point will come out more clearly in the high priest/Melchizedek section later on. We are Yeshua’s brothers and sisters. How awesome is that!
The 2nd and 3rd quotes are taken back-to-back from Isaiah chapter 8. Verses 17 and 18 there. I’m not sure why the author uses the conjunction ‘and’ to separate them, but it’s likely (according to many sources) that the poetry was part of an early believing hymn that was sung as early as the 2nd century.
Why did Yeshua become less than the angels for a time?
Verse 14: “Himself likewise also partook of the same,” as we have stated. And what is the point of all this Yeshua-vs.-the-angels imagery and the humiliation of the Messiah? It’s found in verse 18. “since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
He calls us brethren. He calls us family. And he is not ashamed so to do.
Maybe you have heard the imagery of God being like us. Bear with me, please. If I wanted to communicate my love to say, a colony of ants, as they march from the creek through Lane Cove up the hill to their next locale, how would I communicate to them? Shall I buy advertisements and place them on the side of the path like billboards? Shall I invest in translation boxes and send messages in my voice through the little boxes to the little ants? The best way to communicate is to become an ant, if that’s possible, then to walk along in the journey from the creek with them. It’s in the becoming like them that I can best share in their life and communicate my message. That’s what the author is saying Yeshua did. He who was exalted humbled himself and is not ashamed to call us brothers.
That through his death (v. 14) he might render powerless the devil who (previously) had the power of death. The devil works through fear of death (v. 15) subjecting people to slavery. We certainly are seeing some of that with mental responses to COVID-19 and the hundreds of thousands of deaths globally. Even here in Australia we are seeing a slight increase in the cases and in the deaths of our countrymen. And fear of death is growing. But Yeshua wants us to receive his aid (v. 18) and no longer be slaves to the fear of death.
Dear friends on Zoom, or on YouTube, if you don’t yet know Messiah Yeshua, please I appeal to you today, surrender your life to him. Admit your need of him. Trust him who came from heaven to earth to show the way. And to set you free.
If you want to talk more about that, start with prayer. Talk to the Almighty. He loves to listen to your faintest whisper. And if you want to ask me a question, just use the email here on the screen. I’ll give it a go to try to answer you.
Until next week, when we will meet again to share about chapter 3 and Sabbath rest and the contrast of Yeshua with Moshe Rabeinu, until then, Shabbat shalom.
Actual text:
Heb. 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? 1After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
Heb. 2:5 For He did not subject to angels 1athe world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? 7 “YOU HAVE MADE HIM 1FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; 8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”
For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying, “I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.”
13 And again, “I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.”
And again, “BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.”
Heb. 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Bibliography
Ladd, George E., A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1974. (Pages 571 – 587)
Lane, William L, Word Biblical Commentary Series, Hebrews.
D-Groups for this week
1) Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse
2) Monday 9 am Sydney time, led by Rebekah Bronn
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