Page 18 - Hebrews- Student Textbook

7. The royal and priestly Messiah sent by the Father (v. 3)

B. Verses 1-4 deal primarily with how God has spoken to us in a new way through a son, Jesus of Nazareth.
No longer do we receive revelation bit by bit through servants (i.e., the prophets of the OT), but now
through a full revelation in a family member ("a son," cf. 1:2; 3:6; 5:8; 7:28).

C. The second paragraph (vv. 5-14) continues the theme of Jesus' superiority. In vv. 1-4 He is a more
superior revelation than the prophets; in vv. 5-14 He is a more superior mediator than the angels;
confirmed by a series of seven OT texts from the Septuagint (mostly from the Psalms): Psalm 2:7; 2 Sam.
7:14; Ps. 97:7; Ps. 104:4; Ps. 45:6-7; Ps. 102:25-27 and Ps. 110:1.

D. Notice that the author is structuring his/her text in careful ways (A. and C.). Seven is the number of
perfection in Jewish numerology (i.e., the seven days of Genesis 1).

Key Term. The author of Hebrews shows that Christ, as the direct revelation of God in flesh, is superior
over the angels. In Jewish tradition, angels delivered God’s law at Sinai to Moses. When discussing God’s
revelations to people, the author of Hebrews draws on this tradition (see Heb 2:2; Jubilees 1:29;
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Josephus, Antiquities, 15.5.3).
This second generation of Hebrew believers needed to know that just as God had spoken in the past to
their ancestors through the prophets, using different ways and means at different times, so He now
continued to communicate to all of us in these “last days” through his Son Jesus (Heb 1:1–2). This theme
has given rise to what some in theology have called “the finality of Jesus Christ in all of history.” To
substantiate this high claim, the writer made seven declarations about the Son (1:3–4):

1. Jesus is the Heir of all things.
2. Jesus is the Creator who made the universe.
3. Jesus is the Radiance of God’s glory.
4. Jesus is the Exact Representation of God’s being.
5. Jesus is the Sustainer of all things.
6. Jesus is the Priest who provided purification for sins.
7. Jesus is the King who sat down on his throne in his place of honor.
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The Son’s superiority is further demonstrated in six more arguments backed up by eight Old Testament
anticipations of these very events (1:5–13):
1. Jesus is perpetually related to the Father as his Son (1:5), as predicted in Psalm 2:7 and in 2
Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13. That was the promise God had given to David—that God would
be a Father to the coming Son, and the one ultimately born in that line would be God’s own Son.
2. Jesus would be worshiped by the angels when the Father brought his “firstborn” into the world
as David’s heir. That was what the ancient promise had called for in Psalm 97:7 and
Deuteronomy 32:43 (as this Deuteronomy passage reads in the text of the Dead Sea Scrolls and
the Septuagint).
3. Jesus would have a reign as the coming Messiah that would last forever, and he would have
righteousness as his scepter, as confirmed by Psalm 45:6–7.

18 Barry, et al.
19 Kaiser, (pp. 359–360).

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