Hebrews 2

1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

     Therefore, seeing that it is the divine Son of God who has spoken, we must take even more earnest heed. Centuries past, the Jews had received the Word of God through the hand of their greatest leader, Moses. They heard it through the Psalms of David and through the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets. If their word was stedfast, how much more the Word spoken by the Son of God from heaven?

     To heed implies action just as to neglect implies inaction. It is necessary to do according to His will and to obey His commandments (John 15:10; Mat 7:21, James 1:22). The surest way to spiritual ruin is to do nothing; the law of entropy always wins.

     Let them slip (pararrusmen). This word doesn’t appear elsewhere in the Greek Scriptures. Some say it means “to leak out” like water from a vessel; others say it means “to drift away” like a boat from its moorings. Here it describes someone who is inattentive to the truth, someone who has heard the Word and believed it, but has not continued steadfast in doing what it says – he has let them slip. The opposite action is to hold fast (Heb 3:6; Titus 1:9; 1Thes 5:21; 2Tim 1:13).

     The first chapter of Hebrews shows from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah, the divine Son of God. The present chapter explains His mission and purpose for coming to the earth as an authentic flesh-and-blood human.

2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

     Although the term might sound odd to our ears, the word spoken by angels makes reference to the Old Testament Scriptures. Its writers were not actual angels, but the Word came to them by supernatural, angelic mediation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2Pet 1:21). According to their reading of Deut 33:2, the natural Jews believed the Law was established by the work of angels. Stephen turned this belief into a rebuke, saying to them, (You) have received the Law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it (Acts 7:53). Paul makes a similar allusion, saying that the Law was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator (Gal 3:19). On rare occasions, God would send actual angels to communicate His will to particular individuals, but angels never brought His Word to the whole congregation.  

     The stipulations, rules and punishments of the Law were based on truth, righteousness and justice (Rom 7:12). It was hard to keep the Law and impossible to escape its judgment. However, the Law of Christ is equally strict and difficult (see note Mat 7:28), nor shall any escape its judgment. The enormous difference between the two is that the Law of Christ provides a solution for failure – forgiveness, grace, mercy. The new way of Grace does not mean that God forgives sin separate from righteousness, nor does it mean that He has set aside justice in favor of mercy. Rather, the events of the New Covenant, the Atonement in particular, gives basis for Him to extend grace to those who have sinned.

     This great salvation is not based on performing the works of the Law but upon the atoning blood of Christ, who is willing and able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him (Heb 7:25). Beware the leaven of the Protestants, who teach that in the New Covenant, grace has voided the law of man’s good works. No, you are not free to live as you please, but as Christ pleases. You are not free to walk according to the lusts of the your flesh, but according to the will of the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Yes, you are freed from doing the works of the Law for salvation, but if you do not keep the law of Christ you cannot be saved. Only those who love Christ will be saved, and only those who keep His commandments truly love Him (John 14:23-24).

     The new, living Way was explained and ordained by the Lord Himself, and it was later corroborated by the Spirit through the writings of the Apostles who walked with Him during His ministry. The coming of the Gospel age of Grace was accompanied by signs, wonders and miracles so that nobody might doubt its divine origin. The word gifts in verse 4 is a mis-translation of the Greek word merismos (verb form, merizo) which means distribution or separation (Heb 4:12). Compare to 1Cor 12:11. He who refuses this Word of Grace will be excluded and those who neglect (ameleo, cf Mat 22:5) to do it shall not escape either (Heb 12:25).

     Luther (and others) attempt to use the last half of verse three to argue that Paul was not the writer of Hebrews, for that Apostle declared to have received the Word through direct revelation and not by man (Gal 1:11-12). It is obvious however, that the writer’s intent here is to stress the authenticity of the Gospel’s origin, not testify how he himself had received it. Indeed, v3-4 are a loose quotation of that affirmation found in the last verses of what is often called “Peter’s Gospel,” which states that after Christ had spoken unto them last words of important instruction and was received into heaven, the Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Wordwith signs following (Mark 16:19-20). Paul did not see Jesus coming up out of the water after His baptism and hear the heavenly voice affirming His identity; he was not present to marvel with the rest at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth (Luke 4:22). He did not hear Christ devastate the hypocrites of Judaism, nor witness His agonies in Gethsemane. Nor did he see Him ascend into heaven. That Apostle born out of due time (1Cor 15:8) burst upon the Gospel scene about three years later, having in truth received the divine Word in far-off Arabia (Gal 1:17), but apart from the wonderful witness of the other Apostles who did literally observe and confirm the walk of the Lord on earth. 

     If, as I believe, the book of Hebrews was written to the church in Jerusalem, then these words should have spoken powerfully to those natural-born Jews, for they too had heard the voice from heaven and saw the Lord’s power. They too were present for Peter’s Spirit-inspired sermon and witnessed the lame man healed and saw the boldness and power of those unlearned men that had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). By these and many other accompanying signs and miracles, God bore witness of the origin and verity of the Word of the Gospel.

5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

      Angels spoke the Word under the Old Covenant (see v2), but God has not so ordained in the New Covenant. Rather, the throne of the Kingdom belongs to Jesus, who has the keys to heaven and earth (Mat 16:19) and also to hell and death (Rev 1:18). The government is upon His shoulder (Is 9:6) and He will reign for ever and ever in this Kingdom of righteousness (Heb 1:8).

     The world (oikoumene) to come. The natural reading of this phrase is that it refers to heaven, but we should note two details. First, oikoumene is typically used for the literal earth and/or its inhabitants (i.e. Luke 2:1; Heb 1:6; Rev 12:9); it is never found elsewhere in connection to heaven. Aion is the standard word for the future age (see Heb 6:5; Luke 18:30; Eph 1:21). Meanwhile, the verb to come (mello) is significantly used for both imminent actions (i.e. Acts 18:14; Heb 8:5) and distant ones (Heb 6:5; 1Pet 5:1). Second, although the writer indicates that his current topic is this world to come (oikoumenan tan mellousan), the subject before and after this verse is not of heaven, but makes an impressive argument for the divine authority of Christ and the great salvation that He has accomplished for the world.

     I therefore believe that the Apostle speaks here of the Kingdom of Christ, which stood at its threshold when this epistle was being written. For while the Kingdom formally began a few years earlier at the atonement of Christ at Calvary, the foundations were still being laid by the Spirit through the Apostles. Of course, this Kingdom has no end and will never be conquered (Dan 2:44), so the eternal home of the soul is included in this phrase, the world to come. Nevertheless, the choice of oikoumene is interesting, first because it anticipated the now 2000 years-long New Covenant Age, and second because it describes the future Age as a world. In this aspect, the term is unique in the New Testament, for not even kosmos is used in reference to the future Age.

6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

     The quotation is from Psalms 8:4-6, which thanks God for abundantly blessing lowly Mankind. How small and insignificant he is! Lower even than the angels. Yet God has bestowed abounding honor to the sons of men, creating them with minds to think, reason and comprehend their Creator. He has given them dominion over the rest of Creation (Gen 1:28). He desires to visit with them, to hear their songs of praise and to see their good, honest works which give honor and reverence to Him.

     It is actually a deep, difficult question: Why does God love us so much? Perhaps we can understand a little better by comparing man with angels. The angels are more powerful and more beautiful, but Man was made in the image of God – soul, spirit and body. God made Man like Himself in some mystical way. And like a father and mother loves their son because he is their own flesh and blood, so God loves man just because of how he is made.

8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

     Man has greatly increased in knowledge and ingenuity; he is closer than ever to being the master of all things. Yet, in the time of the Apostles we see not yet all things put under him. This couples with the earlier hint (v5) that the New Covenant era was just beginning, for the Spirit knew that Mankind would be allowed to rise in science and technology at the end of the Age (Dan 12:4). God did not see fit to reveal that detail in full light, as it would not be in Man’s best interest to know that ahead of time. It is good for Man to live in constant thought that the Lord will return at any moment (Mark 13:35-37).

     But we see Jesus, who became a man in order to overpower the Devil and sin (Heb 2:14). He too was made a little lower than the angels and He became the ultimate, singular Man who was able to completely put all things under His feet, whether heavenly or earthly things. Paul quoted the same verse (Ps 8:6) in 1Cor 15:25-27, again identifying Christ as the preeminent Man who alone is capable of fulfilling the Psalmist’s words.

     Jesus became a man for the suffering of death, in order that he might taste death for every man. Is there a deeper meaning to this phrase than the simple fact that Jesus died for the sins of the world? To taste is to savor or sample a dish (cf Heb 6:4-5), not eat or experience the whole meal. Elsewhere however, Christ seems to have made this a normal term for dying (see Mat 16:28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27; John 8:52).

     By dying, Jesus did not repeal the law of sin and death, but marvelously provided a remedy for those adversaries. All men must die, the saved and the unsaved (Heb 9:27). So that Jesus tasted death for every man cannot mean “in exchange for their physical death,” but for their spiritual death. But, did Jesus’ physical death substitute for our spiritual death? Those two realities are worlds apart. I tend to believe that in some incomprehensible way Jesus tasted spiritual death for every man, that in taking upon Himself the sins of the world He suffered deep spiritual pain. Surely His anguished cry to God was more than the misery of physical pain (cf Mat 27:46, see note for Mat 26:38).

     Forgiveness is suffering the loss or debt accrued by the sinner; there is no way around that fact. If you forgive a thief for stealing your car, you will suffer that loss…forever. Jesus is our sin-bearer; He has agreed to suffer the loss that our sins have accrued (2Cor 5:21; Heb 9:28).

10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

     In the perfect knowledge of His will God planned the salvation of Man – that Jesus would win their souls through trials and suffering. We often struggle to understand why God allows suffering in the lives of His people, but it helps to remember that the only perfect, sinless Person who has ever lived was also a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Is 53:3). If our Captain was made perfect through suffering, how much more those of His household? Suffering purifies the soul and refines our character. Let us not “waste” our trials, but let them do their perfect work (James 1:2-4).

     He that sanctifieth is Jesus Christ and the many sons He is bringing to glory are the ones being sanctified. They are all of one in that both “are being sanctified” (Greek present tense) through many trials and sufferings (1Pet 4:13; Php 3:10). There is clearly a close correlation between “being made perfect” and sanctification (Heb 12:23; see note on John 17:17). 

     For whom are all things – this is the Apostle Paul’s unique reverence of God as the supreme being (see 1Cor 8:6; Rom 11:36; Col 1:17; Eph 1:10).

12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

     After stating Jesus’ close relationship with the Redeemed (they are His sons in v10, His brethren in v11), two quotations from the Old Testament give confirmation. The first is found in the famous Messianic Psalms 22, which is chock-full of evidences that Jesus the Nazarene was the Messiah that the Jews had rejected. For some reason the Apostle substitutes apaggelo in place of the Septuagint’s diegeomai for declare. The words are synonyms. More interesting is that the translators used the word church for ekklesia in Hebrews when in Psalms 22:22 they translated the same word, congregation. Jesus declared the name of the Lord to His brethren, His church.

     Uncertainty surrounds the second quotation, which some think comes from two separate source texts. The writer’s typical approach is to separate consecutive quotations with the phrase, and again. However, the Septuagint of Isaiah 8:17-18 matches almost perfectly: “I will trust in Him; behold, I and the children which God has given me.” Of course, there are other possible sources for, I will put my trust in Him (i.e. 2Sam 22:3; Is 12:2; Ps 11:1), but none of these match the Greek so closely. Jesus declared the name of the Lord to His children, teaching them to trust always, as He did, in the Father. Again the quotation demonstrates that the prophets foretold a Messiah that would not be a distant leader, but a Prince made like unto His brethren (v17) although anointed with honor above His fellows (Ps 45:7).

14 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; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

     This monumental verse concisely describes the bold mission of the Son of God. The Almighty Creator of the Universe, in nature fully God, laid aside His deity, home and identity to become a weak, flesh-and-blood man (cf Php 2:8) so that He might deliver the death-doomed subjects of bondage from their evil captor, the Devil. The Savior accomplished this by a secret but devastating plan to redeem Man by dying in their place (1Cor 2:8; 2Cor 5:21; 1Pet 1:18-21). For until the Resurrection, Satan reveled in the fact that every human soul belonged to him. All have gone astray, every man has taken his own way (Is 53:6), there is none righteous, no, not even one (Rom 3:10). We have all personally chosen to sin against God and therefore have been sentenced to eternal death along that wicked prince of death, Satan.

     But when Jesus rose from the dead, He wrested the power of death from Satan forever (Mat 12:28-29). By His perfect life, death and resurrection, Jesus has won the authority to redeem (buy back) from Satan every person He chooses to save. No longer does every soul belong to Satan on account of their sins, for Jesus is justly empowered to point out which souls He chooses to save! And Satan can say and do nothing about it (Rev 12:10). If he clamors, “Wait, that man is a sinner! Look, he did this and this and this. If I am to be sent to Hell for rebellion, then he must be sent to Hell too!” Then Jesus can say, “True, he did those sinful things; but I didn’t. I died sinless and innocent, I have tasted death for every man (v9) and I choose to redeem him. He has repented, he has come to Me for salvation, he is sorry for his sins, he wants to be with Me. I gave My life for all such as he, and I exercise My authority to take him away from you.”

     Oh, how the power of Satan is destroyed! Oh how the mighty has fallen from heaven, cut down to the ground (Is 14:12; John 12:31; Luke 10:18; Rev 12:9). He who once boasted of the power of death has been defeated, humiliated, destroyed. Now it is Jesus who holds the keys of hell and death (Rev 1:8), having abolished death forever for all the saved (2Tim 1:10). Jesus possesses the power to Redeem or to Damn. So, kiss the Son, lest He be angry with you! Lest ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little (Ps 2:12).

     The irony cannot be missed. He whose power was Death by sin was defeated by that very power, undone by the death of the sinless, perfect God. Like David many years earlier, who cut off the Giant’s head with his own sword, the very sword that for 40 long days put the fear of death in the hearts of the children of Israel. In the valley of Elah, the innocent youth overcame the ridicule of his own brothers, refused protective armor, ignored the raging Giant’s threats, and hit him at his weakest point with one smooth stone from a sling – all typological points to parallel Christ’s victory over Satan (cf 1Sam 17). While the resurrection of Christ came as a tremendous surprise to Satan (1Cor 2:7-8), that event was carefully hidden in many prophecies and symbolisms of the Old Testament Scriptures – hints in the Psalms, the Prophets and the Law. Here are some of my favorite prophecies of the resurrection: Hos 13:14; Zech 9:11; Is 25:8; Hos 6:2; Job 19:25-27; 1Sam 2:6.

     Until the momentous achievements of Christ at the end of His humanity, all mankind lived and died subject (enochos) to bondage (douleia). They were subject to sin and corruption, in bondage to Satan and destined for eternal death. Enochos is often translated “guilty” in other Scriptures (Mat 26:66; James 2:10), while douleia means slavery; it is found in just two other NT passages, both in the epistles of Paul, where it refers to the Law (cf Rom 8:15, 21; Gal 4:24; 5:1). The fear of death (cf Mat 10:28; 2Tim 1:7; Rom 8:15) is on account of Sin and the Law (1Cor 15:56), for its high and holy laws made every man guilty before God (Rom 3:20; James 2:10; Heb 10:28).

16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

     It appears that the KJV translators have missed the mark here, but not as badly as the NIV/NASB versions, which are far from the original text. The literal translation is: “For verily, angels are not taken (epilambanetai), but the seed of Abraham is taken” (see YLT). There is no article (he/him/it) in the original. Now the immediate topic is the bondage under which the sons of men labor in life (v15). These have been taken by Sin, they live in the expectation of certain death, they are subject to bondage, they are captives of Satan. This bondage does not apply to angels, but to the seed of Abraham (v16), those heirs of salvation as opposed to the angelic ministering spirits (cf Heb 1:14).

     Epilambanetai means “to seize, to lay hold upon, to take hold of” (Acts 21:30; 1Tim 6:12; Acts 16:19; Luke 23:26; Mat 14:31). The wicked angels of Satan sinned too, yet God has not provided them a chance for redemption but consigned them to everlasting chains of darkness (2Pet 2:4). However, the seed of Abraham is granted the opportunity of escaping from their bondage; Jesus has come to deliver them (v15). Consequently, Paul calls the saved of Christ and heirs of the promises, Abraham’s seed (Gal 3:29; Rom 4:13-16; Gal 3:16; Rom 9:7-8).

      The fact that Jesus is the infinite God makes His death infinitely valuable, it can save to the uttermost all who come to Him (Heb 7:25). This powerful truth kills the menial idea that Jesus was only a man and not God. No man, no matter how perfect, is sufficiently valuable to substitute himself for all the sins of the world. It is a logical absurdity to even contemplate it. No, only the death of a greater Being could be of such priceless worth that it avails for every soul of mankind – past, present and future. God searched the earth and heaven for someone to save Mankind and He found just one who fit the requirements to be the Savior of mankind (Rev 5).

17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

     Jesus did not set out to redeem Mankind in His real form and power as God, but took upon Himself the body of a man. He was made like unto His brethren (Heb 2:11-12). He suffered the same physical hardships as they did; He endured the same temptations as they did. This enables Him to sympathize with our experiences, understand our failures, empathize with our worries and struggles, succour them that are tempted. Yes, we will fail at times, but Jesus was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). The Wonderful News is that He is a merciful and faithful high priest. If we bring our sins to Christ, He is faithful to forgive and cleanse us (1John 1:9).   

     Jesus is our high priest. This introduces a new symbolism in the NT which will be a key, recurring motif in the book of Hebrews. The apostle John was prolific in symbolisms of Christ: the Good Shepherd (John 10), the True Vine (John 15), the Lamb of God (Rev 5:6), the Mighty Angel (Rev 10:1), the Lion of Judah (Rev 5:5), etc. But only the book of Hebrews presents Jesus as the High Priest of the New Covenant. Indeed, the word archiereus (high priest) is found over one hundred times in the Gospels and the Acts, but not once in any other book of the New Testament outside of Hebrews, where it occurs 17 times. I should add that John does seem to describe Jesus as Priest officiating at the heavenly temple (Rev 8:2-5).