Hebrews – Part 2

Hebrews will show to the Hebrews that the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to the prophets 1, superior to the angels 2, superior to Moses 3, to Joshua 4, to the Priesthood 5, and to the fundamental ideas which were the underpinnings of Judaism.

The Importance of these issues to Israel.

It is simply not possible for us, as grace age saints, to grasp the full weight of the intent of the book of Hebrews without, at least, a rudimentary understanding of the importance of these 5 issues.

The Priesthood

The prophets

The angels

Moses

Joshua

Image living your life:

1. without a completed revelation – always waiting for the next update… (windows)

2. in fear and trembling

3. with angels popping in and out all the time

4. with everything pre ordered for you

5. with being in submission to a man

6. with God constantly changing the laws of physics just to get your attention

7. with creatures that could kill hundreds of thousands single-handedly

Lets consider a few verses…

Mat 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Exo 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. 23 And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them.

Lev 24:10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; 11 And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) 12 And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be showed them. 13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

2 Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand 185,000: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

Moses was so great that God buried him!!!

Deu 34:4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. 10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11 In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel.

If Moses typifies the Law then Joshua typifies the Messiah.

Just a few points…

1. Hebrew word for Jesus is Joshua. In the Greek Joshua is Jesus.

2. Joshua takes the place of the lawgiver (plug in the sermon on the mount here)

3. It is Joshua, not Moses, who leads Israel into the promised land.

4. And like Jesus, Joshua was rejected in his later ministry.

The prophets!

They are divided into 2 groups the major and the minor.

This is not groups of importance but rather one of scope.

5 Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel)!!!

12 Minor ones

See your index…

The point of all this is this:

This is what Israel knew.

This is what they trusted.

This is what they had been taught.

This is what had to be overcome if the nation was to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah.

For some it was an impossible transition to make – Gal 1:8

Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

What? You don’t believe the angels now???

Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Read ordained there as:

institute, prescribe, appointed, command, set in order

So….

Hebrews presents the, mashiyach – hoc – mashiyach, as being superior to:

The prophets

The priesthood

The angels

To Moses

To Joshua

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry in many portions, variously as to time and agency, piecemeal times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

1. God is the speaker, the revealer he has interjected himself into the history of mankind.

2. God, who at sundry times. He spake piecemeal. This again reminds of the ministry of Moses – 2 Cor 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13 And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

3. The point is that in time past, there was no completed revelation. God spoke through many agents and at many times using direct communication from God to man through the prophets.

Remember the functionality differences between the prophet and priest.

Prophet: God >>>>> Prophet >>>> Israel

Priest: Israel >>>> Priest >>>>> God

4. God spake! Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry piecemeal times and in divers various methods manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

God spake! Means the content of God’s communication to man!

There are three types of revelation

Natural Revelation which is the creation of the world clearly seen, i.e. man himself and creation, manifested in them, Romans 1:18-20.

Special Revelation – different times, different agents and different ways God has revealed himself:

Genesis 18, God spoke to Abraham

Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush

Genesis 32, God wrestled with Jacob.

Another example of special revelation is when God spoke through the prophets and through miracles.

God has also manifested His will personally:

Matthew 16:17, special revelation from God to Peter.

Galatians 1:11-12, God communicated to Paul

Ephesians 3:3 revelation of the mystery to Paul.

Written Revelation – things written down, John 20:24-31

Revelation, God communicates and reveals Himself to man

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Inspiration, Man to paper (write it down), 2 Timothy 3:16 – all scripture given by inspiration is always concerned with what is written down, from God to man. The words that the men wrote down were inspired as opposed to the men being inspired.

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Illumination – How information comes off of the page of the Bible into the soul of the believer (what is written down), 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 – revealed by the spirit (teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit).

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Preservation – How the things written down go on from generation to generation, Psalms 12:6-7, preserved throughout history via the Church. Instead of one manuscript for all times, God has the Church as the pillar of truth. The Holy Spirit in the believer is illuminated to the truth and is able to identify what is God’s Word or not as he is instructed.

5. God spake – but how did he speak? >>> By the prophets!!

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry piecemeal times and in divers various methods manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

But notice now…. The replacement for the prophets! There is some thing better than the prophets!

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son! …

Woman of Samaria understood supremacy of Messiah over the prophets! John 4:6

What Christ said:

Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;

Jonah was a what? Prophet!

Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

And Solomon was what?? A King! And a priest!

1 Ki 3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

The Lord Jesus Christ not only Spoke the message – HE was the message!

This is the first contrast the author of Hebrews makes! Prophet vs. Son

Prophet vs. Son

First contrast the writer makes. There were many prophets and they dealt in successive periods, in contrast to the Son who came one time with a complete thing.

The prophets spoke “in diverse manners” – in visions, with similitudes, and symbols.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself not only spoke but WAS that message.

The prophets were sinful men:

The testimony of Isaiah

Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

The testimony of Daniel

Dan 10:8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

The prophets were burdened with the fact that they were sinful; they were conscious of their sin, in contrast to the Lord Jesus Christ who was free of sin.

Nor did the prophets possess the Spirit continually,

it would come upon them for a message, but not necessarily abide.

David could plead in Psalm 51, “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.”

The idea that the Holy Spirit could be a permanent gift was hard to grasp.

Even at best in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was something that came and went like the wind; hence Acts 2 with the rushing mighty wind!

The Prophets did not understand the depth of their message.

We know that from 1 Peter 1:10.

1 Pet 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

1 Pet 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. >>> hint as to Christ being superior to the angels

Like John the Baptist, all the prophets would have to say: they were not the light!

John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

So the prophets were fragmented, partial, and incomplete.

All of these are eclipsed by the Lord Jesus Christ as an alternative and superior prophet, priest and king!

This is plainly seen in Hebrews and in one more passage:

The mount of transfiguration… if you please.

Mat 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. – Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the prophets, and here we see the Lord Jesus Christ superseding them.

Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said,