God speaks! So begins the letter to the Hebrews; and without the customary greeting; and properly so, for the writer's qualifications and his blessing on his readers must be left unmentioned while God is speaking. He speaks to a people whose first great leader exceedingly feared and quaked when the voice of God once shook the earth, and from whose ranks arose those mighty men of word and deed of whom the world was not worthy. He speaks to a people who had heard His voice through many centuries; to a nation which could rightly claim that to them was committed the Word of God. The prophecies had not come by the will of man for often the will of man was contrary; nor did the prophets proclaim together, but spoke at different times when the burden of the Lord was upon them. As descendants of Adam they died like their hearers; yet their words have not died, and they still speak to those who listen, and appropriate quotations are made in this letter from their writings. The passage of time has by fulfilment of their prophecies revealed that for all their frailty they are truthfully referred to as holy men of God who spoke as moved by the Holy Spirit.

But a great change of procedure is announced at the opening of this letter. God is speaking again, and the new channel of truth is the greatest He could use. We all know through whom He now speaks, but the writer, apart from speaking of Him as the Son of God, does not immediately announce His name. He first mentions some of His glories and greatness, and when he has thus prepared the minds of his Hebrew readers, he declares Him, in chapter two, to be Jesus. He is not of sinful stock as the early prophets, yet His words do not abrogate the prophecies of is predecessors, for all spoke by the Spirit's direction. But this will emerge from the comparison; that if God had of old spoken through several faithful men and is now speaking through one, His Son, then He must possess outstanding qualifications and virtues. He has, and the first seven chapters of Hebrews tell, among other things, how much better, how much greater is this faithful and true witness than the stalwarts of the past. Note how, in those chapters, the faithful servants of old (the very ones revered in Israel) are one by one surpassed by Jesus the Son of God.

Early in the first chapter we see the close association of the Son and His Father, so complete that He is spoken of as the reflection of the power, the character, the voice of God. But there are two facts in which the Son must necessarily differ from the Father, yet they also prove how glorious is the union of Father and Son. It is the Son who purges our sin, and having done that great work sits down on the right hand of the majesty on high. This is the channel through whom the message of God now comes, and it will be noticed that this new prophet is also priest and king. He excels all previous holders of these offices in that He possesses the power of an endless life, enough to fit Him for all the many needs of Israel and the world. That He holds this immortality is seen in this chapter by Him gaining an inheritance of more excellent name than the angels.

The remainder of the first chapter has as its theme the proving of the Son's superiority to the angels. Ample quotation is given from the voices of the past, which look forward to His coming and faithful performance of His Divine mission. These in turn seal the old writers as prophets of God. This writer propounds the question: "To which of the angels did God ever say, You are my Son, today I have begotten you?" No answer is given, for there is none. His superiority to angels is so marked that the apostle uses that strong figure of speech, where the unanswered question is more telling than any reply. Further quotations show the Son's work in the beginning of laying the foundations of the universe. Some of the work erected on those foundations will perish, but the founder will endure and bear a righteous sceptre in the coming kingdom.

Chapter 2 affirms that the great work of subduing the future habitable is not assigned to angels. Yet it reasons that if the word once spoken by angels was accompanied by severe penalties, we ought to give more earnest heed to the words which first began to be spoken by this new voice of God, which He confirmed by gifts of the Holy Spirit. Great indeed must be the responsibility of the hearers now that the last and greatest voice from God is speaking! Leaving the subject of angels, the writer mentions the superiority of the Son to man. This may be an obvious truth. Yet if we recall that the Son was once with the Father and became a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death so that He might redeem man by dying for him, then His superiority to man can never be called in question. And His superiority to the Devil is apparent, for by the same act of death He will render him powerless.

Then the comparison changes. Though superior to angels and man in general, He is shown as better than man in particular from ch.3. onward. The first great man in the list of worthies is Moses, one of the faithful voices of the past. It will be remembered that Moses the servant of God and of the house of God, Israel, prophesied that he would be succeeded by another to whom they would hearken without fail. Thus he became a testimony or illustration of those things which were to be spoken concerning Jesus the Son. But though Moses heard the voice of God and faithfully served the words to Israel, it was necessary for the house of God to be constantly prompted to loyalty by the insistent words, "Today if you will hear his voice". The word preached did not profit, for the hearers did not combine what they heard with faith. Then are mentioned two more leaders in Israel, Joshua and David; yet both failed to give rest to Israel. The word of God had come to Israel through such as these at various times and in many ways with but little result, and the word of God being quick and powerful spoke again and said, "They shall not enter into my rest".

It will then be reasoned that now that God is speaking by His Son, who surpasses Moses, Joshua and David, we ought to give the more earnest heed. It is as though the writer was saying, "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation, and how shall we escape if we neglect?" Yet, the warning notes of chapters three and four are tempered by the announcement of the new voice of God being a faithful high priest Who was, apart from sin, tempted in all points like as we. So we may come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help. But we must listen to the voice.

The mention of high priest will remind the Hebrews of the first and greatest, Aaron. He did not take the honour to himself, but was specially called for the post, as was Moses called to his service. In fact, each of these leaders of old time was called to his service, and it was proper that Israel should heed them in those days when they spoke from God; but their superior has come, the princely leader of salvation, the Son, and they must listen to him. They had looked on Aaron as the model high priest even as they saw Moses as the great prophet, but both are succeeded by One, in whom combines each office held by Moses, Aaron, Joshua and David. When the writer has compared one by one the leaders of the past with their one successor they must perforce accept Messiah. The writer points out their responsibility (in chapter 6), but again he has comforting words to speak, for he is confident of better things of them, even though he must speak strongly.

There seems to be only one more name in Israel to which they would cling now that each of their leaders has been superseded by Jesus, and he is the father of them all, Abraham in whom are the promises. As we expect, the writer shows how he too is superseded by the same one. Yet none of them is discarded by God, but the new channel of God's word and promise and deed is so much better than they, great though they were, and most worthy to be revered in Israel. Abraham received blessing from one of unknown descent and whose appointment as high priest came not in the manner to which Israel was accustomed. Abraham gave him tithes in acknowledgment of his honour. Consider how great this man was in receiving tithes from Abraham and therefore from Levi and the whole house of Aaron, who in their turn received tithes from all Israel. Of such rank is Jesus the Son of God.

Chapter 8 begins as though the previous seven chapters have described the glories of this one high Priest, for he says, "the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest." greater than angels, greater than man, than Moses, Joshua, David, and Aaron, and greater even than Abraham. He it is through whom God now speaks, and we must give heed, for no better can ever be found.

Make no mistake, Satan is no fool and he's been around a lot longer than we have. He knows how to clothe evil in a garment of righteousness and present it at just the right time; perhaps when you're spiritually down or at a point when your earthly appetites are particularly sharp, or when you have allowed bitterness to disarm you. If you believe that you can handle him by yourself without the Lord's help, think again! He has and is destroying stronger and more intelligent people than we are and he uses a built-in weapon to do it, human weaknesses! Let us therefore listen to the voice of God through His Son.

BGD