which reads, “Rejoice, O heavens with him and let all the sons of God worship him. Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people and let all the angels of God be strengthened by him” (trans. mine). The author of Hebrews takes the object of this worship to be God’s messiah.
These quotations substantiate the assertion that God places greater value in the one who is the anointed ruler than the angels. This one is actually called God’s Son and God is a Father to the Messiah. Not only that, the angels are destined to be the worshippers of God’s Son, the Messiah.
This makes sense, doesn’t it? Could you imagine someone in the legends of Camelot holding great reverence for a knight or maybe even for a herald, the messenger of the king? The crowds give great acclaim and applause for these individuals of the court. Then someone stands up and begins to speak about Arthur. The knights are important in the protection of the kingdom and the heralds bring the important messages, but most important of all is the king, King Arthur. To him has been given Excalibur, he is the chosen King of Camelot. These others are merely the servants of the King.
The author of Hebrews wants to be sure people understand that even the angelic “sons of God” do not equal the “firstborn” son, the one who is God’s king par excellence. Angels are, according to Scripture, beings who worship the one who is God’s messiah.
Comparison of Angels to the Son (1:7–12)
The author of Hebrew begins here the formal language of comparison (synkrisis). Verse seven begins with the untranslated particle men introducing the comparative exchange. Verse eight makes the transition to the better half of the comparison with the conjunction de. The grammar of the Greek reads, “On the one hand, about the angels he says, . . . On the other hand, about the Son he says, . . .” The author continues to draw the comparison by quoting from the Bible.
The quotation in verse seven (“He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire”) comes from Psalm 104. The context of the passage in the psalm is God’s power over natural forces. Most modern English translations render the Hebrew of the psalm similar to the New Revised Standard Version, “You make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.” In Hebrew the same word is commonly translated either “wind,” “spirit,” or “breath.” The same can be said for the Greek word, but there is a more common term for “wind” in Greek. The literal translation of the Hebrew into Greek and the natural implication of the Greek leads to the interpretation Hebrews brings to the psalm, “He makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire.”
Think of those two concepts together, the wind and flame. Both wind and flame are able to go anywhere, penetrate anywhere. They can have such devastating and awesome power. Yet there is something temporary and fleeting, such vulnerability. That’s how Hebrews understands the nature of angels in comparison to God’s Son.
Verse eight begins the second half of the comparative exchange. Instead of a vulnerable and fleeting presence, the Son has an everlasting kingdom. An important grammatical point must be made here. In 1:5 the author of Hebrews used a particular grammatical construction without a preposition for the direct address of God to angels, “For to which of the angels did God ever say.” In verse seven, God is not addressing the angels. Hebrews begins with the statement, “Of the angels he says.” The following quotation is about or concerning the angels. Verse eight has the same construction, “But of the Son.” The next quotation, then, is about the son, but not a direct address to the son, in spite of the fact it is often taken that way. The first part of the psalm quoted from Psalm 45:6 contains the statement addressed to Yahweh, “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity.” In the next line the psalmist addresses the king, the messiah, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” In this comparison, the angels are ministering spirits, but God’s anointed is exalted above all others.
The next quotation in Hebrews 1:10–12 is nearly identical to the Greek Bible (Ps 102:25–27; LXX Ps 101:26–28). It tells us, though the material world is impermanent and temporary, the divine quality is permanence and eternity. Everything around is wearing out. Our clothes wear out. Our cars wear out. We wear out. Even our earth is wearing out; the sun is wearing out. It’s just the nature of things. The divine is what lasts forever. Our future in this world is limited. Our future with Christ is eternal. It’s not through angels that we share in that eternity.
Proper Place for Angels (1:13)
In verse 13 the author asks a rhetorical question with an expectation that the answer is in the negative. The words of this psalm were never said about any angel. Psalm 110 is another messianic psalm and a very important text for the author of Hebrews. The quotation Hebrews gives begins in the psalm with this phrase, “The Lord said to my Lord.” The capitalization of the first instance of Lord means that it translates the divine name, Yahweh. In other words, “Yahweh says to my lord (the king).” The Israelites imagined their king to be enthroned next to God in power. This psalm looked forward to the time when God would defeat Israel’s enemies. This psalm goes on to identify the eternal priesthood of the messiah as that of Melchizedek (Ps 110:4), a theme Hebrews will continue to work toward until chapter seven.
The proper place for angels is not next to God on the throne. That is reserved for God’s anointed, God’s son. In fact, Hebrews tells us, angels are divine servants (a conflation of terms from Ps 104:4) and serve humans. As great as angels are, the Son is due greater reverence.
I’m something of an Anglophile—I like all things British. Many Americans are fascinated with the role of the Queen in Great Britain. Think of how court cases are represented as being prosecuted on behalf of R, Regina, the Queen. A rank of barrister is QC, Queen’s Counsel. James Bond is a member of HMSS: Her Majesty’s Secret Service. All those who are servants or ministers in the British government function on behalf of the Queen.
Similarly, all that the angels do are on behalf of the Son, God’s anointed one. When we pray, the angels of God may be called into action, but it is through the authority of the one who sits next to God’s throne in heaven. No angel achieved that status, only a human, the one called Jesus, the one appointed as Son of God, the Messiah, who is both King and High Priest.
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It is the Son, therefore, who has been chosen above all others. All others serve the Son. It is only the Son who reigns on the throne next to God.
Whom do we call on in prayer? Some of us Protestants are confused about the practice of Catholics. It seems like they can’t decide whom to worship. Do they say a prayer to Mary? Maybe they do something to St. Jude, or some other saint, depending on who is the patron saint of what they need. I remember listening to a friend talk about when he first learned about Jesus. Someone told him to pray to Jesus, the Son of God. He couldn’t understand why he would pray to God’s Son. His comment was, “Why talk to the kid? Why not talk directly to the Father?”
We do pray to God, but we come to God through the Kid. Jesus has earned the right to be God’s Son. We join with the angels to recognize the rightful place of Jesus. It is through him that we are among those who are to inherit salvation.
Take a Closer Look (2:1–4)
School is tough, but just wait until you get into the real world. In the movie The Librarian, the main character, Flynn Carsen (played by Noah Wyle), had never been out of school. He had 22 advanced degrees and his graduate school mentor signed off on Flyn’s latest doctorate in Egyptology mid-semester, forcing him to leave the world of academia and go into the real world. Flynn Carsen finally begins to make practical use of his knowledge and also begins to learn some things he hadn’t learned in school.
School
