The Israelites had a problem almost throughout their history - they were easily distracted. It was hard for them to keep on the central and important things. In the wilderness they focused on what they were eating or not eating, rather than focusing on obeying and getting to know this God who had introduced Himself to them.
In the land they got distracted by all the sexual & fertility cult practices of the demon-idol religions around them instead of being a light of coming salvation and a beacon for the true character of God.
Later they got distracted by their differences instead of focusing on themselves as the people of God - and they fought each other and split apart in a civil war between the north and south.
Then in the later years they got distracted by their own supposed holiness and slavish adherence to traditions and rules that they missed the coming of the One that had been the whole reason for their being picked as God’s people.
In a sense, they weren’t paying attention. Jesus said:
Matthew 16:2-3 "When evening comes, you say, ’It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ’Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. NIV
Those that were paying attention - or who listened to those who listened - got the message, that God had sent Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world.
The question is, what distracts you? Our world provides plenty of them - even for spiritual people: philosophy, new age, pop psychology, community service, environmental worship, investments - all or any of those things can distract you so much that you miss out on the greatest gift ever given - but it’s a limited time offer. It’s also not something you just pay a little attention to - like the TV on in the background. You must focus and pay attention to it or you simply won’t get what God is trying to say.
The author of Hebrews is arguing that Jesus is better - better first than the created order of angels. He takes a small breath from that discussion in the first 4 verses of chapter 2.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
(1) I was driving up to an area of Washington state the other day - going to help perform a wedding ceremony. I had been up there just a couple of days before for the rehearsal and had to follow a map and directions very carefully. I thought I was lost several times but ended up in the right place.
So then when I got off the freeway to return for the ceremony I felt pretty good about where I was going. I’ll admit - I wasn’t really paying attention to the road signs (which Washington State doesn’t seem to have many of - is it budget cuts or do they want people to be lost so they won’t leave the state?). Sure enough - I’m driving along, confident that I’ll get us to the church on time (or the vineyard in this case) - and suddenly I realized that I’d missed an important turn and were going headlong into who knows where.
The writer of Hebrews is saying - if Jesus is more important, more powerful, more central to the universe than the angels you are so enamored with - then you shouldn’t let them distract you from the road signs of eternal life - that the place you are trying to reach can only be reached by turning on the road that says "to Jesus."
I was distracted by the beautiful scenery of southern Washington - so I missed the turn. We can get so distracted that we are no longer paying attention to what is really really important - eternal life found only through Jesus Christ.
Interestingly - verse one should probably be translated as: "we should pay more attention to the gospel than if just angels had given it."
In other words - if angels delivered the Law - and God upheld it, and Jesus delivered the gospel, and Jesus is greater than angels - then the gospel is greater than the Law and we should not go back to the Old Covenant or we will drift past the New.
(2) How he makes the argument here is that the Law (which Jewish and early Christian tradition stated was delivered by angels) had teeth to it - why wouldn’t God’s new covenant have even more teeth - and be even more important?
(3) This is such a great verse. We saw signs of God’s retribution against sin throughout the Old Testament - so how do we think we can escape God’s judgment by not affirming His New Testament or Covenant?
God judged the Israelis for whining about food - and a plague killed many of them (Exodus 16). He judged them for falling into idolatry - and many Israelites died (Numbers 25). Then when they broke apart as a country there was continual bloodshed with brothers killing brothers - judged by God (2 Chronicles 10).
So now we have three witnesses as to the importance of the New Covenant:
The Lord Himself, the Apostles & witnesses of Christ’s resurrection, and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord: John 8:14-18 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." NIV
The Apostles: 1 John 1:1-2
1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. NIV
The Holy Spirit 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. NIV
How much more evidence do you need? Jesus came, died, and rose - a fact that was witnessed by hundreds of people. Then His emissaries performed mighty miracles showing that all that what Jesus said was indeed true - and that His Holy Spirit was alive and well and living among men to pass on the truth of the gospel.
It almost seems that the author is answering a question or an assertion made by the people he wrote to - and that is something like this: "Since Jesus is a man, doesn’t that make Him lower on the pecking order than angels?"
So listen to the answer - it comes in 3 parts.
1. Jesus gave up glory, but it was returned to Him, along with everything - including angels. (verses 5-9)
2. Jesus became a man so that as a man He suffered, and as a man He sets us apart to receive a new nature - from mortal to eternal - and creating a new kind of relationship with us that the angels cannot have. (verses 10-13)
3. He became like us in all ways in order to defeat the foe that held us captive, and become our new leader and way to God - and as a man be able to both identify with and help - something not afforded to angelic beings. (verses 14 - 18).
5 Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,
"What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet."
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
(5) angels will continue to serve God - and the future kingdom will be controlled by Jesus. But in looking at things from a certain angle - it is not that hard to imagine why they might have concluded that Jesus was less than angelic beings.
(6-8) In verse 6 the author says he is quoting from Scripture without citing the source - but it is Psalm 8:4-6. "What is man" suggests that we aren’t all that impressive when compared to God or the angels. And when Jesus came to earth He did become "lower" - but only temporarily.
This thought almost exactly mirrors something in Paul’s writings:
Philippians 2:5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ESV
(9) The trick is - we don’t see the glorified Christ in our midst. Yes, the Apostle John saw Him, Paul saw Him - but His kingdom is an underground one - an invisible kingdom - for now.
Zechariah 2:10 "Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD. NIV
Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." ESV
So just because you don’t see Him literally now doesn’t mean that He hasn’t been glorified and won’t come back to physically rule this earth.
So what was Jesus doing as a man? That’s the second point:
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,
"I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise."
13 And again,
"I will put my trust in him."
And again,
"Behold, I and the children God has given me."
(10) Another way to translate verse 10 suggests that its God’s right as the creator, to make us glorified. God did this through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, who suffered for us in giving His life as that sacrifice. "Perfect" - just the right one.
"Founder" in verse 10 is the Greek word for "champion" or "pioneer." Jesus came to earth to fight the forces of evil and defeat them for us - making us like Him.
(11) That’s why in verse 11 it says "we all have one origin." God, Jesus’ Father, is now our Father - so Jesus can be proud in calling us brothers.
(12) To show this new relationship, the author quotes from three Old Testament passages. The first is from Psalm 22 - the crucifixion Psalm - that starts with agony and ends with praise. The second and third come from Isaiah 8 - despite opposition, Jesus is proud of us as His kin - His flesh and blood.
So then the third point: what was the effect of what Jesus did for us?
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. ESV
Angels are not flesh and blood - God, who is also spirit- took on flesh as the only way to destroy the one we gave our lives to as a race in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve obeyed the serpent instead of God when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The fear of death haunts us to this day.
But when angels sin there is no hope of a champion - angels who disobey God become demons and are forever and irrevocably tied to their master Satan, and will suffer the same fate as he - and all those that belong to him.
The only way to escape that fate is for Jesus to rescue you - to be the propitiation for you. But that rescuing doesn’t end with salvation - Jesus as a man is able to help us in all our temptations.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. NIV
We are different from the angels in several important ways: ultimate destiny, relationship with God, salvation, and changeable nature.
Are you drifting?
One time as a young man I motored out in my family’s boat and just stopped - letting the boat sit there in the water. I thought I would just stay in one place so I just kicked back and relaxed. I thought I knew where I was, but while I wasn’t paying attention my boat drifted in the current and I ended up far from where I thought I was. The shore looked very unfamiliar to me.
I made two mistakes - I didn’t pay attention to my position, and I didn’t take into account the effects of the current on my boat. Our lives are the same way. If you want to get to heaven you can’t just cut the motor, keep Jesus in mind on the far shore and decide that when you are done relaxing you will accept Him and get to heaven. There is a current to life that will drag the boat to a place where you are far from Jesus. Don’t make that mistake - purposefully motor your boat to Him or you may miss Him, and Heaven altogether.
Do you feel like you are held captive by the enemy in sin?
Maybe you are already a Christian - you’ve steered your boat to His shore and allowed Him to help you up on the dock and now you’re just waiting for the gang plank so you can go to His new land. But while you are waiting you feel yourself sinning and you don’t want to but you can’t seem to stop.
First - don’t feel condemned. John tells us that if we say we have no sin we lie. All of us sin. The enemy is called "the accuser of the brethren" for a reason - he gets you to fall then condemns you for it.
Second - you already have victory, you just haven’t put it into practice yet.
Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. ESV
Galatians 5 is a good companion for Hebrews - and there are some tips on how to overcome the flesh while not falling again into legalism, because truly you cannot please God with your own efforts.
Galatians 5:13-14 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ESV
1. Focus on serving, not on sinning
Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh ESV
2. Focus on the Spirit’s work in you - let His power fill you - ask Him. He has already won the victory - we just need His help to walk in it.
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