Chapter I

Verse 1. “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . . .”

Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18. He comes to us by the Spirit of truth, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, “whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:26. In time past God spoke in many ways through signs and wonders, but now He speaks only through the Spirit of truth, who takes what He has heard from the Son and shares it with us.

Verse 2. “Whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds . . . .”

When such a mighty heir speaks, it surely pays to listen closely, because the intention is that you and I are to be fellow heirs, and the only way that can happen is by listening to Him who speaks from heaven. God created the world by His Son. It is obvious that He is not then going to give it away to someone else.

Verse 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 . . . .”

Everything is upheld by Him, just as all things were created for Him. He who has seen the Son and the way He walked here on earth has also seen the Father. The two are inseparably one. If we become one with the Father and the Son, then we too receive the brightness of His glory and we become the express image of His person. If we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified together with Him. This is a hope and a future.

“When he had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high . . . .”

It was the power of the resurrection that brought Him up there. That He is sitting at the right hand of the Majesty means that God uses Him as an Advocate to carry out His will for mankind through the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us through the Son in all the situations that we meet in our daily life. He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. When our conscience becomes uneasy, then it is the Son who is speaking. There are things that need to be put right.

Verse 4. “Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”

The whole world knows the name of Jesus. Not so with the angels. Through Jesus’ name, a poor sinner can receive forgiveness. Not so with angels. Through the name of Jesus a saved sinner can get victory over sin and grow up into Him who is the head of the church. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. A person who has an ear can get victory over sin. We see this when we read what the Spirit said to the seven churches in Asia Minor.

Verse 5. “For to which of the angles did He ever say: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son’?”

The angels have never had a flesh and blood like we who are human, but the Son has. It was when Jesus was in flesh and blood that He was tempted. That was when he gave up His own will in order to do His Father’s will. John 5:19, 30; John 6:38; John 7:18.

Which of the angels has ever been manifested in flesh? None of them. It is in the flesh that there is opposition to God’s will. That is why God had to send His Son in flesh in order to conquer this will—the self-will. The will of God was revealed to mankind by the law, however it was impossible to carry out God’s will through the law because of the weakness of the flesh. But now it is possible, because God has sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, and He has condemned sin in the flesh. Rom. 8:3. This gives us power—who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Start to walk in the Spirit against your own flesh, and then you will discover tremendous joy in the fact that Jesus was manifested in the flesh and that God condemned sin in the flesh. A much greater salvation than “sinning and then receiving grace for forgiveness” is now possible. We can now gain victory in the thought life before any sinful deeds occur.

Which of the angels has accomplished such a tremendous work? And to which of the angels has He said, “You are My Son”? The Son—while He was in the flesh—did the will of the Father, even unto bloodshed, even unto the death of the cross. None of the angels have been tested in this way.

Verse 6. “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’”

This verse makes the difference quite clear. We see the value of having been manifested in flesh. All the angels of God who have never been in the flesh worship Him.

So you who deny that Christ has come in the flesh, what will you say on that Day? Your ignorance in the matter won’t help you. Perhaps the way all the angels of God worship the Son on that Day will convince you of your error and unbelief.

Verse 7. “And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’”

God uses His angels to help in outward things, either for protection in times of outward difficulties or to punish ungodliness. As for the inward ministry, God uses the Son, because angels do not know the new and living way through the veil, His flesh. They long to get a glimpse into this unsearchable wisdom of God. 1 Pet. 1:12.

Verse 8. “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.’”

The Son has become worthy of the throne. He is one with the Father and throughout all eternity will have the right to use the scepter of righteousness. Why? Because when He was in flesh and blood, He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Since He offered Himself in the power of an eternal Spirit and since He suffered death in the flesh, God made Him alive in the spirit. No power or principality can stand against His scepter of righteousness. It reaches into death according to the flesh and to the throne of the Majesty on high according to the spirit.

Verse 9. “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

It is really amazing that He who loved righteousness and hated lawlessness always seemed to be colliding with the scribes and Pharisees. They were the most prominent religious leaders of their day, and they sat on the seat of Moses. Were these religious people so completely different from the Master that they loved iniquity and hated righteousness? Jesus spoke to no one more severely than He spoke to the religious elite. Time and time again He said: Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, blind guides, who cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside are full of extortion and greed. You who are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Matt. 23 and Luke 11.

As long as a person remains in darkness, the priesthood of our day will be sufficient for him; but as soon as that person goes from darkness into His marvelous light, hatred is awakened in the scribes and Pharisees. By their contact with a spiritual priesthood it is made plain to them that their priesthood is merely human. Envy and hatred rise up from the depths of the flesh, the same envy and hatred that crucified the Lord of glory, and which later persecuted all the saints, right down to Hans Nielsen Hauge.1 Even in these days, they continue to work against the saints. It is these people who have always held the keys of knowledge. Even though they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven themselves, they hinder those who want to enter in. Jesus went to war against this formidable hindrance, and in the end the scribes and Pharisees put Him to death. They managed to get the secular authorities on their side, and so they pushed their will through. Now in our days, their spiritual kinsmen (the harlot) sit so insecurely in the saddle on the red beast and are so close to being thrown off that they dare not try anything against the saints of God. However, the desire is certainly there. The time will soon come when the red beast that hates the harlot will make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind. Rev. 17:16-17. Then there will be joy in heaven. Rev. 19.

The servants of God’s kingdom, who during their lifetime loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, have always had to battle against this obstacle.

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’” Rev. 18:4.

Our love for righteousness and hatred of lawlessness cause a division to take place in our lives, and make it possible for God’s light and wisdom to enter in. Jesus worked with this all the days of His life. For Him, this love and hatred was a spiritual sword that pierced and separated to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and discerned the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:12. This brought God’s good pleasure over Jesus, and that, to Him, was the oil of gladness. In this way the Son of Man entered into rest to a deeper degree than any of his brethren, and the oil of gladness followed Him.

Verses 10-12. “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.” When God completed His work of creation, He saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. Gen. 1:31. But then the serpent came and led mankind astray. God said to Adam, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: cursed is the ground for your sake . . . .’” Gen. 3:17.

From the very beginning the earth was established on God’s righteousness. Everything was exceedingly good. But through the fall of man the curse came over the earth. The heavens are God’s handiwork, but Satan, the old serpent, and his angels fell and were cast down to the earth. This is the reason for God having to create a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. The old heavens and earth shall grow old and perish. They will be folded up like a cloak.

Peter writes in his second letter, third chapter: “But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, preserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” 2 Pet. 3:7, 10.

Jesus Christ, however, remains the same. He stood the test of fire in the days of His flesh, so God’s fire cannot consume Him. He will live forever. Jesus said, “I came to send fire on the earth.” Those who follow Him will also be tested by fire, and they will receive eternal life. These are freed from the earth and from among men by this fire. Rev. 14:3-4.

Verse 13. “But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’?”

It appears as if the world is able to govern itself without God. People vote and elect and speak about politics just as if they knew everything there is to know. Nonetheless, God is behind everything and is leading the nations toward the feet of Christ. That will become evident on the day when God gives Gog a grave in Israel. Read Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Then God will gather the nations on the mountains of Israel and bring them to judgment with fire and brimstone and with a great earthquake, and the mountains will be thrown down and the steep places will fall. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.

God will magnify Himself and sanctify Himself and will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that He is the Lord.

In Revelation 19 it is written about the same event: “Then the beast [the nations] was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.” Verses 20-21.

“And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8.

God will gather all the Gentiles to war against Jerusalem, and thus He will fulfill His word: “Sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” On that day Christ’s feet “will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.” This is the sword of the Lord that separates and divides. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You. It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light; the lights will diminish . . . But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light . . . And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘the Lord is one,’ and His name is one.” Zech. 14.

Verse 14. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”

When Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, he said, “The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.” Gen. 48:16.

Israel cried out to the Lord, and He heard their voice and set an angel to bring them out of Egypt. Num. 20:16.

“And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead.” 2 Kings 19:35.

“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” Ps. 34:7.

From these passages we understand something of the ministry of the angels on behalf of those who are to inherit salvation.