GOD HAS SPOKEN! “Attention!” (Hebrews Five)
Hebrews 2:1-4 Hebrews 2:1, 3a: “Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. . . . How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Out of his eternal silence God spoke the Word
If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
‘Till by the Spirit of faith reveal’d, The Book is still unread, unknown, And opened by the Lamb alone.
Introduction
I am engaged in the very slow process of paring down my library, like pets, I want to find a good home for them. Often I a take a book to PLNU to give away, then take a second look at it, and bring it back home. One of the latter recently was by T. W. Manson, professor of New Testament at Manchester in England many years ago. In his book he sums up the theology of the Gospel of John. What he writes about John fits Hebrews as well; I quote in part: The Johannine Theology [Hebrews theology] is primarily a theology of Revelation. . . . 4. Since the revelation is a revelation of God it must be in terms of the highest category we know, which is personality. The revelation of God’s nature takes place in the person of Jesus, not merely in certain theological statements, but in his whole life and death. . . . . 7. This saving revelation is the crown and fulfillment of the long course of God’s dealing with the world in Creation and Revelation.
W. E. Sangster (1900-1960) was a Methodist pastor at Westminster Central Hall, London, during the World War II years. His more scholarly books were required reading in my day for Wesleyan ministerial and theological students. Sangster delivered the Fondren Lectures at Southern Methods University which were published in a delightful, indeed, devotional read, little book entitled Power in Preaching. One of Sangster’s points for such preaching was “All honest scrutiny of the deep need of men and women stresses the supreme importance of doctrinal preaching.” He writes that
it is a message we have to give. . . . It centers in a living Person, but it builds on certain historical facts concerning that Person, and it is tied to a number of immense affirmations regarding God, man, and the universe.
Sangster goes on to say that therefore “exhortation is not enough.” He means that preaching must include doctrine, that is, all sermonic exhortation needs to flow from solid biblical theology if there is to be Power in Preaching!
Our book of Hebrews, a sermonic-like document, is called by its preacher author
I. A “word of exhortation” (13:22)
In line with this designation, our passage for today (2:1-4) faces us with the issue of the comparative role of theology and application/warning in proclamation. This applies as well to our personal devotional reading and reflection—the way we go about to feed our souls on a daily basis. The four verses of our text follow fourteen of theological content, fourteen verses that focus on the person and work of Jesus, the Son of God.
So what does the author mean when he calls his document a “word of exhortation”? Does or how does his description relate to all that he writes? Are both his theology and exhortation/application to be characterized by that designation?
The hortatory/warning passages in Hebrews are
2:1-4 3:7-19 4:1-16 5:11-14 6:1-12 10:19-39 12:1—13:24 (mixed at times)
Question: Is warning a lost note in contemporary Christian preaching and teaching?
When it comes to the writer’s intention in calling this work a “word of exhortation” how distinct are theology and exhortation from each other? Does the author’s “word of exhortation” apply just to the obviously hortatory passages or does it apply aswell to his theology as such?
Does theology by its very nature have implications for life? The very term theology is a word (logos) about God (theos)? And is not the biblical God by his very revealed nature concerned about his people—about the spiritual and ethical quality of their lives?
We accept the conclusion of Alexander B. Bruce (1831-1899) who commented over a century ago that in the book of Hebrews
Theology and counsel are interwoven throughout so as to give the whole the character of a “word of exhortation.”
We look at our first warning passage as entitled by my former PTS professor Howard T. Kuist:
II. Such a Revelation Involves a Corresponding Responsibility (2:1-4)
Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, 4while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.
In order to interpret the text, we see it in two movements:
The Warning (2:1-3a)
Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
“Therefore”: Emphatic (dia touto, “because of this”) The warning is not inserted just as a homiletical digression: “No, this warning is the destination toward which the introduction has been heading all along.” 2:1-4 is an exhortation on the basis of what has been said –“God . . . has spoken . . . by a Son”—thus greater than the prophets and the angels (i.e. the revelation through Moses) – “therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard . . .”
“pay greater attention”: “Áttention” is the big word! The Greek verb for “pay . . . attention” is sometimes “used in nautical contexts of directing a ship toward a harbor to anchor there.” This verb (prosechein) is similar in meaning to the verbs in 4:14, “let us hold fast (kratōmen) to our confession,” and in 10:23, “let us hold fast (katechōmen) to the confession of our hope.” In our text a secondary translation could be “let us hold fast to what we have heard.” The use of different verbs for essentially the same meaning is interesting rhetoric, but each with a different range of meaning.
“what we have heard” refers back “spoken to us by a Son” in 1:2 and ahead to the apostolic witness (2:3c).
The danger—“drift” The metaphor is that of a ship being carelessly allowed to drift past a harbor or haven because of neglecting to allow for the wind, the currents, or the tide: “The nautical imagery vividly communicates the insidious danger of neglecting the message of salvation.”
“the message declared through angels was valid” takes us back to the fully developed contrast in chapter 15-14 which has the giving of the law on Mount Sinai in mind (Exodus 19-31). Some traditions in the Judaism of the time “connected the ministry of angels to the giving of the law (Jub. 5:1-2, 6, 13; 6:22: 50:1-2; Gal 3:19; Acts 7:30, 38, 53).
“so great a salvation” picks up the theological term of “salvation” establishing the basic continuity between 1:14 and 2:3—and throughout Hebrews. So “salvation” is defined first by all of chapter 1 and secondly by the verses that follow the basic warning (2:3b-18).
This first hortatory passage moves to completion with
The Confirmation (2:3b-4)
It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, 4while God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will.
The confirmation of the message spoken “in a Son” is threefold:
First, it was “declared at first through the Lord.” The author “uses an expression in the style of the finest Classical Greek to suggest, not simply chronological priority, but that the message had its origin in the Lord’s (i. e., Jesus’) preaching of the gospel.” It was announced originally by the historical Jesus in his earthly ministry—its primary source is “in a Son”—The continuity between the human Jesus and the Son of God is full and complete as the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John, declares over and over. Jesus truly both was and really is the incarnate Son of God!
Second, it was “it was attested to us by those who heard him” (Paul was with the “us” as were Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila second generation Christians. This apostolic witness to the Lord’s preaching uses a verb that has the connotation of legal validation (ebebeiōthē). The New Testament in its entirety is the product of the Apostolic Witness, to which we hold fast, for it is all we have from the first century, the century in which Jesus lived. But . . .
Third, to the witness of the apostles, God adds his own threefold testimony through the ministries of his servants all down through the twenty-one centuries of his Church in
“signs and wonders” “various miracles” “gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will”
“God added his testimony” via his continuing presence—Son and Spirit, with his people. Note that with both the apostles and God the confirmation is a “witness” that by nature can be rejected or accepted. As to “seeing” the meaning of God’s “testimony” there are “seeing eyes” and there are “blind eyes”!
As Kuist, when I sat in that class over fifty years ago with future Presbyterian ministers, put it to us, the message of the gospel of the Son is adequately assured to our hearts as confirmed by
An adequate Source – “declared at first through the Lord” Adequate Witnesses – “attested to us by those who heard him” Adequate Credentials – “by signs and wonders and various miracles Adequate Equipment – “by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will”
Conclusion
A Question: Is the author’s appeal in 1:1-2:4 to mind and heart an effective appeal? Does or can it still touch our hearts? Or is his argument and rhetoric irrelevant, hopelessly out of date for the contemporary person?
The following outline is that of Kevin L. Anderson, Hebrews: A Commentary In The Wesleyan Tradition, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2013), 5-6. I. Hearing the Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession: Hebrews 1:1—4:13 A. Hearing God’s Word in These Last Days: Jesus the Merciful and Faithful High Priest (1:1—2:18) 1. We Must Heed God’s Definitive Revelation in the Son (1:1-2:4) a. God’s Definitive Action in the Son (1:1-4) b. Scriptural Arguments for the Son’s Majesty over Angels (1:5-14) c. Heed What Was Spoken in the Son (2:1-4) 2. Jesus Perfected as a Merciful and Faithful High Priest (2:5-18) B. Hearing God’s Word Today: Jesus the Apostle and High Priest of Our Confession (3:1—4:13). II. Jesus’ Superior High Priesthood: Hebrews 4:14—10:18 III. Call to Persevering Faith and Acceptable Worship: Hebrews 10:19--13:25 Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: , Desert: Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry (New York: Random House Inc., 1983), 49. John 8:31. Charles Wesley, Short Hymns o Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures (Bristol: Farley, 1792), 1.324. http://www.divinity .duke.edu/Wesleyan/texts/cw_published_verse.html. a two volume work with an editorial introduction by Randy Maddox. T. W. Manson, On Paul and John, Studies in Biblical Theology No. 38, ed., Matthew Black (London: SCM Press1963), 160. The path to perfection: an examination and restatement of John Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection (New York, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press,1943), and The Pure in Heart: A Study in Christian Sanctity (London: The Epworth Press, 1954). The PLNU library contains nineteen books written by W. E. Sangster. W. E. Sangster, Power in Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958). Sangster, Power in Preaching, 34. Sangster, Power in Preaching, 35. Sangster, Power in Preaching, 38. A. B. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews the first apology for Christianity: an exegetical study (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1899), 14. Bruce introduces this with “Never loses sight of his readers and their perilous condition, but contrives to mingle argument and exhortation, theoretical and practical matter, so as to be at every point in contact with their hearts and consciences as well as their intellect.” As translated by Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary, The New Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 85. Anderson Hebrews, 76. Anderson Hebrews, 77. In order, nautical, criminal apprehension, and restraining/confining contexts. Anderson Hebrews, 77. Johnson, Hebrews, 87. Jubilees, one of the more important books in the Pseudepigrapha, dates from the early second century and contains the history of Judaism in the two centuries before the Christian era. Anderson Hebrews, 79. Johnson, Hebrews, 89, documents the New Testament use of these three terms: “For ‘signs and wonders’ (sēmeia kai terato) as demonstrating the power of the preached word, see Acts 2:19, 22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:13; 15:12; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor12:12. For ‘powerful deeds” (dynameis) serving precisely the same function, see Acts 2:22; 6:8; 18:13; 19:11; Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 2:4; 4:20; 12:10, 28;2 Cor 12:12; Gal 3:5; 1 Thess 1:5).”
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