GOD HAS SPOKEN! “angels . . . ministering spirits” (Hebrews Four)
Hebrews 1:5-14 Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (NRSV).
“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (NASB).
Out of his eternal silence God spoke the Word
‘Till by the Spirit of faith reveal’d, The Book is still unread, unknown, And opened by the Lamb alone.
Introduction
Thomas Merton, February 1, 1947: Today, at work in the woods, I nearly cut off both my legs. The ax kept glancing off the felled pine tree I was supposed to be trimming. It flew at my knees like a fierce, bright-beaked bird and my guardian angel had a busy afternoon fencing with the blade to keep me on my two feet.
It is better to believe in angels than never having felt the touch of angels’ wings.
Today our lesson topic is angels. Angels appear in the New Testament roughly one hundred and seventy-five times and in Hebrews thirteen times. An angel spoke to Joseph, to Mary, to Philip, to Cornelius, to Peter, to Paul, and to John the revelator. And this is not to mention the numerous interventions of ministering angels in the lives of the men and women in the early Church.
No doubt some of you have had personal experiences that you are convinced were “the touch of angels’ wings,” experiences of an evident “ministering spirit” in a time of real personal need? Keith Pagan shares such a story with us:
I noticed him first as a very handsome man with what I assumed to be prematurely gray hair. Then, I noticed the very expensive looking steel gray suit to match--perfectly. This was in the late 60s, but even then a very dressy suit in a pot-luck line preceding a week-night church service was a bit unusual. He spoke first, “Good evening, sir, how are you? You look a little distressed.” I replied, “I am fine, but my bus isn’t.”
To fill in the gap, I was there with a busload of female college singers, the “Treble Choir.” It was a Friday, and we had left Pasadena in time to get to Santa Cruz for an evening concert. About mid-way, the girls started screaming “THE BUS IS ON FIRE!” A visual check revealed a blown “valve cover gasket”, which let the oil just pour down the side of the very hot engine---not ablaze, but terribly smelly. My first reaction was anger at the leasing company for palming off an old, unproven rig that they had just purchased from a defunct bus line in another state on us. So, we stopped frequently and poured oil into the crankcase, and limped on to our destination somewhat later than planned.
It was an “off-brand” bus, with parts available only at one place in San Francisco, unfortunately already closed for the weekend. We unloaded, and hastened toward the dressing room and the pot-luck dinner. Dangerously close to starting time, I gave up on the bus and got in the food line myself and tried to get my mind and spirits in gear for a Sacred Concert.
I told all this to The Man in the Gray Suit and he seemed to grasp it all, including the fact that the make of the bus—which he recognized when he pulled into the parking lot—was problematic.
After listening to the story, he said,” Don’t worry. I’ll have a man here at 8:00am tomorrow and he’ll get you going again.” “Oh, do you know a mechanic here?” “No. He works for me. My company is building some roads and bridges for the state, and he is in charge of maintaining our heavy duty equipment. Trust me: he knows what he is doing.”
Sure enough, promptly at 8 the next morning, a large pickup loaded with equipment pulled into the parking lot, and an equally large driver got out, took a look at the motor, started chewing on his cigar and went to work. He had a big sheet of the gasket material and basically hand-carved it to fit. It worked. I loaded the singers and tried to pay him, which he refused. As far as I know, the repair lasted the life of the bus.
As the ladies loaded the bus on Saturday, the host pastor was there to make sure all went well; I asked him if he would get me the name and address of The Man in the Gray Suit so I could thank him. He insisted that no one in his congregation remotely matched my description, and he didn’t remember seeing anyone like that the night before. None of the girls had friends or relatives in attendance who could have been the individual that saved the concert tour. No one remembered a gray haired man, or seeing me talk with anyone.
The choir sang at the church 2-3 years later, and I asked the pastor privately, and then the congregation. No one had knowledge of an individual matching my description; neither did they know anyone who was involved in the highway construction project. The pastor was sure that I simply had the wrong church in mind. Who was the Man in the Gray Suit?
Then there are those “unknown to us” interventions that often save our lives—driving to LA and back always seconds from certain death! Add to these those providential circumstances that we never expected and look back at them in absolute wonder! Ron Benefiel speaks of such an account in relation to Janet:
A few weeks before Janet died, she was at home with a care-giver. Quite suddenly, she began choking on something that she was eating. The care-giver (Norma) tried to help her but was unable. Janet soon passed out. The care-giver called 911 and was desperately trying to communicate the urgency of the situation to a dispatcher who seemed to be taking far too long. While Norma was on the phone with the dispatcher there was a knock at the door. It was a man making a delivery from the local pharmacy. It was his first day on the job after having recently retired from 27 years of service with the San Diego fire department. Norma motioned to him to come in and indicated we were having a medical emergency. He knew just what to do, of course, and was able to stabilize Janet until the emergency team arrived. There is no doubt that on that day, he saved (at least extended) Janet’s life. He came one more time with a delivery. I was there this time, as was Norma, the care-giver. She introduced him to me as "her angel."
The question out of all this, of course, is why? This seemed to us to be a messenger from God who intervened to save or extend Janet's life. But a few weeks later, she died. It still represented to all of us the active presence, compassion and provision of God in the time of our need.
Our Scripture text for today talks about the superiority of the Son to the angels. Hebrews opened with a declaration of the Son’s superiority to the prophets, and as we shall see, the body of his book will deal with the Son’s superiority to Moses and the law.
The all-important question is, Who is this superior Son? We recap briefly the affirmations of 1:1-4 from our last lesson that we did not get to:
As “appointed heir of all things” for us, the Son now as man is the One for whom all things are intended. Since he is also the One “through whom [God] also created the world”; he inherits “what he himself participated in bringing into being.”
Further the Son is “the reflection,” or better, taking apaugasma in its active rather than passive sense, “the radiance of God’s glory.” The incarnated Son is the shining “sun” of God rather than a reflecting “moon.”
Or, put another way, the Son is “the exact imprint of God’s very being”: The Greek charakter is used of a stamp on coins expressing “once again the conviction that the Son is the fully adequate representation of the divine.” “Very being” is hypostasis referring to that which stands beneath, “what is basic or foundational, hence the nature or essence of a person or thing.”
The Son is the one who “sustains all things by his powerful word.” His all-encompassing providential authority by which he both supports and guides creation towards God’s intended aims is executed merely by his powerful word.
And most central for the author’s coming presentation of the Son as our Great High Priest: “When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The Son is the “royal heir” who “enjoys a status on par with God the Father.”
The author’s shift in verse 3 from present (“is . . . sustains”) to past tense indicates that the Son’s atoning sacrifice is a completed act that took place before his exaltation. Having “sat down” (ekathisen), the Son has “become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” The superior name is that of “a Son.”
So now why does the author concern himself with angels?
Our clue to what is going on in the remainder of the chapter is the writer’s conclusion in verse 4 that the Son “having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” Jesus’ superiority in every way is that of simply being “a Son”! This the author now seeks to demonstrate by an argument consisting of a chain of texts from the Old Testament.
I.
The Son is superior first of all to the angels in his “Installation as Royal Heir (1:5-6): This superiority is shown first in his name by quotations from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14:
5For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? [Psalm 2:7] Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? [2 Samuel 7:14]
Psalm 2 is a royal psalm containing solemn words spoken at the coronation of a new Israelite king. Psalm 2:7 appears with the baptism of Jesus as God’s Son (Mark 1:11), his transfiguration (Mark 9:7), and his resurrection (Acts 13:33). The quotation from 2 Samuel 7:14 is imbedded in God’s covenant promise of perpetual kingship to the house of David. The Son is superior to angels in “who he is”!
The Son’s superiority to angels as the Royal Heir is shown again in a quotation that speaks of him as One worshiped the angels. The quotation resembles the LXX (Septuagint) renderings of Deuteronomy 32:43 and Psalm 97:7.
6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
Interestingly, verse 6 “corresponds exactly to a version of the ‘Song of Moses’ in the Odes of Solomon (2:34), appended to the Psalms in a manuscript tradition of the LXX. . . . Apparently the preacher appeals to a liturgical adaptation of a biblical text.” The title “firstborn” given to the Son signifies here “his preeminence as the divine-human heir ‘over all creation’ (Col 1:15) as the Risen One (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5) and forerunner of all those who will inherit salvation’ (Heb 1:14; see Rom 8:29).” The logic: the One who is worshiped is greater than the one who worships!
II.
The Son is superior secondly to the angels in what Anderson calls “The Son’s Constancy (1:7-12). The argument is based on a truism in the ancient world that the things that do not change are superior to those that do. This is the author’s major premise. His minor premise (therefore . . .) is that “whereas angels are changeable (1:7), the Son is unchangeable (1:8-12).” To demonstrate this point the writer to the Hebrews quotes in order
Psalm 104:4 (LXX), a hymn of praise to Yahweh (1:7); Psalm 45:6-7 (LXX), a royal psalm (1:8-9); Psalm 102:25-27 (LXX), an individual lament with hymnic elements (1:10-12).
We can both sense and feel how the author makes the point as we read the passage:
7Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” 8But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. 9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 10And, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing; 12like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.”
What all do you notice about the contrast?
The cosmos is ever-changing as we too well know in our time, but of the Son, the author writes, “you are the same, and your years will never end.” Anderson concludes:
Given the major and minor premises of this argument, the conclusion is once again clear. The Son who is eternal and constant is superior to angels who, as part of the created order, are ever changing.
Anticipated is the author’s later striking declaration, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8) Yet the divine Son entered fully the created order gracing human history as “truly man”—the Incarnate One!
III.
Alluded to in 1:3 with “he sat down,” the writer to the Hebrews quotes from Psalm 110. This psalm, like Psalm 2 quoted in verse 5, is also an enthronement psalm. These two alike Psalms form an obvious inclusio for 1:5-13. As we noted earlier, Psalm 110 will play a significant role as “the backbone for christological reflection” in the author’s exposition. He now quotes Psalm 110:1:
13But to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
The climax of enthronement, “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3), is now repeated. His dignity as the exalted One is clearly stated and supported.
A final rhetorical question summarizes the passage. The angels, however, are they not all
14. . . spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
The Son is the ruler, the angels are servants; they are first “ministering spirits” (NASB), alluding perhaps to their ministry of worship before the throne of God, and second “commissioned to assist human beings on earth.” The author here affords us a hinge to or anticipating what will come next in his presentation.
Those folk the angels are “sent to serve” are “those who are to inherit salvation.” The Son, the heir par excellence (1:2), includes in his inheritance those who live by faith in him: we are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). The angels are dedicated not only to the service of God but also to the help of his people “who are to inherit salvation.” “Salvation” clarifies the meaning of the “purification for sins” (1:3) and establishes a central theme of Hebrews.
The Hebrews author’s conclusion is obvious: “the Son is superior to the angels.” F. F. Bruce interprets:
As God had no greater messenger than His Son, He had no further message beyond the gospel.
Conclusion
Our faith is in the Son who “when he had made purification for sins, . . . sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (1:3b). Angels, however, are those divine beings who are sent to assist the people of God in times of need.
Question: When it comes to the providence of God in your life, do you believe in the providential protection of angels or just in “working the angles”? My Betty and Junita Loos each firmly believe that they have experienced the intervention of angel: We hear their stories:
Betty
Nuremberg, Germany: We had been briefly at European Nazarene Bible College in January, 2004, teaching a short course. Now on a crispy cold January evening in Nuremburg, Germany, we were on our way by train from Schaffhausen, Switzerland, to visit a former student and her husband for the weekend before heading to Zurich for the flight to San Diego. The time was very brief for the transfer to the train going to Hof, Germany.
As we were approaching our train, it was about to leave with Frank, walking on ahead. He boarded the train with our luggage looking back anxiously for me. Hurrying as fast as I could, pulling a small suitcase, I suddenly felt a lady’s arm almost pushing me and helping me onto the train barely in time. Safely on the train, I looked back to wave the lady a hearty “thank you,” but there was no lady there. I truly felt the presence of God that wintry day in the Nuremburg station.
Junita
Amersfoort, Holland: About an hour’s train ride into the countryside from Amsterdam, Amersfoort is a beautiful picturesque hamlet surrounded by the ruminants of an ancient fort. There we met up with my Uncle Hans and his sister who are from there. It was a hot summer day, so the cafes had set up their tables outside in the center of the little town. There are no air conditioners in those old buildings. I asked to use the toilet; they do not call them bathrooms. The innkeeper whose chairs we occupied said, “Go into the door of the café, walk to the end of the room and turn left.” The inn was very dark having come from outside where the sun was bright. The cafe was paneled in dark oak, quaint but ancient. I walked across the floor, past the long dark paneled food/bar counter to the end of it and turned left, as he had directed. I was on the move. Suddenly I felt a hand stretched across my chest stopping me. I quickly looked to my left to see who the hand belonged to. Everyone was outside. It was then that I saw in front of me a set of ancient, steep concrete stairs leading to the basement with the sign, “Toilets,” at the bottom. One more step and I would have fallen down those concrete steps. I grabbed a hold of the wall, caught my breath, and stared down those menacing looking stairs. My heart was racing in amazement at the sight in front of me. It took what seemed forever for my body and legs to stop shaking before I was able to descend those stairs. I spent some time gathering my senses scattered about me. Then I felt the warm, comforting reassurance: “The Lord had sent his Angels to stop me.” I thanked him…and worshiped him in my heart. It is better to believe in angels than never having felt the touch of angels’ wings! NASB. 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) 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. Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on 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. Thomas Merton, The Sign of Jonas (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1953), 24. The entry is from his journal in the Trappist monastery at Gethsemane which he had entered in 1941. Memory says I read this in Harry Emerson Fosdick, A Faith for Tough Times (1952), but a cursory read could not locate it. This is a true story, as accurate as an octogenarian’s memory can make it.
Luke Timothy Johnson, Hebrews: A Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 67. Harold W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1989), 44. Anderson, Hebrews, 67. Anderson, Hebrews, 69. From a present to an aorist participle in Greek, that is, from continuing action to a definite pin-point action. With this the author alludes to a key text for his Christology, Psalm 110:1, from which he quotes in verse 13. Psalm 110 becomes a primary text for the author’s entire exposition, 1:1-12:29. The author has in mind at least the Jewish view that the law was mediated to Moses by angels (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19). The Hebrews’ author in 2:2 writes of “the message declared through angels.”
Anderson, Hebrews, 71.
Anderson, Hebrews, 72. It is found in Codes A, 55; see also Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 130. The Odes of Solomon is a second (?) century document found among the New Testament apocryphal writings. It consists of a collection of forty-two early Jewish Christian hymns celebrating the union of Christ and the believer. Anderson, Hebrews, 73. Anderson, Hebrews, 73. Anderson, Hebrews, 73. This was held especially by those influenced by Platonic philosophy. Anderson, Hebrews, 73 Anderson, Hebrews, 74. Anderson, Hebrews, 75. Psalm 110:1 is quoted/alluded to in 1:3, 13; 8:1, 10:12-13, 12:2. Psalm 110:4, first quoted in 5:6 is quoted/alluded to frequently in chapters 5-7: 5:10, 17; 6:17, 20; 7:3, 11, 15, 20, 21, 24, 28. Anderson, Hebrews, 76. Anderson, Hebrews, 76. F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964), 26.
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