Hebrews chapter 2........supreme as man
The chapter continues the theme of the supremacy of the Son, now as man; chapter 1 His deity, chapter 2 His humanity. He is greater than angels as God, He is greater than angels as Man. We now learn of the wonder of His humanity, having revelled in the glory of His deity. The chapter begins with the first of five warning passages in the letter (chapter 2vv1-4). The others are; chapter 3v7-4v13; chapter 5v11-6v20; chapter 10vv26-39, and chapter 12 vv15-29. These warnings are issued because of the tendency of human beings to trivialise sacred things, and are inserted in the midst of the highest Divine truths, encouraging us to treat them with due respect.
The chapter divides easily into five small sections around His humanity, which is a thing of wonder and deserves a lot of thought. The false teachings, back then, majored around two great errors; denial of the Deity of Christ, and denial of the Humanity of Christ. Deviations from both are also a mark of the present time and we are grateful for the truth expounded here.
a. Verses 1-4 As man He brought salvation to the world.
b. Verses 5-9 As man He regained man’s lost dominion.
c. Verses 10-13 As man He will bring many sons to glory.
d. Verses 14-15 As man He disarmed the devil and delivered the people.
e. Verses 16-18 As man He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses.
The whole chapter is about His real Humanity with the stress on the salvation He has brought as man and for man. The thread of superiority to angels runs through the verses. In order to save mankind, He became “a little lower than angels” , yet even in that humble state He was greater.
Verses1-4 As man he brought so great salvation
The contrast here is between the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ, framed as “...the word spoken by angels...” and “...so great salvation spoken by the Lord...”. All that was in the past was preparatory to this and is therefore superseded by it. That was the shadow this is the substance. The word of angels could only condemn, the word of the Lord saves us.
“Therefore....” Immediately we are taken back to the revelations of chapter 1. The Son is the one through whom God is now speaking, the heir of all things, the originator of all things, the very essence of God as to His appearance and character, sustainer and driver of all things, redeemer of all things, and majestic Lord over all. Declared by the Father to be the Son, worshipped by angels, destined for kingdom glory, destroyer of all that exists in rebellion, His is the word that commands our attention today.
“We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard....” Sometimes it takes a while for Divine truth to register with us and we need to give this our closest attention. Debate rages as to whom the writer is speaking with the use of the words “we” and “us”. Comparison throughout the letter (including 2v2,3v1etc. to 10v26), indicate we cannot confine this to believers or unbelievers, but he is speaking to Hebrew people in general, most of whom he thinks are saved but some may not be. These warnings therefore can only be apprehended by the hearer and there may be a dual application. To neglect salvation is not the same as rejecting it, but the application is severe for the language is “escape”....escape from what? Escape from Divine government whether of temporal or eternal judgment. Neglect of God’s word will bring eternal punishment to the unbeliever, and may bring temporal punishment to the believer. Examples of old are many, like the leprosy imposed on Miriam, or the death of the sons of Aaron, or the retribution on Korah, or the rejection of king Uzziah, or the exile imposed on the nation. These along with countless more minor misdemeanours were punished....”every transgression and disobedience received it’s just recompense of reward...” If now we have a superior word from God, and we neglect it we shall not escape. God’s word is not to be ignored especially in the light of so great salvation. There are warnings in the letter against rejecting His word, there are also warnings against neglecting it, such as in chapter 12 where the chastening of the Father is explained. This great salvation is not to be neglected, for the tendency will be to “drift away” which is the meaning of the word “slip”. Vine’s dictionary suggests “drifting away” or “passing by”, without due attention. Proverbs 3v21, referring to wisdom, says “my son let them not depart from thine eyes....”; again in Isaiah 44v4 the picture is “as willows by the water courses”, the thought of drifting aimlessly and uncontrollably. This, the full and final word of God to mankind requires our best attention because:
It means salvation to all who receive it; The former word spoken by angels only brought condemnation, this word is salvation.
It is so great salvation Because of the supreme greatness of the one through whom it came.
It was first spoken by the Lord He had many titles when here, but Lord(kurios-sovereign lord) is His title in salvation and in the church. His status gives credence to the word.
It was confirmed to the church by the apostles “...them that heard Him...”. This is no hearsay, no secret society. Their word is His word, and that for all time.
God also bore witness with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit The spectacular gifts were for a sign to the unbelieving world(1st Corinthians 14v22) to authenticate the message in the eyes of the world. The evidence is that these miraculous gifts slowly tapered out, but at first they caught the attention of the public. God used this to kick start the new movement.
It is attested by the three persons of the Godhead “...first spoken by the Lord.....God bearing them witness.....gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
Verses 5-9 As man He will regain man’s lost dominion
Salvation is a comprehensive term and involves the reversal of all that sin brought in and much more. In this section it is the restoration of man’s dominion of the earth, as decreed in Genesis 1v26 before the fall, and reiterated in Psalm 8 after the fall. A reading of the Psalm reveals that at stake was the excellence of the name of the Lord in all the earth (verses 1&8). It was man who would have dominion over all on earth, the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and the beast of the field, and all the work of God’s hands. Man was made a little lower than angels (inferior in might and in power.... 2nd Peter 2v11). Yet he was given sovereign control of the earth, “Thou hast put all things under his feet” Psalm 8v6. Hebrews 2v8 says “...but now we see not yet all things put under him...” Not yet, since the creation of man, has the subjection of all things to man been achieved. Because of the fall, the subjection of the earth was transferred to angels. At the fall man subjected to Satan and his demons and the government of the world is in the hands of angels. This situation will change, in the words of verse 5 “Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come...”. It is indeed heartening to know that God’s original purpose for man will be fulfilled....the fall will not alter His plans. This will be done by a man, a perfect man, who will reign supreme as man and restore the kingdom...”We see Jesus (His title in humanity).... crowned with glory and honour”. This is the force of the verse....Jesus became a little lower than angels (He became man), with a view to the suffering of death (as God He could not die), and the purpose was to save man and regain lost dominion. For this cause He “tasted death for every thing”, not just every man but man and his environment affected by the fall. Chapter 1v13 is clear, that Jesus is now enthroned, until all things are subject to Him. We see Jesus, the man enthroned, expecting, awaiting the time when the new order of world government will become visible. To do this He must come lower than angels, He must suffer death, He must taste death, He became man specifically to die, to elevate man from their fallen state and restore to man lost dominion.
Verses 10-13 As man He is leading many sons to glory
The scope of verse 10 is quite breath-taking; we have God’s sovereignty, our salvation and Christ’s suffering all rolled into one. The issue is the way God achieves His purposes; “it became Him for whom are all things and by(through )whom are all things.” God is the beneficiary and the benefactor of all. It is all unto Him, it is all by His design and agency. He is the future and the means of all blessing. Therefore everything He does is perfect. His designs are benign toward the human race. His concept of salvation was not merely to forgive their past but to glorify their future. He is “leading many sons to glory”, this is way beyond reversing the effects of the fall, this is bestowing on fallen human beings His own character, it is sons He is leading to glory, that is, those in His own likeness Who is leading us to glory is no less a person than the Son who is described in chapter 1. He follows the thought of suffering from verse 9; yes Jesus must die for man, but why must He suffer? He must suffer because sin has brought not only separation from God, but attendant earthly sufferings. If He is to be equipped to lead many to share His glory, He must first share their sufferings due to the dread consequences of sin....”It became Him.......to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”. Note the suffering (singular) in verse 9 and the sufferings (plural) in verse 10. His suffering of death dealt with my sin, His life sufferings deals with my needs, my weaknesses. “It became Him....”, it was in line with God’s beneficent character that He would not only deal with our judicial needs but also our practical needs, He does nothing by half measures. He has provided for our past, present and future and fitted His Son to be our perfect leader to glory.
There is a lovely progression of thought here and, perfectly expresses the pathway to glory for the believer.
• Changed relationships Sons, brethren, children. As sons we are in character with the Father. As brethren we are in blood relationship to Christ and to each other. As children we are members of humanity “partakers of flesh and blood”. Real people, of Adam’s fallen race brought into blood fellowship in Jesus Christ, destined for glory, in the likeness of the Father.
• Changed lifestyles To live sanctified lives, holy lives, lives apart for God; “both He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one”. Forged together in a living union with our leader. In the process of sanctification, we derive from the sanctifier continuous guidance in the new life. There is an aspect of one-off sanctification, also one of continuous sanctification. Perfection will be realised at the end of the road.
• Changed perspectives Firstly “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” This comes from Psalm 22v22 and is a Messianic cry of victory after the struggles of suffering. This pathway He shares with His brethren, who are fellow sufferers. This is a very striking statement considering the greatness of the Son compared to the disciples. Not yet made perfect and still displaying too many traits of the old life, yet He is not ashamed of them and will declare them to His Father. Now enthroned in the glory, far from the toxic atmosphere of earth, yet His love is with us even in our weak, sometimes failing state, showing frustrating tendencies, and, at times, unfaithful behaviour. He came down to our level, condescending to humanity, subjecting Himself even to death, and He is proud to call us brethren.
Next the quotations from Isaiah 8vv17-18 “...I will look to Him (Hebrews 2 “I will put my trust in Him”). Behold I and the children that God hath given me”. The circumstances are similar to Psalm 22. The disappointment of Isaiah at the sense of abandonment of Israel by God (“He hideth His face from the house of Jacob, verse17). Israel were at their lowest point spiritually; a series of kings had died unnatural deaths; the good king Uzziah was a leper at the end of a period of distinct blessing. The throne was disgraced, the people had sinned, the Assyrian armies were about to invade them, and the testimony of Israel was in tatters. Seemingly God was hiding His face. There was one flicker of hope, God had given the prophet two children; Shearjashub (the remnant will return), and Maher- shalal- hash- baz ( literally- impending invasion). Put together the boys symbolised on the one hand the suffering of the people and on the other their ultimate triumph. These children were a sign of the glory to come after the suffering and the supreme sign to all would be the birth of another child, Immanuel, in chapter 7 of Isaiah. The two stories are the same, Psalm 22...first the trauma then the triumph referring to the Messiah; Isaiah 8...first the defeat then the deliverance, referring to the remnant of the people. The lesson here is that in His humanity He took upon Him all the suffering, all the seeming despair, to bring to fruition the benign purposes of God which are outlined in the rest of the prophesy of Isaiah. In this very real and heart-warming way, the writer is teaching us that the pathway to glory will be strewn with difficulty, disappointment and even defeat, but our Lord trod it before us and look at Him now!! In His condescending humanity He experienced the very problems, and traumas of living for God in this sinful world. In Isaiah 8, reference is made to the disciples of Isaiah; this is reminiscent of the words of Jesus in John 17v6 where He spoke of His disciples as the love gift of the Father to Him “I have manifested thy name unto the men thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word”. He saw these few faithful disciples as the sign of a great harvest to follow in the end, as Isaiah did with his few disciples.
There is a word to all the faithful today for we are living in remnant conditions again, and we appreciate the little tokens of fellowship by a few of the Lord’s people on the way. God always has His true people in all places and in all situations and we are to take that as a sign of His ultimate triumph. This is the path to glory, in the words of the song “It is the way the Master went should not the servant tread it still?”
Verses 14-15 As man He disarmed the devil and delivered the people
He must free His people from the fear of death, which had held them captive all their lives. The bondage which besets men because of their fear of the unknown is a crippling debilitating force which removes the joy of life. So what is this “fear of death” that enslaves people for their entire lifetime? The bible makes it perfectly clear what this is, a life-controlling force. Jesus said in John 8 v34 “Verily, verily, I say unto you “he that commits(continually practices sin) is the slave of sin”. Paul in Romans chapter 6 says, writing to believers in verse 17 “ye were the slaves of sin...”. He expands this in verse 19 “you yielded your members slaves to uncleanness and to iniquity(lawlessness) unto iniquity...” in short you lived your life in a bubble of sin and rebellion. In chapter 5 he says “sin reigned unto death”, an uncompromising monarch demanding and dictating lifestyle, with the end separation from God and good. This force is used by the devil to enslave human beings. The fear of death is not so much the fear of dying but the sense of living for only a short time and the need to live it to the full before inevitable death. It is in essence living for now for there is nothing after....”Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is the cry. Live for now for “we are a long time dead” is the modern phrase. This leads to all kinds of enslavement, such as self gratification, world conformity, and demon spiritual control as is outlined in Ephesians 2vv1-3. The rule of the fear of death is a powerful one, but that power has been broken for Christ entered into humanity, entered into death, came through death in resurrection power, having broken the cycle of fear by pointing us to a life beyond death, the world to come, an eternal existence of freedom from fear of death, a kingdom that will not be shaken, a life of peace and joy and blessing untarnished by sin or Satan.
To do that He must take part of flesh and blood just as the children(His followers} are flesh and blood....He became one of us. He must do this, for He must enter into death, and He must pass through death and out of death(for that is the force of these words) to destroy (render powerless) the devil, for his lie has been exposed, and believers now know that the true life is outside of this realm, and the fear of death is gone, and with it the enslaving power of the devil. There is a time appointed when the devil and all his followers will be eternally banished, in the meantime the power has been broken in every life that follows Christ.
Verses 16-18 As man He is equipped to sympathise with our weaknesses
“For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on him the seed of Abraham.” This A.V. rendering is clumsy and it should read “He took not hold of angels but He took hold of the seed of Abraham.” The word for “took hold” occurs 19 times in the new testament and means to seize, to rescue, to lay hold on. This follows from the previous verse where He has delivered (rescued ) His people from the clutches of the devil. They were forcefully removed for they were not given up lightly. He did not rescue fallen angels, they are not given a second chance. Their sin was greater than that of man, for they sinned in the presence of God, and they had no federal head, thus their sin was personal and wilful at the highest level. Human beings on the other hand were born in sin, into a world cursed by sin, and had a federal head in Adam who brought it upon us all. Thus we inherited sin genetically. Still the holiness of God demanded we be saved and so He came. He came to the whole world but only the seed of Abraham are saved....Genesis 15v6 “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” All who come this way are saved, and in this way Christ took hold of Abraham’s seed. But He provided also for all the needs of our pathway to glory, and was Himself equipped to meet all these. Here again we have the amazing attitude of God to those who have faith in Him “Wherefore it behoved Him.....” c/f verse 10 “it became Him...” These phrases are marvellous and tell us that God must always act in a way commensurate with His own benign character, everything He does is perfect, all for our benefit and His glory. In the design of salvation of mankind, it became an obligation to Him to be made like unto His brethren, that is He would experience every aspect of their suffering they would ever pass through. There is not one situation He did not meet while here, and Omniscience would tell Him everything His brethren would suffer on the way.
He is therefore qualified as a merciful high priest.....that is in relation to us, He can be merciful because He has lived here with the same problems.
He is qualified as a faithful high priest.....that is in relation to God, for in each and every case He glorified God.
He came the way He did to bring us to God, by removing the offending sins in propitiation (not sin, but sins); provision is made for ongoing sins as well as past sins. He suffered, being tested, in body soul and spirit. His testings (He was never tempted) were to fit Him as a competent succourer for all His people who would be similarly put to the test. God does not tempt us, He puts us to the test, yet because of our sinful nature we can be tempted by Satan. As man (not as sinful man) He is able to succour His people. He could never yield to sin, but He understands our weakness. What a Man.......what a Saviour!
The chapter continues the theme of the supremacy of the Son, now as man; chapter 1 His deity, chapter 2 His humanity. He is greater than angels as God, He is greater than angels as Man. We now learn of the wonder of His humanity, having revelled in the glory of His deity. The chapter begins with the first of five warning passages in the letter (chapter 2vv1-4). The others are; chapter 3v7-4v13; chapter 5v11-6v20; chapter 10vv26-39, and chapter 12 vv15-29. These warnings are issued because of the tendency of human beings to trivialise sacred things, and are inserted in the midst of the highest Divine truths, encouraging us to treat them with due respect.
The chapter divides easily into five small sections around His humanity, which is a thing of wonder and deserves a lot of thought. The false teachings, back then, majored around two great errors; denial of the Deity of Christ, and denial of the Humanity of Christ. Deviations from both are also a mark of the present time and we are grateful for the truth expounded here.
a. Verses 1-4 As man He brought salvation to the world.
b. Verses 5-9 As man He regained man’s lost dominion.
c. Verses 10-13 As man He will bring many sons to glory.
d. Verses 14-15 As man He disarmed the devil and delivered the people.
e. Verses 16-18 As man He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses.
The whole chapter is about His real Humanity with the stress on the salvation He has brought as man and for man. The thread of superiority to angels runs through the verses. In order to save mankind, He became “a little lower than angels” , yet even in that humble state He was greater.
Verses1-4 As man he brought so great salvation
The contrast here is between the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ, framed as “...the word spoken by angels...” and “...so great salvation spoken by the Lord...”. All that was in the past was preparatory to this and is therefore superseded by it. That was the shadow this is the substance. The word of angels could only condemn, the word of the Lord saves us.
“Therefore....” Immediately we are taken back to the revelations of chapter 1. The Son is the one through whom God is now speaking, the heir of all things, the originator of all things, the very essence of God as to His appearance and character, sustainer and driver of all things, redeemer of all things, and majestic Lord over all. Declared by the Father to be the Son, worshipped by angels, destined for kingdom glory, destroyer of all that exists in rebellion, His is the word that commands our attention today.
“We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard....” Sometimes it takes a while for Divine truth to register with us and we need to give this our closest attention. Debate rages as to whom the writer is speaking with the use of the words “we” and “us”. Comparison throughout the letter (including 2v2,3v1etc. to 10v26), indicate we cannot confine this to believers or unbelievers, but he is speaking to Hebrew people in general, most of whom he thinks are saved but some may not be. These warnings therefore can only be apprehended by the hearer and there may be a dual application. To neglect salvation is not the same as rejecting it, but the application is severe for the language is “escape”....escape from what? Escape from Divine government whether of temporal or eternal judgment. Neglect of God’s word will bring eternal punishment to the unbeliever, and may bring temporal punishment to the believer. Examples of old are many, like the leprosy imposed on Miriam, or the death of the sons of Aaron, or the retribution on Korah, or the rejection of king Uzziah, or the exile imposed on the nation. These along with countless more minor misdemeanours were punished....”every transgression and disobedience received it’s just recompense of reward...” If now we have a superior word from God, and we neglect it we shall not escape. God’s word is not to be ignored especially in the light of so great salvation. There are warnings in the letter against rejecting His word, there are also warnings against neglecting it, such as in chapter 12 where the chastening of the Father is explained. This great salvation is not to be neglected, for the tendency will be to “drift away” which is the meaning of the word “slip”. Vine’s dictionary suggests “drifting away” or “passing by”, without due attention. Proverbs 3v21, referring to wisdom, says “my son let them not depart from thine eyes....”; again in Isaiah 44v4 the picture is “as willows by the water courses”, the thought of drifting aimlessly and uncontrollably. This, the full and final word of God to mankind requires our best attention because:
It means salvation to all who receive it; The former word spoken by angels only brought condemnation, this word is salvation.
It is so great salvation Because of the supreme greatness of the one through whom it came.
It was first spoken by the Lord He had many titles when here, but Lord(kurios-sovereign lord) is His title in salvation and in the church. His status gives credence to the word.
It was confirmed to the church by the apostles “...them that heard Him...”. This is no hearsay, no secret society. Their word is His word, and that for all time.
God also bore witness with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit The spectacular gifts were for a sign to the unbelieving world(1st Corinthians 14v22) to authenticate the message in the eyes of the world. The evidence is that these miraculous gifts slowly tapered out, but at first they caught the attention of the public. God used this to kick start the new movement.
It is attested by the three persons of the Godhead “...first spoken by the Lord.....God bearing them witness.....gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
Verses 5-9 As man He will regain man’s lost dominion
Salvation is a comprehensive term and involves the reversal of all that sin brought in and much more. In this section it is the restoration of man’s dominion of the earth, as decreed in Genesis 1v26 before the fall, and reiterated in Psalm 8 after the fall. A reading of the Psalm reveals that at stake was the excellence of the name of the Lord in all the earth (verses 1&8). It was man who would have dominion over all on earth, the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and the beast of the field, and all the work of God’s hands. Man was made a little lower than angels (inferior in might and in power.... 2nd Peter 2v11). Yet he was given sovereign control of the earth, “Thou hast put all things under his feet” Psalm 8v6. Hebrews 2v8 says “...but now we see not yet all things put under him...” Not yet, since the creation of man, has the subjection of all things to man been achieved. Because of the fall, the subjection of the earth was transferred to angels. At the fall man subjected to Satan and his demons and the government of the world is in the hands of angels. This situation will change, in the words of verse 5 “Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come...”. It is indeed heartening to know that God’s original purpose for man will be fulfilled....the fall will not alter His plans. This will be done by a man, a perfect man, who will reign supreme as man and restore the kingdom...”We see Jesus (His title in humanity).... crowned with glory and honour”. This is the force of the verse....Jesus became a little lower than angels (He became man), with a view to the suffering of death (as God He could not die), and the purpose was to save man and regain lost dominion. For this cause He “tasted death for every thing”, not just every man but man and his environment affected by the fall. Chapter 1v13 is clear, that Jesus is now enthroned, until all things are subject to Him. We see Jesus, the man enthroned, expecting, awaiting the time when the new order of world government will become visible. To do this He must come lower than angels, He must suffer death, He must taste death, He became man specifically to die, to elevate man from their fallen state and restore to man lost dominion.
Verses 10-13 As man He is leading many sons to glory
The scope of verse 10 is quite breath-taking; we have God’s sovereignty, our salvation and Christ’s suffering all rolled into one. The issue is the way God achieves His purposes; “it became Him for whom are all things and by(through )whom are all things.” God is the beneficiary and the benefactor of all. It is all unto Him, it is all by His design and agency. He is the future and the means of all blessing. Therefore everything He does is perfect. His designs are benign toward the human race. His concept of salvation was not merely to forgive their past but to glorify their future. He is “leading many sons to glory”, this is way beyond reversing the effects of the fall, this is bestowing on fallen human beings His own character, it is sons He is leading to glory, that is, those in His own likeness Who is leading us to glory is no less a person than the Son who is described in chapter 1. He follows the thought of suffering from verse 9; yes Jesus must die for man, but why must He suffer? He must suffer because sin has brought not only separation from God, but attendant earthly sufferings. If He is to be equipped to lead many to share His glory, He must first share their sufferings due to the dread consequences of sin....”It became Him.......to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”. Note the suffering (singular) in verse 9 and the sufferings (plural) in verse 10. His suffering of death dealt with my sin, His life sufferings deals with my needs, my weaknesses. “It became Him....”, it was in line with God’s beneficent character that He would not only deal with our judicial needs but also our practical needs, He does nothing by half measures. He has provided for our past, present and future and fitted His Son to be our perfect leader to glory.
There is a lovely progression of thought here and, perfectly expresses the pathway to glory for the believer.
• Changed relationships Sons, brethren, children. As sons we are in character with the Father. As brethren we are in blood relationship to Christ and to each other. As children we are members of humanity “partakers of flesh and blood”. Real people, of Adam’s fallen race brought into blood fellowship in Jesus Christ, destined for glory, in the likeness of the Father.
• Changed lifestyles To live sanctified lives, holy lives, lives apart for God; “both He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one”. Forged together in a living union with our leader. In the process of sanctification, we derive from the sanctifier continuous guidance in the new life. There is an aspect of one-off sanctification, also one of continuous sanctification. Perfection will be realised at the end of the road.
• Changed perspectives Firstly “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” This comes from Psalm 22v22 and is a Messianic cry of victory after the struggles of suffering. This pathway He shares with His brethren, who are fellow sufferers. This is a very striking statement considering the greatness of the Son compared to the disciples. Not yet made perfect and still displaying too many traits of the old life, yet He is not ashamed of them and will declare them to His Father. Now enthroned in the glory, far from the toxic atmosphere of earth, yet His love is with us even in our weak, sometimes failing state, showing frustrating tendencies, and, at times, unfaithful behaviour. He came down to our level, condescending to humanity, subjecting Himself even to death, and He is proud to call us brethren.
Next the quotations from Isaiah 8vv17-18 “...I will look to Him (Hebrews 2 “I will put my trust in Him”). Behold I and the children that God hath given me”. The circumstances are similar to Psalm 22. The disappointment of Isaiah at the sense of abandonment of Israel by God (“He hideth His face from the house of Jacob, verse17). Israel were at their lowest point spiritually; a series of kings had died unnatural deaths; the good king Uzziah was a leper at the end of a period of distinct blessing. The throne was disgraced, the people had sinned, the Assyrian armies were about to invade them, and the testimony of Israel was in tatters. Seemingly God was hiding His face. There was one flicker of hope, God had given the prophet two children; Shearjashub (the remnant will return), and Maher- shalal- hash- baz ( literally- impending invasion). Put together the boys symbolised on the one hand the suffering of the people and on the other their ultimate triumph. These children were a sign of the glory to come after the suffering and the supreme sign to all would be the birth of another child, Immanuel, in chapter 7 of Isaiah. The two stories are the same, Psalm 22...first the trauma then the triumph referring to the Messiah; Isaiah 8...first the defeat then the deliverance, referring to the remnant of the people. The lesson here is that in His humanity He took upon Him all the suffering, all the seeming despair, to bring to fruition the benign purposes of God which are outlined in the rest of the prophesy of Isaiah. In this very real and heart-warming way, the writer is teaching us that the pathway to glory will be strewn with difficulty, disappointment and even defeat, but our Lord trod it before us and look at Him now!! In His condescending humanity He experienced the very problems, and traumas of living for God in this sinful world. In Isaiah 8, reference is made to the disciples of Isaiah; this is reminiscent of the words of Jesus in John 17v6 where He spoke of His disciples as the love gift of the Father to Him “I have manifested thy name unto the men thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word”. He saw these few faithful disciples as the sign of a great harvest to follow in the end, as Isaiah did with his few disciples.
There is a word to all the faithful today for we are living in remnant conditions again, and we appreciate the little tokens of fellowship by a few of the Lord’s people on the way. God always has His true people in all places and in all situations and we are to take that as a sign of His ultimate triumph. This is the path to glory, in the words of the song “It is the way the Master went should not the servant tread it still?”
Verses 14-15 As man He disarmed the devil and delivered the people
He must free His people from the fear of death, which had held them captive all their lives. The bondage which besets men because of their fear of the unknown is a crippling debilitating force which removes the joy of life. So what is this “fear of death” that enslaves people for their entire lifetime? The bible makes it perfectly clear what this is, a life-controlling force. Jesus said in John 8 v34 “Verily, verily, I say unto you “he that commits(continually practices sin) is the slave of sin”. Paul in Romans chapter 6 says, writing to believers in verse 17 “ye were the slaves of sin...”. He expands this in verse 19 “you yielded your members slaves to uncleanness and to iniquity(lawlessness) unto iniquity...” in short you lived your life in a bubble of sin and rebellion. In chapter 5 he says “sin reigned unto death”, an uncompromising monarch demanding and dictating lifestyle, with the end separation from God and good. This force is used by the devil to enslave human beings. The fear of death is not so much the fear of dying but the sense of living for only a short time and the need to live it to the full before inevitable death. It is in essence living for now for there is nothing after....”Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” is the cry. Live for now for “we are a long time dead” is the modern phrase. This leads to all kinds of enslavement, such as self gratification, world conformity, and demon spiritual control as is outlined in Ephesians 2vv1-3. The rule of the fear of death is a powerful one, but that power has been broken for Christ entered into humanity, entered into death, came through death in resurrection power, having broken the cycle of fear by pointing us to a life beyond death, the world to come, an eternal existence of freedom from fear of death, a kingdom that will not be shaken, a life of peace and joy and blessing untarnished by sin or Satan.
To do that He must take part of flesh and blood just as the children(His followers} are flesh and blood....He became one of us. He must do this, for He must enter into death, and He must pass through death and out of death(for that is the force of these words) to destroy (render powerless) the devil, for his lie has been exposed, and believers now know that the true life is outside of this realm, and the fear of death is gone, and with it the enslaving power of the devil. There is a time appointed when the devil and all his followers will be eternally banished, in the meantime the power has been broken in every life that follows Christ.
Verses 16-18 As man He is equipped to sympathise with our weaknesses
“For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on him the seed of Abraham.” This A.V. rendering is clumsy and it should read “He took not hold of angels but He took hold of the seed of Abraham.” The word for “took hold” occurs 19 times in the new testament and means to seize, to rescue, to lay hold on. This follows from the previous verse where He has delivered (rescued ) His people from the clutches of the devil. They were forcefully removed for they were not given up lightly. He did not rescue fallen angels, they are not given a second chance. Their sin was greater than that of man, for they sinned in the presence of God, and they had no federal head, thus their sin was personal and wilful at the highest level. Human beings on the other hand were born in sin, into a world cursed by sin, and had a federal head in Adam who brought it upon us all. Thus we inherited sin genetically. Still the holiness of God demanded we be saved and so He came. He came to the whole world but only the seed of Abraham are saved....Genesis 15v6 “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” All who come this way are saved, and in this way Christ took hold of Abraham’s seed. But He provided also for all the needs of our pathway to glory, and was Himself equipped to meet all these. Here again we have the amazing attitude of God to those who have faith in Him “Wherefore it behoved Him.....” c/f verse 10 “it became Him...” These phrases are marvellous and tell us that God must always act in a way commensurate with His own benign character, everything He does is perfect, all for our benefit and His glory. In the design of salvation of mankind, it became an obligation to Him to be made like unto His brethren, that is He would experience every aspect of their suffering they would ever pass through. There is not one situation He did not meet while here, and Omniscience would tell Him everything His brethren would suffer on the way.
He is therefore qualified as a merciful high priest.....that is in relation to us, He can be merciful because He has lived here with the same problems.
He is qualified as a faithful high priest.....that is in relation to God, for in each and every case He glorified God.
He came the way He did to bring us to God, by removing the offending sins in propitiation (not sin, but sins); provision is made for ongoing sins as well as past sins. He suffered, being tested, in body soul and spirit. His testings (He was never tempted) were to fit Him as a competent succourer for all His people who would be similarly put to the test. God does not tempt us, He puts us to the test, yet because of our sinful nature we can be tempted by Satan. As man (not as sinful man) He is able to succour His people. He could never yield to sin, but He understands our weakness. What a Man.......what a Saviour!
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