I N D E X
COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
43
The reader is aware of the important difference that is intended by the two words `being' and `becoming'.
`Being made' is the translation of the Greek ginonlai, `to become', and the distinction is well observed in John
1:1-3.
`Being'. The verb eimi. `In the beginning WAS the Word ... WAS with ... WAS God'
`Becoming'. The verb ginomai. `All things WERE MADE by Him'.
He `was'. They `became'.
Or again in John 8:58, `Before Abraham CAME INTO BEING, I AM' The same sequences that are found in
Hebrews 1:2-4 are found in Philippians 2:5-11. First we have `original being', huparchon, `Who being, existing all
along, in the form of God', then the sevenfold descent in flesh and blood to the death of the cross. This is followed
by the sevenfold exaltation, and, `The Name' that is above every name, a `more excellent name' indeed than angels
ever bore. Hebrews 1:4 is entirely concerned with the mediatorial work of Christ, and not with His essential Deity.
The exaltation of the Saviour followed the purging of our sins and so speaks of the resurrection. Acts 13:32,33
gives the identical Old Testament reference that is used in Hebrews,
`Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee',
and declares that this promise was fulfilled when He raised up Jesus again. Alford very pointedly says of Christ
that:
`The Son of God, before His incarnation was Head OVER creation, but after His work in the flesh He had become
the Head OF Creation'.
Colossians reveals that He Who was the Firstborn of every creature became the Firstborn from the dead, because
`in the body of His flesh through death' He had stooped to conquer. This we shall see more clearly as our study
opens up the Scriptures that are related to Hebrews 1:4. To us Gentiles, the insistence upon angels which is so
marked in Hebrews 1 and 2 may seem a trifle strange, but to a Hebrew it would be both understandable and
necessary.
The use of `angel' in Hebrews
In chapter 1 Christ in His exaltation to the right hand of the Majesty on high is said to be made `so much better
than the angels' (Heb. 1:4).
`Unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son ... ?' (1:5).
`Let all the angels of God worship Him' (1:6).
`Who maketh His angels spirits' (1:7).
`To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on My right hand' (1:13).
In chapter 2, angels are associated with the giving of the law and we are told that the age to come has not been
put in subjection to angels. By the testimony of the prophetic eighth Psalm, Adam and Christ are seen `for a little
while' lower than the angels, and, at the incarnation, Christ `took not on Him the nature of angels' (Heb.
2:2,5,7,9,16). In chapter 12:22 the heavenly Jerusalem is associated with `an innumerable company of angels' and
in 13:2 the believer is reminded that, in Old Testament times, the ministry of angels was no uncommon experience.
When writing to the Romans, Paul mentioned angels, together with `principalities' (Rom. 8:38) and asked the
Corinthians, `Know ye not that we shall judge angels?' (1 Cor. 6:3), but neither angelic ministry among men, nor the
presence of angels at the exaltation of Christ, is mentioned in Ephesians. There, we read that when Christ was raised
from the dead, He was set at the right hand of God `in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and
might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come' (Eph.
1:20,21). These `principalities' are mentioned again in Ephesians 3:10 and 6:12, each time in connection with
`heavenly places', but the epistle to the Hebrews knows nothing of them.
In Scripture, angels have special reference to the people of Israel. The whole course of Israel's history is
accompanied by angelic ministry. Nor does it cease with Malachi (which means `My messenger' or `My angel'); it
is prominent in the Gospels, being associated with the Birth, the Sufferings, the Resurrection and the prophecies of
the Second Coming of Christ. It is prominent in the Acts from Acts 1 to 12, but, after the ministry of Paul, which