However complicated to our view the course of the ages may be, one thing comes

prominently forward here--the ages are of His appointment, and must work out His

purpose, "By whom also He made the Ages".

There are some versions which read, "on account of whom", or "for whom", "instead

of", "by whom". In chapter 2: 10 the two Greek expressions, "for whom" and "by

whom" occur together, di' on ta panta, for whom are all things, and, di' ou ta panta, by

whom are all things. The word spoken "by" angels (2: 2), those who came out of Egypt

"by" Moses (3: 16), the better hope "by" which we draw near (7: 19) are all examples

of the same expression. The preposition dia followed by the genitive case denotes a

cause; it may be the efficient ministerial or instrumental cause, but not the final cause.

Heb. 1: 2 teaches that the Son, the heir of all things, was the One by whom God made the

ages; here again we must pause to allow the Scripture to be our teacher. A superficial

acquaintance with Hebrews would most likely have considered the High Priesthood as

the title to have been given first, but it is not so--it is the fact that the Son has been

appointed heir of all things. Of all the things that He has done we feel sure that the

making of the ages would be among the last, and not the first, to be thought of, and yet so

it stands.  First, His Person--the Son, secondly, His dignity--the heir, thirdly, His

work--the ages. In these two verses we have as the one great cause, GOD. God spake

by the prophets, God spake by His Son, God appointed Him heir of all things. God made

the ages by Him. Two instruments are mentioned, the one, "the prophets", the other, "the

Son"; these instruments are contrasted both here and later. Prophets and angels are

created beings, and their use produces no difficulty. The agency of the Son is not so

simple a matter to grasp. Angels worship Him, creation is unreservedly ascribed to Him

(10), immutability in contrast with created things is His. The omission of the article

before the word "Son" prepared us for something different from a mere matter of degree.

When Christ spoke it was not merely that a greater prophet than all before Him was

speaking; God in a sense hitherto impossible was speaking. God, who is invisible, whose

being must be beyond the powers of human thought or language to express, has made

Himself known as Jehovah, as the Almighty God, as He now makes Himself known as

the Son. The Son was not merely God's mouthpiece, He was God manifest in the flesh;

by Him, Scripture reveals, the ages were made.

THE AGES.--The Hebrew and Greek words that are variously rendered age, world,

ever, have been considered at length in earlier issues of The Berean Expositor (see

Volume I, page 89, and Volume IV & V, page 113). In Volume VIII, pages 40-44, we

sought to show that Jehovah is the God of the Ages. We do not feel that the English

word "world" is a good translation, and it is likely to turn the mind to the creation of the

"world", thereby meaning the heavens and the earth and all therein. That is not the

purpose or the teaching of the verse before us. The making of the ages is very different

from the creation of the world, and involves a very different line of teaching; it is the very

first article of that faith which is the theme of Heb. 11: 1. That faith, which is the

substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, understands that the ages

were fitted together by the word of God (11: 3). Thus the fact that the ages were made

and were adjusted, is truth related to the special teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews.