we do not feel is necessary. The thought that the apostle insists upon is the superiority of

Christ above angels, and the question whether this verse refers to His birth or His second

coming does not materially alter the sense.

Passing from this threefold testimony, the apostle proceeds to a definite statement

concerning the angels themselves. The Targum rendering of the verse quoted here,

Psa. 104: 4, is:--

The point that it is necessary to notice here is, not so much the nature of angels, but

their capacity. They are messengers and servants; this is the distinction that is sharply

drawn between them and the Son; "but unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is unto

the age of the age". The strange phrase, "the age of the age", will be given closer

attention when we are considering the definite teaching of the ages as taught in this

epistle; at present we are considering the one great fact, that the Son is superior to the

angels; they are ministers; He is addressed as God, and is seated upon a throne; His

anointing above His fellows is an added testimony to His superior position. Without any

effort to explain the strange wording of the quotation, the apostle leaves it to speak of

itself. God addresses the Son as God, and it is in this light that the epistle introduces Him

in verse 2. Not only does the Son sit as King and bear the name of God, but He is also

addressed as Lord, and creation is ascribed to Him. Creation "in the beginning" is the

work of His hands"; there are some who treat the passages of Scripture that speak of the

Creatorship of Christ as though they meant nothing more than that Creation was made

with a view to Him, or for Him, but the words are very plain here. In the beginning He

laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of His hands. "The works

of Thy hands" can have only one meaning, that the Son is the actual Creator. The

quotation does not finish here; the heavens and the earth "shall perish", but, in glorious

contrast, we read of the Son, "but Thou remainest".  When the appointed work is

accomplished for which the heavens and the earth were called into being, they will be

laid aside as a vesture, but of Christ it is written, "but Thou art the same, and Thy years

shall not fail". Here we strike a note which shall find its echo when the wondrous

teaching of the epistle shall have been given.  In the last chapters in structural

correspondence come the words, "Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, to-day, and unto the

ages". We now arrive at the concluding quotation:--

To ask the question is to answer it. To no angel however mighty did God ever address

such an invitation. To One only has such a place been given, to that One Who is the

brightness of His glory, to that One Who made a cleansing for sins, and Who was as a

consequence raised to the right hand of the majesty on high.  Familiarity with the

scriptural fact of the place of Christ at the right hand of God has possibly dulled our

appreciation of its greatness. The same Psalm that is quoted here is referred to again in

chapter 10: 12, 13, and again, in 8: 1, the apostle summarizes his teaching concerning

the Melchisedec priesthood by saying, "We have such an high priest, who is set on the