throughout the chequered history of the Judges. David has dealings with angels (I and

II Kings and Psalms); Daniel and Zechariah are instructed by them, and the New

Testament commences, continues, and concludes with angelic ministry--with one

notable exception. Angels do not, so far as we can discover, minister to the members of

the church of the one body, who are in immediate contact with their glorious Head.

While the four gospels speak of angels some 50 times, the Acts some 20 times, and the

Revelation some 70 times, or 140 times in all, Paul's epistles, omitting Hebrews, contain

only 14 references between them. Of this number one only is found in the prison epistles,

viz., Col. 2: 18, where the apostle warns against adopting the worship of angels in

contrast with "holding the Head". Consequently it is true to say that the ministry of

angels is never once referred to in the epistles of the mystery.

The epistle to the Hebrews is written to a different company of believers. They have a

different calling than that of the one body, and in this epistle the apostle speaks of angel

13 times. Angels are the "servants" of the spirit world. The church of the one body have

as their associates the nobility of heaven, principalities, authorities, thrones and

dominions.  Angels are the lowest order in that glorious world.  They are God's

messengers, not the princes of that sphere of bliss. These ministering spirits are "sent

forth for service on account of those who are about to inherit salvation".

"About to."--This is an expression frequently used in Scripture. In the Hebrews we

find it 10 times. It is often connected with the future kingdom, as may be seen in

Heb. 2: 5, "The habitable (world) about to be."  6: 5, "The age about to be."  9: 11,

10: 1, "The good things about to be." 10: 27, "The judgment about to be.", and 13: 14,

"The city about to be."

The salvation in view in Heb. 1: 14 is about to be inherited. It is something future

and related to that world which shall be subjected to the Lord Jesus Christ, the age to

come, and the city which hath foundations whose maker and builder is God.

The passage from the second half of verse 2 to verse 14 of chapter 1: is a parenthesis,

enlarging upon, and explaining by a series of O.T. references, the superiority of the

inherited Name of the Son to that of the angels. Chapter 2: reads on from 1: 2:--

"God.....hath in these last days spoken to US IN SON.....THEREFORE, we ought to

give the more earnest heed....."

It may be of service to repeat the structure given in Volume VIII, page 183:--