Bible Commentaries
Hebrews 2

Verses 1-18

11 The destruction of the earth and the heavens is but a crisis in their change (12), for they are not to be made non-existent, but created anew. All things are in a state of flux until the consummation. Only the Son remains the same, and through Him all else attains permanence and perfection.

13 David's Son and David's Lord will, like David, subdue all His enemies ( 1Ch_22:18 ; Psa_110:1 ). It is the very essence of His glory that this is only "till". When the last enemy has been abolished, the Son subordinates Himself. All enmity being banished, His sovereignty ceases.

14 Nothing is said here of the great part which angels play in judgment, for judgment, in its last analysis, is but a prelude to salvation. Paul never mentions any such angelic ministry, because our nearness to God precludes the necessity of any intermediaries. The higher the revelation, the nearer we approach the consummation, the more intimate is the creatures' fellowship with God and the less need there is of any link until finally all these vanish when God becomes All in all.

1-4 Here the teaching of Hebrews is definitely linked to that of the Lord in the gospels and those who heard him, in the Acts. Paul's ministries are thus carefully excluded. The fact that these ministries had failed to eventuate in the kingdom, is the ground for this exhortation, for, doubtless many paid no further heed to the promises, now that they seem to have failed of fruition. That the kingdom is in view is shown in the next paragraph. A study of the contexts of the above quotations reveals the fact that they all deal with "the future inhabited earth whereof we speak".

5 Nowhere are messengers or angels accorded a place of rule. In the future, in the heavens, we shall judge them. On the earth the Circumcision saints will have dominion. Even now the sovereignties and authorities in the heavens are distinguished from the messengers ( Rev_5:8-12 ).

6 Man's inferiority to angels is only temporary. In the resurrection they will no longer be greater in strength and power ( 2Pe_2:11 ).

7 Even in the heavens the saints of this economy will be above them. This is only hinted at in Hebrews. 8 The immediate "all" refers only to the earth (Ps.8).

8 The resurrection and exaltation of the suffering Saviour is the promise and pledge that He will elevate all who are His during the eons into the place of dominion over the universe. Only the One Who has been lowest can claim the place supreme.

9 The words "in the grace of God" may, originally, have been "apart from God". This reading is supported by several early fathers and versions, as well as by the context.

1 It is not easy, in English, to distinguish between the celestial calling, here referred to, and the "calling above" ( Php_3:14 ) of Paul's latest revelation. That which is celestial as to location is often spoken of in Ephesians, as our blessing among the celestials ( Heb_1:3 ), His seat ( Heb_1:20 ), our seat ( Heb_2:6 ), the sovereignties and authorities ( Heb_3:16 ), our conflict ( Heb_6:12 ). This is in the dative case, which gives us the place in which anything is found. It occurs once in Hebrews ( Heb_12:22 ). The genitive denotes source or character. The shadow of the divine service of the celestials ( Heb_8:5 ) was on earth. So the city sought by the faithful ( Heb_11:16 ) will descend to earth

( Rev_21:10 ), and the celestial calling is from the ascended Christ, not to heaven, but from heaven. We are called to heaven, the Hebrews are addressed from heaven. They have no part in the calling above. Their blessings, though celestial in character, are on earth. Our calling is gracious ( Rom_11:29 ), for God's glory ( 1Co_1:26 ), fraught with the highest expectations ( Eph_1:18 ), not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose and the grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before eonian times ( 2Ti_1:9 ), but this calling is conditional ( Heb_3:6-14 ) as in Peter, who exhorts his readers to confirm their calling through ideal acts ( 2Pe_1:10 ). The spiritual in Israel are God's house ( 1Pe_2:5 ). Just as, at the exodus, Moses was over the nation, so now, God's Son is their Mediator. And as Moses combined the office of apostle with that of priest, so Christ is commissioned by God to the people and stands before God for the people.

7 The Pentecostal period is the antitype of the wilderness experiences. As Israel wandered forty years in the desert, so now they wander a like period in the wastes of unbelief. The kingdom does not come.