THE SON—HIGHER THAN THE ANGELS
"And of the angels He saith, Who maketh His angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire; but of the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." HEBREWS 1:7-8a
The finality of the speech of God to man through the Son is, as we have seen, the burden of the letter to the Hebrews, and that finality of speech is proven by the writer as he claims the pre-eminence of the Son over all those through whom God in the earlier period had spoken to men. The fact that He had spoken is definitely declared, and that He had done so in "diverse portion and diverse manners." After the period in which He thus spoke, He now spoke again, and that in His Son; and in doing so, said all that He has to say to man.
As we recognized in our previous article, the literature of the Old Testament records God's speaking to men through angels, through leaders, through priests, and through prophets. Through all these there had come to man authentic messages from God, but they were all partial, and therefore incomplete. Now He has spoken in His Son, and the arguments of the letter are intended to show how that speech is final by reason of the absolute superiority of the Son to angels, leaders, priests, prophets.
Our present consideration is concerned with the first movement in the argument which deals with the superiority of the Son to the angels. The writer deals with this by a remarkable selection of quotations from the Old Testament that is from the literature recording what God had said, "of old time." There are seven such distinct quotations, and they are grouped in order to enforce the truth of the superiority of the Son to angels. Throughout, the dignity of the angels is recognized, but that of the Son is seen to be infinitely greater. We may follow the argument by considering first the angels, and then the Son.
We are living at a time when the idea of angels is being discounted or dismissed, perhaps by smiling at it as moving in the realm of fairy stories. Of course, in common with all modern views, that is an ancient view. The Sadducees, we are distinctly told, did not believe in angels. I am not proposing to argue for their existence, but to recognize it as a fact upon the authority of the Biblical Literature both in the Old and New Testaments. In the Old we have certain clear statements concerning their activities, and that is equally true of the New.
It is of interest to pause here and remind ourselves of what the New Testament tells us about the relation of angels to the earthly ministry of Jesus. It was an angel that made the great announcement to the Virgin Mary. Angels sang at the birth of the Babe. Angels ministered to Him when He had been with the wild beasts-in the wilderness temptation. Again they drew near and ministered to Him in Gethsemane. There is no reference to them in connection with the Cross. There He was alone. When the resurrection morning broke, angels were once more there to tell the story to earth.
The question may arise at this point as to why angels are not now seen. One reply to that may properly be that as messengers of God to men, they are no longer necessary, seeing that He has said everything He has to say in His Son. At the same time we must not forget that the New Testament distinctly speaks of them as "ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation." In that remarkable book, Something Happened, giving an account of some of the experiences of Mildred Cable and Evangeline and Francesca French, they tell of how once being on the edge of the Gobi Desert, in the hands of bandits, they went into their little tent and lay down, not knowing what was going to happen on the human level. They tell how they watched the bandits underneath the tent for a little while, and then this sentence occurs:
"After a while they slept, and the angels took charge."
Of course that may be dismissed by some as the poetic imagination of a woman. That, however, does not invalidate the story, for one remembers how something like that was said, according to the New Testament, immediately after the resurrection:
"Certain women of our company . . . came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels."
It is impossible to read that without discovering in it the note of amazement, and perhaps for the same reason.
Angels, according to these Biblical records, were the first intermediaries between God and man after man's revolt from the Divine government. In the records found in the book of Genesis no outstanding leader appears, no priest is found, no prophet is heard. In all those early periods of human history, the direct messages of God were brought to men through angels. There is one story which seems an exception. Once a king is seen who is also a priest. This is Melchizedek. Quite evidently the story is unique in that period, and without entering into the matter here and now fully, as we shall reach it in later articles, I may at least say that I have long been convinced that the appearing of Melchizedek was a Christophany.
In his dealing with this matter, the writer describes the angels first thus:
"Who maketh His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire."
Unquestionably the marginal rendering should be adopted:
"Who maketh His angels spirits."
In this quotation we find recognition of their glory and of their nature. Their activity is described by the writer in words we have already referred to:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service?"
The King James version reads:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister?”
The Revisers, by rendering "sent forth to do service," have intended to draw attention to a difference between the two verbs made use of. This is an important matter, because we have a revelation of the twofold work of the angels. The first word, rendered "ministering," by transliteration might be rendered "liturgical." Ministering spirits are liturgical spirits, that is, those whose one utmost service is that of worshipping God, and offering praise to Him. They veil their faces in the presence of the ineffable glory, and celebrate the holiness of God. We have a radiant illustration of that in Isaiah 6, where the seraphim are seen worshipping, acting as liturgical spirits.
But they have another mission. They are sent forth. Sometimes under the authority of God they cease their worship, and are sent forth to minister. This is also seen in the story in Isaiah already referred to. When at the vision of the glory the young prophet became conscious of himself as by comparison unclean, and cried:
"Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips,"
then immediately:
"Flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand."
Thus the seraph was sent forth to minister. Thus the writer, by reference to the past, recognizes the glory of the angels and the sacredness of their mission as messengers of God to men. This recognition makes all the more forceful the revelation of the finality of the speech of the Son, as He is seen in inherent and necessary superiority to angels.
Now let us glance over these seven quotations. Five of them are taken from the Book of Psalms; one arrestingly, from Samuel, and one from the Book of Deuteronomy.
The first two are found in the fifth verse of chapter one, and they deal with the office and nature of the Son. The writer points out that when the Psalmist wrote that song, he was referring to a fulfillment which came in Jesus, and speaking of the method of address:
"Thou art My Son, This day have I begotten Thee,"
points out by interrogation that such designation was never used of angels. They are forever servants, worshipping and serving. The Son is in authority by Divine decree.
It is in that connection, very arrestingly, that he quotes from Samuel words which in their first application were used of Solomon:
"I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son."
Evidently this writer saw that the history of the Old Testament was prophetic, and that such words could only come to complete fulfillment in the actual Son of God. In this specific sense no angel can be so described.
The third quotation is taken from the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament:
"And let all the angels of God worship Him."
This the writer applies to the time when God will "again" bring "in the Firstborn into the world."
The word "world" here is rendered in the margin "the inhabited earth." The actual word is the Greek word which may be correctly transliterated "economy." Whatever the time reference may be, the writer is showing that the angels are called upon to worship the Son. They exercise the highest function of their being, that of worship offered to the Son. This again is a quotation, emphasizing the measureless distance between the Son and angels.
In the fourth, fifth, and sixth quotations, the writer is contrasting the service of the angels with the supremacy of the Son. They serve gloriously, but they serve. The Son exercises the rule of God.
"Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever, And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy Kingdom."
Continuing the quotation, he describes the nature of that rule:
"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee With the oil of gladness above Thy fellows."
The glorious company of the angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, are all seen as rendering worship to the Son.
Still continuing his quotations the writer shows the Son as not only exercising the rule of God, but co-operating with God in creation: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands."
Further, he shows the Son as sharing the eternity of God. Referring to all created things, he says:
"They shall perish; but Thou continuest; And they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a mantle shalt Thou roll them up, As a garment, and they shall be changed; But Thou art the same, And Thy years shall not fail."
The final quotation describes the pre-eminent position of the Son:
"But of which of the angels hath He said at any time, Sit Thou on My right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet?"
Here the Son is seen as finally enthroned, and waiting in that position for the ultimate subjugation of all enemies to His rule.
This interpretation of the Person and the position of the Son demonstrates the finality of the speech of God through Him, and gives force to the exhortation and warning found in the first four verses of chapter two:
"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will."
Christianity is not a quest after truth. Processionally it is an investigation of the truth which in totality came from God to man through Him Who said, "I am the Truth." In His high service the angels are still employed as liturgical spirits, worshipping; and as ministering spirits, serving "them that shall inherit salvation."
Whereas we may be, and assuredly are among those whom the angels serve under the command of the Son, we do not need their meditation, or their messages, for knowledge of the will of God. That is perfectly revealed in Him through Whom His final speech has come, to man.
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