Bible Reading for September 9 – Hebrews 1:1-14

Let’s say you are a widow living in a French town that the Allies have just liberated from the Nazis. You are in desperate need of, well, everything. And you hear that you have been given the opportunity to speak directly with General Eisenhower. Is there any way you wouldn’t jump at that chance? Would you possibly settle for a conversation with one of the many American GIs filling the streets of your town?

Of course not. But that’s apparently what some of the first readers of the letter to the Hebrews were willing to do. They seem to have developed a fascination with angels, the soldiers in God’s army.

Now, make no mistake. Angels are quite powerful in and of themselves. Verse 7 compares them to fire and wind, and the prophets and apostles who have come into contact with them have either passed out from the strain (Daniel 10:9) or have fallen down in worship of them (Revelation 22:8).

But as the angel reminded John in Revelation 19:10, we should not worship angels because they are fellow servants of Jesus. Instead, we should serve God and worship Jesus.

And that’s the main point of this whole passage. For Jesus isn’t just a creature like we and the angels are. He is the Son of God (v. 5). He rules over the whole earth forever (v. 8). He is the One through Whom everything has been created (vv. 2, 10). In fact, He holds the whole universe together through the word of His power (v. 3). It’s no wonder that even such powerful creatures as the angels worship Him (v. 6) and serve Him (v. 7).

So, why should we settle for anything less than the best? Why should we look to guardian angels or departed saints or living pastors to pray for us when we can bring our petitions to Christ Himself? Moreover, why should we go on wondering about God’s purpose or God’s plan or God’s will for us when Jesus has spoken the very Word of God to us, revealing God to us in everything He is and does (v. 3)?

You know, the author of this letter thought the Scriptures were so important that he quotes from the Old Testament seven times over the span of just 14 verses. So, let’s cut out the middleman today and go straight to the top. Let’s pray to God and listen to what God has to say to us in His Word.

Hebrews 1:1-14

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?