Better than the Prophets

Hebrews 1:1 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.

1 Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις 2  ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, ὃν ἔθηκεν κληρονόμον πάντων, δι᾽ οὗ καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς αἰῶνας·

I admit that the book of Hebrews has always intimidated me.  I've never been quite sure what to do with it as I've tried to jam it into a theological system.  I've decided that this time through I'm just going to take it as face-value as much as I can.

Even if you don't know much about the book of Hebrews you've probably at least heard the "at many times and in many ways" line.  What did God do?  He λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις.  More literally it is that He "spoke to the fathers by the prophets."  But since this is a book addressed to Jews and presumably written by a Jew, it is fine for the author to use "our" here.  Whether or not that is appropriate for a Gentile to read it that way is another discussion.

I notice that there is no adversative in verse 2, but that is added by the translators.  The phrase ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων is most literally understood as "on these last days" or something similar.  We need a conjunction here to make it work as good English.  Incidentally, the HCSB, KJV, NASB, and NET do not add the conjunction, but the ESV and NIV do.  This is one of those places where the ESV goes a bit beyond the literal.

I think it is valid to add the conjunction here because it would seem that there is a contrast between God speaking through the prophets and now speaking through the Son.  You may note that the word "his" does not exist in the Greek, but that it is consistent with the phrase ἐν υἱῷ.

Why am I going into all this detail?  I think it is important that we handle the text faithfully, which is one of the goals of this blog.  And, frankly, because I have a little bit more time this morning than usual :)

What do we get from this?  What I see is that the prophets had their place.  God spoke to the Jews through the prophets.  As we see one fulfilled prophecy after another we can take great assurance in God's faithfulness and His sovereignty to accomplish His will.  But in the times of the author of Hebrews (I suspect Paul, but we can't be sure), God spoke to His people through His Son.

This means that the Son is better than the prophets.  It means that He fulfilled what was predicted of Him.  The Jews missed it as they were waiting for a king like David who would throw off the shackles of Rome.  They didn't realize that Jesus was the better David who would ultimately come to set the captives truly free, rather than simply politically free.

There is much debate about whether the NT should interpret the OT.  When I read this I see no question.  We'll get into this more when we get to 1 Peter 1.  The point for now is that God has spoken to us through His Son.  Let's listen to what the Son and His apostles have to say.  That is not to say that we throw out the OT.  Far from it.  But let us realize that Jesus came as the fulfillment of the law.  I am finding that it really makes things much clearer as I read my Bible.

Rejoice!

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

4 Χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε· πάλιν ἐρῶ, χαίρετε.

What to choose from Philippians 4?  There are a lot of great passages, but this is the one that speaks most clearly to my heart right now because I needed to be reminded of this.  When are we to rejoice?  πάντοτε.  There is no getting around this word with exegetical gymnastics.  We are to rejoice always.  At all times.  No matter what is going on, we are to rejoice.

That does not mean that we rejoice in our circumstances.  I did not have a particularly good weekend for a few reasons.  I was not about to rejoice in the circumstances.  However, Paul does give me a legitimate direction for rejoicing.  I am not to rejoice in my circumstances, but ἐν κυρίῳ.  And just in case we missed it, Paul tells us again.

This is both convicting and uplifting.  It is convicting because I see how poorly I do this.  I get caught up in the moment, start to feel sorry for myself, and just generally spiral downhill.  It is uplifting because we would not be given a command that we could not obey by the power of the Spirit.  Why is it possible?  The Lord is always worthy of our rejoicing.  When He becomes our focus then the crush of the world becomes less important.

Where are you putting your focus?  Are you wallowing in your circumstances or are you focusing on the risen Savior?  Will you join me in repenting from looking at the world?