Articles
God Spoke – Heb. 1
God Spoke – Heb. 1
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. (Hebrews 1:1-2).
One of the most thrilling statements anywhere: God Spoke! God is the eternal King, the creator of all, the maker of mankind. He created us in His image and endowed us with the ability to know, understand, and communicate. His glory and power are evidenced through the creation, (cp. Rom. 1:20; Psa. 19:1–6; Job 12:7–9), but His character is revealed by communicating with us. Through such communication, we come to KNOW GOD.
While God did speak audibly unto some people at different times, the Hebrew writer centers his comments on the revelation of God given through the prophets and written down as a record of God’s communication. That God spoke through the prophets is stated, HOW He accomplished such is only broadly stated: many ways.
In particular, God spoke to Israel in giving them the great covenant through Moses. Thus such writings were considered to be the ‘oracles of God’ (Rom. 3:2; Acts 17:38), the Word of God (2Tim. 3:16-17). They were to know it, memorize it, teach it, meditate upon it, reverence it, and obey it. It not only provided their instruction for life, they were to live by every Word of God (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4), it pointed them to and led them to Jesus the Messiah (cp. Gal. 3:24-27).
NOW, says the writer, God has spoken unto US in the ‘last days’ through His Son, Jesus. We have a New Covenant, a new order of priesthood, a new and complete sacrifice for sin, a new ‘way’ that actually leads us into the eternal presence of God.
In Chapter two, the writer warns us: “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (Heb. 2:1-4).
If God spoke audibly unto you, would you listen? God has spoken Through Jesus: are you listening?
Hugh DeLong
