Re: Naked Bible 176: Hebrews 1:5-14
We continue with the language of how Jesus is superior to all other created beings. Heiser puts way too much time in debunking JWs here, as they say that Jesus was a created being and got promoted to sonship. Heiser’s disproof is not much stronger than the JW’s proof, nitpicking over words. The real point is that the Greek grammar permits the term “firstborn” as a status or title, not a comment on the chronology of when Jesus came into existence.
So, while the angels are part of the bene elohim (“sons of God”), this is simply a term referring to how their existence is rooted in Heaven. They are part of God’s eternal staff. He never calls them “sons” in the same sense He did Jesus. Instead, upon the birth of Jesus into human form, the angels along with the other bene elohim were required to worship Jesus. The Messiah was His natural son (insofar as God could have such a relationship), not just a member of the divine court.
It turns out that verse 5 contains quotations from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14. In passing, Heiser mentions that we can think of Jesus’ sonship on three levels: as pre-existent, as seen during His incarnation, and as confirmed in His resurrection. The first quotation from Psalms 2 was a long-recognized Messianic passage that refers to the glorified Jesus; it’s quoted elsewhere (Acts 13 and Hebrews 5). When did Jesus become King? It was after the Cross; go back to Hebrews 1:3.
The other quoted passage here is the Covenant of David (2 Samuel 7:1-14). There, the Lord speaks through Nathan the prophet that He would anoint David’s heir to be His son. The prophetic words are telescopic, referring also to the promised final heir David’s throne, the Messiah. It’s not just about Solomon. Rather, Solomon was a pre-figure of the Messiah, same as Melchizedek.
And over the next few verses, the writer of Hebrews piles on the qualifications of the Messiah over the rest of God’s staff. The angels in particular are Christ’s servants, and eventually ours.
Did you notice that in Psalm 2, parts of it sound exactly like the rebellious elohim council? It reads like almost random thoughts until you place it the rearview mirror of the New Testament and worldview of Deuteronomy 32:8 and Psalm 82. It was cryptic on purpose; they had no idea what God was planning. Instead of them breaking the bonds of God, they would be broken as rulers of the nations. Jesus quotes it in Revelation 2:26-28. Thus, Psalm 2 continues, advising the elohim to make peace with the Son before it’s too late.
