Hebrews 1 verses 1-4 God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels as he had that by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." This is so amazing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank You so much for Your Word. It comes to us so rich and so beautiful. Lord, it's glorious. And we thank You for Christ who died for us and lives for us. Lord, we come to You in His righteousness and we're so amazed at that. We're so thankful. what glorious grace You've given to us. And we trust in Christ. We give You all the thanks and all the praise and all the glory. And Lord, we just ask that You would bring people to the class and help me to teach well. Lord, help people to listen and to learn and to grow in Christ and become more like Him. In whose name we pray, Amen. Alright, so today we're going to We're going to cover this first portion, which is a single sentence in the book of Hebrews. It is quite a statement. It begins with what has already been written and ends with the comparison of the sun and angels. And it covers an extraordinary range of material about the sun in the meantime. Our purpose today is to cover this majestic part of the word of God and to extract all that we can from this marvelous text. So the first thing that we notice is that it sets up a comparison of the two ways of revelation. That is, between the prophets of old and the Son. So we need to keep clear that it is the Father who is communicating. It is the Father who spoke by the prophets, and it is the Father who spoke by the Son. The central core of the Pyrasp is developed within the conceptual framework of the Son. It consists of a series of skillfully arranged affirmations concerning the Son. The series begins with a description based upon Psalm 2, quote, whom he appointed heir of everything, unquote. That is Psalm 2, 8, and concludes with one derived from Psalm 1, 10. He sat down at the right hand, Psalm 1, 10, verse 1. In each instance, the source of the declaration concerning the sun is a coronation psalm celebrating the enthronement of a royal figure. Thus, the prologue previews key themes in the epistle, the sun's superiority, his completed work, and his exaltation. Although some suggest these verses reflect an early hymn, Most commentators rightly view these verses as the author's own composition and an indication of his rhetorical skill, which is quite impressive. So we're going to take each section of the text and consider it separately. And so we begin with, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things." Which has two parts. The part of the historic prophets and the Son. First, that the Father previously spoke by the prophets. There are three characteristics given of this long ago in many parts and in different ways. That about sums up the Old Testament, right? A work consisting of 39 chapters written by many authors. The first five chapters were written by Moses, but we're not sure who wrote Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. We don't know who wrote those. Then we have Ezra, Nehemiah, and the various psalm writers, David, Asaph, the sons of Korah, And then we have Solomon and the several authors of the Proverbs. And then we have all the prophets. So we have in the book of Moses the story of how God interacted with Adam and Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and on through Joseph. And then we have the people and what they did. As the word signifies, which may refer either to the several ages of the Old Testament dispensation, the patriarchal, the Mosaic, the prophetic, and so forth, or to the several gradual openings of God's mind concerning the Redeemer. To Adam, that the Messiah should come of the seed of the woman. To Abraham, that he should spring from his loins. To Jacob, that he should be of the tribe of Judah. to David that he should be of his house, to Micah that he should be born at Bethlehem, to Isaiah that he should be born of a virgin. All these partial revelations of the Messiah were given, plus much more with respect to His life, His death, His resurrection, etc. All spread out very far and very wide. As far as the method goes, it says in Exodus 33.11 the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." And we take that as one way in which the Father revealed the Scripture to the people of old. He furthermore wrote the Ten Commandments Himself, as it says in Deuteronomy 9.10. And the Lord delivered unto me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God. And on them was written, according to all the words which the Lord spake, with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly." Deuteronomy 9.10. So God delivered the Ten Commandments written with His finger on the stone. That's amazing. The Lord did not reveal Himself to Elijah in this great strong wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire, but in a still small voice. And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire a still, small voice. That's 1 Kings 19, 11-12. The Lord appeared to Isaiah in the heavenly temple and commanded him to go forth with a woeful message. There it says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple, And he said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not, And see ye indeed, but perceive not. Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 and 9. Ezekiel saw God in a marvelous vision in which the Lord was high and lifted up. A truly marvelous vision that's too long to replicate here. You can go and read it yourself in Ezekiel chapter 1. And Ezekiel 1.28 at the end of the chapter says, As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. That's Ezekiel 1.28. Sometimes God revealed Himself through dreams, This he did to Abimelech in Genesis 20, chapter 3, to Pharaoh, Genesis 41, to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2, and others. Through visions, God revealed himself to Jacob, Ezekiel, and others. Sometimes God revealed himself through his mighty act, as he did when he sent the plagues against the Egyptians. and that's in Exodus 10. He dried up the Red Sea. He fed manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, and he enabled the Israelites to conquer the land of Canaan. Sometimes God revealed His will through priests and prophets. On occasion, God revealed Himself through Urim and Thummim, which were used by the priests. Numbers 27, 21. Moreover, God revealed His message through His servants, the prophets. Sometimes God instructed that His Word be written, and sometimes God revealed Himself, His commandments and His promises through having His Word read. Exodus 24-7, Deuteronomy 17-19, and so forth. The Lord seems to get Further and further, though, from the people as time goes on, the latter prophets only have the Word of the Lord and no particular visions or other manifestations of God. So, beginning with Adam and Eve, who had unlimited access to God, through Moses, who had face-to-face meeting with God, there are only some very few direct communications of God to men. He revealed himself by revealing his word to them as Jeremiah. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee." Jeremiah 1, 4, and 5. But here we have to suppose that the word was strictly mental, I guess, that Jeremiah didn't see or hear anything in particular, but the words were formed in his mind and he knew they were from God. So with the rest of the prophets, they have the Word of God, such as Malachi, which is the Word of God, but has no specific ways in which God interacts with men. Now this is said in contrast with, quote, Hathani's last days spoken unto us by his son. This makes the complete contrast with what went before in the Revelation. before in the Revelation, there's only like specific things, very small instances. As you look through the Scriptures, you find like a line here and a word there about Christ. But then, now the Son has come. Now in these last days, it says, He has spoken unto us by His Son. John Owen supposes that this means the last days of the Judaical church and state, but I don't know. It seems to me to be more general. and directly related to the Revelation. It is these most recent days since the coming of Christ. The scripture speaks of the last days as those extending from the coming of Christ. In Acts 2.17, the passage quotes Joel and says that in the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. That means that Pentecost was in the last days, or the last days followed Pentecost, Here, the last days include the days of the Son, since it was in the last days that the Son spoke. The square brackets around His, if you're reading the King James Version, there's square brackets around the word His, which means that the word is not in the original. In this case, the original has simply spoken unto us by Son. in which the lack of any controlling article or possessive seems strange to us, but it is allowed in the Greek. When I read it in the Greek, it doesn't really make sense to me, as if the son is to be taken indefinitely. But the point is that God in His final revelation has spoken to us in one who has the characteristics of a son. His credentials are vastly different from those of the prophets or of the angels And as the text goes on to show that this is the eternal Son of God, it blows our minds to think about it, but that's the truth about Him. Now God has spoken through this One, this glorious One, and the lack of an article means that, I don't know, His revelation is unique. It's different. So this revelation through the Son is now set forth in all its brightness. So the next section, Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds. Whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds. Marvelous. This marvelous little saying coordinates the humanity and the deity of Christ. For it is in His humanity that He is the heir of all things, but it is in His deity that He made the worlds. We're in Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. And we just finished the first section. Some people just came in. Yep. Okay, so again, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world. What does it mean to be heir of all things? So we look to Psalm 2 at this point to see the reference. It says there, I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, You are My Son. Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." That's Psalm 2, verses 7 and 8. It certainly involves His coming into the world, His birth, His life, death and resurrection. This is introduced to specify the relationship of the exalted Son, by His humanity, to the creation, The quotation develops the affirmation of verses 2C and 3B that the sun is the mediator and sustainer of the creation. The quotation assigns to the divine sun responsibility both for the foundation and destruction of the world. Jewish theology assigned a prominent role to the angels as those who are present at the moment of the creation and who assisted God in the government of the universe. The writer affirms it is the Son alone through whom God created the universe. It is the Son, not the angels who uphold it through His sovereign word. It is the Son who is heir of all things. That is an unqualified statement asserting that God has planned for Jesus ultimately to inherit absolutely everything In messianic usage, we have the one who receives His allotted possession by right of sonship. So we have it here of Christ as heir of all things. All things being subjected to His sway because of both who He is and what He has done. This messianic fulfillment comes into the picture. But it is the larger issue of His person that is brought to the front All these are bound up in the One Person of our marvelous Savior. Then it is mentioned that He also made the worlds. It's mentioned almost as an afterthought, given His greatness as the heir of all things. But yes, God made the worlds through the Son. The same is stated in John 1.3, "...all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. But here, it is made clear that the Father created through the Son, by whom He made the world, where He is the Father, and the by whom expresses the activity of the Son. Here we get into some deep theological thinking, in which the Father and the Son work together in perfect harmony The Son created and the Father created through the Son. This is a marvelous Trinitarian verse. It's amazing. Therefore the author presents a most powerful argument from the lesser to the greater, as one says, namely, that if the word of the prophets has been received, the gospel of Christ should be received all the more, since it is not a prophet who is speaking, but the Lord of the prophets, not a slave, but a son, not an angel, but God, not to the fathers, but to us, namely, in order to exclude every reason for unbelief, which they had in a very high degree because they received the Word through the angels, through Moses and the prophets. As I said in John 9, verses 28 and 29, we are disciples of Moses, we know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." And thus the apostle brings this argument to a conclusion in the second chapter, Hebrews 2, where he says, Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Okay, now, who being the brightness of His glory, I'm so unworthy to do this, but who being the brightness of his glory, the son is now the subject of the sentence and not the father. So now the subject changes. If you're reading in the scriptures, you can see that now the son is the subject. The change of subject is taken in stride by comparing the son to the father in this section. So it is a subtle shift. But this amazing section declares that the Son and the Father are one, and yet two. The Son emits the Father's glory, and yet is the exact representation of His person. So this verse reflects John 1.18. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. with the further idea that the sun shines forth from the Father's glory. The person of the sun is the glory of the Father, shining forth with a truly divine splendor. As the beams are effulgent emanations of the sun, as the beams are effulgent emanations of the sun, the Father and the fountain of light And Jesus Christ in His person is God manifest in the flesh. He is light of light, the true Shekinah. The word rendered brightness occurs here only in the New Testament and is even rare in conventional literature. The Greek word means reflected or emitted brightness. That is the same question we have about Christ. Is His brightness the reflection Is His brightness a reflection of the brightness of the Father or His own brightness? Whether the meaning is reflected brightness or quote, outshining brightness, which is what the word means, or it means either reflected brightness or outshining brightness. The idea presented to us is one of unity. The meaning is reflected, oh sorry, that the Son is not separate from the Father, but is the brightness of His glory. I don't think we understand this verse too well, but the unity presented here is a striking idea of the singular unity of God in that light which is irradiated the same whether it is reflected or refracted. The brightness of God's glory is emitted by Christ who alone is visible to us among the persons of the Godhead. The Father is invisible to us. We can't see Him. But the Son, all the glory of God is presented in the Son. The glory of God, is it the glory of the Father? Is it separate from the Son? I don't know. But the Son just exudes this glory of God. And then it says, "...and the express image of His person and the express image of His person. Christ is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1.15. And this image is so perfect that Christ Himself tells us, He that has seen Me has seen the Father. In John 14.9 He says that. The Son is the express image or exact impression of that divine excellence. The same term is used in regard to stamps on wax. That's what the word is used for. He is the exact impression of the Father's person or substance. The same word is used in Hebrews 11.1, and there it means substance, but here it means essence or being or substance. And those terms have just been long used by theological writers when speaking of the divine nature. Thus the Son has the very being, the very essence or substance of God. And so He is God. Whoever has the nature of God is divine. God is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible of such incomprehensible stuff is the express image of His person in the Son. The word for express image also occurs here only in the New Testament. So what we are presented with is the distinction of the Son's person from the Father. If He is the exact representation of the Father's person or nature, then He is not the Father. He is identical with the Father in every way, though, and that makes Him absolutely unique. There is only one God, yet within this God are three Persons, each of whom is fully God and has all the attributes of God. They are each identical, yet there is a structure to them as we understand that the Father is first, then the Son is second, and the Holy Spirit is third. At least that's the way they're presented to us in the Scripture. Always in the same way, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So here we are presented with two closely related statements which present to us the nature of the Son. It is the Son who is the brightness of the Father's glory and the exact imprint of His character. this function Christ has performed both before and since His incarnation. And therefore He is the Word, the Light, the visible image to man of the invisible Godhead. Thus the Son is not the Father, but shines forth His glory. His radiance is the effulgence of the Father's glory. Yet the Son is a separate person from the Father. The Son is identical with the Father and is one with Him, but is not Him. If that helps. I don't understand it either, but it's so glorious that we have to just praise His name because it's amazing. And then, upholding all things by the word of His power. Upholding all things by the word of His power. This marvelous doctrine concerning the Son it just reaches so far beyond what we can comprehend. We can almost comprehend that He is so glorious as to uphold all things by the Word of Power. We've already accepted He created all things, and so the fact that He upholds them also does not seem that surprising. The One who created the world and was heir to everything and is heir to everything in it, with the beginning and the end, is at the same time the power that binds together every single part of this created world. This is a marvelous characteristic of the Son. However, this must also be true of Christ while he was in the womb or in the crib. Somehow marvelously the Son, which came down from heaven and was incarnate, yet was still in heaven and performing these marvelous works. like in John 3.13. Let me look that up real quick. Looking up John 3.13. John 3.13 it says And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven." So Christ, even though He was in Mary's womb as a baby, He couldn't do anything. But as Christ, as God, He was still in heaven. in Mary, in the womb. Boom! I don't understand that. This verse puts to death monothelitism, which I'm sure you've never heard of, but it's the idea that Christ had only one will. Many Christians, unfortunately, hold to this idea that Christ had only one will, that He was like God in the flesh, so it's God's will. But Christ also had man's will, Like His will when He was in the womb was just very, well, nothing really. But then when He was born and when He was young, He acted out His own personal will. But yet Christ, who was in union with Him, was yet upholding all things by the Word of His power. It's amazing. A man's will without sin. The will of a man without sin, uncorrupted by sin. Yeah. So this new clause ascribes to Christ the providential government of all created existence, which is the very function of God himself. John Calvin writes, but from scripture we plainly infer that the one person of Christ so consists of two natures that each nevertheless retains unimpaired its own distinctive character. Surely when the Lord of Glory is said to be crucified, Paul does not mean that he suffered anything in his divinity, but he says it's because the same Christ who was cast down and despised and suffered in the flesh was God and Lord of Glory. In this way, he was also Son of Man in heaven, John 3.13, for the very same Christ, who according to the flesh dwelt as son of man on earth, was God in heaven. In this manner he is said to have descended to that place according to his divinity, not because divinity left heaven to hide itself in the prison house of the body, but because even though it filled all things, still in Christ's very humanity it dwelt bodily, that is, by nature in a certain ineffable way. This blows our minds to think about, but the person, the Lord Jesus Christ, clearly had two wills. In His human nature, He was like us, but in His divine nature, He upheld all things by the word of His power. That includes distant galaxies with black holes so far away that our minds can't even take it in. Christ is there personally all together He is altogether holy there as He is here and everywhere else. Yet He was also very specially in that little child in the womb, in the Virgin, and on the cross. Now, how He who is holy everywhere can be in a specific place also blows our minds, right? But that's the way it is, right? That's the way Christ is. It's amazing. When, back to the verse, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. So the uncleanness of the people of Israel was acknowledged before the Lord at the altar, and it was from this defilement that they had to be cleansed by the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrificial animal. The blood covered and obliterated the sins. Compare Exodus 30.10. The purification of the people was similarly achieved by blood in an act of expiation. Like in Leviticus 16.30 it says, for on that day shall the priests make an atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. This was the typical situation that is Before Christ came, the people were purified by animal sacrifices. Purity is the essential condition for participation in church life. The defilement of sin erects a barrier to the approach to God which must be removed. This verse declares that Christ purged our sins. The glory of the Son consists not only in His eternal nature but also in His role in bringing salvation to human beings. The two clauses that conclude the description of the Son take up this theme and thus introduce two of the most prominent themes of the letter as a whole. First, he has, quote, provided purification for our sins, unquote. The theme of the sacrificial work of Christ will come into focus especially in chapters 9 and 10 as the outworking of his office of our great high priest. where the author will emphasize that this work of purification is now fully complete. While at this point he has not yet spelled out the means by which this, quote, purification has been achieved, his readers would be well aware that it must be through the shedding of blood. The way is thus prepared for the paradoxical argument of chapter two, that it is in his humiliation and death that the superior glory of the son as our perfect Redeemer is revealed. With this brief word, He makes useless absolutely all the righteousness and deeds of men, but He praises the exceedingly great mercy of God, namely that He made purification for sins, not through us, but through Himself, not for the sins of others, but for our sins, Therefore, we should despair of our purification from sins. For before we repent, our sins have already been forgiven. Indeed, first, His very purification, on the contrary, also produces repentance in us, just as His righteousness produces our righteousness. This is what Isaiah 53, 6 says. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way. and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." The middle voice, this is a participle, sorry, in the middle voice, which indicates that the Son made purification for sins in Himself. I don't think I'll explain middle voice, but anyway, okay, Greek has active voice, like I did this, and it has passive voice, this was done to me, but it also has a middle voice, and this verse, this verb is in the middle voice, which means it's kind of like halfway between active and passive. It's middle, so it involves him in the outcome and also involving in the doing of the thing. So here, this is clear that it means that it's in himself that the purification was complete. And by his one action, the defilement of sins was removed forever. Hebrews 1.3 does not designate Jesus as priest, but in this pregnant clause, the writer strongly implies that God's unique Son is also a priest. And yet He was the Prince of Life, having life in Himself, because He had cancelled the guilt of His brethren. What then could retain Him under the power of death? Death had lost its sting, its power was gone, and of necessity the earth cast forth its dead. Jesus rose to the power of an endless life as the head of His body, the church, and as the first fruits of an abundant harvest. It was a seal of his father's approbation, approval of the work which he had undertaken and accomplished. And so our great high priest sat down as a prince on the right hand of the majesty on high. He occupies the highest place. To him, everything in heaven and on earth is subjected. He sits as a royal priest on his throne, consecrated forevermore. And his sitting on the right hand of the majesty on high implies that all things are put under him, excepting him who did put all things under him." 1 Corinthians 15.27 So this is a reflection, though not a direct quote, of Psalm 110, which states, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." The explicit application of this psalm to our Savior by Himself in Matthew 22 verses 42-45, by the Apostles Acts 2.34, 1 Corinthians 15.25, Hebrews 1.13, and their frequent reference to its language and purpose. Ephesians 1.20, Philippians 2.9, Hebrews 10.12 leave no doubt of its purely prophetic character. Not only was there nothing in the position or character, personal or official of David or any other descendant to justify a reference to this verse, but utter severance from the royal office of all other priestly functions That is like, there were no more kings, right? Positively forbid such a reference. So below David and all his sons, there was no one, nowhere, no how that can fulfill the meaning of this verse. Sit thou at my right hand. Amazing. So this clearly references the son. So this Psalm celebrates the exaltation of Christ to the throne of an eternal and increasing kingdom. and a perpetual priesthood involving the subjugation of his enemies and the multiplication of his subjects and rendered infallibly certain by the word and oath of an almighty God. So here the sitting at the right hand signifies not merely an idle honor, but reception into the fellowship of God as regards dignity and dominion, exaltation to a participation in God's reigning. 1 Corinthians 15 25. Just as God sits enthroned in the heavens and laughs at the rebels here below, so shall he who is exalted henceforth share this blessed calm with them until he subdues all enemies to him and therefore makes him the unlimited universally acknowledged ruler. And then finally we have the final Verse 4, which says, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Amazing stuff. Here we are brought to the comparison with the angels, which will occupy the writer for the rest of this chapter, and the next also. Christ is stated to have been made so much better than the angels, but the reason given is quite amazing. The name which Christ has inherited is far more excellent than the name of angels. Earlier we spoke of Christ as being the heir of all things. That's what the verse says. He is the heir of all things. But here we speak of the name inherited by Christ. Recent commentators have given Various interpretations of this name, but most understand it as a stylistic replacement of the word son. Others have suggested lord or high priest. There is much confusion about this. However, interpretations of, quote, name typically overlook the broader context of several of the Old Testament passages in the string of pearls found in verses 5 through 14. Among them, 2 Samuel 7.14 quoted by the author in his next breath. Verse 5. 2 Samuel 7.14. Flip over there to 2 Samuel 7 if you will. 2 Samuel chapter 7. It's a declaration of Davidic covenants And there it says, in verse 14 it says, I will be his father and he shall be my son. And then skipping to 16, it says, and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. So these words are spoken by God of David's son, who is not yet named. But the significance of taking just this part of the scripture restricts the application to the Son, or allows application to Him who will set up His rule after those other earthly kings. The term name occurs in this passage. In the first, a great name is made for David. So says the Lord in 2 Samuel 7, 9. Then it is for the name that the house is to be built, as it says, He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. Then David in his prayer twice mentions the name of God, and bringing the people out of Israel, God made a name for Himself. And it says in verse 26, And let Thy name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel. And let the house of Thy servant David be established before thee. So that's what the name is. And so there's also the additional fact to be considered that the word, the Greek word, megalosune, megalosune, occurs only eight times in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, only eight times, and twice are in 2 Samuel chapter seven. And it's only three times in the New Testament, and twice are in Hebrews. So the idea is that there's some connection between 2 Samuel chapter 7. Obviously there is, because he quotes it in verse 5. But the idea of the name here has to come into picture. Because what does it mean for Christ inherited the name, which is far greater than angels? So the name here, we're saying, is coming from this. 2 Samuel verse 21 says, For your word's sake and according to your own heart you have done all these great things, to make your servant know them. Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you, nor is there any god besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people, like Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for himself a name, and to do for yourself great and awesome deeds for your land before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, the nations and their gods." So the great things of establishing David's kingdom were done by the Lord to make for himself a name. That is, the megalosounes, there's that word which the Lord has done, are for David and establish his kingdom In verse 23 it says, to do for yourself great and awesome deeds for your name, for your land. This is megalosune, great. That word great there is megalosune, which the Lord has done. And this God does to make for himself a name. Thus the use of name in 1.4 is associated with God's right hand as teis megalosunes. could be understood as an anticipatory echo of 2 Samuel 7, to which our author will immediately turn. The inherited name, then, is not to be understood as an allusion to the Son, but rather as an honor conferred by God on the Messiah as the Davidic heir. That's the point. So he's the Davidic heir as the establishment of his throne, and in association with Christ being seated in the heavenly places, quote, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. That's Ephesians 1.21. And so when the scripture says that he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they, it speaks of the glorious name which Christ has inherited by becoming the Davidic heir. Christ is the Davidic heir, right? He is the one whose throne is established forever. He is the Davidic king. So the covenantal thinking is essential to the argument which follows, though it's submerged, at least for now. But the New Covenant and the Davidic Covenant are not mutually exclusive. This is so amazing to me that the Davidic Covenant, which is in the Old Testament and which was fulfilled by Christ, and the New Covenant, which is in the Old Testament and fulfilled by Christ, are brought together in Christ. So the head of the Davidic covenant is Christ, the King. But he who, quote, by himself purged our sins is, this is the new covenant, which Christ is the high priest and the offering to be set forth later in the chapter, later in the book. But now we notice that both are brought in here, thus bringing in a very first glimpse of the priestly work and the kingly glory of Christ. Zechariah, I already quoted, but Zechariah 6.13 says, even he shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And he shall be a priest upon his throne. And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. That's amazing. I'm going to read it again. And even he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. That's the king, the Davidic kingship. And he shall be a priest upon his throne. There's the new covenant. And the counsel of peace shall be between them both, in one person. So in the current verse we are comparing this one who is a priest upon his kingly throne with the angels who were sent to minister salvation to the elect. Or as it says in Hebrews 1.14, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? How dare you compare Christ to the angels? It's amazing. So let us give thanks for those ministering spirits, but ever so much more for Christ because of what He did for us, something that no one else could possibly have done. It is only because of who He is, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the great and glorious Son of God, that He could purge our sins and make salvation available to many men. Oh, the great glory that is due His name. Amen. Amen. Any questions or comments, anything to say? Comments? So this is after his, this is verse four, I guess, during his ascension and exaltation. where he's on... that would be after the ascension, right? Yup. And he's seated at the right hand of God there. That's why in our Apostles' Creed, it says, Seat at the right hand of God, and bow your head and be proclaimed to be the God. So it began with three, as I said, the incarnation, and then it goes into this atonement, resurrection, and ascension. It's all here, like when He was appointed heir of all things, that involves everything with Christ, His birth, His life, His death, everything's involved there. Because to be heir, you have to be resurrected, I guess. The heirship there, it's not just because He earned it or something, because He created all things. That's what it says in the beginning. He created all things, and He's also the heir of all things. I know. It's mind-blowing. Absolutely amazing. And also he's now the king. He's king and priest. And high priest. He's the king, priest, and lord. King and lord are the same, basically. Yeah, yeah. Prophet. He's king, prophet, priest, and king. Even the believers also go to the office except the king. But we are The priesthood of believers. Yeah. The priesthood of believers. So another thing that strikes me always, you remember every time when we pray, we always say, in Jesus name. In Jesus name, yeah. Because our prayer, prayer is the one when we converse to God. It's like conversing to the king. You cannot, I cannot come under the name of Tony. Not in God's name. No. That prayer is not accepted. We only come in the name of Jesus. He's our mediator, right? He's our mediator between God the Father and me. It has to be Christ and His perfect righteousness. Or else I'm doomed, right? Because if it's just me and God, I'm a sinner, God is righteous, I go to hell. That's it. It's pathetic, but that's what everyone that we talk to is. I'm just going to go to God directly and hope for the best. There was a man who, those people who have been affected by Hamas in Israel. They profess Christ. They do? Not that I know of. They think they're Muslim. They are against Christ. Yeah, they're against Christ. Hello? Yes, no one can come to the Father, but by the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Where is that? John 6? Can't get there unless you go to Jesus. How can they be the chosen nation? Israel. Well, that's a different story, right? Because there's a partial blindness, that's what the scripture says, a partial blindness upon Israel. So they don't right now recognize the Son as being God in the flesh. They don't recognize the Son at all, right? They just say he's no one. But God will, like it says, God will open their eyes and reveal Christ to them, and then they will trust in Christ. So that's what, to be God's people and unelect is like living just like in the world, living for the world, living, but still loved by God. That's the way they are. They're elect and yet unregenerate. They are in terms of the flesh, Israel, like what was described in Romans. But at the same time we are the spirit for Israel, the church. The spirit for Israel. So Christ already had dominion in the church. Now it's not coming back now. He is now the king. Christ is already the king. It is not yet, his kingship is not under suspension or under probation. He is now the king, he is now the lord. He is lord. We can claim all his sovereignty despite of his chaos, despite of things we don't understand. Historically, and even in this timeline that we are in, but at the end, he is the lord. He is the lord. Amen. He had claimed, he had claimed. Yes, the medium. Because if you remember Janet, she told me that she was married to a Jew. And she speaks very lowly of those people. Yeah. She says she doesn't speak, she doesn't think that they are respectable or honorable people. She thinks that they are very dishonorable people and very dishonest. They may be. Who said? Janet. Jewish people? No, Janet. Yeah, but she said that about Jewish people, right? Yes. Yeah, they can. They really are. I don't really care about that. But we are talking here collectively as a nation. God had a covenant in the Old Testament. And until now, that covenant, that's why we have the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. This is a contract, an agreement between God and Israel. Not others. But our new covenant now is with with the spirit of Israel which is through Christ. I would say like in verse 4 is it that this is speaking in eternity or that he inherited and attained a more excellent name through his work of redemption? Yes, through his work of redemption. That's how he developed the name. The name in the Old Testament is his reputation or whatever that he developed by leading the people out of Israel. But now the cross is even greater, way greater than that, right? So his reputation, his name that he developed from that is incredible. And so his name is so much better than the angels, right? That's the point, because angels, what did they do? They didn't do anything for me. Angels like this. What can they do? So, but Christ died for me, hello! That's amazing. Anyway, so anything else? I have to get going. As far as I can remember, those people in the Middle East have been fighting for years. It's all about fighting. Why are you worried about them? I don't know. Why don't you clean them up? Since you're saying that they're the chosen nation, why is there no peace and harmony They're not born again. They need Christ. It's two people groups that reject Jesus Christ. That's one. Two? Because as far as I can remember, you watch TV all the time. Also Jehovah's Witnesses. Born in the war. I was talking specifically in the war. Oh, in the war. If you turn on the TV, you hear about news in the Middle East. It's all about conflict. Nothing else. Of course. That's the end times. We're in the end times now. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. It's so amazing to us. Lord, it reveals Christ to us, the glorious, the majestic, amazing Christ who lived for us and died for us and was ascended and seated at the right hand and is waiting. Lord, please send Him home. Send Him here to deliver us where we are. We are depending upon Christ. We look to him. We're so thankful for him, for what he did for us, or we're amazed by your grace and your goodness towards us. And we praise your name or thank you for Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Good.