How Hebrews 1:5-14 talks about Jesus?

Question

Hebrews 1:5-14 should prove that Jesus is superior to angels, citing several Old Testament sources:

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

10 He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, 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 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

In some cases it's clear, but in the bold passages I'm not sure how Jesus is involved.

Verses 8-9 are the easier ones - by God is meant Jesus (the Son, second person of Trinity) in this context. Is it OK, or is it more complicated?

For 10-12, I understand that the Son was present and active in the creation of the world as the Word through which everything was created, and that death of the body didn't mean that Son ceased to be God. I'm not absolutely sure about the first part and I'm confused by the second one.

Can you help me to understand it?

Answer 1

The ones you have in bold are from two Psalms which were considered to have Messianic applications by the writer of Hebrews. He was arguing from the nature of Messiah that he was greater than angels. It seems that at the time the recipients of the letter had a high view of angels as above every possible person outside of God himself. As the writer really wanted to prove that Jesus was far above Moses (in order to establish the New Covenant) all he had to do is prove that Jesus was even higher than that, as we was even above the very angels of God.

The first section you have bolded is this Psalm:

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. (Psalms 45:6-7, NIV)

According to Alfred Edersheim the Jewish historian ancient Rabbinic literature can easily be found that takes these verses to apply to the expected Messiah.

Ps. 45 is throughout regarded as Messianic. To begin with, the Targum renders verse 2 (3 in the Hebrew): ‘Thy beauty, O King Messiah, is greater than that of the sons of men.’...while the words, ‘Thy throne is for ever and ever’ are brought into connection with the promise that the sceptre would not depart from Judah in Ber. R. 99, ed. Warsh. p. 178 b, line 9 from the bottom. On verse 7 the Targum, though not in the Venice edition (1568), has: ‘Thou, O King Messiah, because Thou lovest righteousness,’ &c. Comp. Levy, Targum. Wörterb. vol. 2. p. 41 a. (Alfred Edersheim Life and Times of Jesus, Appendix 9)

Basically what we have here then is after showing the angels are just 'servants' Messiah has a 'throne'. As a king on his throne is above the servants that attend him, so Messiah must be above the angels.

The next Psalm you have bolded is more difficult to gather evidence of a Messianic application from ancient Rabbinic literature, although verses 12-13 have records of being Messianicly applied. However this is a trivial matter, due to the legitimacy and authenticity of the letter itself. In other words we can gather as much from the fact that the author is using it to prove the Messiah's superiority to angels. Therefore the recipients of the letter must have considered this portion of the Psalm also Messianic as verses 12-13, otherwise the author would not refer to this Psalm to prove the superiority of Messiah to the angels. Besides when one reads the Psalm and understand Messiah to be spoken of in 12-13 then it seems more natural to presume he is also being referred to in in 25-27.

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end. (Psalms 102:25-27, NIV)

Basically as applied to the Messiah the writer of Hebrews is saying that no angels created the world and will one day abolish it and recreate it all anew. Therefore Messiah is also here denoted as much superior to the angels. The argument seems strong and impossible to evade considering these Psalms are both referring to the Messiah that was to come and restore Zion.