Read or listen The Epistle to the Hebrews chapter 2 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Do not drift away – Hebrews 2:1-4

The passage is the first of five warnings in the letter. The other four are:
Hebrews 3:7-4:13
Hebrews 5:11-6:12
Hebrews 10:19-39
Hebrews 12:14-29

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, exhortations and warnings, as well as teaching material, alternate. In Paul's letters, there is a "clearer" division: first teaching, then exhortations, for example Romans 1-8: teachings and 12-15: exhortations.

The author's idea is clear: if the law already announced through angels had to be obeyed, with much greater reason we must hear the gospel proclaimed by Christ himself.

Both the Old Testament (Deut. 33:2, footnote; Ps. 68:18) and other New Testament writers (Paul, Gal. 3:19; Luke/Stephen, Acts 7:53) speak of angels as mediators of the law. In Judaism, too, the importance of angels grew, and eventually it was thought that the greater the number of angels needed to mediate a matter, the more valuable it was.

The will of God is something that is easily missed. The enemy of our souls gives us false goals or makes us drift aimlessly on the sea of ​​life (compare James 1:6 and Eph 4:14). The fiercer the storm, the harder it is to stay on course. It is the same in the spiritual journey: the harder the world tries to get us away from God’s will, the harder we have to work to stay on the right course. It is good to note that already a few decades after the birth of the church, it was necessary to warn against drifting away from God’s will. How much more do we need such warnings!

Verse 3 reveals that the writer of the letter is not one of the apostles. He is apparently a "second-generation Christian" who had heard the apostles' sermons.

Also note the phrase “according to His will” in verse 4. We cannot dictate to the Holy Spirit to give us certain gifts. He distributes according to His will what is best and furthers the cause of the kingdom of God.

Jesus - our brother – Hebrews 2:5-18

The episode is built on three quotes from the Old Testament:

The first of them is Psalm 8:5-6:

"Yet you have made him a little lower than the Heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet..."

This is what Hebrews 2:6-8 refers to:

"It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Another Old Testament quote is Psalm 22:22:

"I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you"

Tähän viittaa Hepr. 2:12:

"That is why he is not ashamed to
call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation
I will sing your praise.”

The third quote is Isaiah 8:17-18:

"I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.
Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion."

This is what Hebrews 2:13 refers to:

"And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

The author wants to emphasize that God became man in Jesus. Only as man and God could He atone for our sins:

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."
(verses 14-15)

The passage speaks of the pre-existence of Christ. Jesus came into the world for a specific purpose—to reconcile mankind. After returning to heaven, he has another purpose: ruling from Heaven (Hebrews 2:5,7,8).

Because Jesus was human, he is also able to help people, his brothers (verses 17-18, see also Hebrews 4:14-16). It is good to remember what this meant to the first recipients of the letter, who were destined to be persecuted for their faith (Hebrews 12:4).

"Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.
At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him."
(verse 8)

We do not see the present world as being completely under Christ's control, even though victory over Satan has already been achieved at Golgotha:

"through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil".
(verse 14)

Luther's image of Satan as "God's chained dog" is a good one. Satan has a certain, limited area of ​​operation in this world. Our falling into sins are caused by going, drifting (verses 1-4, " lest we drift away from it") into the domain of the enemy of the soul. There is no danger from a chained angry dog ​​if we do not go too close to it.

One of the buzzwords in contemporary theology is "liberation." Many times it is understood only in a social sense: as freedom from oppressive forces and powers. The Epistle to the Hebrews (verses 14-15) speaks of a much more important liberation: thanks to the work of Christ, man is freed from the power of sin, death, and the Devil. Man cannot achieve this freedom on his own; he needs Jesus for that. If this freedom is not achieved, all earthly freedom will ultimately be meaningless, because death will ultimately deprive man of everything in this world (verse 15).

On interpreting the Bible

The author interprets Psalm 8 verses 5-6 ("Yet you have made him a little lower than the Heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet...") in two ways.

The first way is "literal": The Psalm speaks of man being lower than the angels in this life, but higher than the angels in the world to come (verse 8). This is how David's idea also goes in the Hebrew Old Testament.

But the second interpretation follows the second possible interpretation of the Greek Old Testament: "a little" (lower) can also be interpreted to mean "a little while." If we take the latter interpretation, then the passage is speaking of Jesus (verse 9, cf. Phil 2:5-11).

But isn't it wrong to understand the same passage of Scripture in two ways? Isn't there only one truth, one right way to understand that passage of Scripture? Many modern theologians insist on this approach to the Bible. But the writers of the New Testament saw that God's revelation can be multi-layered. An Old Testament prophecy could be fulfilled while the prophet was alive, but it could only receive its final fulfillment in the life of Jesus. Joseph's life was not just one human destiny among others, but it was also a type of Christ.

New Testament texts can also be seen as multi-layered. For example, the prophecies in the Book of Revelation are fulfilled many times, to varying extents.

It is difficult to say when a Bible interpreter takes too many liberties; when he finds something in the text that is not actually there. But it is clear that Bible passages speak differently to different people and different eras. The Book of Revelation is relevant to us today in a different way than it was to Christians who lived a hundred years ago.