Hebrews 1:1-2 says something that we will now focus on.
Hebrews 1:1
“God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
1:2 hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”
We can see in those statements that over time there was a change in the mode of communication so to speak of God. Not because God changed, God does not change but because revelation knowledge came progressively. That means more light of the person of God came with time.
It says God spoke to the fathers by the prophets long ago. But in the latter times he has spoken by (his) Son.
One thing you should note is the verb used.
GOD HAS SPOKEN!
God has spoken and how did he speak?
He spoke unto us by (his) Son.
The word (his) is in italics. If you take it out it says “he has spoken unto us BY SON.”
There is a perspective that needs to be seen that seems to hide in KJV. Some translations showed it. God spoke through the prophets. They were mouthpieces. Jesus was not a prophet. He was not a mouthpiece. He was who was spoken about by the prophets. In the prophets God was speaking a Son.
So some translations render “by” as “in”
Amplified does. Darby translation does.
Hebrew 1:2 (DARBY)
“At the end of these days has spoken to us in [the person of the] Son, whom he has established heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds…”
It says he has spoken to us IN SON. In the person of the Son.
What is the point?
Every time God spoke the thought he was communicating was Jesus. Even in the law. Paul will tell you the law was our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.
If i send people to tell you about someone. I kept sending many people and they were telling about the same person. Then one day the person comes. You will say “oh, finally! He is here”. You should not say
‘Who have you come to speak about?’
If he speaks about someone else then the speaking continues. But when that person comes and speaks it will have to be about himself.
Please stay with me. We will use the things we are establishing all through. John used a word to talk about him in John 1:1. He used the word “logos”; Logos is the idea you communicate in speech. It is the thought that is communicated in language. So you can call it the reason behind a speaking. Everyone, whether wise or foolish has something in their mind that was the reason why they opened their mouths to speak. That reason is the idea the word logos communicates. I know there is a popular understanding of logos and rhema. We’ll clear them.
‘Rhema’ is the words you use to communicate logos. When Jesus said man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, the word used was ‘rhema’. Rhema is the articulated expression of a thought. When the New Testament refers to what was written, that is the scriptures it uses the word ‘graphe’. Just follow me it will get clearer as we go. Like I said, there is a popular understanding.
I’ll give you proofs of what I am saying and I hope they are enough but let’s put on our thinking caps and think about ‘logos’ being the written word.
The written word will be the bible in that case so let’s think. John 1:1 says in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. If logos is the written word then you can put it like this:
“In the beginning was the written word, and the written word was with God and the written word was God”
Or you can put bible in place of written word
Then we can pat ourselves and call ourselves idol worshippers of a book. Jesus used ‘rhema’ for when he said every WORD from the mouth of God and he was referring to the scriptures. All the speaking through all the mouthpieces that communicated the logos of God in all the sundry times and all the diverse manners as we see in Hebrews 1:1. The word translated as word in John 1 is ‘logos’. It’s like this:
“In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God and the logos was God”
Logos is thought, plan, idea. Let’s substitute in John 1:1
“In the beginning was the thought, the thought was with God, the thought was God.”
Down to v14 it is:
“And the thought, plan, was made flesh…”
In the beginning God had a plan, a thought, and a will for man. The thought was with God (of course. Your thought is yours). The thought was God. God thought God. God planned God. So Isaiah will speak of IMMANUEL— God with us. God planned God with us. The word became flesh and dwelt among us and he was called the Son of God.
It is such abysmal ignorance that makes Jehovah’s Weaknesses call Jesus an angel because God planned God in man: Immanuel. I’ll show you the words in the Greek.
1: λόγος
(Strong’s #3056 — Noun Masculine — logos — log’-os)
Denotes (I) “the expression of thought,” not the mere name of an object, (a) as embodying a conception or idea,
2: ῥῆμα
(Strong’s #4487 — Noun Neuter — rhema — hray’-mah)
Denotes “that which is spoken, what is uttered in speech or writing;” in the singular, “a word,”
Apart from the words used in the Greek we have a bible understanding. Jesus is the thought of God. That is why we can study types and shadows and say they all pointed to Jesus. He is the reason for the speaking.
How?
Through the incarnation in the Virgin Mary. John 1:14 says the word WAS MADE flesh: He was not always flesh? He never said that!
How can God say who will go when the prophecy said he shall be called Immanuel? God with us.
The position was not open to everyone.
The writer of Hebrews explains that it was not offered to angels.
Hebrews 1:4
“Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 1:5, for unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”
Apart from the words used in the Greek we have a bible understanding. Jesus is the thought of God. That is why we can study types and shadows and say they all pointed to Jesus. He is the reason for the speaking.
The logos talks about the plan of God. The plan was spoken through the prophets in many dispensations. The words used to communicate the thought is the ‘rhema’. We have studied and seen that Gen 1:26 “let us make man in our image” was a speaking of the plan of God. We can say it was the ‘rhema’ of the logos. When Jesus came he talked about himself.
You need to really correct your idea of pride as blowing of your own trumpet. Pride is to not agree with God. It is to not be submissive to God. Jesus “blew his own trumpet” so to speak. If he didn’t he would have been proud.
Why?
He is the trumpet of God!
When he said “I am the way, the truth and the life” he was pointing all to himself.
Not doing that would have been pride.
If he were to have said: “I am the way but I can’t tell people because I don’t want to blow my own trumpet” then it would have been pride on his part. He spoke about himself. That was humility on his part. Because his words were the words God said about him. Now to you: the word of God says you are holy and without blame in God’s sight (Col 1:22).
If you say you are not holy then you are proud.
The word of God calls you a saint. If you say you are not a saint then you are proud.
1Cor 1:2
The bible reveals you are righteous.
(2Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 4:24)
If you say you are not then you are proud.
So Jesus will say “I and the Father are one”. They’ll pick up stones to throw at him for claiming equality with God but he will not change his confession. He will later be framed and crucified for it and he will quietly die, choosing death over speaking a single word that will contradict the truth of God no matter who it pisses off.
We’ve done all this to explain Hebrews 1:2.
From the time Jesus was born till now no other prophet was sent to Israel. Jesus called John the last prophet. After John came the heralding of the kingdom.
No other prophet will be sent from God to foretell the coming of Jesus. Why?
He has already come.
GOD HAS SPOKEN IN HIS SON.
So don’t expect a ‘new word’ from the Lord.
We’ll get a little technical now. God spoke through the prophets. Then he spoke in his Son.
He told all that witnessed the transfiguration scene: the disciples and the prophets to hear the Son. This will show us that any time there is a disagreement in what any prophet said and anything we learn in Jesus we will take the revelation of Jesus as higher than theirs.
(New Living Translation)
Matthew 19:8:
Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.”
We have studied and seen that what the prophets spoke was not understood until Jesus came and explained them. He the Holy Ghost who inspired the prophets to speak to us and Paul who never heard him teach did the same thing he did. He explained the scriptures. Paul explained things Jesus told them he could not say to them because they could not bear them. The prophets who spoke did not even understand what they spoke.
1Peter 1:10-10:10
AMP: The prophets, who prophesied of the grace (divine blessing) which was intended for you, searched and inquired earnestly about this salvation.
11
AMP: They sought [to find out] to whom or when this was to come which the Spirit of Christ working within them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow [them].
12
AMP: It was then disclosed to them that the services they were rendering were not meant for themselves and their period of time, but for you.”
It was revealed to them that whatever they said was not for their time, said Peter. Let’s see Paul:
This is Ephesians 3
Ephesians 3:2-4 NLT
“As I briefly wrote earlier, God
Himself revealed his mysterious plan to
me. As you read what I have written, you
will understand my insight into this plan
regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to
previous generations, but now by his Spirit
he has revealed it to his holy apostles and
Prophets.”
He said it was not revealed to previous generations. So the prophets did not know what they said. They spoke without revelation.
Hear Paul teach the Corinthians the same thing
1 Corinthians 2:7
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
2:8. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
Just like he taught the Ephesians he said it was hidden. Nobody knew it. Eyes did not see, ears did not hear, minds did not understand. No one understood what God planned for us.
It was a mystery.
It was mysterious to them.
Is it still a mystery?
No.
He said God has revealed the mystery to us (the apostles, the church) by his Spirit.
Now here is where our study lies.
The next verse says something that we have to understand. And it’s why no one understood, not even the prophets.
1 Corinthians 2:11
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”
That explains why the prophets did not understand. No one can understand the things of God except one with his Spirit. And the prophets did not have the Spirit.
Let me explain:
Except you share a nature you cannot fully understand those with that nature. Except you are a goat you cannot fully understand goats. You can bleat like a goat but you wouldn’t know if there is some level of communication in that sound to a goat. You can watch them all day but you might never be able to truly understand why they return to eat just few seconds later after you hit them with a big stick. Maybe if you were a goat you will come to think that it is unfair to think goats are foolish for coming back to eat the yam peels after the blows they’ve received.
Goats too cannot understand man. They can’t understand why you keep chasing them from the yam. You can only study them. You will never understand them to the level of nature. Now imagine you wanted to pass a message to the goat kingdom. You are a man trying to communicate with goats. You want tell them something good you have planned for them.
How would you go about it?
You know that if you speak directly to goats they will not understand. That won’t work. Goats will only understand goats. But you are wise. Somehow you figure out a way to make certain goats experience your mind and to speak that experience in goat language. The goats you “inspire” then speak the things that you “reveal” to them from time to time.
As they speak they will from time to time try to interpret what they are saying to their fellow goats but they too are goats. They can’t “KNOW” the things of a man because only one that shares the nature of man (nature) can know the things of a man. You say what you have planned for them through their holy goats for a long time. Imagine that all you tried to tell them that what you want planned for them only you can do it. And to do it you will have to become a goat.
Imagine that all you tried to tell them was that what you planned for them only you could do it. To do it you will have to become a goat, share their nature. Then after a long time one day a goat is pregnant and claimed she did not mate with any male goat. She said the goat inside of me is a Man-Goat. His father, source is a man. Then that goat was born. What has happened is the man has expressed himself in Goatemburg (Goat kingdom).
That is not just a birth but an incarnation. The Man-goat can look at their oldest goat ever and say before you I was if the nature that sourced it existed before the goat nature was created.
Now in that Man-goat is a suitable being called a mediator. He is a cross between human nature and goat nature. This goat can understand human language and goat language alike. This is the depth of that single statement Paul made. That goat can now go ahead and take everything the holy goats said all through the years and interpret it to goats in clear goat language. When the voice said “hear ye him” it was because he has the Spirit of God so he was the one who really KNOWS/UNDERSTANDS the things of God.
The bible explains in Hebrew 1:3 that this Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of his person. He is the image of God.
He is the flawless representation of God. He is what you see of an invisible God.
Praise God for his deep, deep wisdom.
In him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In him is all of God put in a human body. Having the Spirit of God and therefore knowing the things of God he explained them to the people. He said Moses in the law, the prophets and the Psalms spoke concerning him. He said the scriptures testify of him.
He opened their understanding to the scriptures.
Glory to God!
Written by Kennedy Enney
Reviewed by Achikanu Daniel (December, 2016).