Reading: 2 Sam 7:14, Deut 32:43; Ps 8:4-6 & 22:22
Speaker: Tommy Pratt
This Week’s Thoughts
It feels like just yesterday that Molly and Elliott were up on stage, starring in their very first nativity. Were they Mary and Joseph? No, not quite. They were, instead, rather startled-looking sheep. But this only showed that they are both little method actors, as the actual sheep at the actual first nativity must also have been startled.
And what startled those first sheep on that first Christmas? Why angels, of course. For “that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them” (Luke 2:8-10). What an event for lowly shepherds (and their even lowlier sheep) to witness.
Now, when I ask Molly and Elliott about angels in the Bible, they mention events like the one above. When I asked Elliott, as he had his first set of glasses fitted, he recalled Joseph’s angelic warning dream to flee Herod. Elliott then remembered when “an angel of the Lord struck Herod Agrippa with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died” (Acts 12:23). Trust a boy to remember such a gruesome little ditty from church history.
Angels are active in the New Testament. But this leads children and adults to overlook their activity earlier on in Scripture. From the mighty cherubim stationed to the east of Eden with a flaming sword, to the angel who saved Hagar or the spirit being who kept Abraham’s hand from slaying Isaac, angels are all over the Old Testament. They occupied a lofty place in the Jewish mind as formidable, heavenly creatures. That is why Hebrews opens with an argument centred on angels.
So, we all agree that angels are mighty messengers sent out from the throne of Almighty God. But something shifts, and rightly so, when Hebrews compares angels with Jesus, the very Son of God. The point is “that the Son is far greater than the angels” (Hebrews 1:4), and the reasons are many. God never told an angel that they were His Son, and He never declared Himself their Father. Only Jesus was brought into the world and given heavenly angels as worshippers (Hebrews 1:5-7).
The list goes on. Regarding angels, Hebrews says they are servants of God, sent out like winds and flames of fire. “But to the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a sceptre of justice’” (1:8). See the difference? “And God never said to any of the angels, ‘Sit in the place of honour at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.’ Therefore, angels are only servants – spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation” (1:13-14).
Does Hebrews open this way to belittle angels? God forbid. It begins this way to grab our attention. It wants to make a big point right from the get-go. It wants to say: “You adore and revere angels? Well, get a load of Jesus and you’ll see where your affections really ought to lie!” This is Hebrews in a nutshell. Unpacking the Old Testament in order to set our affections on the Son of God, and I for one am ready for the journey. I hope Molly and Elliott (my startled little sheep) are too.