Reading for Today:

• Ezekiel 1:1 Chapter 1 1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth `month', in the fifth `day' of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. –2:10
• Psalms 119:153-160 153 RESH. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me; For I do not forget thy law. 154 Plead thou my cause, and redeem me: Quicken me according to thy word. 155 Salvation is far from the wicked; For they seek not thy statutes. 156 Great are thy tender mercies, O Jehovah: Quicken me according to thine ordinances. 157 Many are my persecutors and mine adversaries; `Yet' have I not swerved from thy testimonies. 158 I beheld the treacherous, and was grieved, Because they observe not thy word. 159 Consider how I love thy precepts: Quicken me, O Jehovah, according to thy lovingkindness. 160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances `endureth' for ever.
• Proverbs 28:12 12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
• Hebrews 1:1-14 Chapter 1 1 God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, 2 hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in `his' Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds; 3 who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 having become by so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. 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? 6 And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, And his ministers a flame a fire: 8 but of the Son `he saith,' Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of thy hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou continuest: And they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up, As a garment, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, And thy years shall not fail. 13 But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?

Notes:

Ezekiel 1:4 whirlwind…fire. Judgment on Judah in a further and totally devastating phase (beyond the 597 B.C. deportation) is to come out of the north, and did come from Babylon in 588–586 (as Jer. 39; 40). Its terror is depicted by a fiery whirlwind emblematic of God’s judgments and the golden brightness signifying dazzling glory.

Ezekiel 1:16 wheel in the middle of a wheel. This depicted the gigantic (v. 15, “on the earth” and “so high,” v. 18) energy of the complicated revolutions of God’s massive judgment machinery bringing about His purposes with unerring certainty.

Ezekiel 2:2 the Spirit entered me. What God commands a servant to do (v. 1), He gives power to fulfill by His Spirit (3:14; Zech. 4:6). This pictures the selective empowering by the Holy Spirit to enable an individual for special service to the Lord, which occurred frequently in the Old Testament. (For examples see 11:5; 37:1; Num. 24:2; Judg. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 1 Sam.10:10; 16:13, 14; 19:20; 2 Chr. 15:1; Luke 4:18 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, .)

Hebrews 1:2 last days. Jews understood the “last days” to mean the time when the Messiah (Christ) would come (Num. 24:14; Jer. 33:14–16; Mic. 5:1, 2; Zech. 9:9, 16). The fulfillment of the messianic prophecies commenced with the advent of the Messiah. Since He came, it has been the “last days” (1 Cor. 10:11; James 5:3 3 Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. ; 1 Pet. 1:20; 4:7; 1 John 2:18 18 Little children, it is the last hour: and as ye heard that antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last hour. ). In the past, God gave revelation through His prophets; but in these times, beginning with the Messiah’s Advent, God spoke the message of redemption through the Son. heir. Everything that exists will ultimately come under the control of the Son of God, the Messiah. This “inheritance” is the full extension of the authority which the Father has given to the Son (Dan. 7:13, 14; Matt. 28:18), as the “firstborn.” worlds. The word can also be translated “ages.” It refers to time, space, energy, and matter—the entire universe and everything that makes it function ( John 1:3 3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. ).

Hebrews 1:8, 9 He says. Quoting from Psalms 45:6 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. , 7, the writer argues for the Deity and the lordship of the Son over creation (v. 3). The text is all the more significant since the declaration of the Son’s Deity is presented as the words of the Father Himself (Is. 9:6; Jer. 23:5, 6; John 5:18 18 For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. ; Titus 2:13 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ; 1 John 5:20 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, `even' in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. ). It is clear that the writer of Hebrews had the 3 messianic offices in mind: Prophet (v. 1), Priest (v. 3), and King (vv. 3, 8). Induction into those 3 offices required anointing (v. 9). The title “Messiah” (“Christ”) means “anointed one” (Is. 61:1–3; Luke 4:16 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read. –21).

DAY 5: To which Hebrews was this book written?

Although the author and the original recipients of this letter are unknown, the title, dating as early as the second century A.D., had been “To the Hebrews.” The title certainly fits the content. The epistle exudes a Jewish mind-set. References to Hebrew history and religion abound. And since no particular Gentile or pagan practice gains any attention in the book, the church has kept the traditional title.

A proper interpretation of this epistle requires the recognition that it addresses 3 distinct groups of Hebrews:

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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