Hebrews 2:1-5

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.

The functional definition of the word earnest  is: 'Ardent in the pursuit of an object; eager to obtain; having a longing desire; warmly engaged or incited'.

The functional definition of the word heed  is: 'To mind or regard with care and take proper action because of a warning'.

The theme of chapter 2 is in the last sentence where we were told that Jesus is able to succour  us because of His experience as a man.  The functional definition of the word succour  is: 'to run to the aid of someone who needs help'.

What we see here is the warning that we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.  If we do so than Jesus  is able to succour  us.  However, if we refuse to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,  then not only do we refuse the help from Jesus  but we will suffer the consequence of doing sin.  The second sentence of our chapter asks the question How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?  In James 4:17 we are warned Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.  When we neglect so great salvation  we are sinning by omission.

A lot of people have been led into the error of thinking 'God will understand' and they use that to justify, in their own mind, their continuing sin and their neglecting and losing the things which we have heard.  In the second sentence of Hebrews 2 we are given four reasons to not do that.

1. In the past, Law and swift and constant judgment was delivered by angels.
• There is not only no evidence to support the claim that God will understand, but the author plainly states that there is an overwhelming abundance of evidence for the exact opposite.  Even the lost know that the Old Testament was filled with God bringing judgment upon the disobedient.  In fact, many reject that God is a loving God because of the judgment.  They often refuse to understand that God can love the world in general while hating individuals and the ways of those that teach sin.  In fact, many people reject this Biblical truth found in many places within the Bible.  In addition, to God's hate,  God is the righteous judge  (Genesis 18:25; 1Kings 8:32; 2Chronicles 6:23; Ecclesiastes 3:17; John 7:24; 2Timothy 4:8).  God must judge righteously.  There are also other doctrines involved in this reason but without going into them I can state that anyone who thinks they can ignore the evidence of judgment brought upon those who disobeyed the Bible are fools.  As Romans and many other places in the New Testament tell us, the Law can not justify, it can only condemn.  Those who want to be under the Law or who think they can earn  their salvation are fools who are ignoring the abundance of evidence that God has provided.
2. If we neglect so great salvation,  the only other option is swift and constant judgment was delivered by angels.
• If we honestly look at all that God's Son  went through to bring this salvation, we can only do what he requests of us of prove ourselves to be fools.  Please see the note for 10:29 and the associated note in the Lord Jesus Christ Study which tells us about God's Son.  When we neglect so great salvation; we hath trodden under foot  God's Son  and all that he sacrificed for our salvation.
3. The Old Testament gave us a promise of salvation  from the Lord  and them that heard him  have confirmed unto us  that it is now available.
• Our history and 1John 5:8 and other verses tell us that saints have shed their blood for a witness that they believed the Bible so much that they were willing to die rather than deny it.  They literally confirmed  it with their lives, as the author points out in Chapter 11.  God allowed them to suffer terrible things so that we would have His truth confirmed  for us.  When we neglect so great salvation; we hath trodden under foot  all that these saints suffered to confirm  God's Word.
4. God  also bore witness  to the testimony of them that heard him  by giving them signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost  that could only come from God.
• All through the gospels and the book of Acts we read of miracles that were done by God through those who believed.  Many, including myself, have also personally experience God providing miracles in our lives which also required faith.  Finally, all true Christians have experienced God working in their lives through the gifts of the Holy Ghost.  When we neglect so great salvation; we prove that God is wasting His time giving us gifts and miracles.  We also rob God of His justification for giving us salvation (this is developed and explained in other notes of this study).

So, what we see here is that we have four major doctrinal reasons why we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.  We are also warned of judgment being given to us from the Lord  if we fail to obey after He has given us all of this evidence of the consequences given to the disobedient.

With these general concepts in mind, we can now look at more specific details from our reference.  Our reference gives us reasons from the past, from the present and for the future why we should give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.  The reasons given include the rewards for obedience and the warning of punishment for disobedience.

From the past

The first sentence of our chapter starts with Therefore,  which means we are to do what this chapter tells us because of what we were told in the prior chapter.  That is: the last chapter proved that we have the most powerful being is all of existence, short of God the Father, Who became man and understands our infirmities and is willing and able to succour  us.  No other being can do anything to us unless He allows it.  With this powerful of a helper, we have no excuse for failure.

Our chapter starts out telling us that since God the Father raised Jesus  above all other beings, we will suffer the consequences if we ignore what Jesus  tells us to do.  The Therefore,  which starts this chapter, tells us that this warning is based upon the prior chapter where we were reminded us of the consequences in the past which people received when they let slip  the commandments of God and disobeyed.  Since God does not change (Hebrews 13:8 and Malachi 3:6), and God brought judgment upon certain attitudes and actions of His people, we can expect to receive the same if we keep the same attitudes and actions.

Chapter 1 quotes Psalms to remind us of the great differences between God and us.  We are to be honored that God considers us and we are to do all we can to obey because of that.  Chapter 1 tells us that since God has His Son become human and made Him the captain of (our) salvation  for the express purpose that He would bring many sons unto glory,  we are to obey and let Him do this for us.

The author reminds us that God used angels to send messages to men, but angels are not like us and do not understand our weaknesses nor do they understand how difficult it might be for us to obey.  However, since the Son of God set aside His personal power and became a weak human being, He does understand our weaknesses and the limits of our abilities.  Since He went to all of this effort to understand what we are going through, we need to recognize His understanding and accept that when He tells us to do something it is something we can do.  Thus, we should understand the conclusion of Chapter2, which is: For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

In Hebrews 1:1 we are told God...spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.  The phrase spake in time past  makes it clear that God used to do this but is no longer doing so.  Someone who claims to be a prophet  today, and uses that as a basis for our listening to him, is rejecting the truth of our opening sentence.  Our first sentence goes on to say Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.  John 1;1,14 make it clear that God's Son is His Word in flesh while the Bible is His Word in print and our picture of God's Son.  'The Spirit of God uses the word of God to show the child of God the will of God.  Today, God speaks to us through His Word with the interpretation provided by His Holy Spirit.

The rest of the first sentence tells us about the character of God's Son.  He is God's heir.  He is the Creator. He is the brightness of (God's) glory.  He is the express image of (God's) person.  He holds creation together with His own power.  He by himself purged our sins.  He is the right hand of the Majesty on high  and the second most powerful being in existence.  He is so much better than the angels.  He has earned a more excellent name.  Because of Who and what God's Son is, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  to what He says.

Hebrews 1:5 tells us that He is God's Son,  which means that He has the character of God the Father.  John 14:9 says Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?  Since He has the character of God the father, and shows us God the Father, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  to what He says because it is just like obeying God the Father.

Hebrews 1:6 tells us that He is the firstbegotten,  which means that we are to be like Him in order for God to call us sons.  When we are saved we become God's children  but John 1:12 makes it clear, with the use of time-tense words, that we must become the sons of God  after we receive Him.

Hebrews 1:7-8 tells us that He has a throne  while angels and other beings are ministers  (servants).  We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  because of His authority.

Hebrews 1:9 tells us that He hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity  and because of that God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness.  We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  because of He can show us how to become glad.

Hebrews 1:10-12 tells us that He will outlast anything which tries to claim to be more valuable.  On short-term thing can have the value of what lasts for eternity.

Hebrews 1:10-12 tells us that God the Father will make all of His enemies His footstool.  We will be likewise shamed if we chose any other above Jesus  and refuse to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  from Jesus.

All of these things happened in our past.  Thus, our epistle starts telling us why we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard  and starts with the witness from out past.

In the present

Hebrews 2:2-4 says How shall we escape,  which is present-tense.  It also says if we neglect,  which is present-tense.  It also says so great salvation,  and our salvation  is present-tense.  It also says gifts of the Holy Ghost,  and those are given to us to use in this present-tense life.  Thus, we see that Hebrews 2:2-4 is telling us about things which are present-tense and which give us a reason to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

The present-tense phrase of: How shall we escape  is warning us of judgment brought upon God's people within this life.  Romans 6:16 tells us: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  This is written to saved and many other places in the Bible warn of judgment within this life for ongoing sin.  1Corinthians 11:30 says For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep..  Thus we see that sickness and death can result in the present time if we do not give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard.

The present-tense phrase of: if we neglect  gives us the lack of action which will result in punishment.  James 4:17 says Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.  Neglecting  to pray over everything is sin.  Neglecting  to read our Bible daily is sin.  Neglecting  to seek God's guidance for our daily life is sin.  Neglecting  to praise and thank God daily is sin.  Neglecting  to use our spiritual gift for God's glory is sin.  Neglecting  to win the lost is sin.  Neglecting  to maintain our personal relationship with God is sin.  Neglecting  to do the ministry that God gave to us is sin.  Neglecting  to do the many other things which the Bible tells us to do is sin.

The present-tense phrase of: so great salvation  is emphasizing how great  God made our present-tense salvation.  Too many people have the mind-set of: 'I got saved on some day in the past' and believe that everything was completed on that past day and that there is nothing that God is doing in their present day life with their salvation.  However, that is a lie from the devil that is used to rob God's people from their ongoing blessings from God.  As explained in the message called Body, Soul and Spirit Salvation, our spirit  is saved when we, from our heart, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord.  Our body will not be saved but we will get a new one after going to Heaven.  God is saving our soul  from the day we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord  until we go to Heaven.  Our soul  is the long-term combination of the short-term decisions of our heart.  Both are the way we think, the way we make decisions and the emotional reactions we have to circumstances in life.  God is presently teaching us to have the mind of Christ  (1Corinthians 2:16).  God is presently teaching us to have the mind of Christ  (1Corinthians 2:16).  God is presently teaching us to say Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  (Luke 22:42).  God is teaching us Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  (Ephesians 4:31-32).

The phrase of: which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him  reminds us that we have a present-tense Bible which the Holy Spirit uses to teach us how to act in this present world.

The phrase of: God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles  points out how God acted in the past, and how He also acts in this present time, for those who obey Him.  Neither in the past nor today does God give everyone miracles but He still gives them to some people.

The gifts of the Holy Ghost  are very definitely present-tense.

The phrase according to his own will  is very definitely present-tense as God wants to work in His peoples' lives in the present.

All of these remind us that we have an ongoing relationship with God if we are truly saved.

For the future

Hebrews 2:5 says For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.  This epistle makes it clear that our Lord Jesus Christ  will rule the world to come.  Our Bible makes it clear that He will give variable rewards, which will be enjoyed in the world to come,  based upon our level of obedience today.  The parables of the talents  (Matthew 25) and of pounds  (Luke 19) are just two of the places where the Bible teaches this truth.

In addition, to these teachings, we have the judgment seat of Christ  (Romans C14S16; 2Corinthians 5:10), which is a judgment seat  and not a 'Bema Seat of rewards'.  The Bible makes literally says that the results will be according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.  Thus, we are warned of future judgment based upon if we give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

Finally, have you ever heard of a naked bride?  Revelation 19:8 says And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  Not all beings in Heaven will return to this Earth with Christ  for His 1,000 years reign.  We have no righteousness  of our own.  The righteousness of saints  is what they receive when they let God work through their life.  Saved people who do not let God work through their present life might go to Heaven, if they have not believed in vain, but they will not have the righteousness of saints  to clother them nor can they expect to be part of the 1,000 years reign of Christ.

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We have seen, in context, where our epistle gives is very many reasons for us to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.  These reasons are from our past, our present and our future.  Our epistle continues in the next chapters and warns us about God's people who ignored the warning and lost their reward.  Any saved people who ignore this warning prove themselves to be Biblical fools who will lose their reward.

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