Read Hebrews 1:1-3

1. In what ways did God speak before Jesus?

   (for example: Daniel 2:1, 19; 7:1; 8:15-17; 10:2-11; Jerimiah 1:1-5; Zechariah 1:7-21)

2. What was the will of the Father for the Son here? 

    What does that mean?

3. Is Jesus God according to this text?   

    How do you know? 

    How did He make purification for sins?

We will look at verse 4 next week because it is illustrated by the rest of the chapter.

Read Hebrews 1:4-9

The book of Hebrews is written primarily to Jews who were vacillating between going forward into Christianity or going back to Judaism. The person and work of Jesus is at the center of their choice. The writer (we don't know who wrote the book) attempts to show them that Jesus as Son of God is the only way to go.

4. The idea of Name is big enough for a whole seminar. So don't be concerned about the concept. The rest of the chapter illustrates verse 4.

5. The writer will quote from many Old Testament texts as proof. He expects the reader to ponder these texts in context. So that is what we will do. And he will ask questions he expects to be answered. 

The first quote is from 2 texts. First Psalm 2:7. Read the whole Psalm and make note of all that indicates the Psalm including verse 7 is best applied to the Messiah.

Next 2 Samuel 7:12-17. This text is obviously referring to Solomon. Why does the writer apply it to Jesus?

6. This quote is also drawn from 2 texts, Deuteronomy 32:43 and Psalm 97:7.

Before looking at these texts, it is important to know that the writer does not quote from the Hebrew bible of the time. That version is called the MT. He quoted from the Greek translation of the Hebrew bible. That version is called LXX. In both these texts the LXX translates the word 'gods' in the MT as 'angels'.

In both these texts see if you can ascertain why the writer applied the verses to Jesus. First Deuteronomy 32:39-43. Next Psalm 97:1-7.

7. This verse quotes Psalm 104:4. Messenger in both Hebrew and Greek is the same as angel. Read Psalm 104:1-4. What is the main point of the text and how does it relate to angels? Imagine verse 4 as the author intended.

8. In contrast he quotes Psalm 45:6-7. Read Psalm 45:1-7 and discuss how this could or should be applied to Jesus, as the writer of Hebrews does.

Read Verses 10-12: What do these verses tell you about God and the universe, including the earth?

13: From the point of view of the original audience this verse quotes (Psalm 110:1) what could they learn about the coming Christ, if they recognized it as speaking of Christ?

14: What do we learn about angels here?

2:1-4: Take 3 to 5 minutes individually reading this text and writing out the main idea the author is emphasizing. Read your statements to each other, without critique. There is no wrong answer in this exercise. If time allows discuss your findings.