14 are they not all spirits of service -- for ministration being sent forth because of those about to inherit salvation?
A messenger of Jehovah is encamping, Round about those who fear Him, And He armeth them.
Bless Jehovah, ye His messengers, Mighty in power -- doing His word, To hearken to the voice of His Word. Bless Jehovah, all ye His hosts, His ministers -- doing His pleasure.
and a messenger of the Lord through the night opened the doors of the prison, having also brought them forth, he said,
`And it came to pass, that the poor man died, and that he was carried away by the messengers to the bosom of Abraham -- and the rich man also died, and was buried;
my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.'
Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and hath said, `Blessed `is' the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent His messenger, and hath delivered His servants who trusted on Him, and the word of the king changed, and gave up their bodies that they might not serve nor do obeisance to any god except to their own God.
to whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering these, which now were told to you (through those who did proclaim good news to you,) in the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, to which things messengers do desire to bend looking.
`And he saith unto me: Daniel, man greatly desired, attend to the words that I am speaking unto thee, and stand on thy station, for now I have been sent unto thee. `And when he speaketh with me this word, I have stood trembling. And he saith unto me: Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst give thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words have been heard, and I have come because of thy words.
yea, while I am speaking in prayer, then that one Gabriel, whom I had seen in vision at the commencement, being caused to fly swiftly, is coming unto me at the time of the evening present. And he giveth understanding, and speaketh with me, and saith, `O Daniel, now I have come forth to cause thee to consider understanding wisely; at the commencement of thy supplications hath the word come forth, and I have come to declare `it', for thou `art' greatly desired, and understand thou concerning the matter, and consider concerning the appearance.
And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, `Joseph, son of David, thou mayest not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten `is' of the Holy Spirit,
And on their having withdrawn, lo, a messenger of the Lord doth appear in a dream to Joseph, saying, `Having risen, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there till I may speak to thee, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.'
`Then shall the king say to those on his right hand, Come ye, the blessed of my Father, inherit the reign that hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
And the messenger answering said to him, `I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee,
and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear.
And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying,
he saw in a vision manifestly, as it were the ninth hour of the day, a messenger of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, `Cornelius;' and he having looked earnestly on him, and becoming afraid, said, `What is it, Lord?' And he said to him, `Thy prayers and thy kind acts came up for a memorial before God,
and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood by, and a light shone in the buildings, and having smitten Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, `Rise in haste,' and his chains fell from off `his' hands.
and presently there smote him a messenger of the Lord, because he did not give the glory to God, and having been eaten of worms, he expired.
because the ministration of this service not only is supplying the wants of the saints, but is also abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
and to you who are troubled -- rest with us in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with messengers of his power,
that ye may not become slothful, but followers of those who through faith and patient endurance are inheriting the promises.
in which God, more abundantly willing to shew to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, did interpose by an oath,
A flood of fire is proceeding and coming forth from before Him, a thousand thousands do serve Him, and a myriad of myriads before Him do rise up, the Judge is seated, and the books have been opened.
Seraphs are standing above it: six wings hath each one; with two `each' covereth its face, and with two `each' covereth its feet, and with two `each' flieth. And this one hath called unto that, and hath said: `Holy, Holy, Holy, `is' Jehovah of Hosts, The fulness of all the earth `is' His glory.'
For His messengers He chargeth for thee, To keep thee in all thy ways, On the hands they bear thee up, Lest thou smite against a stone thy foot.
And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst.
And when the dawn hath ascended, then the messengers press upon Lot, saying, `Rise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are found present, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.' And he lingereth, and the men lay hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, through the mercy of Jehovah unto him, and they bring him out, and cause him to rest without the city.
`Blessed in thee shall be all the nations;' so that those of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham,
know ye, then, that those of faith -- these are sons of Abraham,
for it pleased well, and their debtors they are, for if in their spiritual things the nations did participate, they ought also, in the fleshly things, to minister to them.
and if children, also heirs, heirs, indeed, of God, and heirs together of Christ -- if, indeed, we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together.
and suddenly a great earthquake came, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, opened also presently were all the doors, and of all -- the bands were loosed;
And the account was heard in the ears of the assembly that `is' in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent forth Barnabas to go through unto Antioch,
and he shall send his messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens unto the ends thereof.
and if ye `are' of Christ then of Abraham ye are seed, and according to promise -- heirs.
that the nations be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in the Christ, through the good news,
And I thought `it' necessary Epaphroditus -- my brother, and fellow-workman, and fellow-soldier, and your apostle and servant to my need -- to send unto you,
and having been made perfect, he did become to all those obeying him a cause of salvation age-during,
Hearken, my brethren beloved, did not God choose the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the reign that He promised to those loving Him?
to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in the heavens for you,
And prophesy also to these did the seventh from Adam -- Enoch -- saying, `Lo, the Lord did come in His saintly myriads,
and I saw, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb hath stood as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God, which are sent to all the earth,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 1
Commentary on Hebrews 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Epistle to the Hebrews
Chapter 1
In this chapter we have a twofold comparison stated:
Hbr 1:1-3
Here the apostle begins with a general declaration of the excellency of the gospel dispensation above that of the law, which he demonstrates from the different way and manner of God's communicating himself and his mind and will to men in the one and in the other: both these dispensations were of God, and both of them very good, but there is a great difference in the way of their coming from God. Observe,
Now it was by no less a person than this that God in these last days spoke to men; and, since the dignity of the messenger gives authority and excellency to the message, the dispensations of the gospel must therefore exceed, very far exceed, the dispensation of the law.
Hbr 1:4-14
The apostle, having proved the pre-eminence of the gospel above the law from the pre-eminence of the Lord Jesus Christ above the prophets, now proceeds to show that he is much superior not only to the prophets, but to the angels themselves. In this he obviates an objection that the Jewish zealots would be ready to make, that the law was not only delivered by men, but ordained by angels (Gal. 3:19), who attended at the giving forth of the law, the hosts of heaven being drawn forth to attend the Lord Jehovah on that awful occasion. Now the angels are very glorious beings, far more glorious and excellent than men; the scripture always represents them as the most excellent of all creatures, and we know of no being but God himself that is higher than the angels; and therefore that law that was ordained by angels ought to be held in great esteem. To take off the force of this argument, the penman of this epistle proceeds to state the comparison between Jesus Christ and the holy angels, both in nature and office, and to prove that Christ is vastly superior to the angels themselves: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Here observe,