A Thematic Study of the Book of Hebrews, Part 2

Introduction

Hopefully, you have read Part 1 in this series of articles, as well as the addendum.  The first half of the addendum article is exactly like the original Part 1.  However, I took a different path during the second half of the article, which I think tracks more closely to the flow of themes in this important book.  Thus, this article is based upon the addendum to Part 1. 

One of my goals is to encourage you to begin to use some of the tools I present to you through my ministry of the Word, specifically outlining.  Adonai wants to personally lead you, guide you and teach you His holy Word.  The more you spend time reading, meditating, studying and contemplating His eternal Word, then the more He can and will speak to you, opening your eyes so that you may, “behold wondrous things from His Torah,” according to Psalm 119:18!  I have found that outlining is a tool He has used to help lead and guide me.  So, please try this tool on your own.  As of the end of Part 1, I created an outline of the first major idea the writer of the book of Hebrews was trying to communicate to his readers.  I am including this outline in this article because it will serve as a reference point for this article.  The outline has six major thematic sections and looks like this:

Adonai is Speaking to Us Through His Son

With this as our starting point, let’s dive in and see if we can use this outline as a road map to help us understand the actual thought processes of the author.   Let’s start with theme 1A, Hebrews 1:1-2a – God is speaking to us through Yeshua in the last days:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . . (Hebrews 1:1-2a)

This first statement by the author sets up a number of contrasts that are meant to win us over to what he is advocating for.  Note the following contrasts:

1. How God spoke to the fathers versus how He’s speaking to us

2. How God spoke in various ways in the past versus how He’s speaking to us now through Yeshua

3. That which was in the past versus that which is now, in the end times

4. How God spoke through the prophets in the past versus how He’s speaking through Yeshua

I believe the author is trying to get us to see how important it is for us to listen to Yeshua’s words.  To accomplish this goal, he set up four contrasts.  First of all, the author of the book of Hebrews wants His writers to know that Adonai is not simply speaking to other people (like the fathers), rather Adonai is speaking to them, directly to them.  But it doesn’t stop here!  The author wants his readers to realize that Yeshua’s message in the last days is even more powerful than the original giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai!  I will come back to this assertion a few more times as we continue our study, and each time I will present more evidence to prove this assertion is correct.  Second, in the past Adonai spoke in many different ways, but now He has chosen one particular way to convey His thoughts.  He has chosen His Son Yeshua.  The idea here is that the message is so important (even than the original giving of the Torah) that He has chosen His best means of communication to us.  Thirdly, Adonai’s message is for the most select generation of all generations of people to inhabit the earth.  The author specifically mentions that Adonai is speaking to us through His Son in these last days.  By using the phrase in these last days, he is sure to rouse his readers to attention, because many of the prophets had foretold a period of time known as the last days, latter days, or the end times, and it is during this important period of time that Adonai will usher in His long-awaited kingdom.

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1)

“And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days”  (Numbers 24:14).

When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice ³¹ (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them (Deuteronomy 4:30-31).

Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come (Daniel 10:14).

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it (Isaiah 2:2).

Thus, the phrase in these last days was a call to attention, signaling that the long-awaited time of the end, spoken of by the prophets, had finally arrived and it was time to give heed to Adonai’s message for this hour.

Lastly, although Adonai spoke to His people in the past through His prophets, in the last days He chose to speak through His Son.  Again, the choice of speaking through His Son is meant to emphasize the importance of the message.  It’s similar to the parable of the wicked vinedressers, where the owner of a vineyard sent servants to collect proceeds from his vineyard, but the vinedressers ignored them.  Finally, he sent his son, hoping that they would take his request more seriously, since he had sent his son instead of just another servant.

“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’”   (Luke 20:13).

Another analogy would be Adonai sending a donkey to deliver His message to Balaam!  Balaam would have blown off any prophet Adonai had sent to him to turn him from his madness.  So, to impress upon Balaam the seriousness of the matter, He sent a donkey to deliver His divine rebuke, hoping that such a clear miracle would arrest his attention and turn him from his error!

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet (2 Peter 2:15-16).

Taken together, these first four contrasts are meant to explicitly impress upon the reader the urgency and importance of Yeshua’s words.  Furthermore, the writer of the book of Hebrews is alluding to something else he hopes will stimulate his readers to attention.   But we will only be able to see this if we make key thematic connections to other portions of Scripture.  For example, our author specifically mentioned that Adonai had spoken to us by His Son.  In other words, Adonai’s Son spoke His words.  So, let’s review from the gospel account where Yeshua specifically mentions that He spoke Adonai’s words!

He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. ⁴⁹ For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:48-50).

Notice how Yeshua emphatically stated that He was speaking Adonai’s words, not His own!  We should immediately connect this passage to Deuteronomy 18:15-19:

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’  ¹⁷ “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

As you can see, the message of Deuteronomy 18:15-19 is the message of John 12:48-50, which is the message of Hebrews 1:1-2b.  And what is the focus of that message?  Deuteronomy 18:15-19 contains the following themes that are repeated in John 12:48-50 and Hebrews 1:1-2b:

• The fact that Yeshua is speaking God’s words

  • Deuteronomy 18:18-19—I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

  • John 12:49-50—“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

  • Hebrews 1:1-2a—God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son . . .

In summary, our author is saying this: “God is speaking His words to you through His Son, that prophet spoken of by Moses, so you need to give Him your full attention because you will be held accountable for His words!” 

Yeshua is One Hundred Percent Divine

Next, let’s look at the transition our author makes in moving from Hebrews 1:1-2a to Hebrews 1:2b-3, our second major theme of this first movement in the book of Hebrews.  As we noted when developing our outline in the previous article, there is a definite topic change at this point.  The author was talking about how Adonai is speaking to us in a new, more authoritative manner.  But now He’s talking to us about Yeshua’s person and works; in other words, characteristics that identify WHO He is![1]  Why the change in topic?  Well, in actuality, the topic has not changed.  What’s happening now is the writer is giving us even more reasons (as if we hadn’t seen enough already) to understand why Yeshua’s words are so important.  They are important because of WHO He is!  The author gives us seven identifiers that explain WHO Yeshua is.  Note how the seven reasons can be arranged chiastically:

Notice how each pair complements each other.  In A/A׳ Yeshua sits at the right hand of the Father as heir of all things.  In B/B׳ Yeshua created the world and then He single-handedly redeemed the world (He created) back to Himself (after its corruption).  In In C/C׳ Yeshua manifests Adonai’s glory by upholding the entire creation by the word of His power.  Lastly, note the central axis of this seven-fold description of Yeshua’s person and work.  He is the express image of Adonai!  In other words, when you’ve seen Yeshua, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9)!  Therefore, I see three major takeaways from these seven attributes.  First of all, these attributes emphatically state that Yeshua is God.  Secondly, the central axis of these chiastically-arranged attributes points to the fact that Yeshua is the express image of Adonai.  Lastly, remember how the author started this book by stating that Adonai had spoken in various ways to the fathers through the prophets?  Well, with this new revelation, that Yeshua is God, the writer of the book of Hebrews is inviting us to see that Adonai is no longer using intermediaries to speak to His people like He did in the dispensation of the giving of the Torah per Israel’s request at Mount Sinai.  Now He’s speaking to us directly, Himself, through the person of His Son.  And for all these reasons the message from Yeshua is most important!

Earlier, I showed you how John 12:48-50 connected Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and Hebrews 1:1-2a.  It just so happens that Yeshua often spoke of how His words were not His own.  On more than one occasion, He mentioned that His words were not His own in the context of claiming He was divine, the exact point the writer of Hebrews has made in Hebrews 1:1-3!  Within these three verses, the author 1) mentions that Yeshua came speaking Adonai’s words, and 2) proved He was divine.  Note the presence of these two themes in Yeshua’s exchange with Phillip:

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹ Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (John 14:9-11).

Yeshua Is Greater Than Angels

This brings us to the third theme in our outline, Hebrews 1:4-14—Yeshua is greater than angels.  Again, we must ask ourselves, “Is the author starting a completely new line of thought, or is he adding more information to support his current line of reasoning?”  I submit to you that He is still adding more information to support his current line of reasoning, which is, how Adonai is speaking to us through His Son!  So, the question is, “Why does he begin contrasting Yeshua with angels?”  In order to answer that question, we have to remember to whom the author was writing—first century Jews.  Jews of that era were particularly proud of the Torah and their heritage of prophets, holy men and . . . wait for it . . . angels.  Angels?  Yes, angels!  Jews knew that the God of the universe had chosen Israel to be the only recipients of His holy Words.

He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel.  ²⁰ He has not dealt thus with any nation; and as for His judgments, they have not known them (Psalm 147:19-20).

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2).

Therefore, the Jewish people were proud of everything associated with the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and viewed the events surrounding the giving of the Torah as a badge of honor.  First century Judaism was enamored with angels because of their role in the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.  Scripture informs us that Adonai’s angels played an important role at the giving of the Torah and the Jews knew this.  Please note this beautiful description of the giving of the Torah as recorded by Moses:

Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. ² And he said:  “The LORD
came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand Came a fiery law for them.  ³ Yes, He loves the people; all His saints are in Your hand; they sit down at Your feet; everyone receives Your words.  ⁴ Moses commanded a law for us, a heritage of the congregation of Jacob (Deuteronomy 33:1-4).

This passage informs us that when Adonai appeared to the entire nation at Mount Sinai, He did so along with ten thousands of saints, or holy ones (kodesh, קדש).  These were the angels.  This understanding is confirmed for us by Stephen in the message he delivered to the Jews before his death by stoning.

^“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ⁵³ who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it” (Acts 7:51-53).

In fact, there was an early tendency for Jewish and non-Jewish believers to worship angels, which Paul warned against:

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God (Colossians 2:16-19).

The idea here is that the writer of the book of Hebrews knew he was talking to people who revered the Torah, prophets, and angels.  He knew they had listened to the words of the prophets, and in fact, had revered them.  Furthermore, he knew some of them were taken with angels.  Because of 1) these tendencies of his audience, and 2) his goal of impressing upon them that Yeshua’s message was even more important than those of the prophets and angels, he had to prove to his hearers that Yeshua was significantly more glorious and important than angels.  He chose to do this by showing his readers how Yeshua had become so much better than angels, and how He had by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.  Hebrews 1:5-14 is his attempt to show how Yeshua had inherited a more excellent name than angels.  However, you must know that he’s not just talking about a better name in the strict sense of the word name.  For example, the names Charles, Hardwick, or Anthony, versus the name Butch.  In Hebrew thought, name also conveys authority and reputation and is used to represent the person himself.

Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth  (Psalm 124:8).

The idea here is that our help is in the Lord Himself.  Notice how the second phrase begins with Who.  In other words, it’s obvious that the Who in the second phrase in this verse refers to the person of the first phrase who is represented by the phrase, the name of the LORD, not just a name.

Our author demonstrates how Yeshua has inherited a greater name/reputation/authority than angels by simply quoting what Adonai Himself said concerning His Son.  To do this, he simply quotes from various psalms where Adonai is speaking of His Son.  For example, he quoted Psalm 2:7 as an example of Adonai stating that Yeshua is His Son, something He never said concerning any angel.  He quoted 2 Samuel 7:14 as an example of Adonai stating that Yeshua is His Son.  This quote is interesting because in context it seems to only be speaking of king David’s immediate progeny, Solomon!  But our author sees this passage as a prophetic announcement that Yeshua is Adonai’s Son.

Why We Should Listen to Yeshua

At this point, the author focuses on things Adonai said about angels so as to contrast them to things He has said about Yeshua.  For example, he quoted Deuteronomy 32:43 (as translated in the Septuagint) to show how Adonai commanded the angels to worship Yeshua!  He quoted Psalm 104:4 as an example of how Adonai called angels His ministers.  The Hebrew word translated ministers is typically used verbally in the context of ministering, serving, assisting, waiting, etc.  As a noun it’s typically translated as minister, servant, assistant, etc.  As you can see, what Adonai says about Yeshua is significantly better than what He says about angels.  Why?  Because Yeshua has inherited a greater name (reputation) than angels!

Next, our author returns to quoting what Adonai has said about Yeshua in the Tanakh.  In his next reference, he quotes verses that pertain to Adonai calling Yeshua God (Psalm 45:6-7).  He also quotes from Psalm 102:25-27, because there Adonai is stating that Yeshua created the universe and exists eternally!  Next, he quoted Psalm 110:1 and basically asks the question, “Has Adonai ever said such a thing to an angel?”  In other words, Yeshua is NOT an angel.  Lastly, the author outright tells us that angels are simply sent to serve humanity!  The conclusion should be self-evident.  Yeshua is not an angel.  But more importantly, he is so much greater than any angel.  He is God in the flesh. 

We have finished with the first four sections of part one of our outline of the book of Hebrews.  At this point, let’s remember how part one of our outline can be conveniently divided into four overall thematic sections.

So far, we’ve covered A and B.  As you can see from the division above (section A), our author began by letting us know that Adonai was speaking to us by His Son.  Next (section B), he gave a description of who Yeshua is—He is God.  We also noted how the discussion in section B was information our author used to show how Yeshua had obtained a more excellent name than the angels (Hebrews 1:4).  We are now at section A’, which is summarized as, “Therefore, we must give greater heed to Yeshua’s message.”  What’s most important, though, is that now we can understand why the author has thematically returned to the idea that Adonai is speaking to us.  Here’s the reasoning:

• He began by telling us that God was speaking to us through His Son Yeshua

• He then showed by many evidences that Yeshua was greater than angels (who had participated in the giving of the message of the Torah)

• Now that we know how much greater Yeshua is over the angels who delivered the message of the Torah, we are in a position to understand how we should give even greater heed to Yeshua!

As you can see, the author is doing a masterful job in his treatise!  Now that we know how great this Yeshua is (greater than angels who had delivered the message of the Torah), we can understand how it’s imperative we give Him full attention, even more attention than was given to Moses and the angels at the original giving of the Torah!  This is the train of thought the author is using.  Now that we know how great Yeshua is, he says:

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (Hebrews 2:1-3).

Yeshua is One Hundred Percent Human

As we begin Hebrews 2:5-8, the author begins to emphasize Messiah Yeshua’s humanity, and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of chapter two.  And why?  At this point in his letter, I believe he’s laying out the case for Yeshua being made so much better than the angels.  You will recall from Hebrews 1:4 the author stated the following:

having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:4)

It is my belief that throughout Hebrews 1:5-14, the author provides the evidence that Yeshua obtained a more excellent name than they; whereas it is in Hebrews 2:5-18 where he provides evidence that Yeshua became so much better than angels.  Notice the phrase in Hebrews 1:4, having become so much better than the angels.  It does not say He was better than angels, but that He became better than angels.  What does it mean that Yeshua became better than angels?  We shall soon find out.

In Hebrews 2:5-9, our author quotes from Psalm 8 to prove that Adonai has chosen humans to rule and exercise dominion over all creation (including angels).  Then he notes how instead of seeing mankind ruling over the creation, we see Yeshua, fashioned as a human.  Lastly, he gives us two reasons why Yeshua had to take on flesh and blood:

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9).

Yeshua had to suffer and taste death for everyone.  These are things He could only do if He were human.  Thus, the one who was fully God had to become fully human in order to redeem His creation. 

Having used Psalm 8 to prove Yeshua took on humanity, and why He had to take on humanity, the author provides more evidence to prove Yeshua was human.  Similar to how he used quotes from the Tanakh to substantiate that Yeshua was fully God (Hebrews 1:5-14), he now uses quotes from the Tanakh to prove that Yeshua is fully human!  First, he quotes from Psalm 22, where the psalmist is speaking prophetically as if he’s Messiah Yeshua!  In other words, the words spoken by the psalmist from Psalm 22:22 are actually the words of Yeshua!  If you take the time to read Psalm 22, you will certainly see that it’s a prophetic foreshadowing of Yeshua’s sufferings on the cross.  Some notable prophecies are:

• Psalm 22:16—For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.  They pierced My hands and My feet.

  • John 20:24-25—Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”  So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

• Psalm 22:18—They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.

  • Matthew 27:35—Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”

• Psalm 22:7-8—All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ⁸ “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

  • Matthew 27:39-44—And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”  ⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. ⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  ⁴⁴ Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

• Psalm 22:1—My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?  Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?

  • Mark 15:33-34—Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Having established that Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm, please note how the author references Psalm 22:22:

I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. (Psalm 22:22)

Our author is using this verse as proof that Yeshua partook in our humanity and was thereby justified in calling us His brothers on the basis of His identification with our humanity.  Then he quotes from Isaiah 8:17-18 (only the portions in bold, italicized text):

And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him.  ¹⁸ Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me!  We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.  (Isaiah 8:17-18)

The author breaks up his quotation into two separate quotes, first quoting the portion, “I will put my trust in Him” (Septuagint translation), then quoting the portion, “Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me.”  Again, the reason the author is quoting these two verses is to prove that Yeshua is one with us and has partaken in humanity with us.  It is very plain why he chose the quote, “Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me,” to prove that Yeshua partook in our humanity.   But why is the author quoting the phrase, “I will put my trust in Him,” as a proof text that Yeshua is human?  Most likely because it shows Yeshua  not only identified with us as far as our physical humanity is concerned, but He also identified with us in our need to trust Adonai.  Yes, even though Yeshua was fully God, He was also fully human, and just like us, He had to walk a life of faith and trust in Adonai, thus, fully identifying with us in our humanity!

who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁸ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).

Hebrews 2:14-16 again reiterates how Yeshua shared in our humanity and why.  Lastly, Hebrews 2:17-18, which begins with the word, therefore, can be seen as a summary statement, summarizing all that the author has stated in Hebrews 2:5-16.  But he adds one last important purpose for Yeshua’s identification with our humanity.  His suffering and death was all done so that He could be a merciful and faithful High Priest in order to help us, the heirs of salvation!

Now we can understand how Yeshua became so much better than angels!  It almost sounds inconceivable that God needed any improvements, doesn’t it?  Well, the fact is that Yeshua, as a man, had to be perfected!  Please notice how Hebrews 2:10 states that Yeshua was made perfect through His sufferings:

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10).

Furthermore, Hebrews 5:9 again mentions the fact that Yeshua was perfected:

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.

Obviously, Yeshua, as far as His divine nature is concerned, is PERFECT.  Yet, as far as His humanity is concerned, He had to be perfected, one of the profound mysteries of His incarnation.  This in no way implies that He was sinful in any way and at any point in His life.  It’s simply saying that He identified with us 100% in our humanity, and He too had to be perfected through sufferings, just as Adonai uses suffering as the primary means to perfect our character.

If we were to summarize our journey it would look like this:

• We are now living in the prophetic time period known as the last days.

• God has spoken to us, giving us a divine revelation through His Son Yeshua, just as He spoke to Moses when He gave Israel the Torah.

• Yeshua is one hundred percent God, separate from and higher than any angel.

• God is speaking directly to us through Yeshua instead of indirectly through prophets and angels.   Therefore, we must give greater heed to His words than was required of Israel concerning the Torah given at Mount Sinai.

• Yeshua is also one hundred percent human. 

• He shared our humanity so that He could suffer and die on our behalf, ensuring He would be our perfect High Priest to God.

I’d like to leave you with a few last thoughts concerning Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’  ¹⁷ “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him’ ” (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

This prophecy contains three aspects of what we’ve learned in Hebrews 1–2.  Note the following:

1.  Deuteronomy 18:15—“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”

Deuteronomy 18:15 speaks of a prophet who will be like Moses.  In other words, this prophecy pertains to the identity of a future prophet.  The author of the book of Hebrews had much to say about the identity of Yeshua!  Remember, the prophet would be like Moses.  Everything the author of Hebrews says concerning Yeshua’s humanity identifies Yeshua as the prophet like Moses, in that Yeshua is human, like Moses.  Note in the Psalms the author of Hebrews quoted in order to prove Yeshua was like Moses (in his humanity).  In Psalm 22:22 (“I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”), note how the words, My brethren; in the midst, match exactly with Deuteronomy 18:15—from your midst, from your brethren!

Also, notice how Moses stated that Adonai would raise up a prophet like him.  Although we have not gotten to Hebrews chapter three yet, the author of the book of Hebrews makes the same claim, that Yeshua was like Moses! 

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, ² who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house (Hebrews 3:1-2).

2.  Deuteronomy 18:18—I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.

Note again the clear connection between the phrase, “like you from among their brethren,” and Psalm 22:22, “from your midst, from your brethren,” which again thematically connects you to the main idea the author of Hebrews is communicating—Yeshua is one with His brothers.  Secondly, notice how Deuteronomy 18:18 states that Adonai will “put His words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”  Note how this is exactly the message of the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:2a—has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things).

3.  Deuteronomy 18:19—And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

Notice how Moses’ message of warning regarding the words of the special prophet to come is echoed by the writer of Hebrews who warns us multiple times in his epistle not to ignore Adonai speaking through Yeshua:

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. ² For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (Hebrews 2:1-3).

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven (Hebrews 12:25).

4.  Deuteronomy 18:16-17—according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’  ¹⁷ “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good.’ ”

Lastly, I mentioned earlier how the writer of the book of Hebrews had the giving of the Torah in mind as he wrote the book of Hebrews.  You have already seen how intimately Deuteronomy 18:15-19 connects with Hebrews 1–2.  Well, a final connection occurs in verses 16-17.  Here, Moses reminded the people that they did not want Adonai to speak directly to them at Mount Sinai.  Well, it just so happens that the remedy for that situation is to have Yeshua, as God, speak directly to us!  In other words, that which the people feared has been turned around into what we desire.  As people, we feared hearing Adonai’s words directly from Him at Mount Sinai.  But that has all changed now that Adonai speaks directly to us through the agency of His Son!

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰ (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” ²¹ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:18-24).

Hopefully, these connections between Deuteronomy 18:15-19 and the book of Hebrews have emphasized to you that 1) Yeshua is that prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and 2) that the writer of the book of Hebrews is relying on the giving of the Torah as a prophetic backdrop/context as I suggested earlier.

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[1] Notice how the word who(m) is used three times in Hebrews 1:2-3!