Hebrews Chapter One, God Of The Prophets

 

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

 

The writer of Hebrews offers no benediction or greeting. Instead, like a horse breaking right out of the gate for a race, he begins with the object of his letter: God. The Greek word for God is “theos” and simply means “deity” or can more specifically address the supreme divinity. God had spoken at various times throughout history prior to the time of Christ. The literal, original rendering (which can be found in the NASB) is “in many portions and in many ways.”

God used a variety of inspiration to speak to the prophets, and through the prophets, the audience He chose to address. The fact that the prophets had come so many times, and in so many forms since history’s inception indicates the nature of God’s dealing with mankind. God’s illumination was progressive and (from human perspective) slow in coming, taking perhaps 1,600 years to complete the narrative Christians now call the Bible. We might inquire of God why He chose to reveal His person and purpose to humanity in such a gradual manner, and if He deigned to reply, it might have mirrored the answer He gave the apostles before He departed from them: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” John 16:12.

 

We do know from the witness of Scripture that God preserves a loyal remnant that will witness of Him to a world gone astray, regardless of circumstance. It began with God’s own witness in Eden when He condemned the serpent to its doom, and told our first parents of the Coming One who would restore what Adam, by his transgression, had lost. From Adam to the Flood God kept a faithful witness burning in no less than three men. First was Abel. Jesus’ mention of Abel as one of the prophets puts beyond all doubt he was among this number, Luke 11:50, 51. In fact, Luke 11:50 reinforces Hebrews 1:1 by stating, “that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation.” While the writer of Hebrews attests that God has always manifested a witness of His presence and purpose, Jesus testifies in Luke that those same witnesses were many times slain for their testimony.

 

Abel was no different. Piecing together the puzzle of God’s first prophet (since Christ named Abel first in His condemnation concerning their murder) we learn that Abel offered to God the first born of his flock, Genesis 4:4. Hebrews 11:4 sees Abel’s sacrifice being accepted by God because it was offered by faith, and this sacrifice demonstrated his righteousness, or rather that Abel had been made righteous by God through faith in Him. The Lord had respect (consideration for, compassion toward) Abel and his offering, again Genesis 4:4. Cain, being angry at his rejection and after being counseled by God that there was a sin offering for him (Genesis 4:7) talked with Abel, Genesis 4:8. 1 John 3:12 intimates that the conversation was about the nature of the offering and Cain’s rejection of God’s command. Was there a command? Of course. Since God shed animal blood to first cover Adam and Eve’s sin, shed blood symbolized atonement for sin, even prior to Moses. Abel and Cain must have known this commandment, or else Abel couldn’t have offered the first born of his flock “by faith,” Hebrews 11:4. It is clear that the conversation did not go well because Cain murdered him, Genesis 4:8. If Abel was a prophet (as Jesus declared) then his testimony was either the faithful sacrifice of the first born and some inspired appeal to his brother that led to his death, or simply the act that inspired hatred in Cain’s heart.

 

Enoch was another antediluvian saint that walked with God, and was not, for God took him, Genesis 5:24. Enoch is a rather paradoxical personage in the Bible. Much and little are said of him. Hebrews 11:5 states that while he walked with God until he was taken (translated or raptured) before the judgment of the Flood, the testimony regarding him was that he pleased God. Hebrews 11:6 implicitly states that without faith it is impossible to please God, so we know that Enoch was a man filled with faith. In both Genesis and Hebrews, we read that he walked with the Lord, and two cannot walk together lest they be agreed, Amos 3:3. Enoch submitted to Christ’s yoke and learned from Him, being separate from the rapidly degenerating world corrupting itself prior to the deluge. Jude affirms that Enoch was indeed a prophet, for he warns his peers that the Lord will come with ten thousand saints to execute judgment on all of the ungodly, Jude 14, 15. Note that through God’s own declaration of the Suffering Servant whose heel would be bruised saving lost mankind, and Enoch’s pronouncement of coming divine judgment, we have both the first and second coming of Christ already predicted BEFORE the Flood arrived.

 

Enoch was translated, or taken, before the Flood struck as a lesson for all of us that God has not appointed His saints to wrath, but to salvation through Christ Jesus. Even Noah (whom we will speak of next) was saved in the ark, likewise a symbol of being “in Christ” and preserved from wrath, and did not perish when the Flood came. A pre-Tribulation Rapture is the best biblical viewpoint one can honestly attain to, unless the New Testament reveals that God won’t save His saints from the wrath to come, when He pours out His judgment on a Christ-rejecting world. It seems to me a little odd that only a single generation of genuinely saved believers must endure this unparalleled calamity of supernatural imposition when no other saints before or since must. The reason why that seems strange is because it won’t happen. Scripture is replete with promises that no saint will suffer the outpouring of God’s wrath, because when Christ went to the cross, He took our sin upon Himself and suffered that wrath in our stead.