Hebrews Chapter One, Angels, Prophets, And Apostles

 

The chastening by the hands of the apostles has since passed with the deaths of the apostles. The criteria for becoming an apostle seems to be this: “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection,” Acts 1:21, 22. The apostleship was finished, and perhaps no longer needed by the time of John’s passing and the completion of the New Testament. Peter alludes to this notion, likening the OT prophets to the NT apostles in compiling the doctrinal body we now refer to as the Bible, 2 Peter 3:2. Paul had doggedly taught that each local church was to have elders and deacons to govern the body. Note, he never mentions pastors, though pastoral duties would be a part of the eldership. 

Diotrephes seems to have taken the role of pastor by wanting to lead the flock alone, having the preeminence, 3 John 9. Preeminence is defined as singularity; Diotrephes loved preeminence, or being the singular authority in the local church. The plurality of elders creates in it a network of support with checks and balances that can help any one man from taking on too much, as well as keeping any one man from exalting himself too far.

 

The angelic ministry, however, was to endure for all of time, so long as there were saints to be ministered to. But, like Peter, Paul, and John, this does not always mean that such ministers come bearing good for the recipient. Rather, they come bearing God’s word, which they revere and will invariably execute. A most dramatic example of this comes from 1 Chronicles chapter 21. The chapter begins with a bang when we read, “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel,” verse 1. The “accuser of the brethren” compels or entices David into sin. In turn the prophet Gad approached David and gave the king three options for judgment: an unparalleled moment in Scripture. None of the options were appealing, of course, but David chose 3 days of plague, his reasoning behind it being, “Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of man,” 1 Chronicles 21:13. David’s choice meant that he would rather be chastened directly by God’s hand then by human instrumentality, the three months of military defeat or famine that would undoubtedly sow rancor among his people. God did forewarn the king that the coming plague would be the, “sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel,” 1 Chronicles 21:12. In this instance the ministry of the angels was one of judgment, like the kind witnessed in Sodom for the perversity of its citizenry, Genesis 19:13.

 

When David beheld the ferocity of the judgment he begged God to punish his family alone rather than Jerusalem and Israel. 2 Samuel 24:15 records that from Dan to Beersheba (a phrase to denote the whole of Israel) 70,000 men perished. It was when the king beheld the angel afloat between heaven and earth, sword drawn, that he repented of his choice and pled for God’s mercy, 1 Chronicles 21:16, 17. Interestingly the account describes the actions of the man Ornan (Araunah in 2 Samuel), owner of the plot of land where the angel halted, seemingly unfazed by the angel’s presence or the carnage wrought, 1 Chronicles 21:20. Perhaps Ornan simply accepted the angel’s presence as God’s hand upon them. Whatever the case, the angel command the prophet Gad, telling him to have David erect an altar to God on the threshing floor of Ornan, where the plague was stayed,” 1 Chronicles 21:18. When a prophet speaks it is with God’s word and authority. But that does not mean their word is always responded to well. As Scripture attests, many times they were killed or driven away for their testimony. Sometimes God worked the miraculous to preserve their life. But with angels, whom God described here as the sword of the Lord, it is a different matter. A sword is a weapon. Its purpose is singular and simple in execution. It is an instrument wielded by the Master whose results are always assured. With angelic messages come both authority and power because the holy angel vested with God’s ministry is also given power to perform what he is sent for.

 

One other instance we will explore is that of King Saul, David’s precursor. When Israel sinned by asking for a human king to be like the nations around them, they were in fact rejecting God’s theocracy and providential care for His people. Though Moses and Aaron led them out of Egypt, and the period of the Judges brought them manifold deliverances, it was God behind them all, using His people for their good and His glory. But we as fallible people desperately seek a visible representation we can attribute the divine presence to. The Jews of Moses’ day likened Moses with Yahweh, departing at once when he went missing a little while. After Joshua or every judge died, the Hebrews would fall back into idolatry. Why? Because the face of God, so to speak, had gone away and the pagan idols of the nations, made of stone, wood and metal, remained. It was something concrete they could see and apparently took comfort in this more carnal approach, though these gods oft-demanded some terrible rites. Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.) postulated that God permitted the tabernacle and the temples to be built to gratify the Jews’ need for a physical presence in lieu of graven images. It granted them something tangible without violating God’s commandment not to liken the divine presence to any created thing since He was a Spirit and without form.

 

In 1 Samuel 16:14 we read that the Holy Spirit departs from Saul and “a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.” The NASB renders the verse, “an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him.” The HCSB translates it very similarly to the NASB, emphasizing the evil spirit, and how grievously it “troubled him.” In this instance God permitted a demon to harass His anointed, even possessing him, 16:23, 18:10. The distressing spirit “came upon Saul” in much the same way the Holy Spirit did for the OT saints. Of course the Holy Spirit empowered a saint for ministry, whereas this evil spirit possessed Saul to chasten him for the sin of disobedience and rebellion, 1 Samuel 15:22, 23.