“God, who at various
times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2). God has spoken,
revealed Himself to mankind, on two distinct occasions, the context not
implying two singular speakings but rather two time periods of speaking with
distinct methodologies and purposes. “In these last days” since the coming of
Christ (implied) -- the writer of Hebrews has now stepped past the cross into
the end times, the church age – God has spoken again, and this time He has
“spoken to us.” Today, “us” is still “us”.
The writer views history, as it relates to divine revelation, as two time
periods, “in time past” and “in these last days.”
The Old Testament is
God’s self-disclosure; it is God telling man about Himself: The main character
is God, the setting is God’s covenant with His chosen people and the speaker is
God. It is the revelation of God
revealed through man, history and Israel – who He is, His attitudes,
attributes, likes, dislikes, what He tolerates, His powers, what He does and
how He responds to the human condition – within the legal parameters of the
covenant He makes with Israel. The Old
Testament reveals to mankind God’s character and nature, His desire for
relationship and holiness, and His judgment against sin, within the context of
His covenant people, Israel, and His Law.
The New
Testament is God speaking forth the revelation of His Son. The prophets spoke as mere mouthpieces, but
when the Son spoke it was God Himself speaking, and in a sense it is God being
revealed By His Son in and through the Son’s life, the Son’s message, the Son’s
redemptive work and the Son’s return to
establish His (i.e., God’s) eternal Kingdom. The New Testament reveals to
mankind God’s redemptive plan established before the foundations of the world
with the foreordained sacrifice of the Son of His love, that we, the “us” of
Hebrews 1:2, might be partakers of salvation and know eternal fellowship with
God through His covenant of Grace – His indescribable grace.
It
is therefore contextually correct to interpret Hebrews 1:1 and 2 as directly
referencing the Old Testament and New Testament respectively. The foundation of
each covenant is a book, and in each book it is God speaking. The primary
reason there are two books is to define these two uniquely different covenants,
which are people and time specific. Embedded
in the Old Testament historical narratives is a wealth of rich insight into the
character and nature of God, providing valuable principles and lessons for
living the Christ-life. The Law teaches us about the character of the Lawgiver.
The wisdom of Proverbs provides practical moral and spiritual guidance, God’s
ageless wisdom to live by, and the Worship Books provide revelation of a
relational God, inspiring models of how to communicate with and worship God.
This is not the substance of doctrine but rather tools, crib notes, for being a
delight to our loving Father. The “new and better covenant” has new and better
commandments to regulate the Christian life on the road to eternity with God.
All New Testament doctrine must be based on New Testament writings – one
wouldn’t use a California Roadmap to travel Missouri – new wineskins require
new wine. Any theological precepts or principles drawn from the Old Testament
must be filtered through the cross, the new covenant teachings, which will
either accept them, modify them, or reject them.
“FOR
YOU ARE NOT UNDER LAW BUT UNDER GRACE”
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