The Son of Angelic Worship (Hebrews 1:6)

Kootenai Church

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Hebrews chapter 1 We will read together verse 5 through verse 14 he was one beginning of verse 5 or to which of the angels did he ever say you are my son today

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I have begotten you and Again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me And when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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He says and let all the angels of God worship him and of the angels He says who has made his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire

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But of the Sun he says your throne Oh God is forever and ever and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom

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You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions and You Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands

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They will perish but you remain and they all will become old like a garment and like a mantle

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You will roll them up like a garment. They also will be changed But you are the same and your years will not come to an end

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But to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet

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Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

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Let's pray together Our father we ask your blessing upon our time and our study here this morning.

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We are We are desirous that your word may have its way in our hearts and in our minds and that we may see

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Christ in the Pages of Scripture We pray that you would help us to understand some very complicated things this morning

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Help us to be attentive We pray that our hearts may be Attuned to your spirit and the your spirit would minister your word to us and teach us and instruct us

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We pray that we may be obedient servants and obedient sons of the Most High God.

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We ask this in Christ's name. Amen One of the profoundest evidences of the deity of Jesus Christ in the pages of Scripture is the fact that he

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Received and welcomed worship when it was offered to him by people We have record in the

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Old Testament that he was worshipped in the Old Testament Isaiah verse chapter 6 of Isaiah describes

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Seeing the Lord high and lifted up and the veil of his temple filling or the veil of his glory filling the temple

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And he sees the smoke and here's the angel singing Holy holy holy is the Lord God the

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Almighty and John in John chapter 12 says Isaiah said these things when he saw Jesus and saw his glory

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So we have record in the Old Testament that this divine Son was worshipped and then when the Lord Jesus was here on earth

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He received the worship of men One of the earliest records of that is in Matthew chapter 2 when the

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Magi came to visit the Lord Jesus It says in Matthew 2 11 after coming into the house They saw the child with Mary his mother and they fell to the ground and worshipped him then opening their treasurers

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They presented to him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh and that was the first time But it was not the last time that he was worshipped in Matthew chapter 14 after Jesus walked on the water out to the disciples who were in the boat

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Matthew says those who were in the boat worshipped him saying you are certainly God's Son After that in Matthew 28 after the resurrection in verse 9, we read that Jesus met the ladies and greeted them

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This is after the resurrection and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him and then at the Ascension Which Luke records in Luke chapter 24 verse 52.

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It says and they after worshipping Jesus Returned to Jerusalem with great joy and in John chapter 9

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We read of the man who was born blind who after the miracle that restored his sight Jesus found him and asked him do you believe these things after their conversation together and the man said

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Lord I believe and he worshipped him Here's the curious thing all of the gospel writers record the fact that men

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Worshipped Jesus while he walked here on earth and yet none of them record that in any way that would suggest

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That there was anything inappropriate or odd or curious or at all wrong with them worshipping him

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So if Jesus is not the eternal God in human flesh then all of these examples the

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Magi the disciples the women at the tomb of the Resurrection and later on the disciples and the man born blind all of those examples are examples of soul destroying blasphemous

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Damnable idolatry if Jesus Christ is not God But if he is God then the most appropriate thing in all of the world would be to worship him

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And that's what the disciples did and so we have these these records throughout the New Testament of instances where people worship

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Jesus Jesus never reproved them He never said no you need to reserve your worship for the one true God.

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This is idolatry. You never reproved them he never corrected them Jesus received that worship as if it was the most acceptable and Appropriate thing imaginable because it was and not only did

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Jesus receive worship from men But we have recorded in Scripture that the angels of God are commanded to worship him and that takes us to Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6

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Where we read and when he again brings the firstborn into the world He says this is the father says and let all the angels of God worship him

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So there we have a command of the angels to worship Jesus and this is what we see in Isaiah chapter 6 where John says in chapter 12 that that is

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Jesus whom Isaiah saw and the Angels are are flying around him that is the

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Divine Son and Proclaiming holy holy holy is the Lord God the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come the

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Almighty that is appropriate worship of angels even prior to his incarnation And now we have in the

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New Testament a record of Jesus being worshipped by angels at his incarnation or after his incarnation Here in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6.

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We worship a triune God and it has pleased God to set forth the

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Son as The object of men's worship and praise so that the Son may in all of his manifest glory

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Be worshiped and adored by men and by angels in heaven and on earth now and forever

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That is pleasing to the Father it is pleasing to the Father to set forth the Son so that he would be worshiped and adored by men and angels in heaven and on earth now and forever and In the worship and so in the worship of Jesus Christ We are worshiping our triune

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God for we have in Christ everything that is God And so our worship of him is appropriate and after the resurrection of the

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Lord Jesus Christ Jesus Christ has been the object of the worship of God's people since that morning until today and Those who refuse to worship him

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Refuse to worship him because they do not believe that he is God and those who do not believe that he is God Believe a soul -destroying and damnable error.

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He is God in human flesh Otherwise you have here in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6 the father commanding the worship the angels to commit idolatry

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By worshiping the Son if indeed the Son is not God So Hebrews chapter 6 is where we're at today and just a little bit of review

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The author here is giving to us a series of Old Testament quotations that are intended to prove the point that he says in verse 4 that the

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Son Has inherited it become much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than day

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After the resurrection in the after he has made propitiation for sins He is seated down at the right hand of the

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Father the Most High God and in that position He has returned to the position that he had before his incarnation for a while We read leader and later in Hebrews chapter 2

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He has made a little lower than the angels now He has been crowned with and with glory and he has been exalted to the father's right hand

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So he has returned to that position of honor and now that he is at that position of honor He has the title of son and this is in contrast to the angels who as a class are called sons of God at time

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But only designates their their their status as created beings in the same way that you and I are called sons of God though You or I are never called the son see the title the son is different Christ has given the title of son the

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Divine Son. He is by nature the same nature as the father So he has that title and now the author of Hebrews is going to say to which of the angels did he ever say this?

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So he's proving the case that Jesus is greater than the angels The first thing he does to prove that case is to ask

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To what of it to which of the angels did he ever? Declare that angel to be his son and he quotes Psalm 2 which we looked at last time

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Now last week last time as you looked at Psalm 2 where the Messiah there the one who assumes the throne of David and has given

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The rule over the nations is called the son You are my son today I have begotten you and then the author quotes from 2nd

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Samuel chapter 7 where this Divine Son this Messiah Who is the son of David is called by the father his son?

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I will be a father to him and he shall be my son. So the author Quotes two places in the Old Testament to show that this title was never given to the angels

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But it was given to the Messiah and now the next proof that Jesus is greater than the angels is in verse 6

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The angels are commanded to worship him So we read in verse 6 when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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He says and let all the angels of God worship him Now Thomas Schreiner in his commentary on Hebrews chapter 1 says that verse 6 is the most contested and disputed verse in all of the book of Hebrews I Want you to think about that for just a moment

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Given the content of the book of Hebrews all of the warning passages later on which appear on the surface to describe us losing our

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Salvation all of the passages which described the the scope of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ Given the content of the book of Hebrews That's a magnificent statement that verse 6 is the most disputed verse in all of the book of Hebrews It is a very difficult verse and what is disputed is not the meaning of verse 6 per se

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In other words, it is not disputed that what the author is trying to show us is that the angels worship Jesus Christ That's that's not disputed.

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We know that that is a fact because of what is written here So the fact that the angels worship Jesus, that's that's not up for grabs.

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Everybody would agree with that What is disputed in the passage? There are three things the first what is the term firstborn mean?

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What does the term firstborn mean? Does it mean that Jesus is the first one created or the first one born?

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Second what event is being described by him coming into the world in verse 6 when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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He says let all the angels of God worship him. What event does that describe when the firstborn was brought into the world and Third, how does

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Psalm 97 verse 7 prove his case? In other words, this is the real mystery why is it that the author of Hebrews looks at Psalm 97 and Takes a verse which doesn't appear on the surface to have anything to do with the

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Sun and pull it out of there and quote that as proof that the angels worship the Sun and if you have the little piece of paper that I encourage you to have you will notice that there is quite a difference of Translation between Hebrews 1 verse 6 and Psalm 97 verse 7

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Hebrews Psalm 97 verse 7 says let all those be ashamed who worship who serve graven images who boast themselves of idols

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Worship him all you gods So, how does the author of Hebrews go from worship him all you gods to let all the angels of God worship him

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That seems like a stretch doesn't it? It seems like an entirely different verse almost but it's not and so a lot of ink has been spilled over those three questions

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And we'll answer them eventually we're gonna go back to Psalm 97 and we're gonna go through that entire Psalm and I'll try and tie all of this together at The end and answer all of these questions.

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So let's be deal with the first one What does the term firstborn mean? Because you'll notice in verse 6 that the father calls or the author of Hebrews calls

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Jesus the firstborn when he that is the father Again brings the firstborn into the world.

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He says let all the angels of God worship him. What does the term firstborn mean now? Most naturally you're gonna think well, it must refer to the first one born, right?

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If you if you're a family here and you have kids you have a firstborn child, right? You sometimes refer to them as firstborn child. They were born first.

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You got that tax deduction. You said yes my firstborn child It's worth it and then you had two or three and then if you have four you realize the government does you give you any more for four than It does for three and so you stop at that point like we did

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Just because we like the number four So you have a firstborn child and we use the term firstborn to refer to the first one born

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But the question is does the word firstborn always refer to the first one born or can it be used to describe something else?

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Now sometimes the word which is prototic on Sometimes that word can refer to the first one who was born and it is used that way of Jesus in Luke chapter 2 verse 7

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Where it says and she gave birth to her firstborn son And she wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the end

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So when Jesus is there called the firstborn son? What is it referring to the fact that he was the first one born now

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Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to your door? they will say the word Jesus is called the firstborn and The firstborn is obviously the first one born and they will quote other passages where Jesus has given the title of firstborn and I'll give

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These to you Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 says that he Jesus is the image of the invisible

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God the firstborn of all creation Colossians 1 18 says he is also head of the body the church and he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead

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So that he himself will come to have first place in everything and then Romans chapter 8 verse 28 for those whom he foreknew

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He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren

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Now there the term firstborn is used of Jesus in those three passages So a Jehovah's Witnesses will read Colossians 1 verse 18

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It says he's called the firstborn of the dead and he was obviously the first one resurrected from the dead in a glorified body

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That's why he's the firstborn from the dead and Colossians also calls him the firstborn of creation So if firstborn of the dead means he's the first one resurrected in a glorified body

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The firstborn of creation must mean that he was the first one what? Created and that's exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is a created being that Jehovah created

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Jesus who was Michael the Archangel in the Old Testament and the Jehovah created Jesus and then used Jesus to create all other things and They would turn here to Colossians chapter 1 to say that so they won't deny that Jesus created everything that exists

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But they can't say that Jesus Well, they should they won't deny that Jesus created everything other than Jesus because obviously

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Jesus couldn't create himself So by Jehovah's Witness theology Jehovah created Jesus and then

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Jesus created everything else all the other things. So he was the first one created That's what they say it means

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But does the term firstborn mean first one created if even if he's called the firstborn of all creation There's something attached to birth order in ancient cultures that is not necessarily attached to birth order in our culture

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And that is the right of inheritance the right of being the firstborn so it is not just used in terms of birth order

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Mary gave brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger it's not just used in terms of the order of birth, but it's also used in terms of position within a family and There are instances in the

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Old Testament when sometimes the second born is actually called the firstborn Why not because they were the first one born nor because the author is confused

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But because they have the position of being the firstborn So in ancient cultures the firstborn child was given sometimes all of but most of the time the double inheritance the firstborn son was given the double inheritance of the father's estate sometimes given all of the father's estate and so the and Sometimes that right of firstborn was connected to the one who was actually the first one born

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But not always and there are some examples of this for instance Jacob and Esau Well, I'll give you

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Jacob's son Reuben this this verse in Genesis chapter 49 actually describes most of the time what the scriptures refer to When they are talking about one who is the firstborn

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Genesis chapter 49 verse 3 when Jacob is giving a blessing to all of his sons on his deathbed

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He says to Reuben Reuben. You are my firstborn my might and the beginning of my strength listen preeminent indignity and Preeminent in power first indignity first in power

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He is describing there not just the fact that Reuben was the first one born But he is describing Reuben's right of having that position as the firstborn child

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Preeminent indignity preeminent in power. That is what firstborn meant now Sometimes the right of firstborn was given to the person who was actually second born.

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So you ready for this to be confusing? Remember Jacob and Esau who was born first between Jacob and Esau Esau was born first Jacob was born second

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Esau was the older He should have had the right of the firstborn But before the birth of Jacob and Esau God said the older will serve the younger in other words

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Jacob will be given the right the position of firstborn in the family He got the inheritance he got everything that belonged to Abraham and the right of firstborn went to Jacob who was the second born because most of the time the

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Title firstborn is not describing procreation It's describing position within the household or within the within the structure the right of inheritance

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Remember the author of Hebrews already told this to Jesus the heir of all things and that he sits at the father's right hand Which is the position of preeminence?

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And so it shouldn't surprise us that he would use the term firstborn There's another example from the Patriarchs and it's

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Joseph and Manasseh and Ephraim also in Genesis chapter 48 Joseph Jacob Jacob was

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Joseph's father those of you who may not be familiar with this lineage Joseph Jacob was Joseph's father

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Joseph was the father to Manasseh and Ephraim who was born first amongst Manasseh and Ephraim Manasseh was born first Ephraim was born second

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Manasseh was the firstborn and so after Jacob came to Egypt Joseph brought his two sons to Jacob to receive a blessing in Genesis chapter 48 and you remember what happened?

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Joseph did what any father would have done? He takes his two sons up to Jacob to receive the family blessing and he put the firstborn child on Jacob's right

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To receive the position of prominence for the firstborn blessing He took the second born child

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Ephraim and put him on Jacob's left Joseph's right and what did Jacob do? he crossed his hands and Joseph panicked like he should have panicked.

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No, you got it wrong. I understand your eyesight is dim. You're old We just got here. You didn't watch my kids grow up You're confused about who was born first and who was born second and Joseph corrected

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Jacob and said no no father This is the one who was born first and this is the one who was born second Don't cross your hands and Joseph tried to get him to put his hands back

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But but Jacob knew exactly what he was doing He gave the firstborn position of prominence to Ephraim and not to Manasseh So Manasseh was the firstborn but Ephraim was the firstborn because we're talking about two different things

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Do you catch that in one instance? We're talking about birth order in another instance. We're talking about pre -eminence prominence might superiority the position that is held not the beginning of one's existence, but a position that is held and So Jacob gave the the blessing of firstborn to Ephraim and not to Manasseh Yeah, that is why we read in Jeremiah 31 verse 9 for I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn

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Jeremiah, I didn't get it wrong. You know exactly who was born first Manasseh was born first, but Ephraim was the firstborn

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He was the preeminent one the one who held the position of prominence and honor in Psalm 89 verse 27, which is the

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Psalm that is Has all of the praise organized around the promises given to David and the

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Davidic Covenant that we looked at last time in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 that Psalm Psalm 89 verse 27

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This is what God says I shall also make him my firstborn the highest of the kings of the earth you hear the the language of preeminence and prominence

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So let's take that back now to Hebrews chapter 1 and read Hebrews chapter 1 with that in view

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We have already understood that Jesus is the heir of all things that everything is coming to him

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We've already understood that he sits at the right hand of the father that position of prominence and preeminence and majesty

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He is seated there at the right hand of the majesty on high and then the author goes to Psalm chapter 2 verse 7

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Which describes this same one the Son being the heir of everything where he says ask of me

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And I will give you the nations as your inheritance the ends of the earth is your possession and calls him that is the

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Messiah God's Son his firstborn and then we read in chapter 2nd Samuel chapter 7 which quoted in verse 5

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Where he is called the Son of God and then in this Psalm 89 Which is the Psalm revolving around all these promises given to David the

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Messiah is called the firstborn It is not describing the beginning of one's existence as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons would maintain

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The title firstborn is describing a position not procreation his prominence his superiority his majesty

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His position at the father's right hand So let's read that in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 6 and when he again brings the preeminent one

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The high one the chief one into the world. He says let all the angels of God worship

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That's what the term firstborn means. So what does term firstborn mean? Our first one born the preeminent one the one who holds the position of honor just as Hebrews The whole chapter has been describing up to this point

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He's been talking about the position that Christ holds and then after talking about the him being the son of the

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Davidic Covenant He takes language from Psalm 89 and uses it of Jesus being that one who is greater than all the kings of the earth

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So now we come then to Psalm 97 So this is where your piece of paper is going to come in handy if you're still with us

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And you haven't dozed off yet get the piece of paper out This is going to give you a chance while we're in Psalm 97 to be able to look back at what

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Hebrews 1 says So turn back to Psalm 97 Now you notice with your piece of paper as I mentioned a few moments ago that there is

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Quite a difference between the translation here, right Hebrews 1 6 says let all the angels of God worship him

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Psalm 97 which you can see there in your own Bible says Worship him all you gods speaking of the idols of the nations the imaginations of the nations

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These idols that do not exist there seems to be a command in Psalm 97 for the idols or the gods of the other nations to bow down and worship the

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One true God who is the Lord that reigns described in 97 verse 1 And so how is it that the author of Hebrews gets from Psalm 97?

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Where the idols are commanded to worship God to then quoting it as if the angels are commanded to worship

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God Why the difference in translation? I'll give you the answer in a real easy one sentence and this should clear it all up The author of Hebrews is quoting the

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Septuagint. Yeah, see that makes sense, doesn't it? Say yeah

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Why don't you just tell us that at the beginning that the author of Hebrews is quoting the Septuagint? I mean that makes everything clear

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But just in case there might be somebody here who that might not clear it all up It's exactly what we're talking about with that.

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I will go ahead and explain it This is where it can get a little bit technical but I Have absolute confidence that everybody who's within the sound of my voice will be able to understand what

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I'm about to explain to you It is technical The only challenge is if you can stay awake You can stay awake for this you can understand this because when

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I say the word Septuagint There's probably a bunch of you that said that sounds like the Greek word for chloroform And so you did that sounds really interesting and you're out and the rest of you that are not sleeping are saying to yourself

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Okay, Septuagint. What time is lunch? What is for lunch? Do they serve Septuagint deep -fried or grilled because I would like mine medium -rare

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The Septuagint and I'll give you the explanation of what the Septuagint is And this is sometimes in literature abbreviated

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LXX. Septuagint the word just means according to the 70 and here's what the Septuagint is The Septuagint is an a

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Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures It was produced about 200 years before Jesus was born

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After the death of Alexander the Great when Greek was the common language of all of the nations of the Greek Empire and The Greek Empire was divided up into four regions by Alexander's four sons it became obvious to the

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Jewish people who were scattered throughout the nations that they needed a translation of their Old Testament in a language they can understand because Jews were born in Babylon or Persia or Egypt or Alexandria or in Italy They didn't necessarily speak the language of the forefathers, which was

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Hebrew And so they since they didn't speak that language they would be cut off from Their Old Testament scriptures which were written in Hebrew.

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So if they didn't speak that language They couldn't they couldn't read their Bibles and so it became obvious to everybody What we need is a translation of our

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Old Testament text in a language that we can all understand So they in about one was about 200

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BC They sent 72 according to legend or tradition 72 scholars from Israel down to Alexandria where they worked for several years on Translating the

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Old Testament Hebrew text into the Greek language and then this was disseminated amongst the Jewish population in all the various all the various nations

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By the time of Jesus and the Apostles the Septuagint was the Bible of the of the Hebrew speaking people was the Bible of the

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Jews in fact most people believe that the Septuagint was the Bible of Jesus and the Apostles so in the New Testament when you see

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Old quotations of the Old Testament. They're not quoting from necessarily the Hebrew text of the Old Testament Sometimes they are but most of the time they are quoting from the

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Septuagint Which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament because that was the translation that everybody used It was the translation that was in the language which was common to the people

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That's the Septuagint a Greek translation of the Old Testament text The author of Hebrews is quoting from the

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Septuagint and not the Hebrew text So with your Bibles open to Psalm 97 when you look at verse 7 you read

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Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images who boast themselves of idols worship him all you gods.

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That's what you read And why do you read gods there? Because the translators of your Bible whether you're reading the

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King James the New King James the NASB the NIV or the ESV Saw the word there. They translated it as gods and They're not translating from the

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Septuagint They're translating from the manuscripts that the Septuagint was translated from which was the

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Masoretic Hebrew text So our translation here is one translation one step from the

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Hebrew text to the English translation now you hear people say all the time Well, the Bible's been translated so many times. We just don't know if it's true or not

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I mean, it's a translation of a translation of a translation of translation of translation 15 times So we don't even know if it's the same copy of what was originally written

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No, it's not the Bible you hold in your lap is one translation into English from Hebrew Masoretic text one iteration one generation one translation

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Why the difference then? Because the author of Hebrews is quoting from the Greek text that translates it different than your

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English text translates the same manuscript So we're dealing with two different translations the

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Septuagint and your English translation your English translation translates the word gods at gen

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Psalm 97 verse 7 the Septuagint translates it as sons of God because it is the word

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Elohim Does the word Elohim sound familiar? the Elohim is sometimes it's a it's a word with a wide range of meaning and Sometimes the word

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Elohim is used to speak of God who is the God in fact Translated God with a capital G over 2 ,300 times in the

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Old Testament is translated God with a little G speaking of idols 244 times but it's also translated as goddess twice is translated as mighty twice and five times

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It's used of rulers or judges mere men who ruled over the people They are called

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Elohim and so they are they're given that designation by virtue of the office that they held

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So what does the word Elohim mean? It just means mighty one and when in the context it is obvious that that is speaking of God It's translated

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God with capital G in context where it's obvious that that speaking of idols is translated God with a little G And so what you have here is let all worship him all you

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Elohim So now the question that the Septuagint translators when they looked at the Masoretic Hebrew text

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They had to ask themselves what is being described here. Is it mere rulers because it could be translated rulers It's certainly not a reference to God with a capital

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G But we can rule that out because God's not commanded to worship himself That wouldn't make any sense. So they would translate that as God's with little

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G and so that's why our he English text reads this the Translators of the

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Septuagint saw the word Elohim and they said this is best to understand this the supernatural power

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It's best to understand it not as idols, but as angels so they translate it differently now the author of Hebrews is quoting the

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Septuagint and So he is quoting the passage of scripture that he was familiar with which said worship him all you

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Mighty ones or angels supernatural powers and he takes it to refer to angels So now the question is why would the author of Hebrews choose the

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Septuagint which has rendered angels instead of? Another translation which would render gods really?

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That's the question If you're still awake, does that make sense to everybody what we covered so far?

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Okay So the short answer to this is because the author of Hebrews is quoting the Septuagint and not the

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Hebrew text Thus the difference in translation Now let's go through Psalm 97 but by the way

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If you are among the camp or you know anybody who is in the camp of those who believe that the King James is the?

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Only Bible version for today in the English language because that's the only one you should read. That's God's nearly inspired

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Translation and nothing else is acceptable. Nothing else is is is right or biblical or true.

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I would ask you this question Who had it wrong the

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Holy Spirit in Hebrews 1 6 or the King James translators in Psalm 97 verse 7

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Because according to the Holy Spirit Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit the author here says that that should be translated angels and not gods

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The King James translates at gods I would suggest to you that our modern translations have it wrong

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If the Holy Spirit actually Hebrews 1 verse 6 says this is speaking of angels. It should be translated as angels

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So for those of you who believe that the King James is the only inspired translation and that is the only Bible for the English Speaking people did they have it wrong?

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Or did the Holy Spirit have it wrong? I think you got to choose between one of those two options All right, Psalm 97.

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Let's work our way through the passage and then I'll try and bring all of this together in some nearly coherent fashion

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I'm not promising coherency. I'm just promising nearly coherent Psalm 97 let's work our way through it beginning in verse 1 the

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Lord reigns Let all the earth rejoice let the many islands be glad and the word that is translated reigns There is a word that means it means to take the throne or to be established as king to be coronated

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It's the idea. The Lord becomes king or is made king. And so he assumes the throne So he it's not just speaking of just God's activity and reigning over things and sort of a generic sense

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It's talking of this coronation where Yahweh the Lord is made king Verse 2 clouds and thick darkness

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This is this these are the the the phenomena that surround this coronation event verse 2 clouds and thick darkness surround him

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Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries roundabout

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Excuse me So why does why does fire consume the adversaries of this king who reigns because? Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne

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So righteousness and justice are established in the earth and this consumes the enemies of God verse 4 his

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Lightnings lit up the world the earth saw and trembled and now he's using poetic language to describe the physical phenomena that is taking place verse 5 the mountains melted like wax at the presence of the

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Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth the heavens Declare his righteousness and all the peoples have seen his glory

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This is this coronation and this this the Lord beginning to reign this is observed by all of the people as his enemies are consumed before him and Then though this this this reigning of the

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Lord is accompanied by all of these cataclysmic events verse 7 This is the response of those who worship false gods

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Let those be ashamed who serve graven images who boast themselves of idols worship him all you

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Elohim you mighty ones Is that referring to gods? Well, some people think it does because he's talking about idolatry here

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But the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 1 6 says this is referring to the angels But again, why does he say that it should be translated angels?

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Why did he choose that we get to that in just a second? Verse 8 Zion heard this and was glad and the daughters of Judah have rejoiced because of your judgment

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So Lord for you are the Lord Most High over all the earth You are exalted far above all

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Elohim almighty ones And whether those are the kings of the earth or the angels or the idols of the nations

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The Lord is exalted far above all of those Verse 10 here is the response of the righteous hate evil

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You who love the Lord who preserves the souls of his godly ones? He delivers them from the hand of the wicked light is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart

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Be glad in the Lord you righteous ones and give thanks to his holy name Yes, that's an all too brief overview of Psalm 97, but did you read anything in that Psalm about the

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Sun? You see the connection but with Psalm 2 in verse 5 Psalm 2 in 2nd Samuel 7

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The connection is much more obvious because in Psalm 2 the Lord actually says of the

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Messiah You are my son today I have begotten you and the Lord actually says of the Messiah the

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Son of David in 2nd Samuel chapter 7 I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. So there the connection is is really obvious.

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I Read through Psalm 97. Do you see any reference to the Sun the Divine Son the Messiah in that passage? What's what's going on?

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The answer I think is in Hebrews chapter 1 or 6. That's where we have to try and tie these together

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Look across your piece of paper at Hebrews 1 verse 6 and when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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He says let all the angels of God worship him. Now. When did that happen God bringing the firstborn into the world? When did that happen?

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When Jesus was born in the womb of a Virgin Mary At his incarnation when Christ came into the world.

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He brought the firstborn into the world How many of you think that that's True, I'm gonna think

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I'm setting you up to make you look like a fool. Yeah, everybody else. I Used to think that that was a reference to the incarnation the birth of Christ.

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He brought the firstborn into the world That's not what he's referring to and when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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Follow the chronology of what he has laid out already in Hebrews chapter 1 He has made purification of sins.

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He has sat down at the right hand of the Father And when he again brings the firstborn into the world all the angels of God will worship him

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Does not refer to the incarnation for years I thought this was testimony to the deity of Christ in the incarnation that the babe in the manger was

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God in human flesh I still believe that I believe that that's the case that can be made but that's not what this is talking about This is not talking about the incarnation.

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This is talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ And when he comes back, what will he do? He will establish a kingdom

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He will take the throne of David and he will rule over the nations with a rod of iron That is what's gonna happen.

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Now. Let's go back to Psalm 97 and let's read it again with that in view Psalm 97 The Lord is coronated.

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He is made king. Let the earth rejoice. Let the many islands be glad. What is that referring to?

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When is Yahweh made king so that the earth will rejoice and the islands will be made glad and all the people verse 6 will see

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His glory when is that going to happen? That didn't has not happened yet. That will happen when when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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The Lord has made King He is King. He is crowned King and given that kingdom as we read in Psalm chapter

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Psalm 2 Which we looked at last time in connection with verse 5 the God says to the

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Messiah ask of me and I will give you the Nations as your inheritance the ends of the earth as your possession and you will crush them with a rod of iron

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You will destroy them with earthenware vessels. What is being described here? The Lord reigns let the earth rejoice verse 2 clouds and thick darkness around him

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Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne That throne of David when he sets it up He will rule in righteousness and justice that will be established and righteousness and justice will be established in the earth

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Which is why verse 3 says fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries round about his lightnings lit up the world the earth saw and trembled the mountains melted like wax at the presence of the

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Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth the heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples of the world see his glory when he sets up that kingdom all the peoples of the world see that glory and When he comes back when he again brings the firstborn the preeminent one who is now is seated at the father's right hand when he brings

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Him into the world again To establish that kingdom Psalm 97 describes that coronation event

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This is the cataclysmic overthrow of the nations at the reigning of this King this righteous

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King Whose whose throne is built upon righteousness and justice and truth and So all of his enemies are consumed so the author of Hebrews Reads Psalm 97 and he doesn't think this is describing the reign of God in some general sense that he rules over all yes

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He controls all things the author of Hebrews reads Psalm 97 and he says this is describing the reign of the

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Messiah King he is going to be made king and All of creation will feel the effects of that and all the peoples will see his glory

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Because truth and righteousness to the foundation of his throne and all of his enemies will be burned up and consumed with fire

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Now Jesus described his second coming on a number of occasions and when he did you know what?

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He said would be present at his second coming angels Matthew chapter 13 verse 41 the

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Son of Man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those Who commit lawlessness? Matthew 16 verse 27 for the

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Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his father with his angels and they will then Repay every man according to his deeds

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Matthew 25 verse 31 But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him

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Then he will sit on his glorious throne second Thessalonians 1 verse 7 describes the coming of the Lord And here's what

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Paul says he will give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well When the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire

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Look at verse 3 of Psalm 97 fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries roundabout

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So this is why the author of Hebrews reads Psalm 97 and he says this is describing

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Christ and In verse 7 worship him all you Elohim Because the author of Hebrews knows that when he again brings the firstborn into the world

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Angels will accompany him and here's the glorious news The angels will be commanded to worship him who is the

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Son of David the Son of Man who takes that throne and Establishes his kingdom in this earth That's glorious news, isn't it?

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So that's why it all ties together This is why the author of Hebrews looked at Psalm 97 said this is referring to that kingdom

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He's already quoted Psalm 2 where God says that his answer to the raging of the nations and the rebellion of the kings of the earth is to establish his

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King on Zion he's quoted 2nd Samuel chapter 7 where God has promised to David I will see one of your descendants upon your throne and he will rule and he will reign forever

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It wasn't Solomon. This was the King to come and now he quotes Psalm 97 which actually describes the Establishment of that kingdom and what that will look like as all of the earth feels the effects of that Righteous rule and that truthful reign all of the earth feels the effects of it and all of the people see his glory

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Psalm 97 Psalm 89 verse 27 says I will make him my firstborn the highest of the kings of the earth

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Psalm 97 is describing the cataclysmic overthrow of the entire world when the righteous rule of the

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Messiah King is established in this world and At that event all the angels of God will worship him that proves his deity.

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So what do we take away from this? Okay, I'll offer you three things first If the angels worship Jesus and that is proof that not only is

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Jesus not an angel But he is not less than the angels if the angels worship him He's not an angel contrary to what

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Jehovah's Witnesses would teach that he is Michael the Archangel Who is the first and greatest creation of God who came to this earth and and then died on a stake and then rose again?

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Spiritually and now he's a spirit creature in heaven as Jehovah's Witness theology That's not biblical. The angels are commanded to worship him when he returns.

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What are the angels going to do? They're gonna bow down and worship him either He is God and not an angel or the father is commanding the angels to commit idolatry by worshiping one who is not

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God It's proof that he is God if he is worshipped by angels Then he cannot be an angel second This is should be to us

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Psalm 97 should be to us a reminder of the glory that awaits the believer If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, then all of the blessings described in verse 10

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He preserves the souls of his godly ones He delivers them from the hand of the wicked light is sown like seed for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart

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Be glad in the Lord you righteous ones and give thanks to his holy name. We are the beneficiaries the recipients of the blessing of that reign to be in Jesus Christ is to look forward to the

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Establishment of that kingdom so that we get to enjoy all of the blessings and benefits of that Kingdom We get to enjoy that his rule will be for the terror of his enemies and for the good of all of his people and We get to bask in it we get the gladness of heart and the joy and we hate evil and we love righteousness this reminds us of the blessing and benefits that come to the believer because of that coming

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Kingdom and what Christ will do and Third it is a warning of the destruction that awaits an unbeliever Verse 3 fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries roundabout

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He will send his Angels out when he establishes this kingdom he was when he comes to establish his kingdom

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He will send his angels out and they will gather together all the profane and the unholy and the unrighteous From across the planet and it will gather together and they will judge them

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His fire will consume his enemies roundabout why because truth and justice and righteousness will be established in the earth

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And when that happens his enemies will be consumed and so as Psalm 2 says kiss the

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Sun lest he be angry with you bow down and worship the Sun and Find your refuge in him or face him on the day of judgment.

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Those are your two options Kiss the Sun lest he be angry with you and you perish in the way The first time he came was to offer

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To make purification for sins and to pay the sin debt for any and all who will place their faith in him

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The next time he comes he's not going to play tiddlywinks with unbelievers The day of grace will be over and if you are not found in him you will be found before him

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Unrighteous as his enemy and you will be consumed with fire and you will perish in the way So I beg of you on behalf of Scripture be reconciled to God through the death of his son by repenting and believing in him

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Do homage to the Sun bow down and kiss him worship him adore him receive him but make him your refuge

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Find in him your everlasting refuge from sin and the punishment of sin or you will be consumed on that day.

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Let's bow our heads My father what a joy and delight and glory it is that awaits your people

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We thank you that by your grace you have Turned our hearts and inclined to them to Jesus Christ so that we may find our refuge in him this is a joy and delight for so many who are yours because we look forward to that day when when truth and righteousness will reign and When Christ is worshipped by all and by the angels and we get to join in that heavenly chorus and worship him as well

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We thank you for this great salvation that you have made known to us and that you have made ours by your grace

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By the work of your Holy Spirit May pray that if there are any who are hearing these words who are not believers in Jesus Christ That you would glorify your great name by drawing them to him

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So that the Lord Jesus Christ may receive the full reward for all of his suffering The you would be glorified through the salvation of sinners who find their refuge in Jesus Christ.