 Today we're in chapter 1 and we're going to be looking at verses 4 through 14 as we continue our study here in the book of Hebrews. So let's begin reading here in Hebrews chapter 1 at verse 4. I'll read to verse 14, we'll get into our study. Hebrews chapter 1 beginning at verse 4, reading to verse 14. The writer writes, For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my Son. Today I have begotten you. And again, But when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he says, Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will not fail. But to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit, salvation? Now, last time we were together and we did our introduction, we looked at verses one through three. And as we examined verses one through three, I took the time to point out that the writer wanted his readers to know something. He wanted his readers from the very beginning to know that Jesus is better. I mentioned to you that the writer of Hebrews used the word better some 13 times in this epistle. He wanted his Jewish readers to resist returning to the law of Moses. And he wanted them to know that the law is inferior to the grace that God has given to us through Jesus Christ. As we went through the first three verses, we found a seven-fold description of Jesus Christ. And in those descriptions, Jesus was revealed as being superior. He's superior or better than the prophets of the Old Testament. And the description of Jesus concluded with him being seated at the right hand of God. And as we looked at that, I pointed out that his being seated revealed a completed work and that salvation is now accomplished because of him. He sits at the right hand of God because that's a place of honor and authority, a place of special favor. So as we pick up now in verse four, he continues, and he begins here in verse four with the words, having become so much better than the angels. He's established the superiority over the prophets because he's the Son of God. Now he develops his superiority or being better than the angels. Now notice how he says having become, having become so much better than the angels as he by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. I want to point out something very basic as we begin here. Having become would speak of his incarnation. Having become speaks of his incarnation. I'm going to have to develop that with you for just a moment because prior to his incarnation, Jesus Christ is regarded as what is called the eternal Son. And as the eternal Son has always been better than the angels. He has always been superior to the angels. There's never been a time when he has been less than the angels. He was the eternal Son better than the angels. Now there is a religious group that attempts to say that, and most of you already know this so I'll say this very briefly, that attempts to teach, as a matter of fact has been teaching for some time, that Jesus Christ is actually an angel. And some of you already know that in the event that you don't, that Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ is a first creation of God. Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you that he is Michael the Archangel. I know this through reading their material. I know this through discussing it with them on a personal basis. Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you that Jesus Christ is a first creation of God and that he is Michael the Archangel. That is something that they teach. That's something that they hold fast to. And yet, as we look at this passage, it's quite obvious that Jesus Christ is better than the angels. And I want to point that out to you very briefly because you might inevitably, you will, have a discussion one day with a Jehovah's Witness and I wanted to point something out. Jesus has always been better than the angels and Jesus Christ has authority that the angels never had. It's interesting in the New Testament book of Jude. Jude is a very exciting book. It's something that Paul McCartney, like the awful lot of you, even wrote a song about it called It Hey Jude. But anyway, the book of Jude, that was a joke. You're supposed to laugh. Jude in verse 9. And I'm not going to turn you there. I'll just speak to you out of memory. Jude in verse 9 speaks about Michael the Archangel disputing with Satan over the body of Moses. Dared not render a railing accusation but rather said the Lord rebuke you. You find that in the book of Jude verse 9. And I want you to think about it for a minute because there's actually something I'm trying to teach you here very briefly. Michael the Archangel arguing, disputing over the body of Moses did not render a railing accusation but rather said, and I want you to hear this, the Lord rebuke you. So Michael, though he is a mighty angel, did not have authority to rebuke Satan and therefore called on the one who does. That's why it says that he said the Lord rebuke you. Why is that important to point out? Well one, Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel and in that passage of Scripture it states that he didn't have the ability, Michael did not have the ability to actually confront Satan in and of himself and therefore calls upon the Lord to bring the rebuke. But when Jesus in his incarnation is being tempted by Satan at one point Satan is attempting to get him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple and even goes so far as to say that God shall give the angels charge concerning you lest you dash your foot and they will hold you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. But Jesus in the book of Matthew chapter 4 verse 10 says get thee behind me Satan thou art an offense to me. Now wait a minute. If Jesus is Michael the Archangel and Jude 9 tells us that he did not do anything in his own authority but rather said the Lord rebuke you. Well the question has to be asked then why would Jesus Christ say get thee behind me which is a rebuke. Why did Jesus not say the Lord rebuke you and the obvious answer is just because Jesus Christ is the Lord. Jesus Christ is the one with that authority. You see that's the whole point that he's making here in Hebrews chapter 1 that Jesus is better. He's better than the angels. He's not a lower creation. He's the one who created all things. And so Jesus Christ has always been better than the angels. In his incarnation when he became human flesh he took upon himself a second nature the second nature being human. He became man. So in his incarnation as man he is placed in position that is referred to as a little lower than the angels. You see that in verse 9 of chapter 2. In chapter 2 verse 9 he says 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. In his incarnation Jesus Christ in order to suffer death on our behalf is presented as being in his incarnation in that position. But the bottom line is after his ascension and his being seated at the right hand of the Father completing the work of redemption he is exalted and he is preeminent. That's why the Bible says every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now the writer wants us to know that Jesus is better, that he is superior. He's more excellent than the angels. That's an important point and you need to know why. One is because in the history of Israel their prophets were absolutely important to them though Jesus asked on one occasion which of your prophets did you not kill? They are still in their lore and in the way they see things the prophets were extremely important although Jesus is better than the prophets but not only that but to the Jews the angels were extremely important also. They believed that they had an involvement in the giving of the law. You see that in Galatians in chapter 3 verse 19 and the Jews considered the angels to be very important in their history. Some felt them to be so transcendent that they considered them closest to God in that they believed them to be present with him when he completed all of creation. This is another important point for you because they interpreted Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 when God says in that passage let us make man in our image and after our likeness. The Hebrew rabbis interpreted that to mean that God was speaking to the angels and I want you to think about this for a minute because I'm giving you something that's a little deeper than normal. I'm trying to bring something to you because they were saying well if Genesis 1.26 is that man is made in the image of God who is he speaking to? When he says let us make man in our image who is he speaking to? Well because they would not regard Jesus Christ as God in the flesh. Naturally they'd have to find a group of people that they would be saying God was speaking to so who did they say that God was speaking to in creation? They would say that he was speaking to the angels and so they thought that they were part of the creation. Well the problem is is it didn't work that way because the Bible in Isaiah chapter 44 verse 24 says this thus says the Lord your redeemer and he who formed you from the womb now listen I am the Lord who makes all things who stretches out the heavens all alone who spreads abroad the earth by myself the angels were not involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth they were part of the creation. So who would he be speaking to? Who would God be speaking to when he said let us make man in our image? Well in Colossians we get the answer Colossians chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 because Paul writes and says for by Jesus all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created through him and for him he is before all things and in him all things consist. When God was speaking concerning let us make man in our image he was speaking within the confines of the Godhead. He wasn't speaking to angels at all but he was speaking to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now as you study the Bible you are going to see that angels are mentioned quite frequently in Scripture. As a matter of fact I counted out some 273 references to angels in the Bible. There are 108 direct references in the Old Testament and there are 165 in the new. As you read you get an opportunity to see what angels are like and if you take notes I want to give you 10 things about angels as I develop my introduction here concerning Jesus being superior. 10 things about angels and all of this obviously is very important. One of the things that we see in Scripture is they don't have bodies of flesh and bone. In Luke chapter 24 verse 39 behold Jesus is speaking behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself handle me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. Let me give you something else for that. It seems like I'm going to pick on people today might as well speak about the Mormons for a moment. Some of the nicest, sweetest kids I've ever talked to. Seriously. And very sacrificial. Very sacrificial. On their own dime they go on missions. They go into neighborhoods that a lot of people won't go into. They believe very firmly in what they're teaching. They believe that with all of their heart. You can't help but respect somebody who is a young man or a young woman who puts their faith into action. Unfortunately they're believing the wrong thing. I've had conversations on many occasions with Mormons both young and as I've grown older and I can still remember having some young men at my house when I was a young man I was 22 years old at the time, 23. And they stopped by my house and they wanted to share with me the Gospel, the Mormon Gospel and a friend of mine and I were there and my parents den and they came in they had a flannel board and they began to share with me about their prophet Joseph Smith and I remember this conversation very well because they showed me this this this glade and this forest and they said Joseph was there and they were asking God which religion is true and then they got a little flannel person and they placed it on the flannel ground there and they said and God spoke to Joseph and then they took another little flannel character placed it next to God and it was Jesus they looked identical by the way and he said this is my beloved son hear him and I said now wait a minute wait a minute God has a body in Mormonism, Mormons teach that God has a physical body I said how is it that you are saying that God has a body they said well God does have a body I said the scripture doesn't teach that Jesus said God is spirit and those who worship him worship him in spirit and in truth John 4.24 and in Luke chapter 24 verse 39 Jesus tells me a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have a body of flesh and bones and so I said how can you say that God has a body of flesh and bones which you're portraying to me right now on that flannel ground when the Bible says a spirit does not have a body of flesh and bones and you're presenting him as if he does and the guy got very very angry and it was an interesting time that we had there in my father's den but he was very angry because he didn't have an answer for that you see the bottom line is as angels do not they are spirits but secondly they can appear in human form they can appear as if they do have a human body this has seen various times in scripture from the old to the new the angels announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ and you know there are various times in scripture that angels will appear and you will see them as physical beings and so though they have bodies they have a spirit body do not have a body of flesh and bone they can appear in human form and you see that in scripture they also have a tremendous glory about them so much glory that they actually frighten men you know every once in a while I'll hear somebody give a spectacular testimony of how angels have visited them and and I say that is that is absolutely nonsensical you know if there's no fear involved I remember hearing of a story of a man speaking to John MacArthur how that he says every morning you know he has a visitation he said Jesus comes and stands next to me every morning when I'm shaving and he said to John MacArthur do you believe that and John MacArthur said back to the man no I don't but what frightens me most is I think that you do you know I think that sometimes we get these fantastic ideas that we're having spiritual experiences but when you read scripture it causes people great fear when angels actually do appear in Matthew 28 verse 3 and 4 the Bible speaking of an angel says his appearance was like lightning his garment as white as snow the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men and so we see that they don't have physical bodies but rather our spirit they can appear in human form but when they do they frighten people we also know that they communicate and we know that we know that Abraham spoke both to Joseph concerning the pregnancy of his a betrothed wife as well as speaking to Mary we know that they do not marry but they have a fixed number they don't increase we know that they're not subject to physical death we know that they were created before man because the fall of Satan occurred in heaven and we know that the angels who did not fall that they are more powerful than man and we must call on God to help us whenever a demonic angel is after us and finally they minister to believers by delivering from danger or assisting us when prayer is being answered and you see that in verse 14 of the same chapter here when it says are they not all ministering spirits spent forth to minister to those who inherit salvation so angels have a tremendous role in scripture you see it from the old into the new and the Jews at that time felt they had something to do with the giving of the law and they also believed them to be part of creation and that God spoke to them as he was creating so in their mind the angels are tremendous and that's the whole point that he's making here again back in verse 4 it says speaking of Jesus having become so much better than the angels as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they and so he's saying Jesus is better than angels the Jews think that prophets are incredibly important and they are the Jews believe that angels are incredibly important in the economy of God and they are but he's saying Jesus is better than both the prophets and Jesus is better than angels now when he says by inheritance he's obtained a more excellent name than they it's not just the name Jesus I mean there are people in the Old Testament who have the same name Joshua and that's Jesus's name I mean in the Hebrew it's Yeshua but it is Joshua and so it's not just the name Joshua there are others who are named Joshua it's not saying that that name Joshua is superior will say to Michael or Gabriel what he's actually saying is that he has by inheritance obtained a name because he's the son of God notice verse 5 he says for which of the angels did he ever say you are my son angels were created to minister to God none are ever called his son so Jesus is called the son of God and his name is superior now as he brings this out to us he's actually quoting two different scriptures he's quoting Psalm 2 verse 7 you are my son today I have begotten you and second Samuel 7 14 I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son and so in a general sense angels can be called the sons of God but never in an individual sense you will see that on occasion especially in the book of Job chapters 1 and 2 the sons of God appear before God but that is a general sense not in a singular sense not in an individual sense and so he speaks concerning the Lord Jesus Christ now I want to develop this a bit with you when he says in verse 5 you are my son today I have begotten you I will be to him a father he shall be to me a son the immediate thing as you read that you might be thinking that he's referring to the incarnation when Jesus took upon himself human flesh that's not what he's speaking about he's not referring to his birth he's referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ now how do we know that well in Acts chapter 13 verses 32 and 33 we read we tell you the good news what God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us their children by raising up Jesus as it is written in the second Psalm you are my son today I have become your father he's speaking concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ how that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and became the first born and that's what's referred to when we get to verse 6 when he says he brings the first born into the world and he says let all the angels of God worship him you see when the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected Jesus Christ was publicly declared to be the son of God if you take notes chapter 1 makes it very clear verses 3 and 4 as to his human nature he was a descendant of David and who through the spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ our Lord and so Jesus Christ has declared the son of God through the power of the resurrection and that's why it says in verse 5 I will be to him a father he shall be to me a son originally these words were spoken to King David and he would reign they didn't refer to Solomon though but to his greater son who would be Jesus the son of David now in verse 6 when he says he again brings the first born into the world and says let all the angels of God worship him this demonstrates once again his superiority because the angels of God are ordered to worship Jesus Christ now all through the Bible God makes it very clear one that you worship I am the Lord and you shall worship me God says in his law there's nowhere anywhere in any scripture that says that we give any kind of obeisance or worship to any created being nowhere do you find any commandment whatsoever that I should ever bow my knee to a created being I recognize angels as being ministering spirits and therefore when I kneel to anyone it is to the Lord God in Exodus 3414 you shall worship no other God the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God so angels are never worshiped they are created by God and are never given what belongs to him which is worship there's an interesting story found in the book of Revelation when John was receiving different kinds of revelation the one who is giving him the revelation John falls at his face he says I fell at his feet rather to worship him said to me see that you do not do it I am your fellow servant and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus and he goes on and says worship God and so no matter how glorious and how much splendor and how much incredible worth an angel has because he is incredible in that way I am never to worship him I don't pray to him I don't ask an angel for help I don't do any of that I look to God to do that and I pray to God I say God in Jesus name I need you to deliver me now he may send an angel to do that and you find that in Scripture on occasion he does but in terms of me worshiping and giving glory to and falling down even as John did at the feet of the one who had given him this revelation the angel immediately says worship is reserved for God you do not give to a created being that which belongs to God and so we have to be careful about that now again in verse 6 it says when he again brings the firstborn into the world he says let all the angels of God worship him that word firstborn is a Greek word prototokos it's a messianic title it isn't speaking of time as if it was the first one born it speaks of superiority of position the firstborn and in superiority of position Jesus Christ is being presented as positionally being worthy of our worship again sometimes people will say look this is the word firstborn that means that he's the first creation of God that's not what the Bible is saying but the Bible is simply saying here he's worthy of our praise and our worship now when it says let all the angels of God worship him Jesus well one in one sense they always have they worship him because he's God and they all worship to him but this passage will be fulfilled at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Paul says in 2nd Thessalonians 1.7 that the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels Matthew 16.27 says the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels he shall reward every man according to his works with full glory as he completes his work now notice in verse 7 notice how it says of the angels he says who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire he is superior because he has a superior nature over angels this reveals the difference in the basic nature of angels in Jesus notice it says he makes who makes his angels that word makes speaks of creation of his spirits and his ministers a flame of fire so the angels were created and as God Jesus is uncreated he created the heavens and the earth and he also created the principalities and the powers but to the son verse 8 he says your throne oh God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom the throne Jesus occupies is eternal he is forever Lord the overwhelming testimony of the Bible Jesus Christ is the one who is forever to be worshiped in 1 Timothy 3 16 Paul said beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great he speaking of God appeared in a body was vindicated by the spirit was seen by angels was preached among the nations believed on in the world and was taken up in glory and so he is the eternal one who is worshiped when it speaks of the scepter that's the governing power and authority verse 9 you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore God your God is anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions Jesus had a relationship with his father that was unique he is the unique son of God and that's why he's referred to as God your God but he's superior in verse 10 to verse 12 you Lord in the beginning the foundation of the earth the heavens are the work of your hands they will perish but you remain they will all grow old like a garment like a cloak you will fold them up they will be changed but you are the same and your years will not fail Jesus predates angels and he will outlast creation he brings the universe to its consummation he's going to roll it up like an old garment interesting picture that is my son David moved out several months ago lives with a friend of his and he had as a dog a Rottweiler let me tell you something about that Rottweiler by the way I just thought of it Rottweiler doesn't know it's a Rottweiler it's a big dog weighs a hundred and some pounds good sized girl doesn't know she's a Rottweiler I took her for a walk here on the church campus it's been a while now she was not just a pup but she was not full grown either and as we were walking together I walked out to the side here to the home that's closest to the freeway over here and the person who owns that home has some geese and so Sammy and I are taking a walk and as we're walking by the fence I could look in there and I saw a goose and his mate and his mate had laid some eggs and everybody knows that geese are like watch geese they're very protective and so as I was walking by the fence there's this goose and that goose probably weighs about ten pounds or whatever a goose weighs and as the goose was there that goose sees the dog and Sammy's a Rottweiler keep that in mind and so as we're walking by the fence the goose sees the dog and he immediately gets between the dog and the eggs and I'm starting to get kind of fascinated I'm wondering what's going to happen here when Sammy notices this goose and as we're walking by the fence the goose wings out and he kind of stands on as tall as he could and starts flapping his wings and there's a fence between the dog and that goose and the fence is high enough even if that goose went right at her that goose is going to hit the fence but Sammy doesn't know that and so when that goose stuck its arms and started doing this Sammy looks at it and then he honks and I was I'm being dragged around the parking lot by a dog that's running it's a Rottweiler and I started thinking about that and I thought this has nothing to do with the Bible study it's just a story but I started thinking about that I thought I am so much like Sammy I'm so much like this dog one that goose even if it could get through a fence once it got to Sammy would just be roast goose because Sammy could eat that goose and she's a Rottweiler so because you don't realize she's a Rottweiler she's running away from a bluff because that goose couldn't even get to her and the Lord minister you know it's funny how the Lord will minister things to you maybe it doesn't to you but he does to me and he's telling me in Christ you're a Rottweiler and there's no way that the enemy can get to you through that fence which is Jesus Christ so in order for him to try and he causes you fear to think that he can and you take off running I'll tell you I get some spiritual stories from God in the weirdest ways and that's one of them I thought you know I'm just like Sammy I mean there's no way that that enemy can get to me God's already protecting me but I don't know who I am in Jesus Christ but anyway David has a Rottweiler and he would let the dog sleep in his room I let the dog sleep in his room and there is a rug and she would actually sleep inside of her little cage there eventually we just opened it up and she'd sleep next to him and she decided to chew up the rug and so she chewed up that rug because why not you know rugs are there they're meant to be chewed up I guess she chewed it all up and what I eventually did is I came in and I pulled that rug out I rolled it up and I threw it away and I said to myself I'm going to take a cloak you will fold them up they will be changed but you are the same and your years will not fail except he's not talking about a radioled rug he's talking about the universe that's intended to give you and me an incredible idea of how powerful Jesus Christ is he's not talking about some rug he's talking about the universe itself that's intended to fold them up that gives us a picture of how powerful Jesus Christ is no angel can do something like that and finally verse 13 but to which of the angels has he ever said sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool the answer obviously to no angel has he ever said that only to the Son then he goes on and says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those he conquers all his enemies everything in the universe worships him there was this commercial that we used to see every once in a while where this fellow was speaking about taking care of your car and he was playing the part of a mechanic and he would say to me say to us in the commercial you need to take care of your car he says well think about it you can pay me now or you can pay me later you're going to have to take care of your car eventually you're going to have to take it in and not just for some basic service maintenance but you're going to have it repaired and I've thought about that often in various ways and I realize that that's the bottom line the Bible says very clearly that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father very clearly that we enunciate that Jesus Christ is Lord which is by believing that we believe and pronounce him Lord in our life and that is a confession of salvation ultimately all humanity is going to say Jesus Christ is Lord even those who've rejected him on earth even those who have said that he is not Lord I find it fascinating and some of you may too how that if the Bible says every knee shall bow tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord which it does in Philippians chapter 2 then that means that every human being who's ever lived will make that pronouncement now I do that now willingly I did that and the day that I got saved I confessed the Lordship of Jesus Christ I said God be merciful to me I'm a sinner and I need your forgiveness and based on your word you state to me that if I trust in you I can be born again my sins will be washed clean I'll have a relationship with you because of Christ I recognize you as being the Lord the Lord of my life and therefore Jesus you are Lord and by the spirit of God according to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 I make that profession of faith and so I have recognized and so I have you if you're born again that Jesus Christ is Lord heavenly and in doing so here on this on this earth when I see Jesus Christ I see him as my savior one of these days we will look at him face to face one of these days we will have opportunity to be there with him in heaven and when we are there with him in heaven he shall make us to be able to stand in his presence and as we stand in his presence because he makes us to stand we will worship him for eternity he's our Lord and we will have recognized that and we will say God I recognize you as my Lord when I was walking on the face of the earth and for eternity I will recognize you as my Lord and in that I have been saved and in that there's no fear there's no fear at all in that because perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment I will not have fear when I see the Lord Jesus Christ I'll have joy and I'll have peace and I'm going to be rewarded and it's going to be an incredible moment there's time when you look upon that one who died for you there's going to be nothing but love and a sense of peace and it's going to overwhelm you in such an incredible way and you're going to be so blessed you're in heaven because of what he's done and you will say willingly you are my Lord even as you've already practiced so many times here on this earth but you want to know something others will do that too but it will not be in the same way that you say it you're going to say something like or I would say something like you are Lord but there are others who will say it differently you are Lord in a recognition of the reality of that that he is Lord which tells me that all human beings who've ever lived that includes Buddha that includes Muhammad that includes every human being will recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ that's the Christian message that's why people don't like us because that's what Jesus taught that's what the writer of Hebrews is teaching that Jesus Christ is better he is better than any Jewish prophet and think of them all if you'd like consider from the beginning all the way back think about all the prophets to the apostles every individual who was used by God men like Samuel and Jeremiah and Elijah and Lysha I mean you can name them all all of these men and prophetesses who were used of God throughout the old into the New Testament Jesus is better not only is he better than the spokesmen and spokeswomen of God but he is better than the angels of God the angels of God that the Jewish nation regarded so highly for they were in their belief involved in the distribution of the law they believed that they were involved now in creation they recognized them as preeminent the writer of Hebrews is saying Jesus is better Jesus is better than prophets Jesus is better than angels because to which angel did he ever say let all the angels of God worship him not a single angel is worshiped only God is worshiped and the whole point he's making is he is superior to prophets and superior to angels because he is God in the flesh and he is superior