Hebrews 2:5-8

Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. But somewhere a certain man solemnly testified saying, Who is man that you remember him, or son of man that you care for him? You made him a little less than the angels, you crowned him with glory and worth (honor), you submitted all things under his feet. Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

Here we are picking up the idea that was started all the way back in Hebrews 1:5 and continued until 1:14 when there was that side note in 2:1-4. That is the layout, just so you get an idea of the flow of thoughts. The topic discussed in that first part was Jesus is greater than angels (even though he was a man and everyone knows men are lower than angels).

So the first part states, Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

In his argument that Jesus is greater than angels he implies that God subjected "the world to come" to Jesus not the angels. My first question is what is "the world to come"?

I found that it is a really rare phrase. In fact that it is only found here. But what it is referring to is the Age of the Messiah, which was prophesied by the prophets. The Messianic age is the current age when the Messiah has come, done his work on this earth and is now at the right hand of God. In Hebrews 1:3-4 states, "after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." The idea here is just this idea repeated, Jesus is superior to angels because he has been given power and authority over all things since his resurrection (which we get to celebrate this coming weekend). Don't let that phrase world to come trip you up. The world to come is from the perspective of the prophets, who saw this age as the one to come.

Then the author quotes from Psalm 8:4-6 in this next section. So first lets look at the entire Psalm and then examine how the author uses it.

I really like Psalm 8 because it teaches man's purpose and place in God's creation. The first part of the Psalm states that God is the most powerful one, he sets his glory in heaven and is stronger than his foes. Then it tells how God is the creator of all, over the heavens and stars in the night. Then he asks the question that Hebrews quotes from, "what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" If God is so great, why does he care (this word carries the idea of helping) about us and what is our place in creation. Then we hear where we fit in according to God. We are made a little lower than the angels, he gave us honor and dominion over all of creation ("all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea."). God has made us, the highest point of creation on earth. A pyramid is almost created where God is on top, then the angels, then man, then created animals. God gave us authority over the animals, to care for them and to use them. God expects us to take care of the creation he gave to us, we are not to use, abuse, and destroy it (as we in the west have tended to do, but to care for it. This is the same picture that Genesis draws of creation. God made the animals and plants and then Adam. He tells Adam to rule over them all and care for them. In Psalms, the teaching is that man is over all creation.

As you might notice, I have not finished commenting on the next verses. It is because they are complicated and twist my mind a bit. I have to study a bit more with them before I can state anything about them. I will hopefully do just that this week and have a finished post in a couple of days.