God in Hebrews 1:1-4
Hebrews 1:1–4 is often cited in discussions about the identity of Jesus and the nature of God. Yet these opening verses present a remarkably straightforward contrast between God and His Son. Below is a rendering designed to highlight the clarity of the author’s intent:
Hebrews 1:1 — God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
Hebrews 1:2 — has at the end of these days spoken to us by means of His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the ages.
Hebrews 1:3 — His Son is the reflected brightness of His glory, the impress of His personal being, and His Son bore all by means of the word of His power. When His Son had made purification for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of Jehovah on high.
Hebrews 1:4 — having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.
God in Hebrews 1:1 — One Person, Not a Plurality
The opening statement leaves no ambiguity: “God” in verse 1 refers to a single individual—the same God who spoke through the prophets of the Old Testament. Nothing in the text suggests that the Son was included among those prophetic communications. The natural reading is that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures is not Jesus.
Yet some argue that the Son in verse 2 is “not different from God,” or that Jesus is “better than everything, including angels, because Jesus is God entirely.” These claims are often tied to later verses, especially Hebrews 1:8, where Trinitarian interpreters imagine a conversation between two persons of a triune God.
But before importing such assumptions, we must ask: How does Hebrews 1:1–3 actually present God and His Son?
The Son in Hebrews 1:2–3 — Distinguished From God, Not Identified as God
Throughout these verses, the author consistently distinguishes between God and His Son. The Son is:
appointed heir of all things
the one through whom God made the ages
the reflected brightness of God’s glory
the impress of God’s being
the one who sat down at God’s right hand
These descriptions only make sense if God and His Son are not the same person. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob acts through His Son, not as His Son.
Some translations render Hebrews 1:3 in ways that subtly support the idea that Jesus is God Almighty—often because translators assume a triune framework as the default. For example, the phrase about “upholding the universe” is frequently interpreted as Jesus sustaining creation by His own inherent power. Yet the text can just as naturally be understood as the Son bearing all things by the power of God’s word, consistent with passages like Micah 5:4.
Hebrews 1:4 — Exalted Above the Angels by God
Verse 4 continues the theme of distinction. The Son, who during his earthly life was “a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:9), is now exalted above them. But who exalted him?
Paul answers this plainly elsewhere: God exalted Jesus (Philippians 2:9). Again, God is presented as one person, and Jesus as another—God’s obedient Son.
No Triune God in Hebrews 1:1–4
Far from teaching a triune God or suggesting that Jesus is His own Father (as some oneness groups claim), Hebrews 1:1–4 consistently portrays:
one God, the God of the Old Testament
one Son, distinct from that God
the Son acting on behalf of and through the power of that one God
the Son being exalted by God, not as God
The passage offers no hint of a triune deity. Instead, it reinforces the biblical pattern: the one God speaks and acts through His appointed Son, who is now exalted but remains distinct from the God who sent him.
Hebrews 1:5
For to which of the angels did he say at any time, "You are my Son. Today have I brought you forth?" and again, "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?"
In Hebrews 1:5, we find that it was not one of the angels that God spoke the words related to his bringing forth his Son, as spoken of in Psalm 2:7. Contrary to what many assume, several scriptures in the New Testament apply Psalm 2:7 to Jesus' resurrection and his becoming priest, not to his original creation, nor to his being conceived in the womb of Mary. (Acts 13:33.34; Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 5:4-6; 8:4) We would not understand that our Lord at the beginning of his ministry and trial time, before he had purchased the race by his sacrifice on Calvary, was eligible to receive the message addressed to him prophetically in Psalm 2:7.
Some erroneously claim that we make Jesus an angel, and that this verse proves that he is not an angel. The Hebrew and Greek words for "angel" simply mean "messenger". Often this word is applied to the spirit sons of God in heaven, as a classification, such as in Matthew 18:10. Obviously, this is how it is being used in Hebrews 1. Jesus is not, and he never has been, one of the angels as thus classified. He is referred to as the angel [messenger] of the covenant (Malachi 3:1). Some believe that the word angel,, as meaning "messenger", is applied to Jesus sometimes in the book of Revelation. Such designations do not place Jesus in the same classification as the spirit beings often referred to as "angels". Some point to our claim that Jesus is the archangel as meaning that we are saying that he is an angel. While we do believe that testimony of scripture does point to Jesus as being the archangel, we do not claim that the archangel is of the same classification as an "angel". The archangel is above the angels; the prefix "arch" signifies his being chief over the angels, not that he is being classified as an angel.
Again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all the angels of God worship him."
In Hebrews 1:6, "he" refers to the one person who is "God" in Hebrews 1:1, and thus "the firstborn" is not God of verse 1. The one person who is God in verse 1 speaks to his firstborn. The command the God of the Old Testament gives to angels, as qutoed in this verse, is not actually found anywhere in the Old Testament. Some claim that this is quoting Psalm 97:7 and/or Deuteronomy 32:43, but in niether verse are we able reckon this as being a command to God's firstborn. Deuteronomy 32:43, in the Hebrew texts, has nothing at all that resembles what is presented in Hebrews 1:6. The Christianized Septuagint does have similar words, but it appears that this may been done by the Christian editors in a deliberate attempt to have the verse resemble what is written in Hebrews 1:6.
We believe that more than likely, the quote is indirectly taken from Daniel 7:14,27. The "all dominions" of verse 27 would certainly include the angelic dominion.
Nevertheless, this scripture is often cited by trinitarians and some others as being proof that Jesus is God Almighty, since it is claimed that if angels are commanded to worship the Son, the Son must be God. It is usually also claimed that only God is to be worshiped. This actually disregards how the Hebrew and Greek words for worship are used in the Bible. Certainly, no one should be worshipped as being the "one God" from whom are all (1 Corinthians 8:6), not even God's Son. Nor should we think that the one God from whom are all is commanding his angels to worship His firstborn as being the "one God" from whom are all. The verse would be better understood in English if the Greek word were rendered with some form of homage, bow down, obeisance, etc. See links to related studies at:
Worship of Jesus
https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/p/worship-of-jesus.html
Hebrews 1:7
Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels spirits, and his servants a flame of fire."
Hebrews 1:8,9
But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O Mighty One, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows."
And, "You, O Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. As a mantle, you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years will not fail."
But which of the angels has he told at any time, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?" Aren't they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
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We have been asked about Isaiah 44:24: how could a unipersonal God make the heavens and earth through the hands of another if he were alone?
In context, the heavens and earth being spoken of is said to pass away. Therefore, we can conclude that this is not speaking of the heavens where God’s throne is, or where God and angels dwell, and we can further conclude that it is not speaking of the physical heavens or the physical earth, which will never be removed. — Psalm 72:17; 78:69; 89:36; 104:5.
Nevertheless, Isaiah 44:24 could be speaking of the actual creation of the universe and the earth in that universe, before that which is being spoken of in Hebrews 1:10. More than likely, however, Isaiah 44:24 refers to Jehovah as being alone in the sense that none of the heathen gods were there when he created.
For links to studies related to Hebrews 1:
https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/p/hebrews.html#heb1-1
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