Prove All Things

View Original

Does Hebrews 1:1 suggest that the Father spoke to the prophets and that Jesus did not speak to the prophets or us at any prior time?

We have stated many times that the Person of the Godhead who became a flesh-and-blood human being was “the God of the Old Testament.” However, this statement needs some clarification. First, the word God can be used in reference to the Godhead (the Father and the Son together). It can also be used in reference to either Person of the Godhead. Thus, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Family consisting of Father and Son is God. When we say that the Person who later became Jesus Christ was “the God of the Old Testament,” we mean that the Member of the God Family (or Godhead) who appeared to and spoke with the ancients was the One who later came in the flesh. Actually, it is correct to say that God the Father was the God of the Old Testament. The Logos, or “Word” (John 1:1), served as His Agent, or Spokesman, who acted on behalf of the Supreme Sovereign. That both were involved in creation is seen in Genesis 1:26 and in John 1:1–3. Genesis 1:26 states, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” John 1:1–3 states: “In the beginning was the Word [the Logos], and the Word was with God [the Father], and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” Thus, both divine Persons participated in creation. Both are “God,” though they differ functionally. Notice that Hebrews 1:1 says that God spoke to the prophets “in divers manners.” One of the “diverse manners” in which the Father spoke to the prophets was through the One who later came in the flesh. When God sent His Son, the Son spoke to His disciples directly, without the use of prophets.