The genius of Hebrews

The book of Hebrews takes little verses that were unnoticed "walk on" parts in the Old Testament and makes them stars in the New Testament. I noticed that today when I was reading this letter to the Hebrew converts and bothering to look up the cross-references.

The writer of Hebrews is at pains to prove the deity and supremacy of Christ. We must assume he has arranged his arguments thoughtfully. But what passage from the Torah does he adduce to affirm Jesus' sonship to God? It is a tiny sentence plucked out of context from a message delivered by the prophet Samuel to King David on the occasion of David's expressed desire to build a temple for the ark:

"I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son" (2 Samuel 7:14).

The rest of the verse continues:

"When he [meaning Solomon] commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him" (14-15).

Later, in Hebrews 2:13, the author's purpose being to demonstrate that the man Jesus is yielded in moment-by-moment reliance upon the Spirit, he again cites a snatch of a verse from the book of 2 Samuel, in which David is praising God for his deliverance from Saul, Absalom, Sheba, the Gibeonites, and any number of political enemies:

". . . my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold and my refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence" (2 Samuel 22:3).

Elsewhere, in Hebrews 1:10, desiring to prove that Jesus created the world, the author quotes from Psalm 102 which, if you look it up, you will see it seems to be about a very sad man who is pleading for God to take notice of him. If you make it all the way to verses 25-27, you will finally see the mention of God's creating the world.

The effect that all of this strange hermeneutics has on me is wonderful. There is no better way, for my money, to show the relevance of all of Scripture to Christ---and therefore to me in Christ---than for the New Testament writer to adduce the most ambiguous and seemingly tenuous Old Testament proofs of Christ.

For one thing, it shows me that God is attentive to the minutest particles of his Word. I can be sure that when I read his Word and come across a very small detail or expression, one that I have never noticed before or heard mentioned or preached on, God is mindful of that verse. He knows it altogether, and he will bring every bit of it to fulfillment in its proper time.

Secondly, it shows me that I am within my rights to apply all the Old Testament to myself, in an intelligent way, to be sure. The Hebrew author's resorting to the very least of the Old Testament proof texts (as I see it; he could have found stronger texts) is powerful evidence that all the Old Testament is about Christ. And if about Christ, then about me in Christ. Christ's benefits are my benefits.

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