Christ Better Than Angels, Pt. 4

September 18th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 1:7-9 Of the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.” 8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

Though superior in name and majesty to the angels, Jesus is also superior in His nature, His role, and His example. As to His superior nature (v. 7), angels worship Christ because they recognize that they are inferior to Him. They are mere servants; Jesus Christ is God. To make his point regarding Christ’s superior nature, the author quotes Psalm 104:4 which calls winds and flames God’s messengers, clearly speaking of angels. The LXX here differs slightly in emphasis from the Hebrew text, emphasizing that angels become and do the work of winds and fire. One example of an angel acting as wind and fire is found in Judges 13:19-20, as when the angel shot up through the flame of Manoah’s sacrifice after he learned that he had been speaking to the angel of the Lord. In spite of this wind and fire, angels are mere servants of God.

Wind and flame are also instruments of God in Psalm 104, for it is God who “covers Himself with light… makes the clouds His chariot… and walks upon the wings of the wind” (Ps. 104:2-3). So, the nature of angels makes them mere tools used by God, not objects of worship.

In contrast to wind and flame, here today and gone tomorrow, the Son has a “throne”—the seat of His reign, that is “forever and ever” (v. 8). The Son is not simply eternal in that He lives forever; He is eternal in that He has existed forever and will reign forever and ever. Though Jesus had a beginning at His birth, He has existed from eternity past, in contrast to angels who were created by God to be His servants. So whereas angels were created by God to serve, the Son has existed forever to be served on His eternal throne.

Second, regarding His superior role, v. 8 says of the eternal Son, quoting Psalm 45:6, “…the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.” Jesus is therefore not only the Prophet who speaks (v. 2) and the Priest who atones for sin (v. 3), He is the King who rules for eternity. Jesus is therefore Divine, the King who rules with an “iron scepter.” This recalls the prophecy in Genesis 49:10 concerning one who would descend from Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes, and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” No wonder the author quotes the Davidic Psalms speaking of the anointed King! For the Messiah is a better King than David from whom He descended.

Third, in v. 9 Jesus is superior to the angels in the example He set. Since Jesus loved righteousness and hated evil, His Father anointed the Son with the oil of gladness “beyond your companions.” This is in contrast to angels, for some angels apparently rebelled and chose evil. So, if the Jews could relegate Jesus to angelic status, then they could also debate whether He was good. Of course most Jews hated Jesus, believing Him to be a blasphemer (John 8:58; 10:31-33), in spite of the fact that His life was characterized by a love for righteousness and a hatred for evil. Because of Jesus’ strong example, He was given the anointing that was given to other men who held offices like prophets, priests, and kings. Jesus’ anointing, however, was the “oil of gladness beyond your companions”—a quote from Psalm 45:7, a wedding Psalm. How appropriate that Jesus, who is the Bridegroom of the Church (Rev. 19), would be anointed with oil that is far superior to His “companions” based upon His superior and impeccable behavior.