The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

19 attention to what has been heard in 2: 1-4. " 27 Thus, the comparison between Christ and angels (1 :5-14 and 2:5-18) is not for the ultimate goal of asserting His preeminence over angels, as though the readers' understanding was deficient in this area. The Direct Statement within the Passage The essence of the author's argument is also stated directly within the passage itself. The point of comparison is between "the message declared by angels" and the message "declared . . . by the Lord" (2: 2-4). For if the message declared by angels was valid and every transgression or disobedi– ence received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him (2:2-3). Too often this short section (2: 1-4) is viewed parenthetically as only a "warning passage" when ~ reality it draws together all of the evidence presented in the two chapters and forcefully states the author's point. Unless the theme of the Son as bearer of revelation is recognized the point of the first several chapters will be missed. The Harmony within the Section 1 :5-4: 16 If one understands the purpose of the first two chapters to be a correction of a misconception concerning angels 28 then it would be logical to see chapter three and four a a 27 Ibid ., 36. 28 Hughes speculate on the occa ion of the book, 'Thi letter , like all th lett r f th ew Te tament, wa written to meet the need of a concrete ituation. There mu t ha e b n ample rea on for our author to in i t that angel are in no wa omparable in b ing r dignit to hri t. The vidence now available to u how that in the J i h rid of the fir t ntur nt arn m H br