“Until I completely Defeat All Your Enemies”

Hebrews 1:13
To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews chapter one tells us that Jesus is great. Jesus is greater than human beings. Jesus is greater than human beings was a well-known and accepted fact. However, some believers thought Jesus was equivalent to angels. Angels were supernatural. Angels were holy. Angels frequently brought good news from God to human beings. Angels were great indeed. Therefore, some made the mistake to worship angels or even pray to them or through them.

Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are servants. We do not worship servants, we only worship God. Revelation 22:9 is one incident where an angel told the Apostle John not to worship him for he the angel is a fellow servant. To worship angels, to pray through angels is direct defiance of God. No angel deserves worship or to serve as a mediator in worship. Hebrews chapter one ends by telling readers that angels are fellow servants.

Exodus 20:4-6
(4) “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (5) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (6) but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

God in the Ten Commandments tells us that it is wrong and sinful to bow down or worship anything or anyone other than God. Even images of anything in heaven should not be worshipped or used in worship. Angels are in heaven, no one who believes in God and takes His word seriously will worship angels or use them in worship. Nothing in heaven and above or earth and below should be used in worship. Even images of Jesus, even Jesus on the cross, should not be used in worship. Yes, it includes names, images, and sculptures of saints of old, angels, and even Jesus.

Hebrews chapter one emphasizes that Jesus is God. Jesus was treated as God by God the Father, something that was never done to any angel. Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the exact representation of God the Father. Hebrews 1:6 tells us that God who prohibited anyone and anything else from being worshipped including angels is now telling angels to worship Jesus. Jesus is God, otherwise, He shouldn’t be worshipped.

Hebrews 1:8 tells us that Jesus has an everlasting throne. Only God has a throne. Therefore Jesus is God. There is God the Father with His throne. There is God the Son with His throne. Hebrews 1:10-12 tells us that Jesus created the world and He can end it and that He is everlasting. Only God creates, if Jesus created then He is God the Son. Only God can end the world and Jesus can do it, therefore He is God the Son. Only God is everlasting, and Jesus is said to be everlasting, therefore Jesus is God the Son.

Another major point in Hebrews chapter one is that Jesus is greater than angels. Jesus is not an angel. Out of reverence for God’s name, some of the Old Testament writers referred to appearances of God as appearances of the Angel of the Lord. They believed God was too great and Holy to appear to sinful human beings. They believed that if they saw God they would die instantly because they were sinners. Therefore in reverence, they said that if God appeared it is an Angel He sent not Himself. Therefore the Angel of the Lord is not a reference to angels as we know, but a reverent reference to God.

Hebrews chapter one emphasizes that Jesus is greater than any and all angels. It is wrong and sinful to equate Jesus with angels or believe He is one of them. Jesus is way far greater than angels. Hebrews 1:4 tells us that Jesus is superior to angels. Hebrews 1:7 tells us that angels serve Jesus, He doesn’t serve them. Then in our main text today we are told that the honor and welcome Jesus received when He returned to heaven after the crucifixion was an honor that no angel has ever received. Jesus was given the honor of sitting on the right hand of God the Father.

Psalms 110:1
The LORD says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”

Hebrews 1:13 is a quotation of Psalm 110:1. This Psalm is believed to be a prophecy about Jesus. This is also the prophecy Jesus cited to prove His divinity and consequently silenced His enemies, Matthew 22:41-46. The specific text is Matthew 22:43.

Matthew 22:41-46
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
22:41-46pp — Mk 12:35-37; Lk 20:41-44
(41) While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, (42) “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
(43) He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, (44)
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.”’
(45) If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (46) No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

For purposes of our salvation, Jesus who has always existed even before His birth in Bethlehem became a human being. Jesus was a hundred percent God and a hundred percent human. Because of sin, God has enemies and we who belong to God also have enemies. God the Father promises Jesus that He will make His enemies be under His feet, which means total defeat.

Anyone who stays close to God may have enemies but is safe. Anyone who stays close to God will be protected from enemies. Anyone who stays close to God will eventually defeat all enemies and have them under his or her feet. In a boxing or wrestling game, when your opponent is lying at your feet while you are standing, you are the winner. Anyone who hides in God is safe and may have struggles now, but will eventually defeat all enemies.

Stick to God until all your enemies are defeated. Our enemies include death, and the last enemy to be defeated at the end of the world is death, 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. Do not stick to God only until someone who offended you is defeated. After that person is defeated, we must remain by God’s side until Satan and death are defeated, Revelation 20:10 and Revelation 20:14-15. Until the world comes to an end, our enemies remain potent. Stick by God and you will be safe. “Until I completely defeat all your enemies!”

Dear God, keep us safe until you completely defeat our enemies, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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