In the exposition of Psalm 8 by the writer to the Hebrews, certain assumptions are made:
It is the Inspired Word of God: thus when the the world doesn’t match up to the Word, the Word is right and the world is wrong
The Bible means what it says: allegorising away the clear statements of scripture is not an honest way to deal with the Word of God
Revelation is progressive; not contradictory, not superseded but added to, becoming clearer over time (2:7,9)
The full meaning of scripture may not have been fully understood by the original writer but this does not invalidate the interpretation
There is more to the text than what is lieing on the surface; ‘the main things are the plain things,’ but ‘the deep things are for those who seek things.’ This may well include aspects to stated truth which may not have been the primary message but which on careful consideration of the text give us a pointer to further truth
The Bible is worth thinking about; meditation and careful consideration
Applying these assumptions:
Whilst it may not have been the originally intended emphasis of the psalmist (Ps 8:5) to establish the point that them man whom the world is subject to is ‘not an angel’ yet nonetheless Psalm 8:5 indicates this point
If Psalm 8 is the stated purpose of God for man and if Psalm 8 is not fulfilled today, then the purposes of God have been frustrated! Therefore the Psalm must refer to a future day when this order will be established, to a future world.
For man to have perfect dominion over Gods creation, that man must be perfectly subject to the God of creation, that man must be a perfect man, thus that man must be Christ, thus Psalm 8 refers to Christ!
There is thus a: ‘world to come’ (Heb 2:5) - this is a critical phrase in the argument of Hebs 2.
How do we get to that ‘world to come’?
I am bound, tied into this world that is by the material, the physical, the sensory, the temporal and by the boundary and barrier of death.
How do we break out of this world?
From the temporal to the eternal?
From the purely material to the spiritual?
From the fallen to the restored?
We know the story of Jericho; how was it taken?
7 priests, 7 trumpets, 7 days, around Jericho 7 times and the walls fell down.
Do you see any problems with this?
Try it at home. Better to be on the safe side try it at someone else's home!
Do you think it will work?
It wasn’t the priests, the trumpets, nor the walking that really made the walls fall down.
How did they fall?
Joshua had an encounter just before Jericho (Joshua chp 6) that helps to explain the victory of Joshua chp 6:
Joshua 5:13-15 : ‘The Captain of the host of the Lord’
The Lord who brought them out of Egypt
is:
The Lord who brought them through (Josh 5:1)
is
The Lord who brought them in (5:13ff)
Why do we need this ‘Captain’ ?
Because He leads the host of the Lord!
Why do we need the host of the Lord?
Because it is they who will win the victory of Jericho!
The unseen army of Gods host will bring down those might walls!
But what about the priests and the trumpets and the shout?
The last trumpet sound (Joshua 6:16,20)
The great shout (6:20)
Were but the signals of faith for the host to act and for those walls to fall down!
That shout and that last trumpet would bring:
The salvation of the believing Rahab
The judgement of the unbelieving world
Feel free to apply that in a NT context.
How do we punch through from this world to ‘the world to come’?
We follow in faith after ‘the Captain of our Salvation’
So how does He do it?
Consider 3 very similar verses:
Psalm 8:5 : ‘ For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour’
Heb :7 ‘Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands’
Heb 2:9 ‘But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.’
Do we see any differences in this 3 X quoted verse?
Note the sandwiching on Heb 2:9 :
‘made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour’
The purpose of the incarnation: ‘made a little lower than the angels’
Was the humiliation of Christ
That which connects the incarnation to the exaltation is the humiliation, expiation and resurrection of Christ
In the absence of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we are trapped, eternally trapped, forever trapped.
The path punched through from this world, to the world to come is through:
The Door
The Way
The Life
Opened up by the death burial and resurrection of Christ
Christ went through
You and I can go through the same way!
He has punched a hole from the world that is to the world to come!