Introduction
The first chapter of Hebrews is a cannonade. It is a sustained barrage of Old Testament artillery, all of it aimed at establishing the absolute supremacy of the Son over all angelic beings. The author has marshaled seven quotations from the Old Testament to prove his point, leaving no room for doubt. Christ is not just another angel, not even the highest angel. He is the Son, the exact imprint of God's nature, the heir of all things, and the one to whom all angels are commanded to render worship. After such a high and majestic argument, the author now turns to application. Theology is never for the shelf; it is for the street. Doctrine is never for the abstract; it is for the heart and hands. And so, having established who Jesus is, the writer now tells us what we must do in response. This is the first of several solemn warnings in the book, and it sets the tone for all that follows. If the Son is so great, then the salvation He brings is equally great, and to neglect it is a peril of the highest order.
Clause-by-Clause Commentary
Hebrews 2:1
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.
The opening phrase, "For this reason," links this severe warning directly to the glorious Christology of chapter one. Because the Son is superior to the angels, because He is the very effulgence of God's glory, *therefore* we must listen up. The logic is inescapable. The gravity of the message is determined by the majesty of the messenger. If a king's herald speaks, you give him your ear. But if the King Himself speaks, you give Him your entire being.
The writer urges us to pay "much closer attention." The Greek here implies a diligent, careful, and constant focus. This is not a casual hearing. This is the kind of attention a ship's captain pays to his charts in a storm. The message we have heard is the gospel, the word of salvation. It is the most precious cargo we carry. The danger, if we fail to pay this kind of attention, is that we might "drift away." The image is that of a boat slipping its moorings and being carried away by the current. It is not a dramatic, sudden shipwreck, but a slow, almost imperceptible drift. Apostasy rarely begins with a bang; it begins with a yawn. It starts with spiritual carelessness, a failure to tend to the anchor lines of the soul. The current of the world, the flesh, and the devil is always pulling, and if we are not actively moored to the truth we have heard, we will inevitably be carried off course.
Hebrews 2:2
For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every trespass and disobedience received a just penalty,
Here the author employs a classic rabbinic argument, moving from the lesser to the greater (a fortiori). He begins with a point his Jewish-Christian audience would readily accept. "The word spoken through angels" refers to the Mosaic Law given at Sinai. Jewish tradition held that angels were mediators in the giving of the Law (cf. Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19). This law, this "word," proved "unalterable." It was firm, steadfast, and binding. There were no loopholes.
And because it was unalterable, every "trespass and disobedience" received its corresponding "just penalty." The Law was not a collection of helpful suggestions. It had teeth. If you broke it, there were consequences, and those consequences were divinely sanctioned and just. From the death penalty for certain offenses to the curses for covenant unfaithfulness, the Law demonstrated that God is not to be trifled with. His word has weight, and to disregard it is to invite judgment. This is the lesser point, the established foundation upon which he will build his much more sobering argument.
Hebrews 2:3
how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? That salvation, first spoken by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard,
Now comes the hammer blow. "How will we escape?" The question is rhetorical and the implied answer is devastating: "We will not escape." If the word delivered by mere servants (angels) brought inescapable judgment for disobedience, what will be the consequence of ignoring the word delivered by the Son Himself? To neglect this salvation is to commit a sin of infinitely greater magnitude.
Notice the verb is "neglect." It is not "aggressively reject" or "viciously attack." The warning is against simple carelessness, of letting this great salvation sit on a shelf collecting dust. It is the sin of the man who receives a wedding invitation from the king and decides to go fix his fence instead. It is an insult born of apathy. And what is it that is being neglected? "So great a salvation." Its greatness is measured by its source, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a salvation mediated by angels, but one "first spoken by the Lord." The Son, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, is the one who announced it. He is the fountainhead of this good news.
The writer and his audience were not firsthand witnesses of Jesus' earthly ministry. So he adds that this message "was confirmed to us by those who heard." This refers to the apostles, the eyewitnesses who heard Jesus teach, saw His miracles, and witnessed His resurrection. Their testimony provides a firm, historical anchor for the faith. This isn't a myth or a cleverly devised story. It is a confirmed report, passed down from those who were there.
Hebrews 2:4
God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
The confirmation of the message was not left to human testimony alone, reliable though it was. God Himself added His divine "amen" to the apostolic preaching. He bore witness alongside them. How? Through a fourfold display of supernatural power. "Signs and wonders and by various miracles" speaks to the public, objective, and powerful works that accompanied the preaching of the gospel in the early church. These were not parlor tricks; they were divine signposts pointing to the reality of the new covenant and the authority of its messengers. They were the credentials of the kingdom.
But the testimony was not just external. It was also internal and personal, through the "gifts of the Holy Spirit." This refers to the distribution of spiritual gifts among the believers, equipping the church for its life and mission. These gifts were not handed out based on human merit or desire, but "according to His own will." God sovereignly distributed these attestations of power as He saw fit. The entire enterprise, from the initial proclamation by the Son to the apostolic confirmation and the divine manifestations of power, was a work of God. To neglect such a comprehensively attested salvation is, therefore, the height of folly and an act of supreme spiritual treason.