I draw no definite conclusions as to who the author of the book of Hebrews is. My personal desire would make it Barnabas, but that has no basis in implication or demand of scripture. I strongly believe it wasn't Paul, but I don't feel the need to get into showing why I think it was not him. What is clear is that the book of Hebrews does not implicate any specific writer other than God and that is all that is necessary for me.
The primary purpose of the book of Hebrews is obvious, but it is one ignored or actively taught against by many denominations. The writer's intent is to show the superiority of Christ over Moses, of the New Testament over the Old. His audience is specifically Hebrews and primarily Hebrew Christians.
Hebrews 1:1[]
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
The first comparison that the writer of Hebrews makes is how God spoke to mankind. Since this letter is targeted at the Hebrew people, the Jewish folk, "the fathers" are the Jewish forefathers, but these would include a long list of people dating back before even Abraham as we will see in Hebrews 11. From Adam all the way through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob God spoke to the Patriarchs by specially chosen men of each generation. After Jacob, God spoke through Moses, then men like Joshua, Samson, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, and a host of others, prophets, messengers from God to God's people. These men were all types pointing toward the antitype.
This was done all for one purpose, to prepare the way from the coming of God's Son, the antitype of all these prophets.
Hebrews 1:2-3[]
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
God spoke to the people of the first century, the church, by the ultimate Prophet, the antitype of all those who had come before Him. As the antitype of the prophets, Christ is superior to them in every way. The writer lists these properties in brief and expounds upon them throughout the rest of the letter.
Christ is the heir of all things. []
As Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 after His resurrection, all authority had been given to Him in Heaven and in Earth. Whom is He heir of? God the Father, who had been King. See my article on the Kingdom of Heaven for a more in depth understanding of this.
Christ made the ages[]
In this context, it is tempting to some to argue that the use of the word "ages" here relates to the Jewish age versus the Christian age. However, I believe this is much broader than this because the immediate context must be understood before remote. In this opening portion of the letter, the writer is expounding on the properties of Jesus Christ. Much like what John does in his gospel account, the writer here is showing that Jesus is God, and part of that is that Jesus is Creator. In John 1:1 we have the comparison: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Then John goes on to write in verse 3: "All things were made by Him [the Word]; and without Him [the Word] was not any thing made that was made." By this we know that all of the material and temporal universe was made by and through God the Son, the Word.
As heir of all things, which will come into play throughout the letter, Jesus inherits authority over all of Heaven and the entirety of the physical and temporal universe. The reason the term "ages" is used here is because what Christ did worked both forward and backward in time in terms of its effect. All those who were obedient to the will of God looking forward to the coming of the Messiah were saved by the blood of Christ. All those who would come after who obeyed the gospel, would be saved by the blood of Christ. By His obedience to the Father, Christ became heir over all time, all ages, and every living soul in them. So much more could be said on this one phrase alone, but it suffices to say that this is not a reference merely to the Jewish vs. Christian ages, but Christ's dominion over all that He had made in the beginning. It's too broad, to much a part of His identity as Deity to be anything lesser.
Christ is in the brightness of the glory of God[]
One of the things that Christ prayed for in John 17:5 was: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." The context of this prayer relates to the beginning, again, and shows further that the previous property of Christ making the ages relates to literal Creation and no the metaphorical references to the Jewish state vs. the Christian age. When Jesus came to this world to be human, the Bible says in Philippians 2:7 that Jesus "emptied himself" or made himself of no reputation. This is not to say that Jesus was not still God, but as Phil. 2:8 says, Jesus emptied Himself by taking on the form of a servant. This isn't a lessening of His deity so much as it is a humbling of Himself to obedience (Heb. 5:8). The glory that Christ has, then, is the return to His proper place in Heaven no longer a servant, but King.
When Christ prayed to be glorified again, He was talking about taking up duties, authority, and actions that were His right, things He willingly laid aside to walk among us and show us how we ought to live.
Again, this isn't about nature, but its about action and obedience and authority. The next property is about nature.
Christ is the express image of His person[]
Here the writer lists the property of Christ as deity, the very nature of Christ as God, the elohim that Created the universe in Genesis 1. Note that the writer does not say that Jesus IS the person of God the Father. He says Jesus is "the express image of His person". It's in important distinction that only Jesus and the Holy Spirit carry. By "express" the writer means that Jesus is on par with God the Father in terms of nature. While Adam was created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:26-27), in that he was created a living spirit, he was not created in "the express image". Adam was not Deity. Jesus is Deity.
Christ is upholding all things by the word of His power[]
This also relates to the truth expressed in John 1:1-3 and Christ's part in Creation. Remember, all things were made by the Son (John 1:3) and according to Genesis 1, the universe was brought into being by God simply speaking them into existence. "And God said..." and it happened.
I teach my Physics classes that Physics is the study of everything related to the universe. I tell them that the word "universe" literally means "a single spoken sentence". Who then is the speaker and what happens if they stop speaking? The answer is of course God. Here we see that Christ is still upholding or sustaining the created universe. He has not stopped speaking yet. The entire literal Creation is still within His control.
Christ purged our sins[]
One property particular to Jesus alone is that He died for all mankind, that His death cleansed the sins of all who had obeyed before His death and all who obey after. The writer covers this in great detail later in the letter.
Christ sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high[]
This is a very important property, the authority/Kingship of Christ. It is also expounded upon later, but it is sufficient here to note it as a property of Jesus Christ. He is King, sitting at the right hand of God at the time the book of Hebrews was written. This is BEFORE the fall of Jerusalem. That means that certain doctrines taught by the full preterists are going to fail on this point. Please note it here as we will come back to it in later chapters as we address what was written and what was not.
Hebrews 1:4-7[]
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
One difference that I take with the book of Hebrews from "most scholars" is with the word "angel". The word angel is a loose transliteration of the Greek word aggelos. It is simply translated 'messenger'. It is my belief that the reference to messengers here harkens back to those prophets of verse 1, human men of renown, of great reputation in the Hebrew mind. We'll see these men in Hebrews 11. I do not see evidence in the book of Hebrews that demands that these messengers must be celestial angels like Gabriel or anything more than human.
In that vein, then, Jesus was exalted above these prophets, these messengers of old when He and He alone of all the prophets and messengers of God, was made King and heir of all things. Did God say to Moses "you are my Son, this day have I begotten you"? Did God tell Elisha "I will be to you a Father and you will be to me a Son" in the sense of Deity? No. Instead, God said "let all the messengers of God worship Christ". These earthly messengers pointed to Christ, did not necessarily understand Christ fully, but now they do. All messengers that would come after, Peter, Paul, even you and I, worship Christ.
Furthermore, only God is worthy of worship. Any religion therefore who says that Jesus Christ is not God makes Him out to be a false God and contradicts not only John 1, but passages such as this which imply that Jesus is God by saying that God the Father commanded all messengers to worship Christ. Any 'messenger' or 'prophet' therefore who says Jesus is not God is a false prophet.
Verse 7 is a quote from Psalm 104:4 which is in the context of a psalm of David glorifying God as Creator. There is nothing specific in this context that demands these messengers be celestial angels like Gabriel. The idea of "spirits" is that of the wind and is sometimes used as a metaphor for speaking, breath, and doctrine (John 3:8; 6:63) and ministers as flaming fire speaks of those prophets of old who brought down judgment against evil doers (e.g. Elijah vs. the 400 prophets of Baal - 1 Kings 18). So again there is the consistent comparison between Christ and the prophets of old.
Hebrews 1:8[]
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Here, Jesus is explicitly called "God" so again we say to those who reject Jesus as God, is He a false God or the one, true and living God?
As God, Jesus will reign for all time, abdicating His throne only when the end of time itself has come (1 Cor. 15:24).
Hebrews 1:9[]
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
In comparison to these angels (messengers), the writer says that Jesus has been anointed "above they fellows". At what time and in what manner could Jesus have ever been considered "fellow" or equal to the celestial angels? No, these angels are fellow messengers, fellow prophets of God who Jesus is the antitype of. Because of Jesus obedience to the cross (loved righteousness), for taking on the sins of the world (hated iniquity), God the Father has made Jesus King and superior to all the prophets of the Old Testament.
Hebrews 1:10-12[]
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
God continues speaking to Jesus by saying "in the beginning", a direct reference to Genesis 1:1. This is about the literal Creation of the universe contextually speaking. God states that Creation will be destroyed, but Jesus is eternal (thus again ascribing to Him Deity).
One major context clue that this is about the literal Creation is that here it is said that the universe will wax old (future tense). In Hebrews 8:13, talking about the Jewish system, it is said to be decaying and waxing old in the present tense. So the context is different later on, two different things are in question, even though similar words are used.
As the universe ages, wears out, as entropy happens, the temporal things will fail and will be folded up, exchanged for something different (eternity). But Christ will not fail nor wax old or wear out or be subjec to entropy. We'll see more of this comparison later between Christ and Moses, but the point being that Christ is King for all time, High Priest for all time, and there is no changing of the person in that position nor a future change in that position so long as time remains.
Hebrews 1:13-14[]
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Our final verses in the chapter once again compare Christ to the messengers, this time to future messengers. To none of those messengers past (verse 1) present in the time of the writing of the letter or future (e.g. 2015 AD) did God say be King until I make your enemies your footstool (a metaphor for subjugation, conquering, and humiliation of the enemy). The ministering spirits, the messengers were the apostles and prophets, preachers and teachers (1 Cor. 12:28; Romans 10:10-18) are those who bring the gospel to all who would obey it.
In Truth and Love.
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Hebrews 1
Hebrews 2
Hebrews 3
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 7
Hebrews 8
Hebrews 9
Hebrews 10
Hebrews 11
Hebrews 12
Hebrews 13