When I tell my daughter to do something, sometimes she listens and sometimes she does not. And she bases that decision on whether she thinks my advice is credible or not - and that is based on if she thinks I am an expert on that subject. So if I tell her to check the air in her tires, she probably will ignore me. Because she knows I know nothing about cars, and therefore, I certainly do not know anything about car tires, right? As her mom, my advice is only relevant if she believes I am an expert - even if I tell her there are things I know even if I am not the expert. Even if I tell her I know what I am talking about. 

God’s “advice” came to the people in the Old Testament through prophets. And sometimes when the prophets spoke, they would doubt those words, even though the prophets would say they know what they are talking about. People would not always hold the words of the prophets to the same value as they would have if they had heard directly from God themselves because only God was the expert! 

God not only spoke through prophets but He also spoke through a burning bush, through angels, through visions, even through a basket of fruit (Amos 8:1-2)! And if they doubted prophets, they certainly would sometimes doubt it when words were spoken these other ways. Sometimes those words were adhered to, and sometimes they were not. 

Now when Jesus came to earth, things changed. When Jesus came to earth, this became the primary way God spoke to His people - through the words of Jesus. And the author of Hebrews wanted us to understand and believe that the words of Jesus hold the same value, the same strength, the same validity as hearing God’s words directly. When Jesus was speaking, God was speaking. 

The question we need to ask ourselves is, who do we consider the expert on how to live?  Do we hold the words of Jesus and the words in the Bible as the authority over our lives?  Or is Google, AI, our spouse, social media, our friends, etc the “expert” advice giver?

 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  Hebrews 1:1-3a