Hebrews 2:1

The First Warning - We Must Take Heed To What God Has Said For God’s Salvation Is What Is Involved And Especially As We Have Learned It On The Greatest Possible Authority, That Of The Son Himself (Hebrews 2:1-4 ).

‘Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest it be that we drift away.’

Therefore, because the things that we have heard have come to us, not on the authority of angels, but on the authority of the Son, we must (it is necessary to) take the more earnest heed to them, for otherwise the danger is that we may drift away from them, like a boat loses anchor and drifts from its moorings, or like a pilot misses His way through neglect and takes his charge away from the harbour, and thus by carelessness lose sight of them. That would indeed be a great loss when we consider the importance of the One who brought them.

Note that he speaks of ‘we’. He includes himself along with them because he wants to be identified with them and wants them to feel included within the whole church of Christ. He does not want them to feel that they have been selected out as especially weak.

‘Give the more earnest heed’ contrasts with ‘neglect’ (Hebrews 2:3). We cannot just mark time in the things of God. We either go on growing by giving determined consideration to the truths that we have heard, and to our response to them, or we begin to drift away because of neglect, for the tide is certainly against us. There is no standing still. We must go on. This is a theme of the letter (e.g. Hebrews 6:1). Note the strength of the phrase, ‘the more earnest’. It requires effort and dedication.

‘The things that were heard.’ The message of Christ and His Gospel in all its fullness. It is not enough just to believe one or two simple facts. We must enter ever more deeply into its truths, for they keep us close to Christ, and it is He and His promises Which are our anchor and prevent us from drifting (compare Hebrews 6:19).