ABOVE THY FELLOWS
The Lord made man for dominion. Psa 8:6 KJV Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: Gen 1:26 KJV And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. He lost the authority when he sold the lease on earth to Satan. But when Jesus came He gave mankind the lost dominion.
ABOVE THY FELLOWS
Heb 1:8-9 KJV 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. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
The text we read is a place where the writer of the book of Hebrew was talking about the superiority of the Lord Jesus to that of angels.
God was speaking about the Lord Jesus and one of the attributes of the Lord Jesus was that He loved righteousness and hated iniquity. And because of that God anointed Him with oil of gladness above His fellows.
The Greek word for “fellows” is “metochos” and it means partakers, sharers or associates. Who were the associates of the Lord Jesus? Some school of thought says they were angels or kings. This is because they said it was only the Lord Jesus that was anointed as king, priest and prophet which was unique because there is no other person that has all the three titles to himself. At most they can have two but Christ had all.
However, the place is not referring to angels because there is no form of comparison between the Lord and angels. He created them Col 1:16. They are created being but He was God’s Son, begotten of God and not created like angels Heb 1: 5.
The word properly expresses “those who partake together;” brethren,—joint-heirs, companions. See ch. Heb 2:11, &c. Rom 8:17.
This place is talking about saints who are called brethren in Heb 2: 12-18. And because the Lord loved righteousness and hated iniquity which is lawlessness or violation of the law, He was exalted above His fellows. We are His fellows. He is exalted above us.
What is righteousness and iniquity in this context?
1Jn 3:7 KJV Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.(1Jn 2: 29)
“Righteousness” here, and in the passages having marginal references to this, means the righteous life which is the result of salvation through Christ. The righteous man under law became righteous by doing righteously; under grace he does righteously because he has been made righteous (Rom 3:22).
There is righteousness by faith, that is when we become born again we are justified by faith in Christ. Rom 10:3; 2Cor 5: 21
But the righteousness here is the type that comes as a result of our salvation now. It is our doing and this is what evidence us being the child of God. 1Jn 3:3 says he that has this hope in himself purifies himself even as he is pure.
Not his doing makes him righteous, but his being righteous (justified by the righteousness of God in Christ, Rom 10:3-10) makes him to do righteousness: an inversion common in familiar language, logical in reality, though not in form, as in Luk 7:47; John 8:47 (refs2). Works do not justify, but the justified man works. We infer from his doing righteousness that he is already righteous (that is, has the true and only principle of doing righteousness, namely, faith), and is therefore born of God (1Jo 3:9)
Sin and Iniquity
Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil (Psalm 51:1); (Luk 15:29);
iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; (Psalm 51:9); (Rom 3:23); missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority (Eph 2:1); lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy (1Ti 1:9); unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity (John 16:9).
Sin originated with Satan (Isa 14:12-14); entered the world through Adam (Rom 5:12); was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; (Rom 3:23); (1Pe 2:22); incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; (Gen 2:17); (Gen 3:19); (Eze 18:4); (Eze 18:20); (Rom 6:23) and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; (Heb 9:26); (Act 4:12) availed of by faith (Act 13:38); (Act 13:39).
Sin may be summarized as threefold:
An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God;
A state, absence of righteousness;
A nature, enmity toward God
he didn’t say because you are righteous but because you love righteousness. Two different things entirely. Someone may be righteous and be involved in the work of unrighteousness. He is talking of someone who is righteous by faith and at the same time works righteously.
The good news is that we have an advocate with the father 1Jn 2: 1and if we confess and forsake them, His blood will cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1Jn 1: 9.
What is a fellow?
Fellow (plural fellows) is an (obsolete) colleague or partner. (archaic) A companion; a comrade. An equal in power, rank, character, etc. It could also mean one of a pair, or of two things used together or suited to each other; a mate.
There are fellows everywhere, in the family we are all fellow members of that family. The same applies to students, teachers, government workers, carpenters and masons. So people in the same trade, vocation or profession are fellows.
The passage says that Jesus was exalted above His associates and fellows.
Fellows are peers, competitors, contemporaries, townsmen, folks
If we too love righteousness and hate iniquity we can be exalted above them. We don’t have to be in the same sinking boat with them. We don’t have to suffer common affliction with people. Most of the time people in the same family, profession or trade suffer the same evil or curses. But it is possible to be above such.
Case studies:
Joseph:
Gen 37:7 KJV For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Joseph had a dream where all the other people sheaf made obeisance to him
when he was sold into slavery and was in his master’s place he was placed above all the staff he met there.
Gen 39:4 KJV And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
When he was incacerated in the prison, the same anointing was on him and made him to be in charge.
Gen 39:22 KJV And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
LEVITES
Even a whole tribe were chosen instead of the whole nation
Num 3:45 KJV Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.
Bezaleel and Aholiab
When Moses received the instruction to build the tabernacle of worship according to the pattern shown unto him, he had no idea of how to go about it but God picked out two men and set them above their compatriots.
Exo 31:1-3 KJV 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship : God chose Bezaleel and Aholiab to be the “general contractors” for this building project. He equipped them with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit to do the work
Bezaleel and Aholiab, Exo 31:5 are particularly chosen (which is the meaning of the phrase calling by name, Isa 45:3.) as the principal artists, the chief directors and overseers of the work and the workmen who were under them.
Exo 35:30-35 KJV 30 And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; 32 And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 33 And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. 34 And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
ASAPH
Heman-Asaph-Ethan] These were the three chief musicians in the time of David; see 1Chr 15:1; 1Chr 6:31
1Ch 15:16-17 KJV 16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
But David set Asaph above all of them:
1Ch 16:4-5 KJV 4 And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;
JABESH
Many people always talk about the bad aspect of Jabesh story but see what the Bible recorded about him:
1Ch 4:9 KJV And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
The word “more honourable” is “kaw-bad’ and it means: to be rich, be honourable, be glorious.
It was the same anointing that picked Esther among other queens contesting for the royalty. Esther was not the most beautiful in fact she was a slave girl but when the time to appear before the king came, this is what the Bible says about Esther:
Est 2:17 KJV And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
She was chosen above much more qualified and beautiful ladies.
DANIEL
Daniel was set above his colleague even as a slave
Dan 1:19-20 KJV 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
After he interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, he was set above his fellows:
Dan 2:48 KJV Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
In the time of Darius, Daniel was elevated again:
Dan 6:1-3 KJV 1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; 2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. 3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
They had 120 princes, 3 presidents but Daniel was just one of the presidents but he was exalted and preferred above all of them.The word “preferred” means to be well favoured. And the reason was that an excellent spirit was upon him. That is the anointing!
Here is what the queen mother said about Daniel as been the master, captain or lord of all magicians:
Dan 5:11 KJV There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
DAVID
1Ch 28:4 KJV Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:
The word “above” is “para” and it means from, of at, by, besides, near, beyond.
Joh 3:31 KJV He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
The first word “above” in Greek is “anothen” and it means: from above, from a higher place, of things which come from heaven or God, from the first, from the beginning, from the very first anew, over again. While the second word for above is “epano” and it means: above, of place of number: more than.
The Oil of gladness talks about the Holy Ghost.
The anointing separates you and puts you above your equals.
It distinguishes you out among other people.
It catapults you far ahead of them.
He that is from above is above all John 3: 31
The anointing is the power of the Holy Ghost, He separates boys from men. The power distinguished you out, makes you the choice, the well favoured
When others are not promoted you will be promoted because the anointing will qualifies you
Deu 28:13 KJV And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
The head and above only are the positions that belong to us.
God gave those people wisdom but we under the new covenant, We have wisdom personified in the person of Jesus dwelling in us.
Eph 1:8 KJV Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
All we need to do is to declare that we have it. The wisdom is functioning in me. I am full of wisdom and prudence. I have the wisdom of God in me.
James in Jam 1:5-6 said if any lack wisdom he should ask God that give, this is because he was talking to babes in Christianity. Here is what Paul says:
1Co 2:7 KJV But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
The good news is that we all have been chosen in Christ even before the foundation of the world, but the knowledge you read in this article will release the anointing that will set you above your competitors, contemporaries, companions, fellows and sharers Prov 11: 9.
Eph 1:4 KJV According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Salvation prayer
The greatest need of mankind is a relationship with their maker. There is a vacuum in every man that only God can fill. Material possession, financial breakthrough and good health cannot be compared with the joy of being saved. This is what Jesus came to do about two thousand years ago, to reconcile mankind with God. That is the objective of salvation Jn 3:16 but sin has separated between us and our God so He has to pay for our sin by dying on the cross. All the wrath and judgement of God concerning sin were placed on Him, He became what we are so we could become what He is 2Cor 5:19-21. By bearing our sin, God’s judgement over sin is atoned for, God will not punish us for the same offence He has punished His own Son for. When we believe this good news and confess Jesus as our Lord, we become born again 2cor 5:17. Now we are sons of God. How do you receive the gift of salvation? By believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved Rom 10:9-10. I believe you are ready, please say this prayer with me:
“Father I come to you, I am sorry for my sins, forgive me. I believe Jesus died for my sin and was raised for my justification. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I am saved, I am born again. Thank you Jesus for saving me.”
Praise God, if you mean that prayer from your heart, I believe you are born again and have become partakers of divine nature.
What next?
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About the author
Felix Abodunde is a teacher of the word of God with the desire to preach and teach the undiluted word of grace; and God is always faithful, giving testimony to the word of his grace by enabling signs and wonders to be done. He has been privileged to minister as guest minister in several churches and conferences.
He is a Christian motivational and inspirational speaker who also organizes seminars, symposiums and conferences in order to educate Christians. He is equally involved in community development for training youths in vocational skills.
Felix graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife where he obtained his first degree in Geology. He proceeded to University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria for the second degree in Environmental Geology. He is presently a consultant Wellsite Geologist. He is married and the marriage is blessed with three children.
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www.felixabodundeoutreach.org is an Internet based evangelistic outreach committed to teaching and ministering the full Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through free distributions of e-books, published books, newsletter, tracts, CDs, audio and video podcasts. Services also include Internet radio and TV broadcast. The outreach organizes seminars, conferences and gospel meetings. We minister to orphanage homes, support widows and other less privileged people in the society. In our meetings, full gospel messages are preached and taught, the sick are healed, broken hearted are comforted and the possessed are delivered. It is not a church or a ministry but an outlet using Internet and social media platforms to reach the unreached, minister the Word and teach the believers the New Creation realities in Christ.
REFERENCES
- Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Clarke Adams Commentary
- Chuck Smith Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Jamiesson, Fausset and Brown Commentary
- John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
- Robertson Word Picture in the new Testament
- Scofield reference Notes 1917 Edition
- Vincent Word Studies in the New Testament
- BDB Hebrew Thayer Greek Lexicon
- Thayer’s Greek Lexicon
- Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary
- English Dictionary
- King James Version of the Bible