1:1
Verses 1-4 form a single sentence in Greek. “our ancestors” implies that the letter was sent to Jewish Christians and what the writer is doing is seeking to show how Christ is the fulfilment of all that had gone before. There is an acknowledgement that God has spoken to the nation Israel in the past, there is no denial of the Old Testament. There have always been some who see the New Testament as being in contradiction to the Old, any view based on this premise is inevitably mistaken. God spoke through the prophets at many times and in various ways. When the Bible speaks of prophets it does not limit itself to people like Elijah or Isaiah, but includes the likes of Moses and David. God had spoken in various ways. He spoke audibly on some occasions, He spoke through His intervention in history, He spoke through the utterances of the prophets.
1:2
But now something radically different had happened. In “these last days”. This is in contrast to the long time period and many ways in which God had spoken in the past. Before He had spoken through the prophets, ie through people who were His instruments. Now He has spoken through His Son. This is a direct personal revelation. “He has spoken to us”, the word is personal and directed to us. Jesus is the heir of all things, and the creator of all things. He is radically different from all the prophets. So right at the start we have a high Christology, and this and the next verse are reminiscent of Colossians 1:15-23. Notice how great Christ is, and how it is all related back to God. God appointed the Son heir of all, and God created through the Son. As Jesus said in John 5:19 He only does what He sees the Father doing.
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