We get a sense of the audience by the opening, where the author refers to the prophets as “our fathers”. So by Hebrews we should be thinking Jewish Christians. This will make more and more sense as the letter progresses as one of the core points in here is how Jesus is superior to that which came before him, and the only group who particularly cares about that distinction are Jews. Note the point of the opening is making a case for the shift; God once spoke through the process, now he communicates to his people through Jesus. These arguments that will be made are arguments of both contrast but also continuance and fulfillment. God has always talked to His people, however the method has changed.
The communication aspect of this is interesting, because you have God speaking to the fathers by the prophets where the Hebrews (and us) receive communication through the Word (John 1), his Son, Jesus. The life of Jesus has the force of prophecy, He is the ultimate word from God, not just through what he says but what he does. God is communicating to His people through the example of Jesus as well as the words. He is the new law, the fulfilled identity, the heir of all things, the revelation of the Glory of God. (Holy cats, our calling is to follow and imitate the revelation of the Glory of God! Time to step up your game and put on some clean drawers, that’s a high calling).
Now enters the first foil: angels. We don’t have angel issues (we barely get the Holy Spirit, let alone getting caught up in the thoughts of the powers and influence of angels. Except that part in Jude when the archangel is tussling over Moses’ body, I still dig on that.) However, the persistence of the argument seems to imply that the Hebrews might be willing to think that perhaps Jesus is on par with them (or maybe was one? Seems possible given how much the author makes a case to persuade them from thinking so.) But he can’t be on par with the angels, because unlike them Jesus has “inherited” (is the imprint of) the very nature (name, essence) of God (because he is God!). The language here around Jesus is not without controversy as it leaves room for belief that he was created (inherited a name, imprint of God’s nature, later described as “firstborn”), all of this has a connotation of God acting upon Jesus vs. being around the whole time. But let’s let the letter breathe and see if that gets resolved. The trinitarian concept is a tough one, anyway, and I suppose it might have been even more difficult to get for Jewish Christians.
The argument continues. God did not call the angels “Son”, as in the quoted reference from Psalm 2 (read the whole Psalm, it’s certainly talking of a Messiah, not David’s earthly son, Solomon, who doesn’t consistently act in the way the Psalm describes this “son”.) “I will be to him a father…” is a quote from 2 Samuel 7. I struggle with this being applied to Jesus as 2 Samuel 7: 14 says [14] I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, (ESV). What’s with the iniquity? I’ve not found this resolved in a way I’m confident in yet so it remains a question as to how we should apply this to Jesus given the context of the original verse.
Even though the goal is to show how superior Jesus is to the angels, it’s not angels aren’t cool. They were created cool and glorious, but since Jesus the creator they are inherently reflecting more of Jesus’ awesomeness. And look at the rebuttal, the description attributed to the Son is directed to God (ok, we get that connection we were missing earlier). And then the next reference “You, Lord, laid the foundation…”is from Psalm 102, which reinforces the eternality of Jesus, His role in creation. These are big things the author is trying to communicate and it’s a bit of a heady argument, but it seems necessary if there is any doubt now that these folks are 30 years out of Jesus’ death and resurrection and likely facing persecution. They need the big picture to sustain their identities being fully committed and formed by Jesus instead of the remnants of the Jewish culture.
Ultimately, the angels are ministering spirits to those who have benefited from the work that Jesus has done. Without the work of Jesus (think both creation and securing of salvation), the work of the angels either doesn’t exist or means nothing. There’s a point to all this, and the author will start getting to it in chapter 2.