As you are probably aware, Hebrews is dedicated to showing the supremacy of Jesus Christ over every being and institution except the Father. The previous chapter establishes Christ's role as the Son of the Highest, and thus a divine Messenger who is superior to all the prophets and all the angels. So, the author begins by reminding the audience of the overwhelming significance of this Messenger, and thus, His message. That's what leads up to this therefore statement in verse 1.
In other words, because of the overarching significance of Jesus Christ and His gospel message, the author says we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so we don't drift away from it. Here is an early hint that the pressure at the end of an age can lead to drifting, which is something for us to watch out for. As the intensity of the times increases, we can either use it to draw closer to God and grow stronger now, or we can drift, and end up spiritually out of shape and unprepared for when things really get tough.
Starting in verse 2, the author adds some weight to his admonition by using a contrast. The word spoken through angels is a reference to the covenant with Israel, in which angels played a key role (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; see Deuteronomy 33:2). He points out that God backed up fully everything that was delivered to Israel through these lesser messengers.
Then he takes it one step further and asks rhetorically that if the previous things were binding, how can we expect to escape fitting retribution if we neglect, as it says, so great a salvation. He identifies the salvation as first being announced by the Lord, meaning the gospel of the Kingdom. He goes on to say that this message was confirmed by those who heard Christ, and the Father Himself also bore witness to His Messenger and His message in various ways. In other words, if what was spoken to Israel was backed-up, and covenant-breaking was dealt with decisively, we dare not think that God will let us off the hook if we let this far greater opportunity slip out of our hands.
This passage about neglecting salvation teaches that salvation is not limited just to having our sins forgiven. This world's Christianity tends to view salvation quite narrowly, as relating only to Christ's blood paying for our sins in the past. When combined with the pestiferous belief in once saved, always saved, the general approach within much of Protestantism is that Jesus either has done or will do it all for us, so we just have to vaguely believe, claim the blood, and then live life pretty much as we want because His grace is so great.
Yet notice that God's word says salvation can be neglected or ignored, with the implication that doing so will have devastating consequences. That flies in the face of the idea of one's salvation being eternally secure. And there are even stronger and more direct warnings later in this book.
There is a significant event in Israel's history that the author may have had in mind, based on his rhetorical question about escaping. Please turn with me to Ezekiel 17. This is about King Mattaniah, who was renamed Zedekiah.
This is about when Nebuchadnezzar took the upper echelons of the kingdom of Judah into captivity in Babylon. However, God granted a sort of salvation to a remnant of Judah: They were allowed to remain in the land, and Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as the king. A covenant was made, and Zedekiah was put under oath, such that he and the kingdom had to remain subservient. It could not be lifted up.
But instead of gratitude for the salvation that allowed the nation to continue, Zedekiah broke the agreement by trying to throw off the yoke. He had made a pledge to get through the immediate crisis because he really didn't have any other option, but after that crisis had passed, he tried to do his own thing. It seems he could not accept that God had him and the nation right where He wanted them because of their spiritual condition. Even … . . .