8 But regarding the Son He says,
“YOUR THRONE, GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
Psalm 45:6-7
AND THE SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
9 YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
WITH THE OIL OF JOY ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”
10 And,
“YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH,
Psalm 102:25-27
AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;
11 THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN;
AND THEY ALL WILL WEAR OUT LIKE A GARMENT,
12 AND LIKE A ROBE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP;
LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED.
BUT YOU ARE THE SAME,
AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END.”
The most important conclusion you should draw from this passage is that God called THIS SON “God” and “LORD”. That is the first and foremost point the writer of Hebrews wants us to get from what he has written.
God said to THIS one and only unique SON, Your throne God is forever and ever . . . therefore God, Your God, has anointed You . . . above Your Companions., You Lord laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens; they will perish but You remain; . . . they will change . . . but You stay the same, and Yours years will not come to an end. [IVV)
Hebrews 1:8-12
There I have given you the summary of what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews is saying. Syntactically and logically, these verses are linked back to 1:5. For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: This could be expressed as a rhetorical question:
“Has God ever called any angel His Son?
- Answer: Never did God say any such thing to any angel!
- Has God ever called any angel God?
- Answer: Never has God called any angel God!
- Has God ever called any angel LORD?
- Answer: Never has God called any angel LORD!
This shows categorically and unequivocally that THIS SON Jesus is far above the angels. He and He alone bears the name Son, God and LORD. The words God and LORD are without a doubt expressed in the vocative case, used when we address a person by that name or title. “O King . . . O Jesus . . . O God . . . O LORD GOD . . . O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY have mercy on me a sinner.” The writer has chosen these two Psalms for that very reason. They are psalms or songs where the Son is addressed as God! That is his point.
But there is more; much more.
BUT
is strongly adversative. The sense is these following statements contrast with the angels being messengers or spirits; like wind or fire. BUT This Son is God Himself. When God spoke to us in these last days in This Son – He broke the mould, blew the ceiling off, left far behind the spasmodic, occasional communication with mankind through intermediaries He had used in the past. Now He speaks up close and personal through a SON, THIS SON, THE SON.
RIGHTEOUS
Is the reference to Righteous Sceptre important? You bet it is! You won’t get into His Kingdom without His Righteousness. Learn to put together the Scriptures as they were intended.
But God shows [present tense] his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
Romans 1:18
But now, apart from the Law, God’s righteousness has been revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets. God’s righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah—for all who believe. . .
Romans 3:21-22
ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS
[metochos] “companions”, “peers”, “partners”. Who are Christ’s companions or peers?Men / People / Disciples – sons of God of Whom He is the first in one limited sense.
Kings – He is more exalted than all other kings throughout all of history. Jesus, King of the Jews.
So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
Luke 23:3
Pilate said, “So you are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. . .
John 18:37-38
Angels – Are the angels Christ’s companions? Well that is the moot point isn’t it? That is what the writer was discussing!
Take note that the companions of Jesus are open ended. There is no limitation to the sphere of being or class of ministers (viz “ministering spirits”) who could be put forth as suggestions for Christ’s companions. Whatever your suggestion, Jesus is above and beyond, in a class of His own. As the writer of the letter has already told us – “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.” (Heb 1:3)
IN THE BEGINNING
‘You laid out the foundations of the heavens and the earth.’ Through the Son, God created the universe – that is what we are told in Hebrews 1:3. “The earth and the heavens are the works of your hands”. In what way is that true? I thought God made the heaven and the earth by speaking them and everything else into being. In what way did THIS SON make them with His hands? What is being said here? I suspect it is poetic way of saying THIS SON was intimately involved in the process. It was His hands on project. After all we are dealing with the genre of poetry here. And with those hands He brought Adam close and breathed life, breath, spirit into Him. The angels were spectators at creation; they were not used as agents of wind or fire in the creative act.
Yet this Son is none other than the immutable creator of the universe. He was there at the beginning as God and laid out the foundations of all there is. Don’t miss the contrast in this. In the same way the writer is contrasting pointedly the Son with the angels. He is also contrasting that which was created in the beginning – the heavens and the earth, that which was created which we might regard as unchanging. That it will always exist unchanged with the one who made it. That is why I used the word immutable in the first sentence of this paragraph. The Son / God is immutable; the creation, that which He created is not. The writer of the letter tells us clearly the heavens and the earth will perish [apollumi] :- “be lost”, “pass away”, “be ruined”, “perish”. The creation is in contrast to the Creator / Son who is described as [diamenō] remaining, continuing on unchanged. What a contrast.
But there is more! The writer draws another word picture by describing all of what was created in the beginning as being like a garment.
LIKE A GARMENT
holds the image of clothing that must be changed. It is not in place as a mantle forever. It is changed because it gets dirty and needs to be washed. It is changed because it wears out and needs replacing. It is changed because fashion changes. Garments by their very nature depict the idea of change; “changing your clothes”. Two general words for garments are used in verse 12. [peribolaion] is the word for mantle of outer cloak which wraps around everything else and [himation] a general word for outer garments of any sort, not including the [chiton] or the undergarments. These are described as being rolled up or folded up and put away as old and no longer used. Garments are used in three repeated word pictures to highlight their transitory nature and the fact that they will be replaced, altered, modified and changed.
BUT YOU
Not so the Son. You are the same. You remain unchanged. Your years will not come to an end. This is all to say that Jesus, the Son, is unchanging, immutable to use that old English word. These words have to bring Hebrews 13:8 to mind. Did that verse come into your mind? Do you see this will be a continuing theme of the letter?
Allow me to draw your attention to one more feature related to the ‘But You’ statements. You will roll them up or fold them up. Now the Son is actively depicted as rolling up the garments or folding up the garments and putting them away. What garments? What mantle? Only the mantle of the heavens and the earth. That is what is being discussed in verses 10 to 12. The poetic language is heavily anthropomorphic, The Son, God, is being seen as a man doing things with his hands, even to the point of rolling or folding up the heavens and the earth. Wow this Son surely is in a class of His own.
There are other points to note and ponder for yourself. I haven’t covered everything I could, nor have I pulled this section apart word for word. If you want some more points to consider. Look into:
SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS / SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM – why scepter and why – of righteousness and – of His kingdom?
LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS / HATED LAWLESSNESS – these are active aorist indicative verbs referring to a particular event in the past.
ANOINTED WITH OIL / OIL OF JOY when? why?
If you come up with some things you want to discuss let me know. Let’s talk about it. Email me.
Many have said to me over the years: “The Bible doesn’t say clearly that Jesus is God; Christ didn’t clearly claim to be God.” I think you would be surprised how many times it is made abundantly clear!
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
The Bible is like the ocean. The ocean is so deep in places that no person, however capable a swimmer, could survive its extremities. But when the ocean touches the land, the water is so shallow and the waves lapping the beach are so gentle that even a toddler can safely play there. The Bible can be intimidating and yet approachable at the same time.
Deron Spoo
The untrackable, unfathomable vastness of the universe is a parable of the vastness of the riches of God and the depth of His Word. The balance and symmetry between the micro and the macro is astounding.
Ian
The Infinite squeezed Himself down to the size of an infant.
Deron Spoo