Hebrews Chapter One, King Of The Nations

 

Hebrews 1:8 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. [9] You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

 

The author contrasts what is said about the angels to what is said about Jesus. In verse 7 we learn #1: the angels are created (Who makes His angels). #2: they possess no physical body that is native to them (spirits). #3: angels serve as ministers like ambassadors or soldiers in God’s host (His ministers). #4: The Greek for “flame of fire” is “phlox,” which comes from the word “phlego,” and means, “to shine, flash, a blaze.” The angels are given power from God to carry out God’s judgment upon evil (a flame of fire.)

Conversely, the first attribution the writer of Hebrews gives the Son is this: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” This OT citation is impossible to Scripture twist in an effort to remove the Son as the object of this passage since it is prefaced by the inference that we are still considering all of this from God the Father’s view, Hebrews 1:1. God spoke through the prophets. God then spoke to us in His Son. He appointed His Son heir of all things. He made the universe and all invisible powers through His Son. His Son reflects and embodies His every attribute and trait. His Son upholds the created order by His power, and purged our sin by Himself, sitting at the Father’s right hand. The Son inherited a greater name than angels through these things, having become through His perfect humanity greater than the angelic order.

 

Verse 5 asks, to which of the angels did He offer the promises made only to His Son? It is still the Father speaking, since verse 5 speaks about Him begetting the Son. Verse 6 also talks about God bringing the firstborn into the world and the worship due Him. Verse 7 then has God the Father telling us what He said regarding the nature of angels. Now, on verse 8, the Father relates what He said regarding the nature of the Son. Once more, God the Father says of the Son, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”

 

We may quickly infer these three things. #1: Christ is a King; He possesses a throne, ergo He has a kingdom. #2: Christ is God. This reference comes from Psalm 45:6, 7, where the Hebrew word Elohim is used. Typically meaning “gods, plural,” it is also uniquely used of the triune God of Israel, or any person of the Trinity. The author’s Christology is both nuanced and extremely blunt. Christ is God, the God of the Old Testament manifest in the flesh. #3: His throne, or kingdom, is eternal. There is no beginning or ending for Christ’s dominion. We may reasonably infer then that if His kingdom is without end (Your throne…is forever and ever) then the King that sits upon it is equally eternal. Jesus, as the Word of God, co-existed from eternity past with the Father and the Holy Spirit. That is why the Lord can say that He gives eternal life to those that believe on Him. It is because that eternal life is the only quality of life our Lord possesses. When we through faith receive Him as Savior we partake of His endless life, and in that respect are made like Him, re-created (or reborn) to dwell eternally with Him, by the word of His power.

 

Referring back to Psalm 45, the source of this passage, we learn about a Coming One, blessed by God, a Mighty One girt with a sword for war, riding in majesty, verses 2-5. The character and identity of this great warrior is described in verses 6-8. Verses 9-15 mention the bride of the Lord (see Psalm 45:11 especially), that He will desire her beauty and that she in turn, as her Lord or Master, should worship Him. This is clearly a reference to Israel, possibly the nation in the wake of their deliverance from the terror of the Antichrist’s reign. All people will acknowledge and praise this warrior, and He will appoint princes, or rulers beneath Him, since He is a King, verse 6. The Psalm is one the Messianic songs of Israel, anticipating Jesus’ advent. However the sons of Korah, who entitled the Psalm “a song of love,” saw the Second Coming of Christ in glory. The indisputable focus or subject of both the Psalm and this quote in Hebrews is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. It is this same Jesus that the writer attests is God in simple, unambiguous language.

 

Continuing in the verse we see the scepter, the symbol of royalty, as in the time of Esther. Apparently King Ahasuerus possessed a golden scepter which he kept at his throne, or inner court, and if anyone came in to him without being summoned, should he extend the scepter they would live, Esther 4:11. Another portion of the ceremony on which this display stood was approaching once the king extended mercy to lay ones hand on the scepter, accepting the king’s judgment, Esther 5:2. The concept of the king’s scepter as an implement of rule antedates Ahasuerus and the Medo-Persian empire. Looking back to Jacob’s final benediction to his sons, we read what the patriarch said to Judah. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people,” Genesis 49:10. Judah’s tribe was chosen to rule; from Judah the line of kings would come, save for Saul who hailed from Benjamin, and discounting apostate northern Israel (Samaria) after the revolt in Rehoboam’s reign.

 

The scepter (kingship) coincides naturally with the lawgiver. He dispenses and enforces what is right. It shall be so until Shiloh comes, and to Shiloh will be the obedience of the people. Shiloh in this passage is not a reference to a place; the male pronoun “Him” is used for the NIV, NASB and HCSB. An individual referred cryptically to as “Shiloh” is the true Lawgiver and Ruler. To Him, who springs out of the lineage of Judah, shall be the obedience of the people. The finale of this verse in Genesis is worded quite effectively in other translations. The HCSB states, “until He whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him.” The NIV renders it, “until he to whom it (the scepter) belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” The emphasis here is on the fact that the scepter belongs specifically to Shiloh, as does the obedience of, not just the Jewish nation (because at that moment there was none) but the peoples, or nations.