Breathingbook

Greetings! Continuing with our study in Hebrews we come to Heb 1:10-12 which quotes Psa 102:25-27.

Heb 1:10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.

First things first! And… the very first thing we encounter in Heb 1:10-12 is the all important “And.”

Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands

And Remember how Heb 1:8,9 began with the phrase, “But unto the Son He saith?” That phrase meant the Father was saying Heb 1:8,9 to the Son (as a Holy Spirit given unction). The word “And” here is the Greek word “kai” (in the cumulative sense), so Heb 1:8,9 and Heb 10-12 must be looked at as carrying through a very close train of thought. Thus, Heb 1:10-12 is also said to the Son by the Father.

So, Heb 1:10-12 should be understood as reading:

(But unto the Son He saith), Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.

In this case, we also want to especially note the last thing mentioned in Heb 1:9, which is the Oil of Gladness.

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed Thee with the Oil of Gladness above Thy fellows.

Consider this excerpt from Psa 45 A Wedding For Jesus concerning the Oil of Gladness:

To be anointed with oil generally describes the process of pouring or placing olive oil upon the head of someone. After someone is said to be anointed with oil, then the power of the Holy Spirit is shown upon their lives (1 Sam 16:13). For example, of David it is written he killed tens of thousands with his fighting skills (1 Sam 18:7-8). One noteworthy effect of being anointed with oil is that whenever God caused it to happen, the recipient knew the promise of God was upon them and God would fulfill that promise in their life.

This sort of promise from God is very enabling. In the life of David, in continuance of much adversity, he continued by the grace of God to endure and overcome obstacles. David fought discrimination and ridicule as a young boy from his brothers (1 Sam 17:26-31 ), he faced a lion and bear by faith (1 Sam 17:34-37), he went to war (1 Sam 18:7-8) and was pursued for many years by King Saul (1 Sam 19:1) who wanted to kill him. Finally, David came into Kingship of Israel and continued to rule, despite ongoing conflicts. Through it all, the promise of God upon his life (beginning with the anointing Oil) encouraged him, for he knew God would continue to keep His promise to him.

This type of anointing was also upon Jesus Christ.

From the very beginning of Jesus’ life on earth, the promises of God to fulfill His Word to Jesus were replete. Thus, the Oil of Gladness is knowing God will fulfill His promises. That’s what brings every believer through any trial: that Jesus is Lord, God our Savior. He will never leave us, nor forsake us, and no matter what we do, He will forgive us. And those promises are to make all believers eternally glad and joyful. For more on the Oil of Gladness/Joy, please see my previous post on, What is the “Oil?”

In Jesus’ case, though He was not physically anointed with oil, He WAS thoroughly the Anointed One. He was also encouraged by the Oil of Gladness through God’s promises to and about Him, which have been and are being fulfilled even to this day! Through His life and resurrection, He actually became the Oil of Gladness/Joy for all who believe in Him.

You see, the Oil provides the Light that burns brightly through believers as we proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ, promises and all! And in times of darkness, this is how every believer shines the Light of God’s promises: we FOCUS on God’s promises, proclaim them, and in righteousness turn and praise the Lord, believing wholeheartedly that He is good (Mat 5:14-16; Lk 11:33-36; Jn 1:4-5; 8:12; 12:35-36)! For more on burning one’s lamp in our darkest hour see the Virgins: Ten Virgins post.

Which brings to the next line of study from Heb 1:10-12 (quoted from Psa 102:25-27).

Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands:

Now, most of Psa 102 is a lament of a man undergoing affliction. He pours out his prayer to the Lord and then breaks out praising God: first at Psa 102:12-22 and then continuing with Psa 102:24b-28. These, specifically, are the sections wherein the Holy Spirit overwhelmed the man and he began to prophesy, speaking words from God – “about” God.

Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth The “Lord” spoken of here is Jesus Christ. This is the Father saying that Jesus is the God (of the Godhead) who actually laid the foundation of the earth, just as He said, “Thy throne, O God is forever and ever” in Heb 1:8.

Zech 12:1 speaks of the LORD who laid the foundation of the earth also being the One who stretched forth the heavens and formed the spirit of man within him, making Jesus the LORD Jehovah (Gen 1:1; 2:7).

the heavens are the works of Thine hands In Eph 3:9 and Col 1:16 we are also told that Jesus created all things that are in heaven, earth, visible and invisible. Gen 1:1 and Jn 1:33 tell us all things were created by Jesus, and without Him NOTHING has been created.

Heb 1:11 They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

They shall perish; but Thou remainest This should be understood as saying that the foundations of the earth and the heavens will all one day be changed into a new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1), but Jesus Christ will never change (Heb 13:8; He is eternal 2 Sam 7:13; Heb 7:25). The next few lines reiterate this: the earth and heavens “all shall wax old… (like) a garment… (Thou) shalt fold them up… they shall be changed.” Jesus spoke of the heaven and earth passing away also in this manner in Mat 24:35, when He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.” He was basically saying, Heaven and earth will change, but My Words will never change.

they all shall wax old as doth a garment The Heavens and the earth will wear out similar to the way a garment is able to be worn many times until that garment is changed for another. The bible says in Rev 20:11; 21:1 that the earth and heaven simply pass away or vanish at the time of the great judgment (Rev 20:12-15). This does not mean they will be annihilated, but transformed (Rev 21:1).

In fact, the bible says the earth abides forever (Eccl 1:4; Psa 104:5).

Heb 1:12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.

as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed One might look at this like the way “clay” changes to “fine pottery” in the burning heat of a furnace or kiln (2 Pet 3:10-13). The first step is the clay is smashed, folded, and kneaded together. In the second step there is a reshaping by the potter, and afterwards it is placed in a hot, hot fire. In fact, the higher the quality of clay, the higher the fire must be.

Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). To say His “years shall not fail” is the same as saying they will never end. In other words, His life is eternal and will never cease.

Peace out!

Loris Anne James