The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 39

infinite affection for righteousness, and the perfect righteousness of his character, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and bated iniquity;" "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness." 3. lt is perpetual because it is perfectly righteous. " 'l'hy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever." His reign is eternal because it is equitable. "The throne is established by righteousness." Earthly " Empires wane and wax, Axe founded, flourish, and deooy." Ilut "of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end," etc. (Isa. ix. 7). " He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." IV. THE JOY OF TlIE ANGELS IS MUCH INFERIOR TO THAT OF THE SoN. "There- fore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.'' Notice: 1. The nature of this anointing. "Anointed thee with the oil of gladness." This anointing does not indicate the inauguration of our Lord to his mediatorial office. 'l'he figure is taken from the custom of anointing the head of the guests at fustivals (Ps. xxiii. 5), and is intended to set forth the supreme joy of the Son upon the com- pletion of his redemptive work, and bis exaltation to "the right band of the Majesty on high." 2. The reason of this anointing. "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, bath anointed thee." Decause of the perfec- tion of his character, and of his life and work upon earth, tho Father has blessed him with supreme joy. 3. The extent of this anointing. "Above thy fellows," or associates. Since the design of the writer is to exhibit the superiority of the Son "to the angels, we must, I think, take µProxovs as representing other heavenly beings, partakers in the same glorious and sinless state with himself, though not in the strict sense his • fellows.'" 1 His joy is deeper, higher, greater, intenser than that of any angel. Behold, then, bow much greater is the Son than the angels in all the points which have come under our notice !-W. J. Vers. 10-12.-The Son and the universe. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning bast laid the foundation,'' etc. The main subject of the writer is still the same-the superiority of the Son to the angels; and be here adduces further proofs of bis superiority by setting forth the relations of the Son to the universe, in words which he quotes from Ps. cii. 25-27. I. THE SoN IB THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy bands." Notice here : 1. His existence before the universe. In the beginning he laid the foundation of the earth. When was that? Six thousand years ago? Nay, millions of years ago. The expression takes us "back to the fathomless abyss of ages of ages.'' Yet Jhe existence of the Son takes us back beyond that, to us, incomprehensibly remote pe~1od. As the artist must have existed before the picture which be painted, and the architect before the edifice which be designed, so the Son existed before the universe which he made. •• His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 2 His agency in the creation of the universe. He " laid the foundation of the earth," etc. The heavens and the earth have not always existed; they had a beginning. They were not self- originated, but were made by Another. In the strict sense of the word, they were created by our Lord. He did not merely arrange or form the heavens and the earth out of pre-existent materials; he created them. He "laid the foundation." lfo began at the beginning, etc. II. HE PRESIDES OVER THE CHANGES OF THE UNIVERSE. " They all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.'' Changes are ever going on in the universe. Spring with its fresh and you_thful beauty passes into the glowing and gorgeous summer, etc. '!'berc are. changes m the ea_rLh and in the seas. Even the mountains, which seem so stable and immutable, are subject to change. Suns and stars also are mutable. 'l'he heavens and the earth are growing old; they have had their iofancy and youth, etc. 'l'hese changes are not effocted b_y bliu<l, uuintelli"ent 0 forces or laws. 'l'hc Son of God superintends all of them. He 19 the Framer of all the Jaws of Nature, and tho Force of all her forces. He is the 1 See Alforu.•~ note in Eupport of this interpretation, 011, I, 1-14,) T□E EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 29