Jesus Reigns

Hebrews 1:8–9 ESV

8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Life is characterized by unexpected things. A few years back my father-in-law and I were installing a light and fan in our living room, for some reason when our house was built they didn’t think it was necessary to have a light in the living room. If you ever have done any remodeling you know there is always at least one unexpecting thing that will happen. But we had no issues installing the light and we even had made a hole in the wall for where Leanna wanted the light switch. The next day we had the whole day just to install the switch, so we were thinking at the worst-case scenario we will have at least a half-day to sit back and relax a little. But you know where this going. That didn’t happen, we only had to drop the wires from the ceiling, normally there is one maybe two, 2x4’s on the top of the wall. I’m not making this up, it is true, by the time we drilled through the fifth 2x4, I had burned two drills I had used all sorts of drill bit extensions and connections. After a day of drilling and borrowing tools from my neighbor, we were barely able to get through 2x4 number 10. In this endeavor, we experienced the feeling that we all often experience in dealing with unexpected things. We got frustrated and angry, thinking of things we could or should have done differently, then we switch to planning how we can fix the issue or the situation. In our case was just had to get through and get it done.

In all of our thinking and planning, we are acting like God is NOT in control. In these moments we are believing that we are in control and not Him. We can forget at that moment that whatever happened was not out of God’s control and under God’s plan. We can forget God’s sovereignty, He is in control. He is reigning.

This is at the heart of what this passage is telling us about Christ from v 8-13. The author is telling us that Christ is the Sovereign King, the one that never changes. He is the King. He is the creator and sustainer. He is in control even of those little or big things that we did not expect.

For the readers of the first century, some of those unexpected things were to deal with the worship of angels or the teaching that the OT was greater than the revelation of the new covenant. Then the author of Hebrews continues this comparison between Jesus and angels. Now in v 8-13, he makes the last references to the Old Testament in chapter 1 by pointing out that Jesus cannot be compared to angels, rather Jesus is far greater in every aspect, ultimately Jesus is God.

Another unexpected thing was that I was planning to look at all 6 verses today. However, we will look only at two verses instead, because there is a very important lesson that we need to be reminded of from these two verses. That is: Jesus is eternally and righteously reigning. Jesus is reigning even during the unexpected moments in life, whether they are big or small.

It says in v8-9. Heb 1:8-9 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

In these verses, the author is quoting Psalm 45:6-7. This psalm celebrates a royal wedding, the subscription says that it is a love song. In this psalm, the poet addresses the bridegroom and then the bride. Considering other Scripture where Christ is referred to as the bridegroom and the church as the bride, it should not surprise us that the verses quoted in Heb 1:8-9 are attributed to the bridegroom, Christ.

It is possible that initially, this psalm was attributed to a king likely a descendent of David. However, it is hard to point this psalm to any human king because in Psalm 45:6 it calls this king God, it says “your throne, O God, is forever and ever”. The first-century readers of this letter of Hebrews knew that this reference to Psalm 45 was a reference to the Messiah. The author is reminding them of how the OT describes the Messiah. Similarly the other references in Heb 1, it can only be attributed to God and no one else. As we know Jesus is both a descendent from David and the second person of the Trinity.

Throne

Therefore, we know for certainty these verses are addressed to Jesus, but what do they say? It starts with “your throne, O God, is forever and ever,” When it says throne, it is pointing to the place where the king sits to judge. I don’t know about you but the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the throne is one of those pictures of a fancy chair covered with gold and ornate symbols.

There are few countries nowadays that have kings and queens. The most know to us is probably queen Elizabeth II, who since 1953 in London sat on a chair or a throne for the coronation ceremony. The coronation chair or throne is a symbol of the power and authority invested in someone as the ruler, the sovereign of the country.

In the OT there is a description of Solomon’s throne (1 Kings 10:18-20, 2 Chr 9:17-19) which is described as a great ivory throne (or chair) overlaid with the finest gold. It had six steps and a footstool of gold. On each side of the seat was an armrest and two lions standing beside the armrests. Often the throne of kings was placed in the higher ground or made taller to indicate the higher position of the one sitting on that chair.

Unlike Queen Elizabeth II who sits on the throne only for a ceremony. King Solomon likely sat on his throne to judge and rule Israel. Just as his father David would have. Interestingly there is not a specific description of David’s throne, often when Scripture mentions’ David’s throne is a symbolic reference to his rule as the king of Israel.

Similarly in Heb 1:8 the reference here to Jesus’ throne is quite different from kings on this earth. It says “your throne, O God, is forever and ever”. When we compare God’s throne to any other human throne, we see anyone on this earth is at best sitting on a temporary, and imperfect throne.

Sometimes people say that the president of the US is the most powerful person because of being in charge of one of the most powerful military forces. However, this office is limited to a 4-year term. In the scope of eternity 4 years is not even a spec of dust in the timeline. If we take all of the military forces in the entire world together this is nothing compared to the power of God, the God who spoke, and everything in creation came into existence.

All kings and authorities and countries are temporary, but God’s throne is forever and ever. This indicates eternality, God’s throne is eternal. When we think that God’s throne is eternal we might think that is eternal in the future, but we forget that He has been on His throne from eternity past, even before anything existed. God was God and because of who He is, He has always been in charge and always will be. And if we want our minds blown even more. Remember that God is not limited by time, He created time. Eternity was and is to come.

It says in Proverbs 21:1 “1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” That means that the person who would be considered the most independent and free to do whatever they want, is ultimately under God’s control and He can turn someone’s heart whatever way God wills. That means that when we look at the world and its defying of God and rebellion against God even this is not out of God’s control. He is ultimately letting bad things happen and evil seemly go unpunished because God is using it all to ultimately bring glory to Himself. To exalt His amazing grace and His righteousness through eternal punishment.

In addition, it means that Christ is ruling even when WE in our sinful mind think that we are solely in control of things. He is ruling even when things don’t go the way we expected and we are not happy with the way things are going. He is ruling even when deep down in our hearts, we don’t want to submit to His ruling, to His will. Even in the moments that it seems impossible for us to see how God could turn that situation for good. He is still ruling, forever and ever. As believers, we have such promises that even in the middle of the bad and terrible things that might happen “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose”

We are often caught unaware that we hold to the idea that God’s will is the same as our will !!!

What do we desire most of the time? Comfort. Easy and pleasurable lives, No one wants to suffer nor do we think we deserve suffering. According to Paul Tripp, “None of us get up in the morning and prays “Lord if you love me, you will send more suffering my way today”

But God’s desire for each of us is not for us to live comfortable and pleasurable lives. I think this is one of the big lies in American culture. That if you work hard and follow God you will have easier lives, that God will help you so you can live the life you want. Why do you think that churches that preach every Sunday “here are blank ways for you to have a better life” seem to attract more people? There is an easy way to fill up a church, just give people what they want to hear. I’m not saying that they are not Christians, they might know the gospel well. But they may not be mature believers or their faith is weak. When suffering comes their faith will be shaken. Ultimately they do not want to grow in the likeness of Christ, but rather live the lives they want, instead of living the life that God wants for us, and that often means suffering. 2 Tim 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

God’s deep desire for all of us is to be more and more like Christ, to grow in our faith and love and hope in Him. Often God uses suffering to mold us and change us. It takes fire to take the dross out of gold. In order for God to make us purer and purer, He puts us through the fires of suffering, not because He doesn’t love us, but because He loves us.

1 Thess 4: 1-3 “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification"

When we consider that God is using suffering through expected or unexpected circumstances to transform us, to make us more like His Son, to make us perfect, it makes sense what James said

James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

And Peter also mentions rejoicing in the midst of suffering, he said

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Therefore, in the midst of suffering, we can have absolute certainty that even in those moments Christ is on His throne ruling. In fact, He may be ruling in our lives even more during these times because of where our hearts reside…bent in prayer and trust!

Scepter

The symbolic language pointing to Christ’s rule and authority continues in v 8 where it says: “the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.” The scepter is another object that is not part of our everyday life. It is a staff, a rod, a fancy stick, which was a symbol of royal authority. The word scepter or throne could be a figure of speech for the ruler himself or the monarch’s rule.

There are a few passages in scripture that make reference to a scepter. The majority of these verses use the word scepter to symbolize someone’s rule. Included in these surprisingly there are three that symbolize the scepter of the Messiah, Gen 49, Num 24, and Psalm 45 which is also quoted in Heb 1.

From the references to a scepter in Scripture, there are only two passages that describe a scepter being used and both are found in the book of Esther. Esther was the king’s wife and her people, the Jews, were going to be destroyed by Haman. When she was asked to intercede for her people she describes the problem.

Esther 4:11 “11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.””

Then after she and the Jews in her town fast for three days she went to the king.

Esther 5:2 “2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.”

In this description in Esther, we see that the scepter was a very powerful symbol of authority. It meant life and death. From these verses, we can also observe that the rule of the king was very strict and severe even to his wife.

We could say that the phrase that would summarize the King’s rule in the book of Esther was that his scepter was severe. Now contrast this with the description of the rule of King Jesus in Heb 1:8. Here God points His role to be that of righteousness. “the scepter of uprightness is the specter of your kingdom”

If we look up in the dictionary the definition of severe it says: austere, strict in judgment, rigorous. While righteous is defined as morally right, good, virtuous, free from sin, upright, moral, confirming to the standard of what is right and good. I’m so grateful that our Lord’s rule is characterized by righteousness. Through Christ’s blood, we can have such confidence to approach the throne of grace with boldness.

Righteousness

The kingdom of God is characterized by uprightness. Uprightness is not a word we use often, literally from the Hebrew language it means straight, it brings to mind the notions of unchanging standards and correctness. It is the idea of wholeness or integrity of heart. The Hebrew mind made little distinction between uprightness and righteousness. We could understand uprightness as complete righteousness or unchanging righteousness.

This description of Christ’s righteousness is repeated in the next verse where it says Heb 1:9 “9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

When something is repeated it indicates its importance, often in Scripture very important things are repeated twice. We saw this when God audibly speaks to crowds about Jesus where God the Father said twice, “this is my beloved Son”. So when we see something repeated 3 times God is indicating the exceptional importance of this message. Here in Heb 1 it repeats Christ’s righteousness three times, it mentions uprightness, then you loved righteousness, and by the negative hated wickedness.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation for Christ’s throne, and He is personally devoted to righteousness. This is how Isaiah 11:5 describes Christ “5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” Because of who Christ is God the Father “has anointed Him with the oil of gladness beyond your companions”

This phrase in Heb 1:9 might seem strange to us, but often anointing refers to the appointment of someone to an office like when David was anointed as king. However, this anointing is described as the anointing of gladness or joy, or oil of exultation. This must indicate the joy that God the Father has in the Son, acknowledging His divine justice. Because the Son loves righteousness He is given joy and gladness because in this Jesus is showcasing the Father’s judgments are perfectly righteous.

But who are the Messiah’s companions referred here? If we take Psalm 45 as a reference to a king from David’s line, the reference of companions might be to neighboring nations or members of his own family and court. But we know that Psalm 45 is pointing to the Messiah, then when it says “beyond your companions” is referring to us!

Believers are referred to as many sons in Heb 2:10, then in Heb 2:11 says that “he is not ashamed to call them brothers,”. I don’t know about you but it is a quite overwhelming joy to be called a companion of Christ, or partners with Him because of our union with Him. Our joy will be complete for just being with Him and being united with Him forever. But Christ’s joy is even greater. In the same way that Christ hates wickedness to its fullness, His joy is complete because He knows to its fullness God’s eternal judgments. And if you weren’t overwhelmed by the idea that we are His companions - you ought to be. Christ is filled with gladness that we are His companions and this is because of His mercy and grace nothing we have done.

Let’s review what Heb 1:8-9 teaches us about Jesus’ Reign.

Most importantly it teaches us that He reigns. We are not in control. Earthly kings, presidents, or countries are not in control. The media is not in control. What the world considers as the most important or influencers are not in control. Jesus is Sovereign, He is in control. The little or big things, unexpected or expected, nothing is outside of His hand.

When we look at our world it seems everything is out of control. We might get discouraged by the loss of reasonableness and common sense. We might get a little worried when it seems like our society is falling apart. Then we need to remember God doesn’t want us to put our hope in this world. God is getting everything ready and in place for Christ’s return.

The second lesson we need often to be reminded of is that Christ’s reign is eternal. He is Sovereign, which means there is nothing that is outside of His hands. That means God is in control not only during good times but also during difficult times.

I know some of you are going through some difficult times. We have all been through difficult times. But I don’t know anyone who has been through as much suffering as Job. Remember Job is described as someone who was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. With one blow he lost all of his possessions, by the Sabeans and Chaldeans, fire from heaven, and a strong wind struck a house and all his children, 7 sons and 3 daughters died. Job got each news one after another. Tell me about having a bad day, it was an awful terrible day for Job.

In the middle of this great suffering, Job recognized that God was in control, both in good and bad times, but especially during unexpected times. Job 1: 20-21 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Worshipping God in the middle of such suffering and recognizing God’s control is not for the weak in faith.

But as you know, even with this incredible response, more unexpected events are headed his way. Job loses the only thing left, his health. For the remainder of most of the book of Job, his friends are accusing him. They are saying that he is receiving the punishment for his sins, and Job argues back saying he is innocent. Then God answers Job. If you read through God’s answer to Job you will notice that God doesn’t answer Job questions, but God strongly asks Job a series of questions.

The reason for God’s strong tone against Job was not because of anything Job did, but because He was accusing God of being unjust. We can see that God did not take lightly such an accusation. As we see from Heb 1:8-9 God’s righteousness is at the core of who He is. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness, He is in Himself the definition of uprightness.

What shall we do when we face unexpected sufferings in our lives? We need to remember who God is and who we are. We are creatures with finite knowledge and understanding undeserving of God’s grace. God is on His throne reigning from eternity past to eternity future. Which includes this moment and all our moments here on earth.

God’s will is perfect and altogether true and righteous. The sufferings in this temporary life are nothing compared to the joy of being united with Christ throughout eternity. We might think that eternity starts when we die and are in God’s presence. Eternity for us starts when we were created. Jesus said in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” There will be a time when our faith shall be sight, but until then we walk by faith, not by sight.