Heb. 1:8-12—“But as to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a sceptre of
uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hast hated
lawlessness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions.
And, Thou in the beginning, Lord, hast founded the earth, and works of thy hands are the
heavens. They shall perish, but thou continuest still; and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as
a covering shalt thou roll them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the Same, and thy years
shall not fail.”
That is:
But as to the Son [addressing the Son in manhood, the Father says in Ps. 45:6-7], Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever [His throne, as God, is necessarily everlasting,‘forever and ever’],
and a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and
hast hated lawlessness; therefore God, thy God [The Father thus addresses the Son, the
Messiah King, as being both very God by nature and as being very Man by nature (as His God,
i.e., ‘Thy God’)—for He is both God and Man in one glorious Person, whom the Father] has
anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions. And [again, addressing the Son in
manhood, the Father says in Ps. 102:25-27], Thou in the beginning, Lord [Jehovah, the Self-
Existent, Uncreated, Ever Existing, Eternal One, who caused the ‘beginning’ of all things to
begin], hast founded the earth, and works of thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish,
but thou continuest still; and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a covering shalt thou roll
them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the Same [another Divine title of the only true
God, Jehovah, meaning ‘the self-existent one who does not change,’ in contrast to all creatures
who are such as are indeed changeable], and thy years shall not fail.[Thus is the Incarnate Son
very God and very Man in one blessed Person, the God-Man, Jehovah-Messiah]
Notwithstanding what some might foolishly claim, it is absolutely absurd to translate ho thronos sou
ho theos (or the Hebrew equivalent) as “God is thy throne” (as if to suggest that the Father is the
Son’s throne), rather than as “Thy throne, O God” [lit. ‘the throne yours O God’] (which is a crystal
clear address by the Father to the Son as to the Son’s absolute Godhood). Not only would it be
absurd (and completely foreign to scripture) to have God be a “throne” to anyone (even
metaphorically)—to have anyone occupy God as his throne—but it would also entail, ironically, the
idea of the Son being actually greater than the Father, rather than the truth of the Son being co-equal
with the Father in the Triune Godhead. For, confessedly, the person occupying a “throne” is
intrinsically greater than the throne itself. Thus, to say “God is thy throne”—i.e., that God the Father is the throne of the Son—is to say that God the Father is inferior to God the Son, which is an error
equally bad and destructive as that which denies the Their true co-equality. Thus that which proves
too much proves nothing at all, except its own disproof!
“The eternity of the Sonship is taught by the fact that the Son is personally addressed as God
and as Jehovah (Heb. 1:8-12). These names are applied prophetically to the Son in His kingdom
(Ps. 45), and in His affliction and humiliation (Ps. 102), but their application to Him in those
circumstances proves that these names are His by inherent right, and were not acquired at His
incarnation. For if the Son was at all entitled to the name, God, and to the name, Jehovah, He was so
entitled from all eternity. The divine Name is not transferable: ‘I am Jehovah, that is My Name; and
My glory will I not give to another’ (Isa. 42:8).” (W.J. Hocking)
“The quotation from Psalm 45 was most distinct and conclusive. No Jew then, if now, could
doubt that the psalm refers throughout to the Messiah introducing and maintaining His kingdom on
earth in association with the godly Jewish remnant. Christ is seen as King, not Head of the church
(though godly Jews are now anointed as His partners, before He appears in His royal glory). But the
one object for which it is cited is to prove that God recognises the Messiah as God. It is not
men only nor angels, nor Jews nor Gentiles. It is ‘God,’ the divine title, not of special earthly
relationship, but of essential nature in contrast with the creature. What an answer to reproach and
rejection! It might be supposed impossible to find any ascription beyond this in honour of Christ; but it
is not so: the next witness [in Heb. 1:10-12] exceeds. Here is another and higher testimony to the
Son from the fourth book of Psalms (Ps. 102:25-27).” (William Kelly)
Now compare the following passages where the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is explicitly called
very “God,” as in Heb. 1:8 (and note that these are only a few examples setting forth His absolute
Deity; they do not include, e.g., all of those many NT scriptures wherein He is shown to be equal
and one with the Father in the unity of the divine nature, or “Lord” in the unmistakable and
inescapable sense of “Jehovah” or declared to be the Self-Existent, Ever Existing One, the “I AM”;
nor do they include all of those many OT scriptures which declare the coming Messiah as Jehovah
Himself, and/or which speak exclusively of the true God, Jehovah, and which the NT repeatedly and
methodically applies, throughout, to the Son as Jehovah, Jehovah-Messiah (Exod. 3:13-15; Deut.
10:17; 1 Kings 8:39; Neh. 9:6-7; Ps. 8:1-2; 34:8; 45:6; 68:18; 97:7; 102:25-27; 136:3; Isa. 6:1-10;
7:14; 8:8, 10, 13-14; 9:6-7; 28:16; 40:3, 10, 28; 43:10-11; 44:6, 24; 45:11-12; 45:22-23; 48:12-13; Jer.
17:10; Joel 2:32; Mic. 5:1b-5a; Zech. 11:12-13; 12:10; 13:7; Mal. 3:1; etc., etc.)):
“In the beginning was the Word [not ‘came into being’ in the beginning, but ever ‘was’ in the
beginning, and thus had no beginning], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and [to be even
more emphatic and absolute] without him not one thing [no exceptions: not a single thing!]
came into being which has come into being [that is, not one created thing exists apart from the
eternal Word bringing it into existence!].” (John 1:1-3)
“Then he says to Thomas, Bring thy finger here and see my hands; and bring thy hand and put it
into my side; and be not unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, My
Lord and my God. Jesus says to him, Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed:
blessed they who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:27-29)
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he himself shall save
his people from their sins. Now all this came to pass that that might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the Lord, through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us.’”
(Matt. 1:21-23)
“Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving,
and the service, and the promises; whose are the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh,
is the Christ who is [literally, ‘the one being’] over all God blessed for ever. Amen.” (Rom. 9:4-
5)
“For let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who, subsisting in the form of
God, did not esteem it an object of rapine [as something to be snatched at or seized to His own
advantage or enrichment] to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, in taking the
form of a servant, in being come in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a
man, humbled himself in becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal
beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord [that He is supreme Lord:
Jehovah, Jehovah-Jesus] to God the Father’s glory.” (Phil. 2:5-11)
“Awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus
Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to
himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works.” (Tit. 2:13-14)
“For every house is built by someone; but he [Christ, the Son] who has built all things is God
[as demonstrated in Heb. 1].” (Heb. 3:4)
“Simon Peter, bondman and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have received like precious
faith with us through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 1:1)
“Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as
overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased [or ‘acquired for
Himself’] with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
“But if I delay, in order that thou mayest know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house,
which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly the
mystery of piety is great: God [or, ‘Who,’ ‘He who,’ the relative pronoun contextually referring
back to none other than God (referred to twice: ‘God,’ the ‘living God’) in the Person of God the
Son, who] has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to
angels, has been preached among the nations, has been believed on in the world, has been
received up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:15-16)
“And the life has been manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and report to you the
eternal life [the eternal Son], which was with the Father, and has been manifested to us . . .
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should
know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true
God and eternal life. Children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 1:2; 5:20-21)
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder; and his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God**, Father of eternity [or,
‘Father of the age,’ of the coming age, the Millennial Kingdom age], Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and
over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:6-7)
[**‘Mighty God,’ as in Isa. 10:21; 42:13; Jer. 32:18; Neh. 9:32; Deut. 10:17—a Divine Title of
Jehovah: El Gibbor, God the Mighty, the Hebrew word Gibbor (‘Mighty’) meaning Masterful Hero,
Warrior, Champion; and is thus distinct from and in no sense a comparative to the selfsame
Jehovah’s other Divine Title: El Shaddai, God the Almighty, the Hebrew word Shaddai (‘Almighty’)
meaning All-Powerful, All-Sufficient—which Divine Title intrinsically belongs likewise to the
Omnipotent Jehovah-Jesus, the First and the Last, He who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord
God Almighty (Rev. 1:8 with 22:12-13; 1:17 and 2:8).
