Hebrews 1:10-12

‘And,

“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,

And the heavens are the works of your hands.

They will perish, but you continue,

And they all will wax old as a garment does.

And as a mantle you will roll them up,

As a garment, and they will be changed.

But you are the same,

And your years will not fail.”

This next quotation is taken from Psalms 102:25-27. Having described His supremacy over all rulers and powers, the writer now stresses His supremacy over creation. If ‘God’ can be seen as a suitable address for ‘the One Who is Son’ (Hebrews 1:8), so certainly can ‘Lord’ (as found in the text of the Psalm in LXX), a regular ascription by the writer to Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 7:14; Hebrews 13:20). The Psalm is here quoted as having in mind the Son’s upholding of all things by His powerful word (Hebrews 1:3). Once He withdraws His word they perish and He ‘rolls them up’. For He is here seen as Lord of creation, and controller of its destiny. Both heavens and earth will be taken off like a cloak and rolled up, or stripped off like used clothes and changed, while He remains the same and goes on for ever, never growing old, and having no beginning or end. As such He is superior to the angels, who while they could devastate the earth with wind and fire, were unable either to create the earth or to effect its final destiny. (And once the world ceased there would be no more wind and fire for them to control).

We note also that in the fifth quotation reference was made to His enduring throne. Here in the sixth reference is made to His own enduring. He is the Enduring One.

In the original Psalm the One addressed is Yahweh. But the writer has already made clear that Jesus is the outshining of Yahweh, and the express image of what He is. And Paul also makes clear that Jesus bears the name of Yahweh (Philippians 2:9-11). So that as Jesus is constantly called ‘Lord’ (Yahweh) regularly in the New Testament, and therefore in the early church, and is regularly depicted as the Creator in the New Testament (Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16), this action with regard to creation can be assigned to the Son. The writer has no difficulty in applying the words to Him.