What is the scepter of righteousness (Hebrews 1:8)?

Human thrones end with either death or conquest but this throne is for eternity. His sceptre, the insignia of royalty, is a right sceptre and the word right means right - plain - level - upright; surely it is a sceptre of righteousness. How are the nations of the world governed today? Whilst not denying that which is commendable, do we not have ample evidence that deceit, corruption, greed, the lust for power, recourse to violence and many other such vices are seen throughout the stratas of power. The ways of God are given scant attention and unrighteousness prevails. With Christ on the throne equity and justice will be the great characteristic of the age. "For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright" (Psa. 11:7).

(Vv. 7, 8). Secondly, the throne He takes, as come into the world, is above every throne. The angels are made spirits; the Son is not made anything, but He is addressed as God, and, in contrast with the thrones of earthly kings, His throne is for ever and ever. The quotation is from Psalm 45, which, we know, is “touching the King”. From the Epistle we learn that this King, who is going to reign over Israel, is none less than the Son — a divine Person. The thrones of men come to an end for they have no righteous foundation; but the throne of the Son is a lasting throne, for His rule will be in righteousness.

The fifth quotation now rises to the blessed climax of the truth concerning this glorious Person: `But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." It has been evident that all that has gone before must involve the fact that He is God. Hence, this is now asserted in plainest terms, when God addresses the Son as "God," whose throne is for ever and ever. Psalms 45 is quoted, where the King, the Messiah of Israel, is thus addressed by God.

The eternity of His nature assures the eternity of His throne, in contrast to all mere human thrones. In further contrast is His sceptre of righteousness; for history has proven this woefully lacking in every other kingdom.

Psalm 104 speaks of angels as servants. "He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire." They are spirit and not flesh. They are made to do His will and can never be anything else but servants. And then the contrast is shown what the Son is by the quotation from the Forty-fifth Psalm. Angels are servants and cannot reign nor can they ever occupy a throne, "but unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." He is addressed as God in this psalm in which He is revealed as the coming King Messiah. He has a throne which is forever and ever, and as Messiah, and the promised King, He will have an earthly throne and rule with a sceptre of righteousness, He loved righteousness and hated iniquity when down here and therefore He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. Thus we learn from this psalm His deity. He has a throne forever and ever. His humanity: He was on earth and loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Who are the fellows mentioned? Angels are not His fellows and could not be. His fellows are all they who are made one with Him through grace and who will be ultimately conformed to His image. It includes the believing remnant of Israel and all who put their trust in Him.

Fourthly, then His rightful place on earth will be the throne; for He comes not to suffer, but to reign. As the true David, He will occupy His own throne; for all things are to be subdued by Him unto Himself, before He delivers up the kingdom to God even the Father, "when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet." (1 Cor. 15:24-25.) He will establish, too, His ancient people in their hoped-for earthly glory, when all the promises shall be made good to them. And who but One, who is God, could take possession of all things, and subdue all things to Himself? We read, therefore, "But unto THE SON he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (vv. 8, 9.) Thus, in millennial glory, when THE SON — the Messiah — takes His kingly place of power, and reigns before His ancients gloriously, our attention is again called to contemplate Him in His eternal Godhead. "Fellows" or companions, He will doubtless have; but here, as in all things, He must have the pre-eminence. It is unquestionably the millennial time in which we here behold THE SON for it is characterised by righteousness, according to the Scripture, "A king shall reign in righteousness." Now God is preaching forgiveness of sins, and bearing with this evil world in marvellous patience and long-suffering; but when THE SON sits on His own throne, He will wield the sceptre of righteousness; for, as we observed, righteousness will characterise His kingdom, not grace. It will be manifest that He loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and because He is eternally divine, will be able to subdue all things unto Himself. Then He will show "who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Tim. 6:15-16.)

Fourthly, then His rightful place on earth will be the throne, for He comes not to suffer, but to reign. As the true David, He will occupy His own throne, for all things are to be subdued by Him unto Himself, before He delivers up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father, "when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." (1 Cor. 15:24-25.) He will establish, too, His ancient people in their hoped-for earthly glory, when all the promises shall be made good to them. And who but one who is God could take possession of all things, and subdue all things to Himself? We read, therefore, "But unto THE SON he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." (Heb. 1:8-9.) Thus, in millennial glory, when THE SON — the Messiah — takes His kingly place of power, and reigns before His ancients gloriously, our attention is again called to contemplate Him in His eternal Godhead. Fellows, or companions, He will doubtless have; but here, as in all things, He must have the pre-eminence. It is unquestionably the millennial times in which we here behold THE SON; for it is characterised by righteousness, according to the scripture, "A king shall reign in righteousness." Now God is preaching grace, and bearing with this evil world in marvellous patience and long-suffering, but when THE SON sits on His own throne, He will wield the sceptre of righteousness, for, as we have observed, righteousness will characterise His kingdom, not grace. It will be manifest that He loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and, because He is eternally divine, will be able to subdue all things unto Himself. Then He "will show who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Tim. 6:15-16.)

This king does altogether differently from the earthly gods who are found unfaithful to their royal or judicial commissions. (Ps. 82) He will rule or judge wisely, as expressed by Solomon's decree between the two harlots. (1 Kings 3) And the sceptre of righteousness in His hand will secure peace — mountains and hills, or governments and offices, bringing the one by the other (verse 3). In this way, that kingdom will express the presence of the true Melchizedec, or the sovereignty of Him who is both King of Righteousness and King of Peace. For righteousness being in power then, peace, godly peace, must be the result all the world over: all inconsistent with this must come into judgment. Isaiah 11 beautifully exhibits this also.

(vv. 6-7) Thus will He reach a throne that will be established for ever and ever, of which the sceptre will be wielded in righteousness. Moreover in that day the King will be recognized as a Divine Person, and addressed as God. The King is none less than the Son of God. Nevertheless, He has taken a place amongst man, and as Man, He loved righteousness and hated wickedness; and of Him it can be said, “God, Thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions.” Righteousness must be the basis of a kingdom that endures for ever, and joy and gladness will flow from righteousness. While others will share the kingdom glories, Christ, as King, will ever be pre-eminent.

The old covenant is what he refers to as that which we are not come to. “We are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet,” every indication of divine majesty and splendour and terror, and the voice of words that those to whom they were addressed refused to listen to. They excused themselves from hearing them, and entreated that the word should not be addressed to them any more, because it was the demand of God, and they were utterly unable to answer to it. Even Moses, to whom the word was not addressed—the mediator—the one who came with the demand of God to the people, who though he was himself under grace and was not one of the people to whom the law was addressed, nevertheless so terrible was the sight that he says, “I exceedingly fear and quake.” He says, You are not come to that. You and I have not to listen to that rule to which the nation of Israel were not able to listen. We have not to excuse ourselves from listening to the demand of God. You are come to an entirely different order of things. “Ye are come to Mount Zion.” What do you get there? What is said of Mount Zion is that it is the hill of grace. It is where God finds His rest. It says, God will dwell there forevermore. He loves it. Blessing is there; there God commands blessing, life forevermore. It is the hill upon which He places His king. “Yet have I set My king upon My holy hill of Zion.” And why do you think He has established His king there? It is for blessing. If God raises up a king, it is for blessing, not for the destruction of man. He raised up David to be a saviour for Israel. He took him from behind the sheep and He took him to shepherd His people Israel, and it is said of David, “He fed them in the integrity of his heart and guided them with the skilfulness of his hands.” He was the shepherd of Israel, and there is a close connection between the shepherd and the king. By and bye what is said of Christ is this, that He will shepherd the nations with a rod of iron. He will shepherd them. If God has His king, it is for blessing. No doubt the rebellious must suffer judgment, but God’s thought in a kingdom is salvation. Indeed, that is what any kingdom is for. It must be for preservation and salvation. It is not for the destruction of man. You and I would not want a kingdom if we could protect ourselves. But because there is evil abroad, we want a king that will protect us, that will save us from our enemies. And that is God’s thought of a king, one who will save the people. So when the king reigns, He will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in judgment, and when that day comes, “a man shall be a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” That is God’s thought of the king. God intended David should be that; that he should reign in righteousness and be a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest—everything to His people, and David has to confess, though he knows what a true king should be, it was not so with his house. David has to give way to God’s king, but when God sets His king on the holy hill of Zion it will mean salvation for the human race. There will be no evil abroad in that kingdom. He will stretch His sceptre over the whole earth and will bring peace and blessing to man. It will be a comfort to man. He will be a shepherd not only of Israel but also of the nations. He will feed them with the integrity of His heart, and guide them with the skilfulness of His hands. He will lead them to fountains of living water and every tear shall be wiped from every eye by His blessed hand, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, even Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy companions.” Christ has been well proven in the furnace of affliction. He was the righteous One, the One who could obey. No one has any right to reign but the One who can obey. Saul was driven from the kingdom and the throne because he was not able to obey. Samuel tells him “to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams,” and because he disobeyed he lost his throne. Saul was not tested till he got the throne. Then he was tested. But David was well tested and tried before he got the throne, and in that way David is a type of Christ, because Christ has been well tested. He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. No one can expect obedience from others who himself is not able to obey. The principles of His kingdom will be right principles, you may be sure. “I have set My king upon My holy hill of Zion,” and that for the salvation, not the destruction of man.

"Thy throne, O God, is to the age of the age, 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." Not until the Son takes it will the kingdom be established; but when He takes it "a King shall reign in righteousness." His kingdom is characterised, as it has been well said, by the perfect discrimination between good and evil the absolute appreciation of the one and the absolute rejection of the other. Everything will be put right for God and administered for God's pleasure by One competent to do it. The Son alone could bring into manhood everything that was suitable to God, and establish it all in the gracious power of His kingdom. And how unspeakably precious it is to know that He who can be thus addressed by God has "companions." The One who loves righteousness and hates lawlessness has a company who derive from Him morally, a company of those kindred to Himself, because deriving from Himself in new creation according to that wonderful verse in the next chapter, "For both He that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." And it is blessed to note that what here characterises the Son and those brought into association with Him is "the oil of gladness." It conveys to me the thought that not only has there been the perfect discrimination between good and evil, but that good has triumphed over evil, and has found a way of glorifying itself in removing evil and all its effects, so that the Son can bring into the very place where sin was the blessed knowledge of God and of all that is suitable to God. And not only this, but there can be a sanctified company brought into association with Him outside all the desolation and sorrow of the sphere of sin - brought where there is nothing to intrude upon divine joy. If the whole question of sin is removed out of the way, and the glory of God is fully expressed in the way this has been done, there is nothing to hinder those, who are in the knowledge and good of this stupendous fact, from entering with joy of heart into all the blessedness of good as it is found in God Himself. And it is to form us for the appreciation of all this, and to lead us into it, that the Holy Ghost has been given. In His own proper character He is "the oil of gladness."