ANOINTED WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS

Hebrews 1:9(KJV)

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Who is the writer referring to here?

One easy way to misinterpret this verse is to read it as a single entity, i.e., independent of the other verses in that chapter.

A common misinterpretation of this verse is in trying to use it as a theme for church programmes, which many claim is a prophecy (or prayer) for believers; some others use it for academic "prayer points".

That's wrong.

Let's carefully read in context.

Hebrews 1(KJV)

1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

(Talking about Jesus now)

3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

(Now explains how that Jesus Christ is far greater than angels)

4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? (Psalm 2:7) And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son (2 Samuel 2:14)?

(Talks about Jesus)

6. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten (Jesus) into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him (Psalm 148:2).

(Now this is who angels are)

7. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire (Psalm 104:4).

(Now about Jesus again)

8. 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 (Psalm 45:6).

(We see the writer of Hebrews projecting many prophecies about Christ from the Old Testament writings)

(Then he says)

9. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

A continuation of the same psalm (Psalm 45:7).

So, who is the subject of this message?

JESUS CHRIST!

Anciently, kings, priests, and prophets were consecrated to their several offices by anointing with oil. So using this illustration to his Jewish audience, the writer talks about the glorification of Jesus as King. (The previous verse talks about his kingdom.) Gladness describes the ambience of this exaltation. Thus, our theme verse is simply a further explanation of verse 3–4.

So this verse is not about us; it is about the focus of the writer in this first chapter—Jesus is greater than angels.

Victor Ibosiola © 2017