- Apr 2, 2003
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It is first and foremost talking about man and man's descendants. That is how the ancient Israelites would have understood it, so that is how we must primarily understand it. There is no clear prophecy about the glory Jesus would receive, since there is no future tense here, nor is there anything about the glory he had. It only speaks of the glory that man has.
This is the same as Ps. 102:25-27 which the writer of Hebrews applies to the Son, through the Father no less. There is no clear prophecy there, but it is still applied to the Son.
The writer is applying the verses to Jesus because, after arguing for the preexistence of the Son (really the deity of the Son) in chapter 1, he speaks of the incarnation--"You made him for a little while lower than the angels" (ESV). That Jesus was crowned with glory and honour after his resurrection does not preclude the possibility of glory he had with the Father prior to creation, which was already implied in chapter 1 (vv. 2 and 10-12, and arguably vv. 8-9).
First, Jesus said it had been the case, so it's true regardless of whether or not there was any "vision of Jesus enthroned with God the Father before creation." Second, based on what Jesus said, John says:
Joh 12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
Joh 12:37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
Joh 12:38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
Joh 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
Joh 12:41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. (ESV)
Who does John say Isaiah saw in "his glory and spoke of him"? Clearly, John is meaning that Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus, or rather, the Son. Looking at the context of what Isaiah was talking about:
Isa 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
Isa 6:3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isa 6:4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
…
Isa 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
Isa 6:9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (ESV)
So, who did Isaiah actually see? John says Isaiah saw the Son's glory and Isaiah said he saw Yahweh's glory. That can only mean either that it was only the Son that Isaiah saw, or that the Son was with the Father in his glory and he saw both without making a distinction between persons.
Heb. 1:2, where it is stated that it was through the Son that God created the world. Both of those ideas are then seen clearly in Heb. 1:10-12, where the Father speaks of the Son as Yahweh:
Heb 1:10 And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;
Heb 1:11 they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,
Heb 1:12 like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” (ESV)
If the Son wasn't truly God, then either the Father is wrong, in which case the entire Bible becomes untrustworthy, or Hebrews isn't inspired and the writer is wrong. It could be that some error was made, but that can hardly be the case. That it fully agrees with John 1:1-3, 10, 1 Cor. 8:6, and Col. 1:16-17, strongly suggests those are inspired words which the Father spoke of the Son.
So, John and other writers make clear that the Son preexisted for eternity with the Father, sharing his glory, being "in the form of God" (Phil. 2:6), but he "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant" (Phil. 2:7). That speaks of the incarnation which, as Paul continues, was for the purpose of "death on a cross." It was on that basis that he was then glorified, with the glory he had with the Father "before the world existed." His glorification after his resurrection was for our benefit, to show that he is the Son of God, worthy of our worship which brings glory to God.