Friday, January 19, 2024

Sigurd Grindheim on the Eschatology of Hebrews 1:10-12

  

[Hebrews 1:10-12] does not espouse a complete discontinuity between the old and new creation. Its perspective may be fruitfully compared with that of the book of Revelation, which also looks forward to the appearance of a new creation that presupposes the judgment of the previous heaven and earth (Rev 6:12-17; 21:2). At the same time, however, the new creation emerges as a renewal of the original one.

 

Similarly, in Hebrews, the removal of this world is not indicative of a negative attitude toward creation but of the fact that it is subject to God’s judgment. Judgment leads to renewal, however. The quotation from Ps 101:26-28 LXX (ET 102:25-27) also hints at this understanding. The garment is changed, not destroyed. Even the term “perish” (apollymi) does not necessarily entail destruction and disappearance but subjection to God’s judgment. In 2 Pet 3:5, the same term is used for the flood, which brought disaster and judgment upon the earth, but it did not eradicate it. (Sigurd Grindheim, The Letter to the Hebrews [The Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2023], 132)