05.09. Back Cover

Hebrews 3:1-19 and Hebrews 4:1-16 cover the second of the five major warnings to believers in this book. And different things in these two chapters have been an enigma to numerous Bible students over the years. For example, what does the Scripture mean when it states:

“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if...” (Hebrews 3:6)?

“For we are made partakers [‘companions’] of Christ, if...” (Hebrews 3:14)?

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1)?

“There remaineth therefore a rest [‘Sabbath rest’] to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9)? The problem which most students of the Word encounter when studying passages such as these in the Book of Hebrews is actually selfinduced.

Individuals seek to understand these and other passages in this book apart from two main things: 1) Understanding that Hebrews deals, not with the salvation which we presently possess, but with the salvation of the soul, and 2) understanding that Hebrews draws extensively from Old Testament typology at almost every point. That is to say, issues in the Book of Hebrews have to do with millennial rather than eternal verities. The warnings in this book have to do with the Messianic Era alone, not with one’s presently possessed eternal salvation. And the spiritual lessons surrounding these issues are drawn mainly from the Old Testament types. This is what the book is about, this is the manner in which the book has been written, and the book must be studied accordingly.