Hebrews 4
Milligan-HHebrews 4:1-10
THE REST WHICH REMAINS
FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD
Hebrews 4:1 —Let us therefore fear,—The proper object of fear is danger. And as the Hebrew Christians were then in danger of falling away, the Apostle very properly appeals here to their sense of fear, for the purpose of exciting them to greater diligence in the Divine life. For he well knew that everything depended on their attaining to that rest which remains for the people of God. If they failed in this, they failed in everything. In that event, their confession would be all in vain, and life itself would be worse than an abortion.
Hebrews 4:1 —lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest,—The participle being left (kataleipomenees) is in the present tense, implying that the promise of entering God’s rest is made sure to all Christians who, like Joshua and Caleb, continue faithful to the end of life. This the Apostle here assumes, for the present, on the grounds already stated. But lest anyone should doubt the reality of such a rest, he immediately takes up the consideration of this subject, and makes it his main theme in this paragraph.
Hebrews 4:1 —any of you should seem to come short of it.—Or more exactly, Lest any of you may seem (dokee) to have come short of it (hustereekenai). That is, lest it may appear at the end of your course or on the day of final reckoning, that any of you shall have failed to reach the heavenly rest, the sabbatism that remains for the people of God. The Apostle would, in a word, have his Hebrew brethren in Christ take heed, lest while there is remaining to them a promise of entering into God’s rest, any of them should, like their fathers in the wilderness, fall short of it through their own obstinate unbelief.
Hebrews 4:2 —For unto us was the gospel preached, etc.—This is a very inaccurate translation of the original, and conveys to the English reader quite an erroneous impression. Literally rendered the passage stands thus: For we are evangelized (esmen eueengelis- tnenoi) as well as they. That is, the promise of entering into rest, on given conditions, has been made to us Christians, as well as to the ancient Hebrews. The assertion is designed to set forth more directly and categorically what is assumed in the first verse, viz., that there is really left to us a promise of entering into God’s rest. The Apostle means to say that the joyful promise of entering into rest, made first to the Israelites, has respect to us as well as to them. Primarily, it had reference to the possession of Canaan; and secondarily, to that better rest of which the rest in Canaan was but a type.
This same promise, in its second intention, still remains for the encouragement and consolation of all God’s people. Into it they will all finally enter; unless, like the Israelites, they fall by the way on account of their own practical infidelity.
Hebrews 4:2 —but the word preached did not profit them,—Literally, the word of hearing (ho logos tees akoees) did not profit them. They heard the message which God delivered to them through Moses, but they were not profited by it.
Hebrews 4:2 —not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.—Or as rendered by Erasmus and others: “not having been mingled by means of faith with them that heard it.” The word rendered mixed (sugkekramenos) is used metaphorically, and seems to have reference to the mixing of food with the digestive fluids, in order to its being appropriated to the wants of the body; or, according to the above version of Erasmus, it may refer to the food’s being incorporated with the tissues of the body by means of these fluids. In both cases the meaning is substantially the same. Food taken into the stomach, unless it be properly digested and appropriated, is of no benefit whatever to the physical organs, but rather an injury. And just so it is with the word of hearing. If it is received as seed on the highway, or on stony ground, or among thorns, it is of no service whatever to those who hear it. But when it is well understood, and received into good and honest hearts, it then becomes as food to the soul, and gives life, and health, and strength to the whole inner man. Then indeed it is more to be desired than gold, yea than much fine gold; and it is “sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.”
The Israelites were mostly of the stony-ground hearers. They at first received the word with all readiness of mind and promised obedience to its requirements. See Exodus 19:7-8, and Exodus 24:3. But they had no root in themselves; and hence when trials and tribulations came, they stumbled and fell. And just so it is with thousands of nominal professors in our own day and generation. Under, it may be, the judgments of God or the exciting influences of a protracted meeting, they receive the word with gladness.
For a time they are very zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of souls; and many of them are no doubt honest in their professions. But they lack stability. They have no root in themselves. And before the soul is sufficiently nourished, even while the food is in process of digestion, they stumble and fall, as did the Israelites in the wilderness. But others, like Joshua and Caleb, receive the word into good and honest hearts, “and bring forth fruit with patience.”
According to the reading of the Common English Version and also that of Erasmus, the perfect passive participle sunkekramenos relates to logos in the nominative singular. But many manuscripts have the accusative plural (sunkekramenos) ; according to which the reading would be as follows: “Nevertheless the word of hearing did not profit them, unmingled as they were in faith with its hearers”; or more freely, “but the word preached did not profit them, because they did not believingly associate with those who obeyed it, such as Joshua and Caleb.” This reading is on the whole preferred by Alford, but it is now very properly rejected by most expositors; being, as they say, inconsistent with the plain and obvious thought of the writer, that “the word did not profit because it was not received in faith.”
Hebrews 4:3 —For we who have believed do enter into rest:—into the rest; that is, the promised rest. In verse first, our author speaksof a promise being left us of entering into God’s rest; and in the second verse, he says, the good news of entering into God’s rest on given conditions, was proclaimed to us as well as to the ancient Israelites. And now in the third, he further categorically affirms that all believers in Christ do actually enter into this rest: and as evidence of this, he again quotes from the ninety-fifth Psalm. The exclusion of some on the ground of their unbelief, implies the admission of others on the ground of their belief.
Hebrews 4:3 —if they shall enter into my rest:—The word here rendered if (ei) should be rendered not, as in Hebrews 3:11. The form of the expression is elliptical, being borrowed from the usual mode of taking an oath among the Hebrews, and is equivalent to a strong negative. Thus in 2 Samuel 3:35, David says, “So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread or aught else, till the sun be down.” This is but a solemn and emphatic way of expressing his purpose not to eat anything till after sunset. And so also in this connection, God is here represented as declaring with the solemnity of an oath, that the disobedient Israelites who rebelled against him at Kadesh Barnea, should never enter into his rest.
Hebrews 4:3 —although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.—The logical connection of this clause is somewhat obscure in consequence of the passage being so very elliptical. But the Apostle refers here manifestly to the sabbatical rest, which had been sanctified for the glory of God and the good of mankind even from the foundation of the world, or from the time that God finished the work of creation. (Genesis 2:2.) For, to say that the works were finished from the foundation of the world, is equivalent to saying that the Sabbath, commemorative of God’s rest, was sanctified and observed from the same ever memorable epoch. Such is the law of all commemorative institutions. The Passover, for example, the Pentecost, the Lord’s Day, and the Lord’s Supper, were all established in close connection with the events which they were severally intended to celebrate. And hence it is obvious that the oath of God at Kadesh Barnea could not have reference to the sabbatical rest; for this, the Hebrews with others had long enjoyed. But in making this oath Jehovah must have had reference to a future rest; a rest into which the apostate Israelites never entered. That this is the meaning of this very elliptical passage, is plain from what follows.
Hebrews 4:4 —For he spake, etc.—The allusion here is to Genesis 2:2; and the object of the Apostle in referring to it, is merely to amplify and illustrate still further what he has with characteristic brevity spoken of in the preceding verse. He here very clearly intimates that the sabbatical rest was instituted by God, at the close of the Adamic renovation, when on the seventh day “he rested from all his works which he had made.” And hence it follows, as before stated, that this rest cannot be identical with that from which a whole generation of the Israelites were forever excluded.
Hebrews 4:5 —And in this place again,—In what place? Evidently, in the place which our author has under consideration, and to which he refers in the third verse. But what is this ? Most expositors agree that the reference is to Psalms 95:11; for here the very words of our text occur in the Septuagint, and they are a fair and literal rendering of the original Hebrew. But in the seventh verse, our author clearly refers to Psalms 95:7-8; and as he cites this in proof of a new proposition relating to a much later period, it is alleged by some that in the former case the reference must be to Numbers 14:28-30. There is no difficulty, however, in supposing that in both cases the Apostle refers to the ninety-fifth Psalm.
But the citation made in the third and fifth verses is applied only to those Israelites who rebelled against God under Moses, and who on this account were not allowed to enter the land of Canaan; whereas the citation in the seventh verse applies to those of a later period. The argument of the Apostle may, then, be briefly stated as follows: He shows first by referring to Genesis 2:2, that the sabbatical rest was instituted from the foundation of the world, when God had finished the work of creation. And then he proves from Psalms 95:11, that twenty-five hundred years after that important epoch, when the Israelites rebelled at Kadesh Barnea, God made oath concerning a rest which was then in the future and from which that perverse and rebellious generation were forever excluded. And hence he infers that this rest could not be the rest of the seventh day, which from the beginning had been enjoyed by all the true worshipers of Jehovah.
Hebrews 4:6 —Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein,—The argument of the Apostle is simply this: A rest was provided and offered to the Israelites. But those to whom it was first offered in the time of Moses failed to enter it, on account of their waywardness and unbelief. God, however, provides nothing in vain. He makes no experiments; and he is never disappointed in any of his plans and purposes. The rest provided remains, therefore, for all true Israelites, who, like Joshua and Caleb, have faith in God and rely on his promises. And hence it follows, as stated in the first and third verses, that there is a rest remaining for the people of God ; and that we who believe do enter into it.
But here again there is seeming ground for another objection. Though the first generation of the Israelites redeemed from Egyptian bondage, failed to enter the land of Canaan, it was not so with the second. Under Joshua, they crossed the Jordan, and took possession of the promised inheritance. And hence it might be inferred by some that this was a fulfillment of the promise in its fullest sense; and consequently that outside of Judaism there is really no promised rest for the believer. To the refutation of this objection the Apostle therefore next turns his attention.
Hebrews 4:7 —Again, he limiteth a certain day,—The object of the Apostle in this verse is to refute the objection just stated. This he does by referring to the fact that in Psalms 95:7-11, David by the Spirit warns the people of his own generation against the sin of unbelief, lest they too should, like their fathers under Moses, fail to enter into the enjoyment of the promised rest. “To-day,” he says, “if ye hear his voice, harden not your heart as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” The Psalmist refers back to the time when the Israelites were invited to go up from Kadesh Barnea, and take possession of the land of Canaan. (Numbers 13.) But they refused to do so, and were on account of their disobedience condemned to die in the wilderness. (Numbers 14.) And from these well known historical facts David warns and admonishes his own contemporaries, and through them all subsequent generations, not to do as the rebellious Israelites had done under Moses; but to promptly enter God’s rest whenever invited to do so. If ye hear his voice today, obey it today. And hence it is clearly implied, that even in the time of David, the Israelites, though in the possession of Canaan, had really not entered into God’s rest. The expression, “after so long a time,” means the time that had intervened between Moses and David: and in the phrase, “as has been said before,” the Apostle refers back to what he had said in Hebrews 3:7-8.
Hebrews 4:8 —For if Jesus, etc.—Our translators have here very greatly and unnecessarily perplexed the English reader by using the name Jesus instead of Joshua: though it should be observed that these names are identical in Greek. The name Jesous (Ieesious) is always used in Hellenistic Greek for the Hebrew Y’hoshua in the earlier books of the Old Testament, and for Yeshua in the later books. See note on 2: 13. There can be no doubt, however, that Paul refers here to Joshua the son of Nun, who, after the death of Moses, conducted the Israelites across the Jordan into the promised land. There, the people enjoyed comparative rest. See Joshua 1:15 Joshua 22:4, etc.
But it was not the true rest—the rest of God. For had it been so, then, as our author says, God would not afterward have spoken through David of another day of entering into his rest.
Hebrews 4:9 —There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.—This is the Apostle’s conclusion logically deduced from all the premises. Over and above the sabbatical rest and the rest of Canaan, there still remains a rest, a sabbatism (sabbatismos), for every child of God. It is God’s rest; a rest which he has provided, and such as that which he himself enjoys; a rest from all the toils and ills of this sinful and wearisome life. Of this the Christian has even now a foretaste in the Kingdom and patience of God’s dear Son. “Come unto me,” says Christ, “all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29.) You shall even now be released from the oppressive burdens of sin, and find rest to your souls, through the belief of the truth and the consolations of the Holy Spirit. But it is of the heavenly rest, the eternal sabbatism, of which our author here speaks particularly: for in the eleventh verse of this chapter he exhorts even his Christian brethren to labor now so as to finally enter the promised rest.
We have here, then, another beautiful illustration of the symbolical nature and character of the Old Testament economy. As soon as God had finished the work of creation he instituted the Sabbath —(1) for the purpose of commemorating his rest; (2) for the benefit of mankind, by giving them rest from physical labor, and leading them also to higher measures of spiritual culture and enjoyment (Mark 2:27) ; and (3) that it might be a means of foreshadowing the heavenly rest, which even then he had in his eternal counsels provided for his faithful and obedient children. Nor was this the only Old Testament symbolical representation of God’s rest. The idea of a future sabbatism was afterward greatly intensified by sundry legal observances, such as the rest of the seventh year and the year of Jubilee. And even in the promise of Canaan to Abraham and to his seed for an everlasting possession, there was implied also a promise of Heaven and of a heavenly rest to all who have the faith of Abraham. See Genesis 12:7 Genesis 13:14-17 Genesis 15:18 Genesis 17:8 Genesis 24:7 Genesis 26:4; Exodus 33:1, etc. And hence it is that in Psalms 95:11, the word rest is substituted for land, as in the original form of the oath given in Numbers 14:28-30.
Hebrews 4:10 —For he that is entered into his rest,—To whom does the Apostle here refer as having entered into rest? To Christ, say some, as Owen, Stark, Ebrard, and Alford; and to any and every departed saint, say others, as Bleek, Liinemann, Stuart, Delitzsch, and others. Which is right? Manifestly the latter, for the following reasons: (1) Because this view is most in harmony with the context. The object of our author in this verse is to assign a reason for calling the rest which remains for God’s people a sabbatism; such a rest as God himself has enjoyed ever since he laid the foundations of the Earth, and of which the weekly Sabbath was but a symbol. There is, he says, remaining for the people of God, and of course for-every one of them, not merely a rest (katapausis) ; such as the Israelites enjoyed in Canaan, but a keeping of a sabbath (sabbatismos), such as God himself now enjoys.
For he (every saint) who enters into God’s rest, ceases from his labors and keeps a sabbath, just as God did after he had finished the work of creation. The bearing of all this on the Apostle’s argument is therefore very plain and obvious.
But what could be the object of the writer in referring here to Christ ? And if it was his purpose to do so, then why did he not name him? Why should he refer in this very general and indefinite way to one whose name does not appear in the entire paragraph? (2) The view which we have taken of this matter is also most in harmony with the known facts of the case. It is not true that Christ has yet finished his proper work of regeneration, and entered into his rest, as God did when he had finished the work of creation. That he has finished the work of his earthly mission and made an atonement for our sins, is of course joyfully conceded. But these labors were only preparatory to the great work of recreating the world; a work which is still in progress.
Indeed, the whole Christian era is, by Christ himself, called the period of regeneration. (Matthew 19:28.) And hence the work of Christ will continue until he shall have renovated the heavens and the Earth and delivered up the Kingdom to the Father. Then, and not till then, will he keep a sabbath.
But now every saint, who, like Joshua and Caleb, is faithful to the end of life, enters then into the enjoyment of God’s rest; which in a subordinate sense is also his own rest. For “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.’’ (Revelation 14:13.)
It is not to be inferred from this, however, that the spirits of the just made perfect are in a state of slumber, or of slothful inactivity. By no means. The four living creatures and the twenty-four Elders are, throughout the vision of the Apocalypse, represented as worshiping God day and night, and participating even with rapture in the joys of Heaven, as they behold from time to time the triumphs of him who by his own blood has redeemed them to God “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 4:6-11 Revelation 5:5-14 Revelation 6:1 Revelation 6:3 Revelation 6:5 Revelation 6:7, etc.) And so Lazarus was, after death, carried by angels into Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22) ; and the penitent thief went immediately with Christ into paradise (Luke 23:43). To the same effect is also the testimony of Paul. Speaking of Christians, he says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8); and to be present with the Lord is to be unspeakably happy (Philippians 1:23). These passages are therefore wholly inconsistent with the doctrine of soul- sleeping.
They severally imply a state of conscious activity and enjoyment after death, as well as of freedom from the toils and sorrows of this eventful life. There can be no doubt, then, that we will be all actively employed after death. But we will be no more wearied by our exertions: for the redeemed, though serving God day and night in his temple, will “hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the Sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:16 Revelation 1:7.)
Hebrews 4:11-13
FURTHER TO STRIVE TO ENTER
INTO GOD’S REST, IN VIEW OF THE ALL
AND HEART- OF GOD’S WORD
Hebrews 4:11 —Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.—That is to say, since it is an established fact that there is remaining for the people of God a sabbatical rest; and since it is true that we are all invited to enter into that rest; it therefore becomes us to strive earnestly (spondasomen) to do so; lest we too, like the Israelites under Moses, fall short of it through unbelief and disobedience. For them the symbolical rest of Canaan was freely provided; and God himself was present and ready to lead them into it. But they disobeyed him, and rebelled against him; and as a consequence they perished in the wilderness, short of the promised land. And just so, says Paul, it will be with us, if we follow their example. See 1 Corinthians 10:1-12. In order to gain admission into God’s everlasting Kingdom, we must give all diligence in adding to our “faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly-kindness love.” (2 Peter 1:5-11.)
Care must be taken, however, that in all our efforts to enter the promised rest we strive lawfully; and with constant reference to that purity of heart and perfection of character which God requires; and without which, no one will ever enjoy his presence or keep a sabbath with him. (12: 14.) It is not always the man who works most that will finally receive and enjoy most; for there are first that shall be last; and there are last that shall be first. (Matthew 19:30.) It should never be forgotten that by the deeds of law no flesh is justified in the sight of God. (Romans 3:20.) There is nothing in these legal acts and observances to purify the soul and fit it for the rest of God: “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10:4.) It is only through the rich merits of his blood, the indwelling and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, and the constant use of all the means which Heaven has provided for our growth in grace and progress in the Divine life, that we can be prepared for the promised rest. The whole inner man must be cleansed from every mark of sin and from every stain of iniquity, before we can have that full and perfect communion with God which the redeemed will finally enjoy, and which is in fact the consummation of all happiness. And hence he says to everyone who would enter into his rest, “Become ye holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16.)
And hence we see the duty of constant self-examination while we are endeavoring to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (2 Corinthians 13:5) ; for it is God that works in us (Philippians 2:13). His word tries us, and proves us, and searches us even to the very center of our being. This, our author very beautifully and forcibly illustrates in the two following verses.
Hebrews 4:12 —For the word of God is quick, and powerful,—In this verse, the Apostle gives a reason why we should all be so very earnest and particular in our endeavors to prepare and qualify ourselves, through Divine grace, for the enjoyment of the rest which remains for the people of God. A single mistake here may prove fatal. For though we keep the whole law, save that we offend only in one point, we are guilty of all. (James 2:10.) Though, like Naa- man, we dip ourselves seven times in the waters of the Jordan, and though our persons may seem to be all pure and holy in the eyes of men and angels, there may, nevertheless, be some secret sin cherished in our hearts, that will wholly unfit us for the fellowship of God and the society of Heaven. And if so, it will not escape the eye of him who searches the hearts of the children of men. For the judgment of God is according to truth (kata aletheian) in all cases (Romans 2:2); and his word, by which we are to be judged at the last day, is, like its Author, “living and powerful.”
It has long been a question with expositors, whether “the word” that is here spoken of is the personal Word, the Logos that became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), or the “word of hearing” (4: 2), called also “the word of salvation” (Acts 13:26). Many of the ancients and some of the moderns understand by it the personal Word; who, as they say, “is living and powerful, and his judgment is sharper and more penetrating than any two-edged sword.” But it is far more simple and natural, as most modern commentators concede, to understand by this the instrumental word, which, as a sharp, two-edged sword, proceeds out of the mouth of the personal Word (Revelation 1:16 Revelation 2:12 Revelation 19:15 Revelation 19:21), with which he now smites the nations; and by means of which he will finally judge all who hear it. This word “is living and powerful,” because it is always supported by him who is himself the fountain of life (Psalms 36:9) and the source of all power (Romans 13:1). It is not a lifeless abstraction, but a living concrete embodiment of God’s will, going wherever he pleases, and doing whatever he requires. “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the Earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so,” says Jehovah, “shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11.) See references.
Hebrews 4:12 —and sharper than any two-edged sword,—Or “more cutting than any two-mouth sword.” This can scarcely be predicated, with propriety, of the personal Word; but it applies well to the instrumental word, the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), which goeth out of the mouth of him that sits upon the horse, and with which he smites the nations (Revelation 19:15).
Hebrews 4:12 —piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, etc. —This passage has given rise to an almost endless number and variety of queries and explanations; the consideration of many of which would be of but little service to the reader. I will therefore confine my remarks on it to such matters as seem necessary in order to a fair understanding of the mind of the Spirit. And (1) What is the meaning of soul and spirit in this connection? From the days of Pythagoras (500 B.C.), and more especially from the time of Plato (350 B.C.), the doctrine of a trinity in human nature became somewhat prevalent. These philosophers both taught, in substance, that man consists of a material body (soma), an animal soul (psuche), and an immortal spirit (tineuma). The soul was by them regarded as the seat of animal life, together with its several instincts, passions, and appetites; and the spirit was supposed to be the seat of the higher intellectual and moral faculties.
In this sense, Paul manifestly uses these terms both in our text and also in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. But whether he aims here to speak of man as he really is, or merely to use by way of accommodation the current phraseology of the Greeks, is not so clear.
In either case he would equally accomplish his main purpose, which is simply to indicate to his readers by the use of these terms the whole incorporeal nature of man. (2) What does our author mean by the joints (harmoi) and the marrows (mueloi) ? Does he use these words in a literal sense to denote the inner and more concealed parts of the body ? or does he use them metaphorically to denote the most secret and recondite recesses of the soul and the spirit? The critics are much divided on this point; and it must be confessed that it is not an easy matter to arrive with absolute certainty at the exact meaning of the passage. But after a careful examination of both the text and the context, I am constrained to think with Bengel, Bleek, DeWette, Tholuck, Liinemann, Moll, Alford, and others, that these words are used figuratively to denote the inmost essence of man’s spiritual nature. This view of the matter is favored (a) by the use of the single conjunction and (kai) between the words soul and spirit, and the compound conjunction both and (te kai) between the words joints and marrows; thus indicating that these two sets of words are not coordinate, but that the latter phrase is subordinate to the former.
Literally rendered, the passage reads as follows : piercing through even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrows; and is a discerner of the thoughts and purposes of the heart. The phrase, joints and marrows, seems to be a proverbial expression, indicative of the inmost parts of anything; and it is used here to denote the extreme thoroughness of the dividing process effected in the soul and in the spirit by means of the word of God. (b) This view is also most in harmony with the ascending climax at which the writer evidently aims in the construction of this sentence. The word of God is, first, living; then it is full of power and energy; then it divides and lays bare the soul and the spirit even to the extent of their joints and their marrows; and then rising above the essence of man’s nature, it enters inquisitively and judicially into the realms of his ideas, affections, and desires, and passes judgment on the thoughts and purposes of his heart. Nor does our author stop even here; but passing now from the word of God to God himself as its author, he caps the climax by representing all created things as being naked and fully exposed to the eyes of him to whom we are responsible, and to whom we shall have to render a final account. This is all very beautiful and in perfect harmony with the highly rhetorical character of the Epistle. But who does not feel the inconsistency of passing, in the course of this climax, from the soul and spirit of man to even the most concealed parts of his physical organization ?
If the view taken of this passage is correct, then it follows that the once prevalent notion of a separation of the soul from the spirit, and of the joints from the marrows, is incorrect. The separation takes place within the region of the soul and the region of the spirit; not between them. The living word cleaves and lays bare all parts of the soul and all parts of the spirit, even to the extent of their joints and their marrows; so that all the perfections and imperfections of man’s spiritual nature are made perfectly manifest. And not only so, but even the thoughts and purposes of his heart are, by this infallible Judge, fully analyzed and perfectly classified.
Hebrews 4:13 —Neither is there any creature, etc.—There is here a manifest transition from the word of God, as his efficient and soul-penetrating instrument, to God himself, in whose presence all things are naked (gumna), presenting themselves as they really are, without any kind of covering; and opened (tetrachelimena), with their heads thrown back, and their faces and necks exposed to full view. This is the proper meaning of the word; but from what is the metaphor taken? Some say, from the ancient custom of offering sacrifice. The victim was first slain; then it was flayed, cut open, and exposed to the eye of the priest for inspection. Others think that the Apostle refers here to the Roman custom of bending back the necks of criminals, so as to expose their faces more fully to the eyes of the public. To this Pliny refers in his panegyric on the emperor Trajan.
Speaking of the emperor’s endeavors to promote virtue and suppress vice, he says, “There is nothing, however, in this age, that affects us more pleasingly and deservedly than to see from above the supine faces and reverted necks of the informers. We thus know them, and are pleased when, as expiating victims of public disquietude, they are led away to lingering punishments and sufferings more terrible than even the blood of the guilty.” (Panegyr. xxxiv. 3.) Others again suppose that there is an allusion here to the custom of wrestlers who were wont to seize their antagonists by their throats, and bend back their heads and necks for the purpose of more easily effecting their overthrow. On the whole, it seems most probable that the expression had reference primarily to the exposure of criminals; and that Paul used it in its then current sense to denote simply that all creatures stand before God with their necks, as it were, bent backward, and their faces fully exposed to the all-seeing “eyes of him with whom we have to do.’
Christians are all of one holy brotherhood. (3:1.) It matters not how much they may differ from one another in wealth, talents, learning, and social advantages, they are nevertheless all one in Christ Jesus. The rich should not therefore despise the poor, nor should the poor envy the rich. But all should strive to maintain “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”; and to promote each other’s good, as heirs of the grace of life and joint heirs of the eternal inheritance.
To think much about Christ as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, will be of great service to us in many ways (verse 1). It will serve, for instance, to increase our faith in him and our confidence in the perfection and efficacy of the gospel plan of salvation through him. It will increase our love for God, who has so tenderly loved us as to send his own Son to redeem us. It will correct and restrain our selfishness, and make us more zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. And, in a word, it will make us all more humble, more prayerful, and more earnest in our endeavors to “live soberly, and righteously, and godly.”
How much, how very much may depend on the fidelity of God’s ministers (verse 5). Had the servants of Christ all acted as did Moses, and observed faithfully the more full and encouraging instructions of the Holy Spirit that are given to us in the New Testament, how very different would be both the Church and the world today. How many that are now idolaters would be Christians; and how many of those that are now eternally lost, might today be rejoicing among the spirits of the just made perfect.
God still dwells with his people (verse 6). The Church of God is the house of God, as it is written, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16.) Why, then, do we not draw nigh to him who has come so very near to us? Why not, like Enoch and Moses, walk with him, as seeing him who is invisible? Why not avoid everything that is offensive in his sight, such as the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life ? And why not, like Christ, humbly endeavor to do the will of God in all things? Surely this is but our highest happiness, as it is also our most reasonable service.
Fidelity to the end of life is essential in order to the final enjoyment of the great salvation (verses 6, 14). With such warnings and admonitions before us as those which are given in this section, it is all folly to rely for happiness on the imaginary “unconditional decrees” of God; or on the once prevalent doctrine of “final perseverance.” “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 10:22.) Without this actual perseverance on our part, through the abounding grace of God, nothing can save us from the torments of the damned. It is not enough that God has sent his Son into the world to save it; and that Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to convince mankind “of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” It is not enough that we have confessed Christ, and that we have been actually washed from our past sins in his blood. We must also continue to persevere in well-doing, seeking for honor, and glory, and immortality, if we would enjoy eternal life. (Romans 2:7.) “For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more [a] sacrifice for sins.” (10: 26.) “Let him [then] that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12.)
Let no one, then trifle with the commands of God, and with the promptings of an enlightened conscience; no, not even for a day or an hour (verses 7, 13). “To-day, if ye hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness.” All unnecessary delay is dangerous, because it is sinful and serves to harden the hearts of those who yield to its seductive influence. And hence the law of the Kingdom of Heaven is (1) to hear; (2) to believe; and (3) to obey from the heart that form of doctrine which is delivered to us in the Gospel. The primitive Christians did this; and then went on their way rejoicing. See Acts passim.
But the power of sin over the human heart is very great (verse 13). The unregenerate are slaves to its influence. See Romans 6:6-7 Romans 6:17 Romans 6:20 Romans 7:13-23. And even the Christian, enlightened and assisted as he is by the Holy Spirit, has need to be constantly on his guard, lest he too be ensnared and hardened through its deceitfulness. (1 Corinthians 9:27.) And hence the great importance and necessity of that mutual exhortation and encouragement which our author so earnestly recommends. “Exhort one another daily,” he says, “while it is called To-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” And again he says to the Galatian brethren, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2.) God has made us all fellow-helpers one of another, by committing to us the word of reconciliation and exhortation.
Why, then, are we so very unfaithful to the trust which God has committed to us in this particular? Why do we not exhort one another daily? Why are we so prone to talk about anything and everything else rather than about the one thing needful? When we meet with our brethren, we are all wont to ask for their welfare. We inquire very particularly about their prosperity in business, and also about their physical health, comforts, and enjoyments. But how many of us are in the habit of inquiring after the state and condition of their souls?
How many mutual inquiries are made about one another’s progress in the Divine life; and about the peculiar trials, difficulties, and dangers that beset us, and against which we have to contend in our feeble efforts to reach the heavenly rest? That there is a great want of fidelity among Christians in this respect, admits, I think, of no doubt.
But why is it so? Has it ceased to be true that “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” ? Or does this habit of worldly conversation about secular matters, indicate an alarming want of spirituality in our own poor unbelieving hearts? That public sentiment is a great barrier in the way of religious conversation in the social circle, I freely admit. It is really amazing to what an extent the Devil has succeeded in persuading the people, that it is impolite to speak of God, or of Christ, or of Heaven, in the parlor or on the public highway. And the fear of giving offense, no doubt, often constrains many a Christian to withhold his lips from speaking good, even when the fire of God’s grace is burning in his soul. (Psalms 39:1-3.) But after making all due allowance for the binding obligations of public sentiment within proper limits, it must, I fear, be conceded that this general delinquency on the part of Christians is fearfully indicative of our own want of faith in God and in the word of his grace.
Christ, it is true, never cast pearls before swine; and in some cases he refrained from working miracles on account of the extreme wickedness and infidelity of the people. See Matthew 13:58, and Mark 6:5-6.
But still, the main burden of his conversation, wherever he went, was “the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” May God grant us all grace to walk in his footsteps.
Our greatest want has always been a want of faith in God and in the word of his grace (verses 18, 19). It was this that first brought sin into the world. (Genesis 3:6.) It was this that filled the antediluvian earth with violence, and brought in a flood of waters on the ungodly. It was this that caused the dispersion from Babel, and that soon after filled the world with idolatry. It was this that brought down fire and brimstone from Heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah, and made these cities of the plain a monument of God’s hatred of sin. It was this that so often brought down God’s judgments on even his own chosen people in the wilderness and in Canaan, and that has made their descendants a proverb and a byword in every nation under Heaven. It was this that divided the Church of God, and that filled the dwelling-place of the Most High with all manner of Jewish and Gentile abominations.
And it is this that now deprives us all of a thousand spiritual enjoyments, and that will hereafter shut the gates of Heaven against millions who, like the rebellious Israelites, will seek to enter into God’s rest when it is too late. (Luke 13:24-30.) No wonder, then, that our blessed Savior so often sums up all sin under the head of unbelief. “When he [the Comforter] is come,” says Christ, “he will convict the world of sin, because they believe not on me.” (John 16:9.) See also John 3:18-21 John 5:39-47 John 8:24 John 15:22-25, etc. Let us, then, all beware, lest there be also in any of us an evil heart of unbelief in apostatizing from the living God.
The main business of life is to labor to enter into God’s rest. (4: 11.) Here we are all but strangers and pilgrims, traveling, like the Israelites in the wilderness, to the promised inheritance. What folly it is, then, to build costly mansions and monuments on these sandy foundations in the desert over which we are now passing so rapidly on our way to the everlasting Zion! What folly it is to call our lands by our own names. (Psalms 49:11), and to lay up treasures here on Earth, where moth and rust are constantly corroding and corrupting. Let us all look rather to the end of our pilgrimage; and labor to enter into the everlasting rest which is now in reserve for every child of God. And let us rejoice, as did Paul, that it is better to depart and to be with Christ in those heavenly mansions.
How utterly vain are all the hopes and deceits of the hypocrite ; and with what shame and confusion of face he will stand finally before God, naked and exposed to the all-penetrating eye of him with whom we have to do (verses 11-13). Then, every refuge of lies in which he trusted will be swept away; and all the deep, dark, and hidden recesses of his whole spiritual being will be made manifest in the light of God’s countenance, by means of the living energies of that word which pierces through to the dividing asunder of the soul and of the spirit, even to the extent of their joints and their marrows! May God save us all from such an ordeal on the day of his final reckoning.
Hebrews 4:14-16
TO IN THE LIFE,
AND TO WITH THE THRONE OF
GRACE, DRAWN FROM THE EXALTED AND THE
LOVE OF JESUS, AS THE HIGH PRIEST OF
OUR
Hebrews 4:14 —Seeing then that we have a great high priest,—The main discussion of Christ’s priesthood is to be found in what follows to the close of the eighth section. (10: 18.) But in the first three sections there is enough said of him to warrant the conclusion that we have a great High Priest who has gone up through the heavens into the Holy of holies, there to appear in the prespice of God for us. And hence it is that the Apostle makes this the ground of another earnest exhortation to his Hebrew brethren to hold fast their confession.
The title high priest (hiereus megas) occurs first in Lev. 21 : 10, where it is used to designate Aaron and his successors, upon whose heads the anointing oil was poured, and who were severally consecrated to put on the holy garments. The corresponding word in the New Testament (archiereus) is used to designate (1) the High Priest proper; (2) the deputy of the High Priest; (3) anyone who had ever borne the office; and (4) the head of each of the twenty-four courses of the priesthood. (1 Chron. 24.) But here, as well as in Hebrews 2:17 Hebrews 3:1 Hebrews 5:5 Hebrews 5:10 Hebrews 6:20 Hebrews 7:26 Hebrews 8:1 Hebrews 9:11 Hebrews 9:25, it refers to Christ, who, as a Priest upon his throne (Zechariah 6:13), is ever ready to receive and bless those who come unto God by him. The adjective great (megas) is used here, not in its technical sense, as it often is, to distinguish Aaron and his successors in office from Priests of the common order, but in its proper sense to denote the real, personal, and official greatness of Christ, who, as our author shows, is superior even to the angels, as well as to Moses and all the Priests of the Old Covenant.
Hebrews 4:14 —that is passed into the heavens,—More literally, who has passed through (dieleluthota) the heavens. That is, through the aerial and sidereal heavens, on his way to the Heaven of heavens, the Most Holy Place, not made with hands; where, as a Priest, Christ offered his own blood once for all, and then sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3) ; “a minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not men” (Hebrews 8:2).
Hebrews 4:14 —Jesus the Son of God,—These words are added by way of explanation, to denote more definitely the power, glory, and dignity of our great High Priest. He is not of the house of Aaron; but he is the Son of God, by whom all things were created, and for whom all things were created; “the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person.” See notes on Hebrews 1:2-3 Hebrews 1:8.
Hebrews 4:14 —let us hold fast our profession.—Rather, our concession (homologia). See note on Hebrews 3:1. As Jesus is himself the subject of this confession (Matthew 16:16), we cannot renounce it without renouncing him also as our Savior. And to renounce Christ is to seal forever our own condemnation (Hebrews 6:4-6) : “for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Hebrews 4:15 —For we have not a high priest which can not, etc.—Our High Priest is not only great in power, glory, and majesty, having in his hands all authority in Heaven and on Earth (Matthew 28:19), but he is also full of love and compassion for us. See notes Hebrews 2:17-18.
Hebrews 4:15 —but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.—What is meant here by our Savior’s being tempted ? On this point Ebrard very justly remarks as follows: “Being tempted is, on the one hand, something different from being seduced; and, on the other hand, it is something different from mere physical suffering. He who is seduced, stands not in a purely passive relation, but with his own will acquiesces in the will of seducer; but he who is tempted, is, as such, purely passive. This, however, is not merely physical passivity; headache, as such, is no temptation. But there is a moral obligation lying upon every man, not to let himself be mastered by his natural affections, which in themselves are altogether sinless, but rather to acquire the mastery over them. . . . That a poor man loves his children, and cannot bear that they perish of hunger, is in itself a natural and sinless affection ; but let him be so placed as that, without danger of discovery, he could steal a piece of money, then that natural affection becomes to him a temptation.
Now it is quite clear that a man may in this way find himself in a situation of being tempted, without its being necessary to suppose that there is therefore an evil inclination. The poor man may be a truly honest Christian man; the temptation is there; the thought is present to his mind in all the force of a natural affection, If I were at liberty to take this gold, how I might appease the hunger of my children; but at the same time he has an immediate and lively sense of his duty, and not a breath of desire moves him to take the gold.
He knows that he dare not do this: it is a settled thing with him that he is not a thief. … So it was in reference to the temptation of Christ. He was tempted in every respect, in joy and sorrow, in fear and hope, in the most varied situations, but without sin; the being tempted was to him purely passive; purely objective.” No inclination to evil ever defiled his pure spirit. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, had no place in his affections. And hence, though tempted by the Devil through all the avenues and natural desires of the human heart, he was still “without sin.”
Hebrews 4:16 —Let us therefore, etc.—Since it is true that we have a great High Priest who has gone up through the heavens, even into the very Heaven of heavens; and since it is also true, that though so highly exalted he nevertheless sympathizes with us in all our temptations, trials, and afflictions, we should on their account all be encouraged to approach the Throne of grace with confidence. It is generally thought that the Apostle here makes allusion to the Mercy- seat, on which rested the Shekinah, the visible symbol of God’s presence in the ancient Tabernacle. And this is most likely true, if in connection with the Mercy-seat be taken also the Ark of the covenant. But it should be observed that the golden lid of the Ark is, in no part of the inspired word called a throne. Its Hebrew name is simply kapporeth, which means a lid or cover; and its Greek name is hilasterion, a propitiatory. This lid could not therefore, in any proper sense, be called by itself a throne of grace.
But the whole Ark, including the lid, was a symbol of God’s throne. (Jeremiah 3:16-17.) And hence the allusion of the Apostle here is, not merely to the Mercy-seat, but to the entire Ark, from the lid of which, sprinkled as it was with blood once every year (Leviticus 16:14-15), God was pleased to make known his gracious will to the people (Exodus 25:22). Any reference, however, to the Ark of the covenant in this connection, is merely for the sake of illustration, for there can be no doubt that by the Throne of grace is here meant the Throne of God; which in 8: 1, is called “the throne of the Majesty in the heavens”; because from it the infinitely Majestic One gives his laws and mandates to the universe.
But it is here, withequal propriety, called also “the Throne of grace”; because from it God dispenses grace, mercy, and peace, to all who come to him and ask for help in the name of Jesus. For being justified by faith, we can now, through our Lord Jesus Christ, approach God as our Father, feeling fully assured that if we ask anything according to his will, he will hear and answer us. (1 John 5:14.) See also Matthew 7:7-11; John 14:13 John 15:7 John 16:24. How very reasonable, then, is the exhortation that we should approach the Throne of grace with confidence (parresia), so that we may obtain mercy and find grace for seasonable help. That is, for such constant help as our trials and circumstances require. And hence we are encouraged to pray always; to pray without ceasing; and to be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let our requests be made known unto God. See Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17.