Hebrews 4:1. LET US THEREFORE FEAR. A stronger expression than the caution of Hebrews 3:12 (‘take heed'), and the fitting preparation for the ‘earnest labour' of chap. Hebrews 4:12. We are not to doubt the truth of the Divine promise, and the more firmly we believe it the more active shall we be in... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:1-11. TO understand the force of the reasoning of these verses, and the naturalness of the different interpretations of the Psalm which the Apostle is explaining, note that ‘ MY REST ' is primarily the rest which God enjoys (Genesis 2:2; Hebrews 4:4) or which God provides (Deuteronomy 12:9... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:2. FOR UNTO US HAS THE GOSPEL BEEN PREACHED AS WELL AS UNTO THEM, _i.e_ we both have our Gospel or glad tidings of a future rest, equally a Divine message, though given with different degrees of fulness. BUT THE WORD PREACHED; rather, the word heard (literally, of hearing), was of no use... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:3. FOR WE WHO HAVE BELIEVED ARE ENTERING INTO REST. We only are entering who believe; it is not, therefore, the rest of the Sabbath which the Jews long since possessed (Hebrews 4:4-6), nor is it, as the author goes on to say, the rest of Canaan. To strengthen the statement that it is only... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:5. IN THIS PLACE AGAIN, _i.e_ either TO QUOTE AGAIN what was said before, or the Sabbath rest which God provides, is, _on the other hand,_ shown not to be the rest spoken of in the Psalm, inasmuch as the men described have _not_ entered it.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:6 is clearly an unfinished sentence, finding its completion in Hebrews 4:9 or Hebrews 4:11. LET US THEREFORE LABOUR, etc., SEEING IT REMAINETH; rather, it still remaineth, for some to enter in to God's rest, and those who formerly heard the glad tidings of a rest entered not in because o... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:7. AGAIN. To continue the argument and to correct another misconstruction. He has already shown that the rest of God of which he here speaks is not the rest of God after creation; he now proceeds to show, by a further examination of the Psalm, that neither is it the rest of Canaan. HE LI... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:8. Clearly, therefore, the Psalm speaks of A Divine rest into which men are bidden to enter, different from the rest of Canaan, and long subsequent to it. FOR IF JOSHUA (here and in Acts 7:45, JESUS, the Greek form of Joshua, quite misleads) HAD GIVEN THEM REST had led them into the rest... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:9. THEREFORE THERE REMAINS (still unrealized in any rest that Israel then enjoyed) A SACRED REST, A SABBATH-REST (the word is now changed), FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD. The name here given, ‘THE PEOPLE OF GOD,' is the usual designation of the covenant people. It occurs again in Hebrews 11:25, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:10. FOR HE THAT IS ENTERED INTO HIS REST, HE ALSO HATH CEASED FROM HIS WORKS, JUST AS GOD RESTED FROM HIS; _i.e,_ say some (Owen, Wardlaw, Ebrard), as Christ is entered into His rest, so also are we to be conformed to Him and to share His rest. But Christ is not named in the previous conte... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:11. LET US THEREFORE begins the practical exhortation based on Hebrews 4:6, of which it is the completion. LABOUR, give diligence (as in 2 Peter 1:10), seek earnestly, strive to enter into that rest, lest any man fall and form part of the same example of disobedience or unbelief; lest thr... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:12-13 give a fresh reason for this warning. FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS QUICK (_i.e_ living) AND POWERFUL. But what is ‘the word of God'? The common Patristic interpretation refers it to the Word incarnate, the personal ‘Word' of the writings of St. John: so also Owen and many others. But that... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:13. The power of this word comes really from Him _whose it is._ More accurately, the Word of God is God Himself speaking. The writer, therefore, naturally turns from the instrument to the author. NEITHER IS THERE ANY CREATURE any created thing visible or invisible (Colossians 1:16; even,... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:14. The following verses (Hebrews 4:14-16) might begin a new paragraph, and are closely connected with the fifth chapter; but on the other hand, Hebrews 4:14 looks back to the brief statement in chap. Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 2:17, and Hebrews 3:1, and its hortatory form naturally makes it rat... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:15. For. Whatever the difficulties of our Christian life, whatever the dangers that tempt us to turn aside, whatever the dignity of our Priest, whatever the awful power of the Word of God, we have not a High Priest unable to sympathize with us in our infirmities, but on the contrary one te... [ Continue Reading ]
Hebrews 4:16. LET US THEREFORE COME NIGH a common word in this Epistle for drawing nigh to God by sacrifice, or under the Gospel through Christ (Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:1; Hebrews 11:6). St. Paul's word for a similar idea is generally different (see Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12, we ha... [ Continue Reading ]