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BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF.

[HEBREWS.

19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

tch. iv. 6.

not. And so it would be with the Hebrew Christians. They had the clearest prophecies from the lips of Christ Himself, that the city and nation to which they belonged would perish through its unbelief. They had had forty years of the preaching of the Apostles themselves, forty years of miracles, not only of miracles wrought by the Apostles, but power to perform miracles given by the Apostles. They had the Spirit of God, as St. Stephen witnessed, remonstrating with them, and yet they would not believe, and so "the wrath was come upon them to the uttermost.”

L

a

CHAP. IV.

ET us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come ach. xii. 15. short of it.

19, iv. 1. "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you," &c. This is the conclusion of what has gone before. They perished singly and individually through various sins, but they were excluded from entering into rest because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, for they are our types, our ensamples, "lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest...." The promise is not limited to the Israelites. All men whom God has called to join in the spiritual warfare have a promise that, if they will endure in the faith and love of God, they shall enter into rest. We then have a promise of rest-of a better rest than that which was promised to them. But this promise is not absolute, just as theirs was not absolute. It is conditional, and the condition is that we abide in the faith-in the faith which, while it is realized, purifies the heart, and makes our will one with God's will.

"Should seem to come short of it." Why "seem"? Should

CHAP. IV.]

NOT MIXED WITH FAITH.

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well as unto

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as them: but the word preached did not profit them, || not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

2. Not being mixed." See below.

Gr. the word

of hearing.
Or, because

they were not
united by
faith to.

we not have expected simply "come short of it "? The answer is twofold. First, we can never pronounce respecting any individual believer, that he has actually come short, because we cannot read the heart, and God may see some faith where we in our rashness pronounce that there is none. And, secondly, it is a bad thing even to seem to come short. To seem to come short is to set a bad example of holding slackly or loosely that which we should hold firmly, and adorn with our lives.

2. "For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them." "Unto us was the gospel preached.' This is a very misleading translation, for it implies that the same Gospel was preached to them as to us-i.e., the Gospel of the Incarnation, of the Life, of the Death, and of the Resurrection of the Son of God; but it was not. Their Gospel—that is, their good tidings, for that is the meaning of the term Gospel-was the possession of the land of Canaan, and prosperity in it if they were obedient: our Gospel is the promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life of body and soul in the heavenly Jerusalem. The best translation is that of the Revisers: "For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us even as they also had."

"But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith," &c. The particular reading of the word "being mixed" (σvykekρaμévos) which we adopt will considerably modify the meaning. If we adopt that of the Received Text (participle in the nominative), then it means that the word which they heard was not in them mixed with faith. The bare hearing was not sufficient, it must be received and amalgamated, as it were, by faith. And this they did not furnish.

But a very large number of authorities take "being mixed" in the accusative plural, σvykɛкpaμévovs, agreeing with “ them," and understand it as signifying "the word did not profit them since they were not mixed or united by faith with them that effectually heard it-i.e., with Joshua, Caleb, and others who had true faith."

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b ch. iii. 14.

c Ps. xcv. 11. ch. iii. 11.

WE WHICH HAVE BELIEVED.

[HEBREWS

3 For we which have believed do enter into

c

rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath,

66

Bishop Wordsworth has some admirable remarks: They ought all to have been tempered together by faith and charity, into one harmonious body, but only a few hearkened to the word-emphatically the word of hearing, because all were bound to hearken to it. The others were not tempered with them, but rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua, who did hearken unto the word (Numb. xiv. 10), 'Therefore the word spoken did not profit them.""

"No more will the word now spoken by Christ profit you, unless you comply with the conditions He requires of you. He has said, 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear' (Matth. xi. 15), and 'Take heed how ye hear' (Luke viii. 18). His word will not be profitable to you unless you are blended together in faith with those who have hearkened to Christ's word, and who believe on Him, and have been incorporated into His Church, and who dwell together as fellow-members in unity in His mystical Body, of which He has tempered all the members together as one man in Himself." 3. 66 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn," &c. In order fully to enter into the meaning of this and the following verses we must consider that the argument leads up to verse 9: "There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God." There are four or five "rests" spoken of in the Bible:

(1.) There was first the rest of God after the works of creation (Gen. ii. 2), “God rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."

(2.) There was the rest which God promised to the children of Israel after their bondage in Egypt, and after their wanderings in the wilderness. They-i.e., those that believed, and those who were under twenty years old when they came out of Egypt-were put into possession of this rest (the rest of the land of Canaan) by Joshua.

(3.) But four hundred years after Joshua had put them in possession of the rest of Canaan David was inspired to write a Psalm which treated the "rest as yet future, and capable of being forfeited, if they did not keep their hearts tender towards God, and loyal to Him. Now it will be needful to consider the question

CHAP. IV.] I HAVE SWORN IN MY WRATH.

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if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on

whether David (or the Psalmist who wrote Ps. xcv.) meant eternal blessedness alone when he applied the words, "So I sware in my wrath they shall not enter," &c. I scarcely think so, for the times which succeeded those of Joshua-the times of the Judges, of Barak, Gideon, Jephtha, Samson, Eli, Saul-could scarcely be called times of rest. They were during the greater part of these times by no means in quiet possession of their own land; and when the Ninevites carried away the ten tribes, they ceased to enjoy the rest of Canaan; and when the king of Babylon carried away Judah and Jerusalem captive, he certainly for the time put an end to the rest of the remainder of the people of God in Canaan.

(4.) But another rest is proclaimed, and by the voice of God Himself. "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of and ye shall find rest unto your souls." This rest must be insisted upon, for it is not only the earnest, but the beginning of the rest of heaven. Without having something of this rest, we cannot hope to enjoy the rest of heaven.

me

(5.) And, lastly, the writer of this Epistle asserts that the rest is yet future, when he says, "There remaineth therefore"-at this time "a rest for the people of God." We shall now examine singly verses 3 to 9.

3. "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." This must be understood thus. We who have believed do enter into rest: we now enter into a present rest, which is plain from the fact that after the works of God in creation were finished, and He had rested on the seventh day, He yet swore centuries after this that unbelievers should not enter into His rest, which most assuredly implies that believers do enter into God's rest, whatever that rest be.

4, 5. "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest "And in this place also, If they shall enter," &c. Here we have the idea repeated. In Gen. ii. 2, God

...

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SOME MUST ENTER IN.

[HEBREWS. this wise, a And God did rest the seventh day from all his

d Gen. ii. 2. Exod. xx. 11. & xxxi. 17.

e ch. iii. 19.

|| Or, the gospel was first preached.

f Ps. xcv. 7. eh. iii. 7.

That is, Joshua.

d

works.

5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

e

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom || it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8 For if || Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

is said to have rested; and, in Psalm xcv., to have sworn that unbelievers should not enter into His rest. What, then, is the rest?

6. "Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief." From this it seems that the rest must be the possession of Canaan, from which the people who disbelieved were excluded, and into which the people who obeyed were led by Joshua after all the rebels had been weeded out. But this is not so. The conclusion is not yet reached, for— 7. "Again, he limiteth "defineth a certain day' (rather, Revisers)," saying, To-day, after so long a time." This was said "in David "—that is, by one who lived some centuries after the time of Joshua; so that the conclusion mentioned in the next verse but one is absolutely certain.

8. "For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward" (after Joshua's time) "have spoken of another day "—in which if they believed they might enter into rest, and in which if they believed not they would be excluded from God's rest.

Now the times-the centuries which succeeded that of Joshuareached to the times of the Messiah, and afterwards.

During this time they had scarcely for two centuries quiet possession of their own land, and this because of their unbelief. The