A Study Of The Apostle Pauls Letter To The Hebrews

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AStudyOf TheApostlePauls LetterTo The
Hebrews
How can we neglect so greata salvation?
Hebrews 23
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Person
(11413) Superior to Prophets
(11-3) Superior to Angels (14218) Superior
to Moses (31-19) Superior to Joshua
(41-13) Superior Priest (414728) Superior to
Aaron (414612) Superior to Melchizedek
(613710) Superior to Levi (711-28)
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Hebrews Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to
Moses (811018) Superior Promises
(81-13) Superior Sanctuary (91-15) Superior
Sacrifice (916-28) Superior Results
(101-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses
(10191325) Superior Things (1019-39) Superio
r Actions (111-40) Superior Relationship
(121-29) Superior Way of Life (131-25)
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In our study of chapter 3, we examined Pauls
points concerning Jesus being superior to Moses,
not only in His office (31-2) and His ministry
(33-6), but also in His reward or rest.
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Today were going to investigate Christs reward
(His rest) a little further, bring- ing Joshua
into the picture, which means that Paul was also
teaching that Jesus is greater than Joshua who
brought the Israelites directly into the land of
rest promised to them through Abraham and Moses.
Pauls main purpose here was to warn his readers
against forfeit-ing the soon coming spiritualand
ultimately eternalreward as their forefathers
forfeited their physicaland ultimately their
eternalreward.
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to
have come short of it.
Hebrews 41 ?
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to
have come short of it.
This statement im-plies the idea of ful-fillment
i.e., Paul was saying that al-though the promise
to Moses for a phy-sical rest in Canaan is past,
the promise of our entrance into Gods rest is
yet (AD 63) to be fulfilled .
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to
have come short of it.
If we just replace the word seem with appear
(which is ac-ceptable here), this clause isnt
difficult to interpret i.e., Paul wouldve been
tact- fully saying that they needed to get busy
so they wouldnt appear outside the soon coming
king-dom of rest/peace.
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to
have come short of it.
This word means the same thing as beware in 312
speaking to Christi-ans about Jews, Paul wrote,
Because of unbelief they were broken off. So
do not be haughty, but fear (Rom. 1120).
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering
His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to
have come short of it.
Though this phrase may make us think of the many
Israel-ites who came short of the promised land,
Paul may have actu-ally had the Grecian games in
mind, be-cause the judges applied this same
phrase to the loser, no matter how close he came
to being the winner.
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For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well
as to them but the word which they heard did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in those
who heard it.
Hebrews 42 ?
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For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well
as to them but the word which they heard did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in those
who heard it.
To get a good grasp on this verse, we should note
that 1. In the original, there is no defi-
nite article (the). And 2. The word
Gospel simply means good news i.e.,
good news was proclaimed to both
groups.
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Since the context defines this good news, then we
know that Paul was writing about the physical
rest for the generation that came out of Egyptian
bondage and wilderness hardship as well as the
spiritual rest for the generation that was
then(AD 63) coming out of sins bondage and
persecution hardship.
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For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well
as to them but the word which they heard did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in those
who heard it.
This word means to unite one thing to another,
simply meaning that the good news of rest in
Canaan promised to those of Moses day didnt do
them any good. Why? ? ?
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For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well
as to them but the word which they heard did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in those
who heard it.
Because, due to dis-belief and distrust in God,
they rebelled against Him and thus failed to make
it into that rest. This teaches us that the coin
is double-sided Gods Word Our Faith Reward
(cf. Mat. 726-27).
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 43 ?
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
When verses 2b and 3a are read together, the
contrast and meaning are clear because of
unbelief those of Moses day did not enter into
rest, while because of belief
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
those of that day were entering into rest. (The
term eisep-chometha for do enter isnt only
present in its tense, its also passive, meaning
that they were being carried into this rest
i.e., at this point, Paul implied that they had
yet to enter it.)
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
By referring to this promise, Paul was saying to
them that if Gods promise against unbelievers
was fulfilled, then surely His promise to
believers would likewise be fulfilled.
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
This clause is diffi-cult to connect, but it
seems that Paul was saying that even though God
had worked all things out for the forefath-ers to
enter their rest, He still forbade entrance to
those who distrusted and disobeyed. So
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For we who have believed do enter that rest, as
He said, So I swore in My wrath, they shall not
enter My rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world.
It seems that the implication is that Hed do the
same to them i.e., no matter how much He put
into providing them this rest, if they failed to
trust and obey, they, like-wise, wouldnt be
allowed entrance!
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For He has spoken in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way And God rested on the
seventh day from all His works again in this
place They shall not enter My rest.
Hebrews 44-5 ?
23
Since Paul used an-other type from Gen. 22
here, the picture becomes a little more complex
i.e., not only do we have the Canaan-rest
typifying the Christian-rest, but we also have
the Sabbath-rest typi-fying the Christian-rest.
For He has spoken in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way And God rested on the
seventh day from all His works again in this
place They shall not enter My rest.
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For He has spoken in a certain place of the
seventh day in this way And God rested on the
seventh day from all His works again in this
place They shall not enter My rest.
Paul said this, I be-lieve, because he was
referring to the statement of David that he had
just quoted in this context twice before
(311 43).
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What exactly is My rest? I believe He-brews in
general (e.g. chap. 9) indicates that Gods rest
is the peace thats to be found only in His
presence. Those Jews who rebelled and didnt make
it through the wilderness into Canaan, also
wouldnt make it into Gods eternal presence
(with exceptions such as Moses) likewise, those
Jews who didnt make it through the tri-bulation
also didnt make it into Gods eternal kingdom of
rest peace. So, the picture we have here seems
to be this
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God worked 6 days creating. God and man had a
perfect relationship. God saw that all was good,
so He rested in that (Gen. 22, approx. 4,000
BC). Then man sinned, so God began working to
bring about mans recon-ciliation (John 517).
During that work, He (approx. 2,500 yrs. later)
established the obser-vance of the 7th day (Exo.
16) as a reminder of that previous state of rest.
At this same time, Israel was on her way to a
place of rest where she could freely worship God
keep His sabbaths (Exo. 21), all of which
pictured the time when that reconciliation would
be finally/eternally accomplished in and through
Jesusthe very One they were in danger of
abandoning.
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Since therefore it remains that some must enter
it, and those to whom it was first preached did
not enter be-cause of disobedi-ence
Hebrews 46 ?
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Since therefore it remains that some must enter
it, and those to whom it was first preached did
not enter be-cause of disobedi-ence
I think its important to note for claritys sake
that the thot of this verse concludes in verse 9
there re-mains a rest for the people of God
i.e., Since there are even now AD 63 those who
will enter Gods rest, the promise of it still
remains for the people of God. See, the thing is
?
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Since therefore it remains that some must enter
it, and those to whom it was first preached did
not enter be-cause of disobedi-ence
The rest that Gen. 2 and Exo. 16 pictured was
never fulfilled in the moonlight or starlight
ages but it would be (and was) fulfilled in the
sun-light age of Christs kingdom on Earththe
colony of Heav-en on Earth (Php. 320), thus the
Kingdom of Heaven.
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Again He desig- nates a certain day, saying in
David, Today, after such a long time, as it has
been said, Today, if you will hear His voice, do
not harden your hearts.
Hebrews 47 ?
31
Again He desig- nates a certain day, saying in
David, Today, after such a long time, as it has
been said, Today, if you will hear His voice, do
not harden your hearts.
By this word Paul was merely adding another
parentheti-cal detail, which, in this case,
refutes the objection someone may pose that the
second generation during Joshuas time did enter
the rest, fulfilling the promise.
32
Again He desig- nates a certain day, saying in
David, Today, after such a long time, as it has
been said, Today, if you will hear His voice, do
not harden your hearts.
The first clause in red means that God, through
David, 500 years after Joshua (a long time),
still had a specific rest in mind that obviously
wasnt fulfilled by Joshua. I.e., even tho David
conquered what Joshua didnt, his land still
wasnt the ultimate pro-mised land. So
33
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would
not afterward have spoken of another day.
Hebrews 48 ?
34
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would
not afterward have spoken of another day.
The obvious point here is that if the promised
rest was fulfilled by the se-cond generation of
those who left Egypt, then why did God promise it
again 500 years later? I.e., the rest wasnt
limited to the day of Moses and/or Joshuathat
rest was merely a type. So ? ? ?
35
Jesus isnt only greater than Moses who led the
people to the Canaan-rest, but Hes also greater
than Joshua who took them into it, for the rest
that Jesus (theNT Yeshua, by the way) provides
is the real thing, a far greater rest than that
of Josh-ua, a rest that isnt just found in
Heaven itself, but also in Heavens colonythe
church on Earth, for Jesus Himself said, Come to
Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and
learn from Me and you will find rest for your
souls (Mat. 1128-29). Notice a parallel ? ?
?
36
Heb. 119-16 parallel 41-11 By faith Ab-raham
sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign
country for he waited for the city whose
builder and maker is God. These many
generations of Abes de-scendants all died in
faith, not having re-ceived the promises, but
having seen them afar off were assured of them,
embraced them, and confessed they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. But now they desire a
better, that is, a heavenly coun-try. Therefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He
has prepared a city for them (cf. Luke 1328-30).
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There remains therefore a rest for the people of
God.
Hebrews 49 ?
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There remains therefore a rest for the people of
God.
Its interesting that Paul chose a differ-ent
Greek word for rest here in this verse (and in
this one only) he chose to employ the word for
sabbath-rest, a term signifying the ideal rest
that was once possessed in the be-ginning and
would be possessed again through the Christ.
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There remains therefore a rest for the people of
God.
This word here liter-ally means a keep-ing
sabbath, indicat-ing the true, spiritu-al,
eternal, heav-enly rest made pos-sible by the
restora-tion of all things. Notice ? ? ?
40
In Acts 319-21 Peter was quoted by Luke as
saying, Repent and be con-verted that your sins
may be blotted out, so that the times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was
preached to you before, whom Heaven must receive
until the times of restoration of all things,
which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began(cf. Heb. 96-15,
esp. vv. 9-10).
41
For he who has entered His rest has himself also
ceased from his works as God did from His.
Hebrews 410 ?
42
For he who has entered His rest has himself also
ceased from his works as God did from His.
This sentence would probably make more sense to
us if it read, For he who has en-tered Gods rest
has ceased from his works as God did from His.
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For he who has entered His rest has himself also
ceased from his works as God did from His.
This verse is just an illustration/proverb i.e.,
I dont believe it was meant to imply that anyone
had by AD 63 entered into this restjust that
once someone did, he would at that time
experience the rest of salvation from works, sin
(939), death (214-15).
Besides, verses 3 11 indicate that no one had
yet entered the rest under con-sideration here.
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For he who has entered His rest has himself also
ceased from his works as God did from His.
Johns thought in Rev. 1413 comes to mind here
Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now
on, for they rest from their labors, their
works follow them.
45
Let us therefore be diligent to en-ter that rest,
lest anyone fall after the same example of
disobedience.
Hebrews 411 ?
46
Let us therefore be diligent to en-ter that rest,
lest anyone fall after the same example of
disobedience.
This word means to do your best, to give it your
all (the oppo-site of drifting in 21ff) it
speaks of intensity of purpose followed by
intensity of effort toward the attain- ment of
that purpose, for rest belongs only to those who
have been busy. So ?
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Let us therefore be diligent to en-ter that rest,
lest anyone fall after the same example of
disobedience.
Paul was telling them that since theres a rest
thats worth all your effort, since so many
have failed in reaching Gods rest by their
unbelief, and since theres so much danger that
you may fail also (especially in this time of
great trial), make every effort to reach this
goal! Why? ?
48
For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
Hebrews 412 ?
49
For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
The original term for living might be bet-ter
understood if translated alive, and the original
term for powerful (where we get our word for
ener-getic) might be bet-ter understood if
translated active. So like God Himself, His Word
is always alive and active .
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
Although it doesnt come right out and describe
Gods Word as a sword here as it does in other
places, I think it is implied by the word
piercing.
51
Since Gods Word as a sword denotes the power of
judgment (cf. Rom. 134), Paul was calling
attention to the power of Gods Word to judge (as
verse 13 goes on to speak of). In 42 he told
them that the people of Moses day didnt profit
from the Word they heard because they disobeyed
it, but they still had to suffer the
conse-quences of it. However ? ? ?
52
The people Paul was writing to here still had
time to profit from that which the Word offered
in the promise of rest but, if they refused to
continue in the faith they had previously
con-fessed (31, cf. 314), they would also
suffer the consequences found in the Word,
reminiscent of Revelation 13 versus
2218-19they could choose to either be blessed
or cursed by Gods words of exhortation.
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
This clause would likely be better un-derstood to
us today if it read like this Gods Word is even
able to pierce the soul and spirit, right down to
its joints and marrow. (One can see this in an
in-depth study that we dont have time for here.)
So ? ? ?
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
This phrase appears to be a way of pic-turing for
humans the idea that Gods Word is so powerful
and sharp that He can use it to cut down into the
deep-est nooks and cran-nies of our beingsinto
the very depths of our souls.
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
Since this word is what Greek scholars call a
genitive of de-scription, and since Paul didnt
use the word from in the next clause, then I
think we need to consider altering our
traditional interpre-tation a little. I.e.
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
Paul wasnt saying that Gods Word divides one
thing from another in fact, this clause isnt to
be taken literally at all it was merely a poetic
way of say-ing No one can es-cape being known
judged (a thot begun in 21-3 here carried thru
the next verse).
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For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
The original term for discerner comes from a
Greek term which carries with it the idea of
sifting so the point is that Gods Word is able
to separate the good from the bad in both
individuals and groups.
58
For Gods Word is living powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
divid-ing of soul spirit and of joints
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
intents of the heart.
The original terms for thoughts and in-tents
refer, I believe, to the desires and plans that
are in our hearts.
59
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 413 ?
The third and last reason Paul gave for being
sure they were diligent to enter Gods rest is in
this verse ? ? ?
60
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Since judgment was given to Jesus (John 522),
and since He doesnt need to be told whats in us
(John 225), since verse 14 transitions into
Jesus, then I believe the pronoun His here refers
to Jesus, not to His Father.
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And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Keeping in mind that this was a Jew writ- ing to
Jews, it makes perfect sense that these terms or
this phrase would bring animal sacrifices to
mind. Note ? ? ?
62
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
The word naked re-calls how the sacri-ficial
animal was stripped of its skin, and the word
open recalls how its chest was ripped open, its
insides removed, its backbone sliced
length-wise down the center (all corres-ponding
to the piercing of v. 12).
63
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
After all that, they were divided into quarters
so that out-wardly and inwardly they were fully
ex-posed to the Priests view for examina-tion
(Lev. 15-6). So the point here seems to have
been that
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And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
If there were those among them who were
fence-riding, they had better pick a side and
quicklyget in or get outbe hot or be cold, for
if they didnt make up their minds soon, the Lord
was going to do it for them once and for all!
By the way ? ?
65
And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
In the next verse the high priest (the one who
did the sacri-ficing) is brought up in the person
of Jesusour last and once-for-all-time High
Priest who al-lowed Himself to be thrust through
by a Roman sword (John 1932ff), making Him
worthy of all auth-ority (Mat. 2818).
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And there is no creature hidden from His
sight,but all things are naked and open to the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
The original word for account refers to a
reckoning there was a day of reck-oning in the
near future, so Paul warned them that if they
didnt want to be part of those who Jesus would
reject and destroy, then they had better stop
drifting away!