Author

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews does not mention his name, nor does the letter itself furnish any definite clue as to his person. There is only one direct reference to the author’s person, Hebrews 10:34: “For ye had compassion of me in my bonds,” but this will hardly serve for more than a general conjecture. Among the men that have been named as the probable writers of this letter is the Apostle Paul, this view being held by a great many commentators, both ancient and modern, chiefly on account of the close of the epistle, which seems to agree with other writings of Paul, Hebrews 13:18-25, as well as on account of the style and language; then also Apollos, Barnabas, Luke, Silvanus, Timothy, and others. From the choice of language and from the form of presentation it seems evident that the author was a pupil and close companion of St. Paul, who had learned to express the doctrine which he taught in such excellent Greek, in the style of the great apostle himself, probably at the suggestion and under the direction of Paul. The contents of the letter, at any rate, are strongly Pauline in character, and the doctrine of justification through the merits of Jesus Christ alone is emphasized throughout.

Recipients

The letter was addressed to the Hebrews, to the Christians of Jewish extraction, many of whom may have been converted to the true Messiah as adults, and were therefore still thoroughly familiar with the Jewish form of worship. Undoubtedly, the letter was originally intended for the Jewish Christians of Palestine, specifically of Jerusalem, because the Temple service is described as going on before the eyes of the readers. “Moreover, it was in Palestine that the temptations to relapse into Judaism, against which the writer is so anxious to guard his readers, were most formidable. The sacerdotal splendor of the ancient sanctuary threw into the shade the simple forms of Christian worship; and the flames of patriotic zeal burned more fiercely in the Holy Land than among the Jews of the Dispersion.”

Context

“The purpose of the writer of the epistle is apparently to encourage and admonish the Jewish Christians to persevere in the profession of their faith. They were in great danger of falling away from Christianity and relapsing into Judaism, Hebrews 6:4-6. One of the sources of danger was the splendor of the ancient Jewish worship. Another peril lurked in this, that they were being persecuted by their countrymen and had suffered the spoiling of their goods on account of their belief in Christ. Perhaps some had already gone back to Judaism, while others were ready to return, Hebrews 10:25. To prevent further apostasy this letter was written. Its one idea is to restrain Hebrew Christians from abandoning their new faith. To accomplish this purpose, it is pointed out that Christianity is in every way superior to Judaism with all its pomp and ceremony.”

Date

The letter was certainly written before the year 70 A.D., since there is no reference to the destruction of the Temple nor even of a danger threatening Jerusalem, although such a fact would have fitted in eminently well with the argument of the author as to the temporary character of the Jewish worship. On the contrary, the writer repeatedly refers to the Temple as still being in existence and the Temple worship as going on without the slightest hindrance. It seems safest to assume that the letter was written some time in the middle sixties of the first century, either from Rome or from Alexandria.

Contents

The object of the writer being to make an exposition of the superiority of the Christian religion over the Jewish worship, he divides his letter into two parts, the first of which pictures Christ as the Mediator of revelation, the second as the Mediator of the redemption, always by comparison with the Old Testament type. Without any specific introduction the author offers his proof for the fact that the revelation by the Son came in the fulness of time, after the Old Testament prophecy had ceased. The divine majesty of the Son of God, which far exceeds that of all created beings, even that of the angels, obliges every believer to be obedient to His Word. The facts of Christ’s humiliation, even His death on the cross, in no way rob Him of the glory due Him; for all this was done for the fulfilment of the work of salvation. Incidentally, Christ is exalted far above Moses; for the latter was merely a servant in the house of God, but Christ is the Master of the Christian Church, and, as the true Joshua, will lead His people to the promised rest of God. Christ is also more and better than the high priests of the Old Testament, for He had no sin of His own to atone for, becoming a high priest after the order of Melchizedek through the sacrifice of a perfect obedience. After an earnest admonition to accept this teaching and to guard against apostasy, Christ’s office of high priest is described at length. He is the perfect High Priest, in whom all the priestly types of the Old Testament have found their fulfilment. He is the Mediator of a better covenant than that of the Jews, who was not obliged to sacrifice the blood of animals, but by the offering of His own blood earned a perfect redemption for all. Upon the basis of this doctrinal exposition the author rests his admonition that his readers should be faithful to their High Priest Jesus, not permitting themselves to backslide from the accepted truth, a fact which would call forth the angry judgment and condemnation of God. As a great aid to steadfastness in faith the example of the Old Testament heroes might serve, but above all the remembrance of Christ, who was exalted to the throne of God by way of bitter suffering and death, and of God, in whose hand every form of suffering is but a profitable chastisement. These considerations should inspire new courage in the readers, cause them to put away all that is impure, and prove themselves the true people of the covenant of God. In conclusion, there are individual admonitions to grow in the various Christian virtues, reports on personal matters, greetings, and the apostolic benediction.

Antilegomena

Hitherto we have had the right certain chief books of the New Testament.

The four following [Hebrews, James, Jude, Revelation] had, in ancient times, a different reputation. In the first place, that this Epistle is not St. Paul’s, nor any other apostle’s is proved by the fact that it says, in Hebrews 2:3, that this doctrine has come to us and remains among us through those who themselves heard it from the Lord. Thus it is clear that he speaks of the apostles as a disciple to whom this doctrine has come from the apostles, perhaps long after them.

For St. Paul, in Galatians 1:1, testifies mightily that he has his Gospel from no man, neither through men, but from God Himself.

Again, there is a hard knot in the fact that in chapters 6 and 10 it flatly denies and forbids to sinners repentance after baptism, and in Hebrews 12:17, it says that Esau sought repentance and did not find it. This seems, as it stands, to be against all the Gospels and St. Paul’s epistles; and although one might make a gloss on it, the words are so clear that I do not know whether that would be sufficient. My opinion is that it is an epistle of many pieces put together, and it does not deal with any one subject in an orderly way.

However that may be, it is a marvelously fine epistle. It discusses Christ’s priesthood masterfully and thoroughly, out of the Scriptures, and interprets the Old Testament finely and richly. Thus it is plain that it is the work of an able and learned man, who was a disciple of the apostles, learned much from them, and was greatly experienced in faith and practiced in the Scriptures. And although, as he himself testifies in Hebrews 6:1, he does not lay the foundation of faith, which is the work of an apostle, nevertheless he does build finely thereon gold, silver, precious stones, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:12. Therefore we should not be hindered, even though wood, straw or hay be mixed in with them, but accept this fine teaching with all honor; though to be sure, we cannot put it on the same level with the apostolic epistles.

Who wrote it is not known, and will not be known for a while; it makes no difference. We should be satisfied with the doctrine that he bases so constantly on the Scriptures, showing a right fine grasp upon the reading of the Scriptures and the proper way to deal with them.

Lutheran Study Bible note

“In Luther’s preface to Hebrews, he reflects some of the historic concerns raised about the Book, which was not at first universally received as an apostolic Letter or as a Book of Holy Scripture. Though Luther notes the Book’s “hard knots” and “straw” weaknesses, he elsewhere cites Hebrews as authoritative teaching (e.g., Luther’s Works Volume 2, page 393; Volume 4, pages 405–409; Volume 37, page 293). He sees the Holy Spirit bearing witness through the Book (Luther’s Works Volume 2, page 387; Volume 20, page 292) and refers to it as “Holy Scripture” (Luther’s Works Volume 41, page 19; see also the Small Catechism, Table of Duties, and Luther’s Works Volume 2, page 294). The Lutheran Confessions cite Hebrews as God’s Word alongside other texts of Holy Scripture (e.g., Formula of Concord: Epitome, 1:5).”

Verses 1-14

The superiority of Christ over the angels

The perfect revelation of God in Christ:

These introductory words set forth the fundamental thought of the entire letter, the supreme article of faith and of the divinity of Christ, as Luther writes, not only on the basis of one fact, but from a large number of facts concerning both the person and the work of Jesus. In stately grandeur the letter opens: In many parts and in many ways God long ago, having spoken to our fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days spoke also to us in His Son. In many ways God spoke of old: He did not give the revelation of the salvation to come at one time and in its entirety, but piecemeal, bit by bit, now showing one fact concerning the coming Messiah and now another, revealing first the fact that He would be born of a woman, then that He would be of the seed of Abraham, then that Judah was to be His progenitor, then that He was to be a son of David; at other times picturing His office in His deepest humiliation, then again in the highest triumph of His exaltation. In many ways God spoke of old: sometimes by the institution of a rite or sacrifice, sometimes by parable, sometimes in a psalm, sometimes in a dream or vision. Thus God spoke to the Jews of old, in the times of long ago. But that was not His final speech and revelation. The perfect revelation, the clear statement of His good and gracious will toward mankind, so far as it is possible for men to know and understand it by the Spirit of God, came at last, at the end of the days or age of prophecy, in the fulness of time. The revelation made in and by Jesus Christ represents the last time and the final manner in which God chooses to speak to us before the Day of Judgment. To us He has spoken who belong to these days, to the Christian dispensation, the subject of the great final revelation being His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who Himself has made known to us the Father and the Father’s counsel of love.

Of this Son, Jesus Christ, the inspired writer gives a marvelous description: Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, through whom He also made the worlds. It should be noted here, as Luther remarks, that everything that is said of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation must be ascribed to the man, for the divine nature can be neither humiliated nor exalted. The man Jesus Christ, the Son of God according to His human nature, has been appointed by God the Heir of all things. It was God’s will that Christ, also according to His humanity, should be Lord over all, and that all created things, the entire universe, should be subject to Him and be laid at His feet, Psalm 2:8; Psalm 8:6; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Philippians 2:9-11. For as the Son of God, also after His incarnation, He is the rightful Heir of the eternal God. That is one proof for the deity of Christ. But this is supplemented by the statement that God made the worlds through Him, created all the parts of the universe as we know it through His almighty power, John 1:3; Colossians 1:16. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, distinct from the Father as to person, is nevertheless one with Him in essence, Himself the Creator of the world.

But the miracles are not yet exhausted: He, being the splendor of His glory and the express image of His nature, bearing everything by the word of His power, having accomplished the purification of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Christ is the splendor, the effulgence of God’s glory, just as when light-rays come out from a luminous body and form a similar light-body themselves, without, however, diminishing the brightness and power of the original light. It is God’s glory, the resplendent beauty of His majesty, the wonderful essence of God Himself, which the Son reveals. But he that is familiar with the essence of God to such an extent must Himself have penetrated into the innermost mysteries of the divine essence and be true God Himself. He is also an exact impression, the express image of the divine essence and nature, His every quality and attribute identifying Him as true God with the Father. There is in the Father nothing which is not reproduced in the Son; the two persons are identical in essence. Therefore it is also said of Jesus that He bears, upholds, all things by the word of His power. Not only the creation, but also the preservation and government of the world, providence, is ascribed to Him, Colossians 1:17. This function was discharged by Him even during His life on earth; He never ceased to exercise the rights and privileges of King in the Kingdom of Power. More important, however, in the eyes of the believers is the fact that He has also accomplished the purification of our sins by offering Himself as the adequate sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the whole world, Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 5:19, and that His work of reconciliation has been received by the Father, in token of which the Son has been admitted, also according to His human nature, into the full and equal possession of the divine essence and the discharge of its functions, since He sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God the Father, assuming for Himself the sovereign majesty inherent in God, Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:20-22. Christ now exercises the fulness of the divine power and honor, universal dominion over all created beings, also according to His human nature. We have here, then, another proof for the deity of Jesus Christ.

A comparison between Christ and the angels:

Having begun with the object of establishing the superiority of Christ over all created beings in the entire universe, the sacred writer takes occasion to show, first of all, the immeasurable excellence of our Lord when compared with the finest of all creatures, with the good angels: Having become so much superior to the angels as He has obtained (by inheritance) a more excellent name than they. The divine excellence of Christ’s exalted position corresponds to the superiority of the names which are applied to Him in Scriptures, the latter indicating at once that a real comparison between the divine Christ and the created angels is not to be thought of, since Jesus belongs in a class all by Himself.

The statement as to the divine names given to Christ the author now corroborates by a reference to Scriptures: For to which of the angels did God ever say, My Son art Thou; this day have I begotten Thee? And again, I shall be to Him for a Father, and He shall be to Me for a Son? The words of Psalm 2:7 are a part of a Messianic prophecy, and are therefore addressed, not to any angel, but to the eternal Son of God, whose incarnation in no manner changed His divine essence. The Messiah Himself, prophesying of the days of the coming dispensation, asserts that the Father applied these words to Him. The words of the second passage quoted are not to be referred, as Luther shows, to 1 Chronicles 22:10, but to 2 Samuel 7:14, where God Himself, in speaking to David, gives him the promise that his great Descendant, whose kingdom would be established forever, would be the Messiah Himself. The Son of God, however, begotten out of the essence of the Father from eternity, is Himself true and eternal God. Cp. Matthew 4:17; Matthew 17:5; John 5:17-39.

But not only the divine names ascribed to Christ in Scripture establish the fact of His deity and therefore His immeasurable superiority over the angels, but also the fact that the latter are directly commanded to give honor and homage to Him as that due to God Himself: And again, when He introduces the First-born into the world, He says, And let all the angels of God worship Him. The Greek text may also be rendered: But when He brings again the First-born into the world. The title “Son” is reserved for Jesus the Messiah, as the writer has shown, and this Son, the First-born of the Father, the angels of God are to worship. The time to which he refers, when Christ was introduced to the habitable world, or will be introduced to the inhabitants of the world for the second time, is either that of the resurrection of Christ, or, more probably, that of Christ’s second advent, His coming to Judgment. With regard to this event the sacred writer quotes an Old Testament prophecy, not that of Deuteronomy 32:43, but of Psalm 97:7, where the majesty of the exalted Christ is pictured. All the angels of God, who are in this instance called gods in the Hebrew text, as being creatures of great power and authority, should nevertheless bow down in worship before Him; surely an overwhelming proof of His deity.

The same fact is brought out by the inspired author by means of a second comparison: With regard to the angels indeed He says, Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers flames of fire; but with regard to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; for that reason God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of gladness beyond Thy comrades. The angels indeed are messengers and servants of God; He uses them to produce unusual disturbances in nature; they are present in storms and lightnings, whether these are sent as righteous judgments and punishments of God or merely as indications of His almighty power, John 5:4 ^■901 ; 2 Samuel 24:16-17; Psalm 78:48. The characteristic functions of the angels, according to the passage referred to, Psalm 104:4, consist in serving the Lord, and their form and appearance at such a time depend upon the will of their Master. In the great majority of cases, undoubtedly, the angels carry out their work in their proper, invisible nature; but the Lord often has a reason for making them visible, as men, as lightnings, and in other forms spoken of in Scripture. Powerful and mighty the angels were, as many examples illustrate, and yet they were only servants of God, whose rights and powers were strictly circumscribed, since they are dependent entirely upon their Master above.

In contrast to these qualities those ascribed to the Son stand out all the more prominently. The passage to which the sacred writer has reference is Psalm 45:6-7. There the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is addressed in words which fully describe His majesty and power as true God with the Father. As true God, His throne is one that is established to the age of the age, to all eternity. The conception of eternity is here brought out in the strongest possible way, the author ascribing to Jesus Christ the divine quality of eternity. Having a throne, being entrusted with a rule, the Messiah wields a scepter of uprightness; all His judgments are right and just. It is characteristic of Him, therefore, that He has loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, both qualities fitting Him to be the Ruler of the universe. Whether the scene described is that of a wedding-feast or of the coronation of a king, it is clear, at least, that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is said to have been anointed with the oil of rejoicing beyond His companions or fellows. The prophets, priests, and kings of the Old Testament were indeed also anointed, but only with perishable oil and for a short term of service. But the Messiah was anointed by the almighty God Himself with the oil of gladness and rejoicing, with the gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit, which are ever intended to bring true and lasting happiness to the hearts of all believers, here in time and hereafter in eternity. Jesus is the true Prophet, High Priest, and King, to whom all the types and examples of the Old Testament point forward.

And still another passage is quoted in support of the deity of Christ: Thou, O Lord, from the beginning didst found the earth, and works of Thy hands are the heavens; they will perish, but Thou wilt endure, and all as a garment will grow old, and like a mantle Thou wilt roll them up, and they will be changed. Thou, however, art the same, and Thy years have no end. Even in Old Testament times the psalm from which this passage was taken, Psalm 102:12, was considered a prophecy concerning the Messiah, and here the sacred writer substantiates this view by applying the words to Christ. It is Christ who, with the Father, created the world, laying the foundations of the earth; He made also the heavens and put them in their place. And He, the almighty and eternal Creator, will remain, even when the heavens and all creatures become old and perish, when the heavens will be dissolved in fire, and the elements melt with fervent heat, 2 Peter 3:12-13. They will be rolled together and exchanged like a dress, a veil, or a mantle, and the old heavens and the old earth will be known no more. Only He, true God from eternity and to eternity, remains unchanged, and His years will never come to an end. Jesus Christ is not, like the angels, a mere servant of God; neither are His kingdom, office, power, and glory circumscribed, evanescent, temporary, as the works of the angels are: everlasting, all-powerful, unchangeable He stands, elevated above all the petty things of this world, true God forever.

And still another verse of Scripture the inspired author quotes: But to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at My right hand, till I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet? These words God addressed in the prophecy to the Messiah, Psalm 110:1, Jesus Himself using the argument against the Pharisees, Matthew 22:41-46. Cp. Acts 2:34-36; 1 Corinthians 15:25. The sitting at the right hand of God is described explicitly in Ephesians 1:20-23, and there also plainly ascribed to Jesus Christ in His state of exaltation. The final complete supremacy of Christ was prophesied of old and is being fulfilled at this time, in His person, not in that of any angel. The status of the latter, as compared with that of Jesus, is briefly and clearly described: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth for the sake (in behalf) of those who are to obtain salvation? The angels are ministers; they render services to God and to men; they are used by God especially in behalf of those that are to inherit salvation, the believers in Christ. That is the destiny of those that place their trust in Jesus as their Savior, the inheritance of the blessings of heaven. And that is one of their distinctions, that they have the angels, the spirits of light, as their servants under the direction of God. It is a thought which is often overlooked by us, but which should be a source of great comfort to us at all times. At the same time, however, this position and state of service, which the angels occupy, is a definite and unassailable proof for the superiority of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, true God with the Father and the Holy Ghost ^■902 .

Summary

The author shows that the perfect revelation of the ages was made in the person of Jesus Christ, true God and man, who is immensely superior to the angels, mighty spirits though they are, substantiating his arguments with many passages from the Old Testament.

Verses 1-13

The need of cheerful obedience to Christ

The excellence of the Gospel-message:

The writer, in the first chapter, has proved the superiority of the Son to the angels, showing Him to be the eternal and almighty Creator of the universe, equal in majesty and glory with God the Father Himself. From these facts he now deduces a warning with regard to the neglect of the salvation as proclaimed by the Lord Himself and attested by God in various miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost: For this reason it is necessary that we attend more closely to the words which we have heard, lest perhaps we drift away. Instead of naming the Gospel outright, he circumscribes the term, reminding his readers of the things that they had heard, of the great salvation preached by the Lord Himself and carried out into the world by the apostles and evangelists. It is not the writer’s purpose to bring forward new truths, but to have all men keep those that have been proclaimed by the servants of God from the beginning. For all believers are under obligation to pay the most careful attention to these words, to heed them with all eagerness. For if by any chance we let the words slip away from us, if we drift away from them, we shall be without a hold in life, like the clouds and waves that are driven to and fro by every wind. It is absolutely necessary that we, by the power of God, keep a firm hold on the Gospel and on the salvation which is offered in the Gospel, Philippians 2:12.

This warning the sacred writer enforces by a comparison between the word of the Law and the preaching of the Gospel: For if the word spoken through angels proved certain, and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? The Law was given to the children of Israel by the disposition of angels, Acts 7:53, the Lord employing these servants to make known His will to men amid the thunderings, lightnings, and quakings of Mount Sinai. This word of the Law, moreover, held good, it proved certain and sure, it was God’s will that it be kept by His people. In token of this it was by His judgment that every transgression of His holy Law and every wilful going aside and neglect, every disobedience, met with due punishment, with that reward which justice demanded. Both the refusal to heed a positive command and the neglect to obey were treated by the Lord with the same stern vengeance. But if this was the case with that doctrine whose chief function was preparatory, whose character was transitory, what chances have we to escape the wrath of God and the final judgment, to whom God has spoken through the Son, who have the full revelation of the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus in the Word of the Gospel? If we should neglect that great and wonderful salvation which was made known to us, the wonderful news of our redemption in Christ, if we should deliberately set aside and despise what we know to be the one way to heaven, there would be no excuse for us when the Lord calls us to account on the last day.

This news of salvation is further described: Which was originally spoken by the Lord, and certified to us by them that heard Him, God at the same time being their witness, through signs as well as wonders and various powers and distributions of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. The inspired author is addressing people that had not seen the Lord Jesus in person, but had received the glorious Gospel-news from the mouth of such as had been fortunate enough to hear Him as He taught the way to everlasting happiness and glory. These men, the apostles and evangelists, had certified to the truth of the message which they proclaimed; they had given the most undoubted assurance of the veracity and importance of the Gospel. They had, moreover, been given such testimony in corroboration of their preaching that the assent of all men was almost demanded; for God Himself had testified in their behalf, had substantiated their claims by signs and wonders and various powers, Mark 16:20. The miracles which the apostles performed were a proof of the presence of God, they calling attention to the power of God which was active through these men. And not only did the Lord confirm the preaching of His servants by such miracles as evidently set aside the course and the laws of nature, but also with such peculiar distributions and gifts of the Holy Ghost, Romans 12:3; 1 Corinthians 7:17, as gave undeniable proof of the presence of God in them. All these cases of the miraculous confirmation of the Gospel-message took place according to God’s own will, as He found it necessary to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel, Ephesians 4:7 ^■903 ; 1 Corinthians 12:11. Thus the sacred writer spoke to the Jewish Christians that were in danger of neglecting the blessed Gospel of Christ for the sake of the Law, whose subsidiary position was apparent from every angle. Cp. 2 Corinthians 3:7-16.

A further argument for the superiority of Christ’s word:

In addition to the first proof for the superiority of Christ and of His Gospel the inspired writer now brings another reason: For not to the angels did He subject the world to come, concerning which we speak. This is the proof positive for the sovereignty of the Son, the fact that the government and the administration of the world to come, of the Kingdom of Glory, is ascribed to Him. For God did not place this wonderful kingdom into the control of the angels; there is not a single passage in Scriptures nor any other evidence to that effect.

What we must believe with regard to the Kingdom of Grace and Glory and its government is plainly shown in the passage which the sacred writer quotes, Psalm 8:4-6, as the testimony of one, namely, David the prophet, concerning the facts here discussed by him: What is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the Son of Man that Thou visitest Him? For a little while Thou hast made Him lower than the angels; with glory and honor hast Thou crowned Him and didst set Him over the works of Thy hands; Thou didst put all things in subjection under His feet. The author here clearly states that Psalm 8 is a Messianic psalm, and that these words are spoken of Jesus Christ. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22. God truly was mindful of this Son of Man in a most extraordinary manner, for the good of all mankind; He visited Him in a way which resulted in the salvation of all men. It is true indeed that Christ, in His state of humiliation, was for a little while inferior to the angels, just as He had no form or comeliness among men, Isaiah 53:2. But when the work of redemption was completed, God crowned the formerly despised Jesus with divine honor and glory; He exalted Him, according to His human nature, to the full possession and enjoyment of all the divine attributes and powers, giving Him unlimited authority over all the works of creation, over all created beings. The entire universe, with all that it contains, is lying in subjection under His feet.

The writer now draws a conclusion from this Scripture-passage: For in this, that He put all things in subjection under Him, He left nothing that was not subjected under Him. It follows, of course, that even the angels are subject to Christ, that they can in no way compare with Him in power and authority. Ephesians 1:21-22; Colossians 2:10. It is true, indeed: But now we do not see yet that all things are subjected to Him, 1 Corinthians 15:24-27; the revelation of the fulness of Christ’s divine power, just as He told the Jews in the court of Caiaphas, is a thing of the future: it will appear before the eyes of all men on the last day. In the mean time, however, our faith has a certain basis: Him who, for a little while, was lower than the angels we see, Jesus, on account of His suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for every man. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His state of humiliation, took upon Himself the sufferings of mankind and finally laid down His life in death. In this way the grace of God was revealed to mankind, since it was in behalf of every single human being and for the sake of earning a complete salvation for all men that Christ tasted the bitterness of death, Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:21. This perfect obedience of the Redeemer has now been recognized and rewarded by the award of divine and everlasting glory and honor, Philippians 2:6-11; Ephesians 1:20-23; Matthew 28:18. It is equally certain that it will finally be shown that God put everything in subjection under His feet. If we wish to leave the order of the clauses in the sentence unchanged and think of the revelation of divine glory that came to Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, the explanation is almost equally simple: “He was made a little lower than the angels that He might suffer death; but He was crowned with glory and honor that this very death might bring all men to the glory of supremacy which was theirs when the fear of death was removed.” ^■904 .

The humiliation of the Son justified:

It was to be expected that human reason might register an objection at this point, not understanding the necessity for such a humiliation, for Christ’s suffering and death. But the answer is plain: For it behooved Him, on whose account all things exist and through whom all things came into being, as One who brought many sons to glory, to make perfect the Prince of their salvation through sufferings. The way may seem strange to natural man, a stumbling-block to the Jews and an offense to the Greeks, but that is the way which God, for whom and by whom the universe exists and is preserved, chose in His wisdom. It was a way which fitted well with the essence and attributes of the great God, the Creator and Preserver of all things in heaven and earth, of Him who is Love and whose grace had already, in the time before Christ, led many simple believers to the blessing of eternal glory. It was proper that this God of our salvation should perfect, complete, glorify Jesus Christ, the Prince of our salvation, the man who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12:2, by way of suffering and death. Christ’s work would never have reached that perfection which made its blessings available for all men, if it had not been carried out in the manner described in the Gospel.

The next verses contain a proof for this: For He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of One; for which reason He also is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the Church I will sing hymns to Thee; and again, I will put My trust in Him; and again, Behold, I and the children which God gave Me. He that sanctifies, Jesus Christ, and they that are sanctified, consecrated to God, the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, are all of One, of the one Father above, John 20:17. And the Lord Jesus is not ashamed to acknowledge this kinship and live up to the obligations which it imposes. He did this even in the prophecy of the Old Testament, as when He called the believers His brethren, Psalm 22:22, or when He spoke as a member of the congregation of believers, expressing their and His common faith in God, Psalm 18:2; Isaiah 12:2, or when He stepped before God in His character of Advocate for His brethren, referring to them as the children whom the Lord had given Him, Isaiah 8:18. This conduct of Christ shows why it was altogether fitting and right for God to choose the way of salvation through His blood as the way to heaven for all men. This idea is now made the subject of a special paragraph.

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Verses 14-18

The deliverance effected by Christ

This paragraph is closely connected in thought with the preceding argument, since it concludes the proof for the necessity of Christ’s vicarious work. It was as brethren that Christ acknowledged the believers, even in the Messianic prophecy. In connection with that thought the author argues: Since, then, the children share blood and flesh, He Himself likewise has become partaker of them, that through death He might put out of commission him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and liberate these that through fear of death throughout their entire life were subject to bondage. The brotherhood of Christ with men included incarnation and death. The children, the human brethren with whom the Son of God was willing to identify Himself according to the eternal counsel of love, were subject to the conditions brought about by their possession of flesh and blood; and their nature being impregnated with sin, they were all doomed to dissolution and death. Christ’s object, however, being that of saving men from the certain doom which awaited them, He, in a similar manner, that is, with the exception of sin, took upon Himself, joined to His divine nature, the flesh and blood of a true human nature: by His incarnation He became a true man according to body and soul. In this way the possibility was brought about for Christ to put the devil, who had the power over death, out of commission, to crush him, to render him powerless. This Christ did through His own death; by laying down His life as the price of ransom for the transgressions of the whole world, He destroyed the power of the devil. Thus did He liberate and release from their terrible slavery all men, who had been kept in bondage, held firmly chained during their entire earthly life through their fear of death. We have here, on the one hand, a picture of the natural lot and condition of all men. They are kept in the most miserable and shameful bondage by Satan. By bringing sins to the remembrance of the people, by appearing as the constant accuser of all men, he creates in them the fear of the punishment of death. Without the certainty of Christ’s redemption, this servility and fear is found in every man’s heart by nature. And he that knows nothing of Christ’s atoning death or will not accept the fact of his redemption through the blood of Jesus, has only one fate to look forward to, namely, that of everlasting damnation, in an endless, horrible death. But on the other hand, there is here a picture of wonderful beauty and comfort. For he that looks upon Christ in true faith, as his Redeemer, knows that the power of the devil is broken, and that death, formerly the strongest weapon in the hands of Satan to intimidate men and keep them in his power, has lost its terrors. We are liberated, released, redeemed through the atoning work of our Substitute, Jesus Christ. That is the meaning of Christ’s career so far as we are concerned. This redemption was possible on account of the fact that the Son of God, while still in the bosom of the Father, became our flesh and blood. As one commentator has it: “To Him who in His sinlessness experienced every weakness of mortality, without diminution of His unbroken strength of fellowship with God, death is not the dreaded sign of separation from God’s grace, but a step in His divinely appointed career; not something inflicted on Him against His will, but a means whereby He consciously and designedly accomplishes His vocation as Savior.” ^■654 .

So the humiliation of Christ, including even the climax of His ignominious death on the cross, were fully justified by the demands of the situation. It is evident, then, what the writer further remarks: For it is assuredly not angels whom He rescues, but it is the offspring of Abraham. Neither the good angels, being sinless and spiritual beings, nor the evil angels, being spiritual beings beyond reclaim, are included in the redemption of flesh and blood as carried out by Christ. Since the letter is addressed to Jewish Christians, the writer speaks of the descendants of Abraham, as he would otherwise designate all men. Cp. Romans 15:4-12. By undertaking and carrying out the work of redemption as He did, Christ brought everlasting help and salvation to all mankind.

The inspired writer therefore summarizes: Whence in all things it behooved Him to resemble His brethren that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things concerning God, in order to propitiate the sins of the people; for wherein He Himself suffered, being tempted, He is able to come to the assistance of those that are tempted. Because God’s counsel of love went over all men, because it was Christ’s intention to bring salvation to all without exception, therefore it was necessary for Him to become similar to His brethren, to become a true man, resembling His brethren in every single respect but this, that He was sinless. Being a true man, possessed of flesh and blood like all other men in the world, Christ could enter into the right understanding of human misery and weakness; He could become a truly merciful and faithful High Priest in all things that had to be brought before the Lord; He could make propitiation for the sins of all people. Just as the high priest of the Old Testament brought the offering of the great Day of Atonement in the name and in behalf of all the people in the entire nation, so Jesus made one sacrifice which effected a perfect, an everlasting atonement for the sins of all men till the end of time. For because He Himself suffered, bearing in His own body the suffering and the curse of all men’s sins, because He was obliged, above all, to suffer the temptations of Satan, not only in the wilderness, but in all the schemes of the hostile Jews, and especially in His last great Passion, therefore the assistance which He can render us, His brethren, is not a perfunctory and forced help, but a willing and loving service. No matter how great the temptations may be that assail us, our unfailing comfort consists in the fact that Christ, our High Priest, is now also our Advocate with the Father, urging in the face of eternal Justice the fact that He is the Propitiation for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2:1-2. Thus the sacred writer has shown that it was indeed fitting for God to make His Son a sacrifice in this manner, that He chose the only way by which redemption could be brought to the world lost in sin.

Summary

The inspired author, continuing his argument concerning the sovereignty of Christ over all creatures including the angels, emphasizes the need of cheerful obedience to the Lord, incidentally showing that the way of salvation which God’s counsel of love decided upon was the only feasible plan.

Verses 1-19

The superiority of Christ over Moses

Christ compared with Moses:

Having shown the superiority of Christ over the angels, the sacred writer proceeds to strengthen the allegiance of his readers in presenting Christ as the final Mediator. The angels, although the mediators of God in the disposition of the Law and of great power in the forces of nature, yet could not compare with the Lord of the angels. The same is now proved in regard to the earthly mediator of the Law: Wherefore, holy brethren, associates of the heavenly calling, mark well the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was in His whole house. The inspired author here apparently goes back to the first statement of his letter, concerning the fact that God spoke His final and saving word through His Son Jesus Christ. This the readers should mark well, for which reason they are tenderly urged and encouraged by the name “holy brethren” which the writer applies to them. All Christians are holy, sanctified, consecrated to God by virtue of the faith which was kindled in their hearts. By reason of this fact also they are companions of the writer, associates with him in the heavenly calling. Through the call of God in the Gospel they have actually secured a participation in all the heavenly treasures and blessings, Colossians 1:5. This being the case, the readers are also in a position to look upon Christ in a proper manner, to realize the scope of His office, to understand the greatness of His dignity, at least in a measure. For He was truly made and appointed by God as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. He was sent forth by God with the message of our salvation, He was appointed to be our High Priest and Sacrifice at and on the altar of the cross. This we, who believe, freely and gladly confess and praise. The special qualification of Jesus for this important office, to which we and all believers should direct our careful attention, is His faithfulness or trustworthiness. It was the faithfulness of the Son to the obedience of the Father. Moses indeed was also faithful in God’s house, in the congregation of the believers of the Old Testament, in the Lord’s Church. This testimony God Himself gave him while he was yet living, Numbers 12:7. Even here the structure of the sentence, if not the words themselves, indicates that the faithfulness of Moses cannot truly compare with that of Christ.

This idea is more fully substantiated by the writer: For of greater glory than Moses has this Man been deemed worthy by as much as he that erects a house is greater than the house. For every house is erected by some one, but He that establishes all things is God. With emphasis the writer says “this Man,” since he is referring to that great God and man in one person, who assumed a true human nature in order to gain salvation for the whole world. He has been adjudged of God worthy of greater glory than Moses, the greater glory being seen in the more important place occupied by Him in the fulfilment of God’s purpose of salvation. So far as the worth and the dignity of Christ and Moses, respectively, are concerned, there is the same difference of degree as in the case of a man that erects and prepares a house for occupancy and the house itself. The man that plans a house, builds it, and equips it with all the paraphernalia necessary for a well-conducted household is greater than the household in its condition in the house. But He that builds, prepares, and equips the house of God, the Church in all its fulness, is Jesus Christ, who is thus identified with the Builder of the house of the Church, with God Himself, while Moses is considered only a part of the household. In the form of a proverb the author adds that every house naturally has some one that plans the building and the equipment, Jesus Christ in this case being the Builder of the structure of the Church. God, however, being the Author and Creator of all things, it follows that Christ is on a level with God and worthy of much more honor than Moses.

The argument is continued in the next verses: And Moses indeed was faithful in His entire house as an attendant, to a testimony of the things that would be spoken of, but Christ is as a Son over His house, whose house are we, if we shall have held fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end. This is not an unwilling concession, but a willing praise of Moses. He was faithful in every department of God’s house, in every branch of his difficult ministry. But he was, after all, only in the house of God, only in the congregation of the believers, as an attendant upon holy things, as a servant of God. So far as the people, the children of Israel, were concerned, the fact that God Himself had testified to the faithfulness of Moses was the guarantee also of the trustworthiness of the report and message which he gave of what the Lord had spoken to him on the mountain. The Law, as he preached it, was indeed the Word of God, and as such served a very definite purpose in the Church of the Old Testament. But Christ is more. As the Son of God, He is over the house, He is the Lord of the structure of the Church, to which, as the author points out, we and all believers belong. We are members of the Church of God and Christ, if we remain faithful to the end, if we adhere with all confident boasting to the hope of our salvation until the end. The hope of the Christians is not an unstable, uncertain quantity, which is subject to every fluctuation of feeling, but being founded in the promises of the Lord, it is a cheerful confidence, a quiet boast, that there is laid up for them a crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give them on the last day, 2 Timothy 4:8. There is no self-reliance, no self-sufficiency in the true Christian, but only an unwavering trust in the love and power of God. “The Christian’s hope of a heavenly inheritance, of perfected fellowship with God, should be so sure that it confidently proclaims itself, and instead of being shamefaced, glories in the future it anticipates. And this attitude must be maintained until difficulty and trial are past and hope has become possession.” ^■905 .

A warning lesson from the history of Moses:

The last thought in the first paragraph of the chapter had been that of persevering faith and trust, looking forward to the joyful realization of our hope on the last day. The sacred writer now wishes to emphasize the need of this faithfulness for obtaining the prize, and to that end refers to the journey of the children of Israel through the desert and some of the principal incidents of the forty years included in that journey. He quotes Psalm 95:7-11, stating at the same time that it was the Holy Ghost to whom the words there written are to be ascribed as the real Author. The passage gives a reason for his earnest warning: To-day, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the provocation (Meribah), as on the day of temptation (Massah) in the wilderness. The prophet refers to the incident related in Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-13, and the writer of our letter quotes the Greek translation of the Hebrew words which are probably the proper nouns of the station in the wilderness where the people rebelled. Their conduct at that time was provoking to the Lord; it challenged His wrath, it demanded His punishment. For, as the quotation continues: Where your fathers tested Me, putting Me to a proof, and saw My works forty years. It is a bitter complaint which the Lord here voices. The children of Israel, by their unruly behavior, put the Lord to a trial, to a proof, just as though they wanted to satisfy themselves as to the length of time that they could oppose His will. The entire history of the journey through the wilderness presents practically a succession of incidents of a nature calculated to provoke the wrath of the Lord. Although He performed miracles of goodness and mercy and judgment before their eyes during all that time with the intention of winning them to Himself, yet they remained a stubborn and rebellious generation.

But the Lord will not be mocked, as the quotation from the prophet continues: Wherefore I was indignant with this generation and said, Always they are astray in their heart; but they, not would they understand My ways; — so I swore in My anger, They shall never enter into My rest. The Lord finally grew tired of the continual challenge of the people of Israel; He was exasperated, filled with disgust, loathing, and abhorrence, as the Hebrew text implies. Cp. Numbers 14:21-23; Numbers 32:10-13; Deuteronomy 1:34-36. All the attempts of the Lord were turned aside in scorn; they persisted in going astray from the way marked out by His Word and command; they refused to acknowledge that He was leading them in paths of goodness and mercy and long-suffering, that His every thought for them was a thought of peace. So the Lord finally swore in His bitter anger at their obstinacy that they should not enter into the land which He had intended for them as a haven, a place of rest and security. The idea of rest in the Land of Promise incidentally acquired a wider scope and a deeper significance, as the application of this passage throughout the present letter indicates.

The sacred writer, having inserted this quotation with its warning lesson, takes up the thread of his argument once more, in driving home the moral of the story: See to it, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. The earnest anxiety of the writer is apparent in the entire structure of the sentence, which, incidentally, is contracted as if he had written in great agitation. They should see to it, they should take heed, lest perhaps, by any bad chance, there might be in any one of the readers a bad, wicked, evil heart, caused by a condition of unbelief. For this condition would show itself in departing from the living God. The Lord is the Author and Source of life; not only is He able to come to the assistance of all people that are in need, but He is the only One that can transmit and keep the one true life in the hearts of those that are His own. Should a believer, therefore, scorn and spurn the fellowship of God by departing from Him and His life, he would have only himself to blame for the final damnation which would come upon him.

The sacred writer, therefore, continues his warning on the positive side: Rather admonish one another every day, so long as that period endures which is called “to-day,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceit of sin. This is one of the functions of their calling which Christians should be glad to take upon themselves, to exhort, to admonish one another, to spur one another on in sanctification. It is a kindness which is not a mere matter indifferent, but whose manifestation is required by the duty which Christians owe one another. Sanctification in every Christian congregation is a matter calling for constant vigilance, for the practise of love which must be carried on daily, day after day. For now is God’s great To-day, now is the time of grace, now is the time that He wants us to listen to His wonderful invitation to the heavenly meal. So long as God still issues His pleading call, we should take heed to pay attention to it quickly; for we do not know when this time of grace may come to an end. And there is always the danger of being hardened by a neglect of the Word in time. Sin is present in so many pleasant and deceitful guises, and the devil is so unusually proficient in his ability to make the greatest defections from the will of God appear as mere innocent pastimes, that it requires the most vigilant care on the part of every Christian lest he become callous to the pleadings of the Word of God and become a prey to eternal death. Sin in heart or life blinds a person to the beauty and the meaning of God’s wonderful offer of salvation.

To the observance of this vigilance we should be inspired also by another consideration: For partakers of Christ we have become, if we but hold firm the beginning of our confidence to the end. Cp. Hebrews 3:6. This is a thought which is often brought out by the Apostle Paul when he warns the Christians against carnal security, and by Peter, when he bids us make our calling and election sure, 2 Peter 1:10. We must never lose sight of the fact that by our conversion we have partaken and are now partaking of Jesus Christ, of all the blessings and gifts which He has earned for us by His redemption. This fact, however, puts us under the obligation of remaining in His grace, of keeping unto the end at least that amount of firm confidence in His redemption which is the essence of faith. So sure must the believer’s confidence in His Lord be that it will withstand all attacks until the end, till it will be beyond trial and temptation, finally triumphant, in the presence of Christ. Firmness, confidence, faithfulness, are required of all disciples of the Lord Jesus.

The danger of unbelief:

The inspired author here defines and justifies his use of the word “to-day” in connection with his warning to all believers to remain steadfast to the end: In that it is said, To-day when you hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation (at Meribah). Psalm 95:7-8. This present day is the time of which we may be sure; we know that the Lord’s grace is being proclaimed to us now. It is now, therefore, that we should heed the Lord’s warning and make the most of the present opportunity. For the dangers attending an insolent testing of God’s patience are such as to make salvation a matter of chance and gambling: For some, having heard, yet provoked Him; was it not all that had gone forth from Egypt through Moses? Although all the children of Israel that went forth from Egypt heard the Word and will of God, yet they deliberately and maliciously challenged God’s government and set about to embitter and provoke Him. And, unfortunately, there was not much choice among the rebellious people; they were all guilty of this provoking conduct, all the men that left Egypt under the leadership of Moses. It was not a case of having a few exceptional sinners to deal with, the whole mass of the gloriously rescued people whose faith had “carried them through between the threatening walls of water and over whom Miriam sang her triumphal ode,” ^■654 were in the same condemnation.

The sacred writer, drawing another lesson from the incidents in the wilderness, asks: But with whom was He angry, exasperated, forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? It was not a matter of change of mind, of foolish caprice on God’s part, nor was it lack of power to carry out His promise to the children of Israel. But their conduct provoked His anger, their sins challenged His punishment, the result being that all the men of twenty years and over that had left the land of Egypt sank into forgotten graves in the wilderness. That was God’s punishment upon them because of their sin. The author, therefore, concludes his series of rhetorical questions by asking: And to whom did He swear that they should not enter into His rest unless it was to them that believed not? Not disobedience primarily, but unbelief, which was the cause of the various outbreaks against the Lord, caused the punishment to strike them. Moses freely and frankly told the people this very fact, Numbers 14:28-35. God finally affirmed with an oath that He would pour out His punishments, having the soundest reasons for vindicating His course of action. They did not reach the Land of Promise, they did not enter into the blessings of rest and peace which the Lord had promised to obedient, believing children. The conclusion of the sacred author emphasizes just this one point: And we see that they could not enter in on account of their unbelief. They could not reach their goal, the end of the way, because at the bottom of their entire unruly conduct lay the refusal to believe in the Lord, their God, with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind. Their example should have its proper effect upon the Christians of all times. Every attention to sin with its deceitfulness, every shrinking from conflict in the interest of the Lord, endangers the faith, if it does not outright pluck it out of the heart. Our trust in God, to be of the right kind, must be centered in the promises of Scriptures and not permit itself to be moved from this foundation. There is too much at stake to make light of the matter or fatuously to rely upon a safe solution in the future. To-day the Lord is calling; to-day we should give heed. To-morrow may be too late. Our Mediator is in every respect greater than Moses, but for that very reason we should cling to Him in all humility of heart.

Summary

The sacred writer, in showing the superiority of Christ over Moses, compares the two mediators, draws a warning lesson from the wilderness journey, and pictures the dangers of unbelief.

Verses 1-10

A further warning against unbelief

The promise still in force:

The inspired writer here continues his warning based upon the incidents of the journey in the wilderness: Let us, then, fear, lest perchance, there still remaining a promise of entering into His rest, one of you may seem to have come short of it. To work out their own salvation with fear and trembling is a duty incumbent upon all Christians, Philippians 2:12. The life of the believers may not be spent in a carnal, false security, with the idea that they can live and act as they please, still cherishing their pet sins. The situation is rather this, that the believers are assured in the Gospel, by the promise of God, that there is a rest remaining for them. This is extending the promise of mere temporal blessings, such as the peace in the Land of Promise here on earth, to include the eternal rest with the Lord in heaven above. God wants all men to enter into the salvation prepared for His own in the mansions above, and His particularly urgent plea goes out to those that have accepted the hope and guarantee of the life to come by faith. Every believer, therefore, will take heed for himself, and the entire congregation of believers will watch carefully, lest by some temptation of Satan one of them should be in danger of losing the coveted prize, or should believe himself to be too late for its attainment.

We should not resemble the Israelites in their unbelief in the Word of God, as the writer wishes to emphasize: For indeed we, as also they, have had a Gospel preached to us, but the Word of their hearing did not profit them, because it was not thoroughly mixed with faith in those that heard it. The promise of God even to the children of Israel did not merely embrace the promise of the possession of Canaan, but also that of the blessings of the Messiah. The redeeming grace and favor of God had been proclaimed to them at various times; the promise given to Abraham that in him and in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed was their precious heritage, whose significance was also understood by their teachers. But all this glorious proclamation did them no good. They heard it, indeed, it was passed on from father to son, but it was not mixed with faith in their hearts, they did not place their hope of salvation in its gracious promises, and so it really profited them nothing. The fault thus lay not with God, for He had provided for the proclamation of the Gospel-message, but with themselves; they lost the blessings of the promise by their unbelief, Hosea 13:9.

This warning example the believers of all times should therefore keep in mind, that they may become and remain partakers of the blessing: For we do enter into the rest, we that have believed, as He says, As I swore in My anger, they shall never enter into My rest; — although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. The solemn oath of God by which He denied certain people entrance into His rest was directed against the unbelievers. So far as the believers are concerned, if they but remain true to their faith and confidence in the promises of the Gospel, they do enter, they are continually entering into the eternal rest above. One by one, as the Lord calls them home, they leave the scenes of their earthly pilgrimage and are received into the rest, into the peace of heaven. Note: Had it not been God’s gracious will and earnest desire to have all men saved, to have them all enter into His rest, it could not be said that He afterward, in wrath over the defection of some, had excluded them from the blessings intended also for them. Thus the failure of the unbelievers to obtain the blessings of the eternal rest was not due to the fact that the rest did not yet exist, for all of God’s works were finished when the world was founded. God had planned and provided for the eternal rest of His own when the foundations of the world were laid, and He wanted all men to enjoy the beauties and glories of this rest. This fact is of immeasurable comfort to the believers, since it gives them the assurance that God has the earnest, sincere desire and will to have all men saved. This is substantiated still more fully in the next paragraph.

The rest remaining to the people of God:

The fact that all the works of God, including the eternal rest in the mansions above, were finished from the foundation of the world, is here substantiated from Holy Writ: For He spoke somewhere concerning the seventh day thus, And God rested on the seventh day from all His works, Genesis 2:2. Note that God is distinctly named as the Author of this passage as well as the next. The argument is that, if God rested from all His works, then that of preparing the rest here spoken of must also have been finished. Not only was the earth, as the footstool of the Lord, created and filled with the glories of His goodness, but the heaven itself was at that time united in fellowship with the earth in a paradise which should have lasted forever. The blessed rest of God was ready for all men when the works of creation were finished. This appears also from the passage to which the inspired writer has alluded throughout his argument: They shall never enter into My rest, Psalm 95:11. For these words prove that God had a rest, and that He had intended this rest for all men, the disobedience and unbelief of certain men making it necessary for the Lord to exclude them from the salvation which His gracious will wanted to give them. Thus the Lord did not withdraw His rest from mankind because of sin, the promise of this rest being rather based upon Christ Jesus the Redeemer, but He is obliged to deny its blessings to the unbelievers, since unbelief rejects the proffered grace and prefers to live without God’s blessings.

The inspired author therefore returns to his argument: Since, then, it remains that some should enter into it, and they to whom the good news was first proclaimed did not enter on account of their unbelief, He again fixes a certain day, To-day, saying in David, and after so long a time, as has been stated before, To-day, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. From the passages quoted it is clear that the rest of God’s salvation is still there, that it is reserved for some to enter into, that the promises of God stand secure, that God has not changed His will or mind with reference to the enjoyment which men should have in the bliss above. In this knowledge and belief we should not be shaken by the fact that they who first had the opportunity of hearing the good news, the Gospel-message as given to the patriarchs, did not enter into the rest of the Lord, for this was due entirely to their unbelief. In addition to these facts, however, the certainty that some must enter into the eternal rest is supported also by the repetition of the promise. For many years after the days of Moses, in the time of David, through the mouth of David, God again fixed a day when men should enter into His rest. It is the same passage upon which the inspired writer has based his arguments throughout this long section. With the eternal God “to-day” is not confined to the time of Moses, nor to that of David, but extends to Christian times and includes the period of God’s gracious dispensation till the end of the world. Israel came short of the rest through unbelief; we do enter it who believe.

Lest some reader now raise the objection that the rest referred to in the quotation from Psalm 95 was that of Canaan only, the author guards against this misunderstanding: For if Joshua had brought them to their rest, He would not speak after these events of another day. It is true, of course, that Joshua, through the victories over the tribes of Canaan, gained possession of the Promised Land. But that this rest and peace is not completely covered by, is not identical with, the rest proclaimed in the Gospel-promise by Moses, is evident from the fact that the Lord, long after these events had taken place, had the prophet record the passage in which He referred to a to-day which manifestly was not covered by the period of the conquest of Canaan, by which Joshua brought the people to rest in the land of their fathers. The inspired writer, therefore, once more reaches the conclusion or statement which he had placed at the head of the discussion as a topic: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. The rest appointed to the saints is characterized by the name “Sabbath-rest,” to indicate that it is like that and belongs to that which God Himself entered into on the seventh day, Genesis 2:2. It is the rest of perfect happiness and contentment, of a bliss immeasurable and unspeakable, in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt that this rest is meant in the passage upon which the author’s entire argument is based. The great Sabbath-rest is appointed to the people of God; it is secure, safe. For all those that belong to the people of God it is safe, whom Jesus has brought back into that blessed fellowship with God that was intended for all men at the beginning. For them all, for all believers, the rest of God is an eternal Sabbath reserved for them in heaven.

It is God’s rest in which man is to share also in another respect: For he that enters into His rest himself also rests from his works, just as God did from His. Even as God, at the end of creation, entered into His rest and is even now resting from all the works which He made, so those that become partakers of this rest by faith will rest from their labors, Matthew 25:35-40; Revelation 14:13. All the works of the believers, weak and sinful as they are in themselves, yet are consecrated by the fact that they are performed in the name of Jesus, to the glory of God. In this respect the rest of eternity will be a reward of grace. And a rest it will be for the believers, at any rate, because it will mean a deliverance from all evil, from all tribulations, trials, temptations, afflictions, miseries of this earthly life, from all cares and pains and distresses — peace, perfect peace, in the presence of God. Therefore the Christian’s heart, as St. Augustine says, is not content till it rests in the Lord throughout eternity.

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Verses 11-16

Boldness in faith in our High Priest

The power of God’s Word in the face of unbelief:

The exhortation follows naturally from the exposition: Let us, then, earnestly strive to enter into that rest, lest any one fall in the same sort of unbelief. Christians should be eager, they should make every effort, they should strive with all the power of their regenerated heart to enter into that rest which is held out before them by the promise of God. The children of Israel in the wilderness had the Word of God proclaimed to them; the promise of salvation had been held out to them by Moses, but they had refused to heed and obey, they had not believed the precious and glorious message. Their behavior, therefore, will serve as a warning example for all times, to keep men from becoming guilty of a like transgression and being rejected by God as disobedient and unbelieving children.

For this matter is not to be thought of lightly, as the sacred writer proceeds to show: For living is the Word of God and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the very division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judging the conceptions and ideas of the heart. If the message of salvation were a dead, ineffective sound, an unbeliever might have the excuse that he had gotten no value out of his hearing the Word. But we are told that the Word of God is living, instinct with the wonderful life of its source, full of quickening power, John 6:63; 1 Peter 1:23. It is in itself active, effective, energetic, able to carry out the work which it was intended to do, Jeremiah 23:29; Romans 1:16. It is keener, sharper than any two-edged sword, Revelation 1:16; Revelation 2:12; Ephesians 6:17. Its penetrating power is so great that it pierces to the very division of soul and spirit: it cuts apart, it makes a clear line of division between the old natural and the new spiritual life of a man, just as a Damascus blade will cleave the joints and lay bare the marrow of the bones, Acts 2:37. The entire passage is figurative, of course, the writer’s object being to produce an effect by the rhetorical fulness of the expression. In plain words, as he adds, the Word of God judges the conceptions and ideas of the heart. The innermost ideas and deepest movements of the heart are open before the all-seeing eye of God and before the omniscience of His Word, John 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. There is nothing hidden before the proclamation of God’s will, both the holy and just will and the good and gracious will; He knows our hearts far better than we ourselves know them, and His Word opens up to us hidden depths of which we ourselves never dreamed.

The emphasis is continued in the next verse: And no created thing is unrevealed before Him, but all things lie naked and exposed before His eyes with whom is our reckoning. The figure used by the inspired writer at this point is that of a sacrificial animal whose head was bent back and then cut open, exposing the interior to the inspection of the priest. The person who fatuously believes that he is able to keep some transgression, some sinful condition hidden before the eyes of God and the penetrating power of His Word, is deceiving himself. No man may forget for any length of time that there will be a final reckoning, at which time all the hypocrisy and deceit practised by men will be exposed and laid bare in all its hideous nakedness. Knowing this, we Christians will certainly abstain from all attempts at deceiving the omniscient Lord and strive with all earnestness to enter into that rest which is prepared for us in the mansions of our Lord. For how can we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Hebrews 2:3.

The encouragement offered by our great High Priest:

The picture which the inspired writer had just drawn of the omniscience of God as revealed through His Word might well cause the average reader to quail in terror, feeling his own insignificance in the face of such divine perfection, his own sinfulness in the face of such divine holiness. But here is a comforting reassurance for all poor sinners: Since, then, we have a great High Priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. The author never loses sight of the fact that Jesus the Savior is his great topic, Hebrews 1:2-3; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1, and that the preaching of the Gospel of salvation is the only way of working faith. Of Jesus it is truly said that He passed through the heavens. For just as the high priest of the Old Testament passed through the forecourts and behind the veil to reach the Holy of Holies in the Temple, so Jesus passed through the heavens and appeared among eternal realities in the very throne-room of God. We know that this our High Priest is pleading for us the atonement made during His whole life and completed on Calvary’s hill, and that the Father cannot withstand the pleading of this Advocate. And what better and more cogent argument could be devised to keep us in the confession of His holy name, in our Christian profession, than this saving knowledge?

This encouragement is further confirmed: For we have not a High Priest unable to have sympathy with our weaknesses, but tempted in all things like us, without sin. This is one special point of human interest that tends to draw our hearts to this great High Priest. He was and is flesh of our flesh, true man. And during His earthly life He underwent the severest temptations that have ever come upon any man. It was not merely that the temptation came near Him without really assailing Him. It was rather so that His entire being, body and soul, was sometimes shaken to the very depths, as when He declared His soul to be exceeding sorrowful unto death, and when He found Himself forsaken of His heavenly Father, not to speak of the attacks of the devil which beset Him time and again. Cp. Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; Matthew 16:21-23; Matthew 27:45-46; Psalm 22:2-21. So He can indeed be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, He can indeed have sympathy with our weaknesses; He knows what it means for weak flesh and blood to battle with dangerous enemies. Since, however, in His case He passed through all temptations without sin, He is able to be our High Priest and Advocate with the Father.

This fact should therefore serve as an inducement to us to place all our trust in Him with all cheerfulness: Let us, then, approach with confidence to the Throne of Grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. Ordinarily no sinner would dare to come near to the holy and righteous God. Through the merit of Jesus, however, we are enabled to enter upon this act of worship, that of approaching the very throne of the great God Himself, with all cheerfulness and confidence. For it is not that we intend to urge any merit on our part in vindication of ourselves, but that we know we may obtain mercy, the free favor of God, that we shall find grace, God’s free love. In all hours of trial and affliction, then, when we feel so sorely in need of some comfort that cannot be challenged and doubted, we have this fact to rely upon, that our High Priest has perfected a full and complete reconciliation, and that God no longer is angry with us, but will accept us with all the kindness of a fatherly heart and give to us all that we need for the enjoyment of eternal bliss in His presence. Thus both the assurance of pardon and of divine assistance is ours, and we may go on through life in the cheerfulness of faith, knowing that the rest of the Lord awaits us at the end of the course, when He takes us home.

Summary

The sacred writer continues his warning against unbelief by showing that the promise of God is still in force, that there is still a rest remaining to the people of God; he points out the power of God’s Word, and shows that we may boldly approach the throne of God in reliance upon the mercy earned by our great High Priest.

Verses 1-10

The authority of Christ, our High Priest

Christ competent to be our High Priest:

Hebrews 4:14-16 serves as an introduction to a long discourse on Christ’s office as our High Priest. As Christ was infinitely superior in person and office to the angels and to Moses, so also He is exalted far above Aaron and all the high priests of the Old Testament. It was necessary that this subject be treated at length because the Jewish Christians were still placing far too great an emphasis upon the Old Testament cult and worship, believing that such external forms were necessary for the proper attitude toward God. But wherever such an idea takes hold upon a community or a church-body, there is always danger that the doctrine of faith and salvation be relegated to the background, if not abrogated altogether. That Christ was competent, first of all, for the office of our High Priest is shown from the fact that He possessed the qualifications for the office. Of the first qualification the sacred writer states: For every high priest selected from men is appointed for men in things that concern God, that he may offer gifts as well as sacrifices for sins. The high priests of the Old Testament were taken or selected from men, from among their brethren, Leviticus 21:10, of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron ^■906 . The man selected was then inducted into his office, being ordained or appointed to have charge of those matters of worship which related to man’s salvation. His office was in behalf of men, the people of his nation, in things relating to God; in other words, the fact that the high priest was a mediator between God and man was especially and primarily emphasized. In performing the work of his office, the high priest offered both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Both the offerings made without bloodshed and those which required the shedding of blood were made for the purpose of expiating the sins of the people; for this was the chief object of the high priest’s ministry.

It was significant that the high priest was selected from among his brethren, for this fact enabled him to be in hearty sympathy with all the people at all times: Able to deal gently with the ignorant and erring ones, since he himself is beset with weakness, and for this reason he is obliged, just as for the people, so also for himself to make offerings for sins. Since the high priest, as a sinful human being, was subject to the same weaknesses as the other people, since he knew how easily and quickly, under circumstances, a person may fall into sin, yield to some temptation, therefore he would be in a condition at all times to moderate his feeling, to control his righteous anger over the commission of sins, to deal with indulgence, gentleness, and moderation with the shortcomings of others, especially if it was evident from the outset that these were done from ignorance, by some lapse from the path of rectitude. For sins that were committed in a spirit of haughty violence and insolent defiance of the Law of God, the offender was summarily dealt with, being cut off from the congregation of the Lord. But for sins performed in error, without malice and meanness, expiation by sacrifice could be made. The high priest, then, being conscious of his own weakness and shortcomings, would not only be able to deal gently with offenders against the Law of God, but he would also be under the obligation of bringing sacrifices for his own sins, Leviticus 16:6, a fact which would naturally tend to keep him meek and humble in his office. Thus the first qualification of the high priest was that he, in the consciousness of his own weakness and sinfulness, might adopt the proper attitude of gentleness in his dealings with the other members of the congregation.

The second qualification of the high priest of the Old Testament was: And no one takes to himself this honorable office, but only when called by God, just as also Aaron was. Aaron was expressly and distinctly appointed and ordained by God as the first high priest of the Jewish people, Exodus 28. At the same time the Lord fixed the succession of this foremost office. The high priest thus did not assume his office to gratify his own ambition, but by the call of God, for the purpose of serving Him and restoring men to the proper fellowship with Him. Cp. Numbers 3:10; Numbers 16-18. The same attitude toward the holy office should be observed at all times, and may even be expected of preachers in the New Testament: the divine call should regulate a man’s acceptance of a position in the Church, not personal choice and sordid ambition, aided by various shady schemes. That was the second qualification of the Old Testament high priest, that he held the honorable office by a call from God. Note: The Romish Church has attempted to use this paragraph to defend its doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass. But it is evident from the entire passage that the sacred writer is speaking of the Levitical priesthood only in so far as it was a type of the priesthood of Christ ^■907 .

The perfect salvation earned by Christ:

That the first qualification of a high priest was found in Christ, the writer had shown in Hebrews 4:14-16, namely, that He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Here it is shown that also the second attribute of a high priest is not wanting in Christ, namely, that He was called to fulfil the office: So also Christ did not glorify Himself to be made a high priest, but He (took care of that) who said, Thou art My Son, I this day have begotten Thee; as also in another place He says, Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Christ did not attribute or arrogate to Himself the glory and honor of the high-priestly office which He administered. There was no personal ambition nor any sordid motive in Christ. He did not come in His own name, nor did He seek to glorify Himself. Cp. John 8:54; John 5:31,43; John 17:5. It was another who sought His honor and judged accordingly, namely, His heavenly Father, of whom the Messiah Himself says in Psalm 2:7, that the Lord had distinctly called Him His eternal Son. This quotation shows what an immeasurably great and high person our High Priest is: God’s own eternal Son. The Messianic dignity included that of the priesthood. Certainly in one who held such an exalted position the fact that He became the great High Priest cannot be surprising. The second passage, Psalm 110:4, exactly defines the priestly position and office of Jesus, already referred to in a general way. Christ has been called by God to be our Priest, our great High Priest. And the truest type of Christ in this capacity is not Aaron, the priest, but Melchizedek, as the writer later shows at length. His position, quality, kind, placed Jesus in a class with that singular Old Testament priest who lived at the time of Abraham.

The inspired author now proceeds to show how Jesus became obedient to the call of His Father: Who in the days of His flesh offered up prayers as well as supplications, with strong crying and tears, to Him who was able to deliver Him from death, and was heard on account of His godly reverence. When Christ was appointed to be our High Priest, He knew that this position involved an obedience which was altogether distasteful to flesh and blood, since it included also the necessity of becoming the sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the whole world. Yet in the days of His flesh, when He was in His state of humiliation, when He was like His brethren according to the flesh in capacity for suffering and temptation, He showed His obedience, even in the midst of His great Passion. In Gethsemane, on Calvary, He offered up to His heavenly Father not only quiet prayers, but also earnest, urgent entreaties. So deeply did the suffering affect Him that He added strong and bitter crying and tears. He cried to God, His heavenly Father, by whom He had been forsaken in the depth of the condemnation lying upon Him, to be delivered from the terrible experience of death, both temporal and eternal. The earnestness of Christ’s pleading for deliverance was intensified by the fact that He knew His heavenly Father to be able to deliver Him by the sending of twelve legions of angels or otherwise. It was in the very face of the fact that the Father possessed almighty power and infinite resources that He continued in His Passion. His obedience, therefore, was rewarded, His godly reverence, according to which He always kept before His eyes the necessity of carrying out the counsel of God’s love to the end, was acknowledged in this way, that His Father heard Him. He passed through the terrible ordeal of gaining salvation for all men and was crowned with honor and glory, exalted to the right hand of God, Philippians 2:9-11. Thus God gave His Son the best answer to His prayer of reverent submission by giving Him the cup to drink to the very dregs, thus to accomplish the great work for which He was appointed.

The greatness of the sacrificial obedience is further pointed out: Thus, although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered and, having been perfected, became to all who obey Him the Source of eternal salvation. Christ was the Son of God, in the bosom of the Father from eternity, the Possessor of perfect happiness and bliss, the object of the Father’s tender and solicitous love. He was, therefore, heard by His Father, the result being that He suffered, that He carried out the will of His heavenly Father. In this way He learned obedience, He acquired that perfect submission which was necessary and, at the same time, adequate for the need of all men. “It is when the child is told to do something which pains him, and which he shrinks from, that he learns obedience, learns to submit to another will. And the things which Christ suffered in obeying God’s will taught Him perfect submission and at the same time perfect devotedness to man.” ^■908 . In this way Christ was perfected, was perfectly equipped with all the qualifications needed for the great work of atonement. In this way eternal salvation was earned, Christ Himself becoming the Author and Source of this salvation. This redemption is now actually realized in those that obey Christ, that yield to Him the obedience of faith, 2 Corinthians 10:5-6; Romans 1:5, that accept Him as their great High Priest and Sacrifice. Thus also He is now saluted by God as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. As one commentator has it: “When the Son ascended and appeared in the sanctuary on high, God saluted Him or addressed Him as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. This is a guarantee that the work of redemption is complete, that it lies ready before all men, that God Himself has acknowledged and accepted it.” We have here a wonderful source of comfort for our faith under all circumstances.

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Verses 11-14

A reproof of spiritual ignorance

According to the tendency of the last passage, we might now expect a complete discussion of the high-priesthood of Christ to begin at this point. Instead, however, the sacred writer inserts here a reproof and an exhortation which is calculated to convey to his readers the necessity of giving proper heed to the doctrines included in this letter. The reason for the censure is first given: Concerning whom there is a great deal to say and difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in your sense of hearing. The entire subject which has now been broached, that of Christ’s being a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, is a topic upon which one could write a great deal. The author intends, also, to discuss this important comparison at length, Hebrews 7, even though, on account of the difficulty of the subject, an explanation could not be given in an offhand manner. And the reason, in this case, is not to be found in the essential, inherent unreasonableness of the teaching, but in the fact that the readers have become sluggish in their hearing and understanding. The censure strikes the fact that the Jewish Christians to whom the letter is addressed had gone backward in knowledge, in the study, the understanding of doctrinal topics. This is the case in many a congregation or community where the Word of God has been preached for some time. There is always danger that men assume the self-satisfied, self-sufficient attitude toward instruction in spiritual matters which resents any implication as to their being in need of such teaching. Wherever this “know-it-all” attitude is assumed, a retrogression in spiritual knowledge and life is bound to follow.

This condition is pictured by the inspired writer: For, indeed, though on account of the length of time you should be teachers, you have need again of having some one to teach you the rudiments of the beginning of the oracles of God, and you have become as having need of milk and not of solid food. If one considered the length of time since the Gospel had first been preached in Judea, more than a generation before this, and the many opportunities which the Jewish Christians had had to become familiar with all the branches of Gospel teaching, it was by no means an unreasonable expectation that they should all have had the ability to teach others, to impart to them the wonderful truths of the Word of God, both the simple doctrines and those that required some measure of spiritual understanding. But the writer is obliged to censure his readers because it had become necessary once more to teach them the very rudiments of the Christian doctrine, the fundamental facts, whose knowledge was expected of the catechumens when being received into the Church. Then, as now, the central doctrines of Christianity constituted the basis of instruction and were expected to be mastered by the applicants for membership in the congregation. Therefore it was a disgrace, indeed, that these Jewish Christians, who should have been veterans in Christian knowledge, lacked the understanding demanded of the novices. They were, in the matter of spiritual knowledge, like infants unable to partake of solid food, dependent entirely upon milk. Cp. 1 Corinthians 3:2. “Instead of becoming adults, able to stand on their own feet, select and digest their own food, they had fallen into spiritual dotage, and entered a second childhood, and could receive only the simplest nourishment.” (Dods.) Mature Christians should be able to understand also the more advanced and complicated doctrines of the Christian faith, and to consider them with benefit to their faith.

The language of the sacred writer is not lacking in clearness at this point: For every one that still partakes of milk is inexperienced in the Word of Righteousness, for he is a babe. So long as a person is obliged, for want of a more thorough understanding, to rely upon the simplest exposition of the fundamental truths of Christianity as his sole diet, he is a spiritual babe and infant. He has no conception of the wonderful scope, of the manifold beauties contained in the Word of Righteousness, the Gospel, which teaches the righteousness that is accepted by God, being that righteousness of Christ which is imputed to men by God through faith. With the proper detailed study of the Word, a person will enter deeply and ever more deeply into the mysteries of God and constantly receive new nourishment for his faith.

Of this the inspired author says in conclusion: But solid food is for the mature, those who, by reason of their mental exercise, have their intellectual abilities exercised to discern good and evil. Christians that have reached some degree of spiritual maturity have done so by virtue of the habit which they have developed by constant exercise in the Word of God, the result finally being that their intellectual faculties, controlled by their faith and love in Christ, grasp the distinction between good and evil readily, between things that are beneficial and such as are harmful for their spiritual life. Their perception is so sharpened, their taste is so developed that the wholesome and the hurtful are readily discerned. Note: All Christians have the opportunity of growing in spiritual knowledge. If they actually study the Word of God day after day, if they take every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ, then there will soon be evidence of maturity in the understanding of all the Scriptural doctrines, and a proper discrimination between the wholesome and the morbid and hurtful in doctrine and life. The censure probably applies just as sharply to-day as it ever did, and our humble acknowledgment of that fact may pave the way for needed improvement.

Summary

The inspired author shows that Christ has the necessary qualifications to be our High Priest, and that a perfect salvation was earned by virtue of His obedience; he inserts a sharp reproof on account of the spiritual immaturity of his readers.

Verses 1-20

An exhortation to progress and steadfastness in the faith

Christians should make progress in knowledge:

The inspired writer continues the digression which began in Hebrews 5:11, in which he administers a sharp rebuke on account of spiritual sluggishness, warns against apostasy from the faith, and exhorts his readers to strive with great earnestness for the further growth and secure retention of the full certainty of their Christian hope. The first words of this chapter substantiate the last remark of the preceding chapter: Wherefore, leaving the doctrine of the beginning of Christ behind, let us be carried on to perfection, not laying the foundation over again of repentance from dead works and faith in God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Because the Jewish Christians of Palestine, in spite of the many advantages they had enjoyed, were yet so sluggish in spiritual matters, and because, on the other hand, it could well be expected of them that they should leave behind them the state of spiritual childhood and immaturity, therefore the writer includes this exhortation. They were to leave the elements, the fundamentals of the Christian doctrine behind them and pass on to perfection. To this state they should permit themselves to be carried forward, they should surrender to the influence of the Word in its action upon their heart and mind, their will and their intellect. It should not be necessary again and again to lay the foundation of repentance and faith, and of all the simple instruction with which they might be expected to be familiar by this time.

This point is now analyzed. Repentance from dead works, as produced in men that are themselves spiritually dead, faith in Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, the doctrine of baptisms, of Christian Baptism in its relation to Jewish washings, 1 Peter 3:21, of the laying on of hands in the case of the newly baptized, in order to transmit to them the gift of the Holy Ghost, Acts 8:17-19; Acts 19:6, of the resurrection of the dead, and of the eternal judgment: all these are the material of which the foundation of Christian knowledge is composed and upon which Christian perfection is based. This material is divided into three groups, joined as pairs, the first two designating the fundamental demand of the Christian life, the next the beginning, the last its object or goal. Repentance and faith are the prerequisites for the Christian life; they mark a person’s turning from spiritual darkness to the light of God’s grace in Christ Jesus. Through Baptism the convert became a member of the Church, receiving also, through the laying on of hands, such endowments as fitted him for service in the house of God. He looks forward, finally, to the resurrection of the dead and the last judgment; for this signifies to every believer the consummation of the glory which shall never end. With encouraging frankness the writer adds: And this we shall do if the Lord permits. He wants to press on toward perfection, to the maturity which was fitting for Christians that had had the advantages which his readers had enjoyed. At the same time he knows, not only that his success in this venture depends entirely upon God’s will, but also that it is by no means self-evident that God will permit this plan to be carried out. There may be difficulties of a very peculiar nature in the way, which might hinder the project altogether, as becomes evident in the next paragraph.

A warning against denial of the faith:

Here we have the reason why progress and growth cannot be thought of in the case of certain people: For it is impossible that people that have once been enlightened, having tasted as well the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the excellent Word of God and the powers of the world to come, and then having fallen away, may be renewed unto repentance, because they crucify the Son of God to themselves and hold Him up to shame. This difficult passage must be examined very closely if one wants to grasp the intended meaning. The writer declares that it is a flat impossibility for certain persons to be renewed, to be brought back a second time to repentance. These persons he characterizes by a description involving four points. The people whom he has in mind are such as have been enlightened by the Holy Ghost through the Word, that have a spiritual understanding of Christ and of their redemption through Christ, Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Peter 2:9, in other words, Christians, such as have been called out of the darkness of godlessness to the marvelous light in Christ. The people referred to by the author are furthermore such as have tasted the heavenly gift, the gift of the salvation in Christ as a precious gift of grace, the forgiveness of sins, all the blessings of the adoption of children, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. They have furthermore become partakers of the Holy Ghost, they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1:14. They have finally tasted the splendid, the excellent Word of God and the powers of the future life; they feel, they realize, the mighty influence which God’s Word of promise exerts upon spirit, mind, and soul. They have experienced the power of God unto salvation, the vehicle of all eternal, heavenly blessings; they have, by faith, anticipated the enjoyment of the life to come, being partakers of the glory of heaven in hope.

If persons to whom this description applies, people that have undoubtedly accepted Jesus as their Savior, placed their trust in His salvation, and anticipated the joys of eternal life by reason of the power given to them through the Word, now fall away in spite of this saving knowledge, by a deliberate denial of that knowledge, then their return to repentance is excluded. The reason for this fact is not to be sought in God, as though His gracious intention and will in their behalf had not been sincere, but in the people themselves. If their apostasy takes place as here described, with a deliberate, malicious denial of the truth, then they crucify to themselves the Son of God and set Him forth to shame and ignominy before men. They purposely and wilfully deny all connection with the Lord, who was crucified for them, they brand Him as a criminal, as a false Messiah, who suffered the disgrace of death on the cross. All this they perpetrate against Him whom they formerly acknowledged as the Son of God, whom they knew to be the Savior of the world. They cannot plead ignorance, or that they acted in foolish unbelief. For that reason their behavior brings upon them judgment, eternal condemnation. Therefore the reason why their hearts become hardened, why it becomes impossible for them to return and to be renewed unto repentance, is to be found in the character of their transgression. They steadfastly and persistently persevere in their antichristian, blasphemous conduct, they harden their own hearts against all attempts of the Word to find an entrance, and are thus finally given over into their hardness of heart, Acts 28:27 ^■909 .

The writer does not say that his readers have reached this stage; he merely states the possibility that it may happen to them as it has to others, thus warning them to beware of spiritual sluggishness, of lack of diligence in the use of the means of grace. Cp. 2 Corinthians 6:1. And he emphasizes his warning by a parable: For land which absorbs the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth plants that are useful to those that have tilled it partakes of a blessing from God, but that which produces thorns and thistles is worthless and on the verge of a curse, and its end is burning. This is an analogy from nature to illustrate the doom of the apostate. In the case of a piece of ground that responds to the tilling of the farmer or gardener and has a sufficient amount of rain for the crops which have been put in, yielding a harvest in proportion to the expectations which could fittingly be held, God’s approval is seen in the rich returns from the soil. But if a piece of ground that has been tilled with all care and gets all the moisture which is needed for a good crop, and yet refuses to respond to such treatment, does not prove worthy, it must be condemned as worthless, and the thorns and thistles which it hears must finally be burned. The application of the parable is not difficult. The abundant and frequently renewed rain represents the free and continued offer and bestowal of God’s grace, the enlightenment of the Word of God, the effective working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the believers. This should have enabled them all to bring forth proper fruit to God. If, therefore, any persons that have received these blessings harden their hearts and bring forth fruits of blasphemy and malicious denial of grace, they have sealed their own doom. For the behavior here described is the sin against the Holy Ghost, for which there is no forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Cp. Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10 ^■910 .

Progress in sanctification:

Here the inspired author expressly states that he does not mean to imply that any of his readers are in the condition of self hardening. He merely wishes to make his warning against denial of the faith very impressive, urging at the same time all progress in sanctification: But we are convinced concerning you, beloved, of things that are better and conducive to salvation, even if we speak thus. The very fact that he addresses his readers as “beloved” shows that he does not apply the picture which he has just drawn to them in their present condition. The inspired author is fully persuaded and convinced of the fact that a lot altogether unlike the one just described by him and immeasurably better will be theirs, one associated with, and tending toward, their soul’s salvation, allied with the everlasting bliss of heaven.

The reason why any misgivings which the author may have had have entirely disappeared, he now states: For God is not unjust to forget your work and the love which you have shown to His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and are ministering. The writer cannot look into the hearts of his readers and thus state his convictions, but he can infer the presence of faith in the hearts from the existence of truly good works. They had not grieved the Holy Spirit of God to the extent of driving Him from their hearts; there was still abundant evidence of the new spiritual life as begun by faith. Good works were undeniably in evidence, good works of love whereby they served the saints, their brethren in the faith. This condition, as a matter of fact, was known to God. And of injustice there is nothing in God, it is not even to be thought of. He is faithful, He is just, He does not overlook or forget that the entire life of the Jewish Christians who are here addressed is one long chain of evidence proving the existence of faith in their hearts, of love for the proper hallowing of His name.

It is not enough, however, that this much may be said in praise of the readers, but they must make progress as well: But we expect every one of you to show the same zeal toward the fulfilment of the hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are now inheritors of the promise. The sacred writer still had some misgivings with regard to the patient perseverance of his readers, for he emphasizes that he desires and earnestly expects every individual in their midst to bestir himself. Instead of the lukewarmness and half-heartedness which had been shown by them on the whole, he wanted every one to exhibit an earnest diligence and zeal, in order that they might have the full certainty of their Christian hope, a perfectness which left nothing to be desired. They must have the full certainty of conviction that the consummation of their redemption in Christ would come to pass. If they should lack this certainty for any length of time, the danger was that they would become sluggish, sleepy in their Christian life and thus also in their faith, that they would be wanting in the energy and cheerful confidence which God expects from His Christians. Instead of yielding to such an influence, therefore, they should take such people as an example, become imitators of such as had by faith and endurance to the end obtained the promised inheritance. The success of those whose perseverance they had witnessed was to be a constant spur to their faith. It means, of course, a daily renewal of faith, a patient waiting for the final revelation of the glory of the Lord. What the believers of old have attained to, what the Christians since the coming of Christ in the flesh have enjoyed as the fruit and reward of their faith, that we also may and should expect with firm confidence; for the promises of God are sure, as the writer shows in the next paragraph.

The certainty of God’s promises:

In reminding his readers of the sureness of God’s promises, the inspired author never loses sight of the fact that he wants to stimulate interest and further encouragement, in order that the believers might obtain the end of faith by patient perseverance in their trust in God. Since the writer has Jewish Christians to deal with, he reminds them of the example of Abraham, as one of those who did inherit the promise: For God, in making promise to Abraham, since He could swear by none greater, swore by Himself, saying, Blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. The Lord had repeatedly given Abraham the promise that he should have offspring of his own body, a prophecy which included the Messianic promise, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 12:7; Genesis 15:5; Genesis 17:5-6; Genesis 18:18. But this promise, sure as it was in itself, the Lord in addition supplemented with an oath by Himself, there being no greater to swear by, Genesis 22:16-18. In the case of Abraham, therefore, it is seen that the promise is secure, God having pledged Himself with an oath to perform it. But its benefits can be obtained only by patient waiting, as in the case of the patriarch, whose faith was finally rewarded. He was so sure of the fulfilment that he was convinced God could just as soon cease to be as neglect the keeping of His promise. His reward came in due time: And so, having shown patience, he obtained the promise. Though delay followed delay and one year after the other rolled by; though he became a sojourner in a strange land and the barrenness of his wife seemed to mock all hope, yet he continued in his confident expectation, until the fulfilment of the first part of God’s promise came as a reward of his faith. A son, Isaac, was born to him by Sarah, and he saw his grandchildren as the bearers of the promise, before the Lord gathered him to his fathers. The birth of Isaac was a guarantee to Abraham that the Messianic part of the prophecy would also come true, that God would redeem and bless all nations in one of his descendants, and so he, in the spirit, saw the Lord’s day, and rejoiced, John 8:56. Note: Since Christ is the Savior, not only of Abraham, but of the whole world, the promises of God, with the confirmatory oath, are meant not only for Abraham, but for the believers of all times.

The sacred writer wants to bring home the full significance of God’s promise and oath to his readers, and therefore introduces an analogy: For men swear by a greater (than themselves), and to them the oath is the end of all controversy unto confirmation. That has ever been the rule among men. Whenever an oath is really required and may be honestly given, as when the government commands it or the welfare of one’s neighbor or the honor of God demands it, then men swear by the greater being, by God Himself. The oath is made for the confirmation of a statement, it settles the matter in dispute, it brings all controversy to a speedy end, Exodus 22:10-11.

Now the great God, in order to remove all doubts from the hearts of men, in this case conformed to the custom justified by human usage: Wherefore God, intending more abundantly to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His will, intervened with an oath. The Lord accommodated Himself to the weakness of the human beings who were included in His gracious will. In a more emphatic way than by a mere promise He wanted to demonstrate to us the unchangeableness, the immutability of His gracious and good will. His solemn oath came between Him and us, as an added guarantee for the fact that His promises were intended for us all, lest any single one be tortured by doubt. In doing so, God actually disregarded the implied insult to His truthfulness, to the certainty of His Word, in placing Himself on a level with men. “God descended, as it were, from His own absolute exaltation, in order, so to speak, to look up to Himself after the manner of men and take Himself to witness; and so by a gracious condescension confirm the promise for the sake of its inheritors” (Delitzsch). “He brought in Himself as surety, He mediated or came in between men and Himself, through the oath by Himself” (Davidson).

God’s purpose in condescending in this manner is expressly stated: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong inducement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope held out to us. God’s promise and God’s oath are the two immutable things. By means of these, His promise which it is impossible for God to break, and His oath, which it is impossible for Him to falsify, we have a sound and firm encouragement, inducement, and consolation. Having fled for refuge, we found it and have it in Him. We may hold fast unswervingly to the hope held out to us, for a surer guarantee we cannot get, no matter where we apply. Fugitives from our own doubts and weaknesses, we have a safe refuge in the promise of the Lord. We may cling without wavering to the hope of eternal salvation as it is assured to us in the words of God’s grace.

How utterly and absolutely safe this hope is, appears from the final statement: Which we have as an anchor of the soul, safe and sure, and entering into that part behind the veil, where the Forerunner is entered for us, Jesus, becoming a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Just as the anchor of a ship, if solidly placed, holds the vessel safe and secure, even against a strong wind and dangerous waves, thus the hope of our faith, being anchored in the promises of the Lord, gives us a firm and safe hold on salvation in the midst of the storms of these latter days. This anchor of our soul, by the grace of God, is firmly imbedded in the very presence of Almighty God, in the most holy place of the heavens. The Holy of Holies was the innermost shrine of the Jewish Temple, into which the high priest entered but once a year, in the name of the entire nation. Thus Jesus, our Forerunner, as well as our High Priest, has been exalted into the very presence, to the right hand, of His heavenly Father. In our behalf He has entered there, to become our Advocate with the Father, to intercede for us, with a continual reference to His perfect work of atonement. Jesus it is in whom we believe, in whom we trust. By His death and resurrection He secured for us the power to enter into the mansions of heaven, to follow where He has shown the way, when He became a priest throughout eternity after the order of Melchizedek. Note: If we Christians place the hope of our salvation on the promises and the oath of God, then our hope is anchored in the almighty God Himself. All languidness and sluggishness must therefore be cast aside as we apply God’s promises to ourselves and thus daily become surer of our redemption.

Summary

The writer continues his exhortation to progress and steadfastness in the faith by showing how necessary progress in knowledge is, by warning against denial of the faith, by urging progress in sanctification, and by demonstrating the certainty of God’s promises.

Verses 1-28

A comparison between Christ and Melchizedek

Melchizedek a type of Christ in a singular manner:

This paragraph opens one of the most important sections in the entire letter, since it is intended to set forth the superiority of Christ in a most singular manner. This is brought out even by the description of Melchizedek as given in Scripture: For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, was a priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom Abraham also divided a tenth of all (the spoil). Cp. Genesis 14:18-20. The following facts appear from the story as told in Genesis. Lot, Abram’s nephew, had been led into captivity by four kings, Chedorlaomer, Tidal, Amraphel, and Arioch, in their campaign against Sodom and Gomorrah. These kings have been identified, with some plausibility, with Khammurabi, Eriaku, Kudurlachjumal, and Tudchula, mentioned in ancient records that substantiate the Bible-account. The patriarch thereupon gathered all the men whom he could muster in his household, pursued the kings, overthrew them utterly, and rescued Lot and his goods. On his return he was met by this king of Salem, Melchizedek. It is immaterial whether this Salem stood for the later Jerusalem or for Salim in the vale of Schechem. The statements concerning the man and the application made of these points interest us. He was a king, and therefore, according to ancient custom, also judge and priest. He is expressly designated as a priest of the most high God, Genesis 14:18. As such he pronounced a blessing upon Abraham, imparting to him the gift of God. Abraham, in turn, divided to Melchizedek a tithe of the spoils, thus acknowledging him as a priest.

This peculiar personage is now further described: Interpreted first king of righteousness, but then also a king of Salem, that is, a king of peace. The sacred author makes use of every factor, of every point which offers an opportunity for explanation. The name Melchizedek itself is Hebrew and is translated “king of righteousness,” and the word Salem meaning “peace,” the king of Salem is, of course, the “king of peace.” Both by his name, then, and by his official position, Melchizedek was set apart from other men. And it is significant that righteousness and peace are characteristic properties of the Messianic kingdom, Psalm 72:7; Isaiah 9:6-7; Zechariah 9:9; Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 2:15,17.

The last part of the personal description is just as important: Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like to the Son of God, remains a priest permanently. Melchizedek stands in Scripture absolutely alone; no illustrious parents are mentioned from whom he might have inherited power and authority, nor could his priestly office have come to him as a descendant of a priestly family. His descent and pedigree are nowhere entered and recorded. Neither of his birth nor of his death does Holy Writ make mention, neither his installation into office nor his retirement from it are described. In this he resembles the eternal Son of God, whose type he evidently was intended to be. The entire story makes the impression that priestly services of a particular type were needed at that time, and this man was there to perform them. It appears, therefore, from the entire context that the permanence of Melchizedek’s priesthood was to be expressed. As one commentator puts it: “If he had had in history, as doubtless he had in fact, a successor in office, we should have said of him that he was the priest of Salem in the days of Abraham. As the case stands, he is the priest of Salem.” (Bruce.)

The superiority of Melchizedek over the Levitical priests:

In this second argument of the series the inspired author shows that Melchizedek was greater than the patriarch Abraham, from whom the Jewish nation descended, to whom was entrusted God’s blessing. How much more, then, is he greater than the members of the Levitical priesthood who descended from Abraham! The author purposely calls the attention of the Jewish Christian readers to this point: But observe how great this man was, to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave the tenth of the spoils. The dignity, the excellence, the superiority of Melchizedek appears here, if anywhere. All misunderstandings are avoided by designating the Abraham here spoken of as the patriarch, the forefather of the Jewish race. If even this man, who was looked upon as almost superhuman, paid to Melchizedek the tenth, the best part of the spoils which he brought back from battle, the latter must be the possessor of a greatness and dignity of a most extraordinary rank.

This fact is further emphasized by a comparison between the tithes paid to the priests and that paid by Abraham in the instance referred to: And they, indeed, of the sons of Levi that receive the priestly service are ordered to tithe the people in accordance with the Law, that is, their brethren, although these have come out of the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not recorded among them tithed Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. The descendants of Aaron, the members of the Levitical priesthood, Exodus 28:1-3; Numbers 3:10,38; Numbers 13:14-15, were ordered by a commandment of God to receive tithes from the people, their brethren, for their maintenance. There is no question of personal superiority or inferiority, but only of complying with the Law, both parties being sons of Abraham, both tracing their descent to the same illustrious ancestor. But the matter was decidedly different with regard to Abraham and Melchizedek. For the latter, whose genealogy is not known, is not reckoned, tithed, received the tenth from, Abraham. There was no special law, no special commandment of God in this case, and yet Abraham paid. What is more, although Abraham was the bearer of God’s blessings and promises, having been assured of the fact that the Messiah of the world would be among his descendants, Genesis 12:2-3; Genesis 13:14-15, yet Melchizedek pronounced his blessing upon this possessor of the Messianic promises. Abraham, great and high and distinguished by God as he was, yet was glad to receive the blessing of the king of Salem.

The conclusion therefore seems clear: Without all contradiction the inferior is blessed by the superior. And here men that die receive tithes; there, however, he of whom it is testified that he lives. There can be no question, no argument about the first statement; it is the universal rule that he who holds the superior position pronounces the blessing upon him that holds a station beneath him. It follows that Melchizedek was better, higher, than Abraham, superior to him, since his blessing was not only the expression of his personal good will, but an imparting of results backed up by God’s almighty power. In addition to this significant fact, the incident of Melchizedek teaches that, whereas in the Jewish Church mortal men, men subject to death, received tithes, in the case of this priest of Salem it was a man concerning whom we have the testimony that he is living, Psalm 110:4. The members of the Levitical priesthood passed away one by one and gave place to successors, being also in this respect inferior to Melchizedek, for whom Scriptures record no successor.

This argument the writer now amplifies by fixing the position of Levi in his relation to Melchizedek through Abraham: And, I might almost say, through Abraham also Levi, who receives tithes, was tithed, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. In the person of Abraham, who paid the tenth part of the spoils to Melchizedek, even Levi, whose descendants received the tithes of their brethren for their support, was tithed. It is true that Levi was as yet unborn, Abraham being his great-grandfather, as appeared later. But this argument from heredity was one which readily appealed to Jewish readers and had an excellent application in this case. From the fact that the great-grandfather of Levi and the forefather of all the men in the Levitical priesthood paid tithes to Melchizedek it is clear that the latter was in every way superior to the Levitical priesthood.

The imperfection of the Levitical priesthood and of the Mosaic system:

Careful and tactful arguing was required at this point, lest the Jewish Christians be offended without need and the attempt to win them to a sound understanding of Christ’s importance fail. But the arguments go forward with inexorable force: If, then, perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, — for upon it the people received the Law, — what further need would there have been that another priest should arise, and one not named after the order of Aaron? If the Levitical priesthood had actually been able to accomplish what many people insisted it could do, if men through its ministration could have been brought to that state in which they had been considered perfect by a just God, if forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation could have been imparted through the teaching of the Law and the offering of sacrifices, then it would have been foolish to have another priest come. It was true indeed that the children of Israel received their entire legislation on the basis of the Levitical priesthood. All the precepts of the Ceremonial Law, the entire administration of the theocratic form of government, was connected with the priestly service. And yet God ordained and appointed another Priest, who, strange to say, was not called after the order of Aaron, did not belong to the tribe of Levi, but arose after the order of Melchizedek. As the writer intimates, there must have been some important reason why God should make this provision, even during the age of prophecy. For the story of Melchizedek is recorded of a time more than four hundred years before the Law was given on Mount Sinai, and almost five hundred years after the journey through the wilderness David prophesied that another priest would arise after the order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110:4.

There is another point to be considered in this connection: For if the priesthood is changed, there is of necessity a change also of the Law. By their acceptance of Jesus as the High Priest of the new dispensation, the Jewish Christians had openly acknowledged a change in the priesthood. It followed, then, that the Law which was bound up with the Old Testament priesthood was also changed or abrogated. This change was necessary, it followed as a logical result. The sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament could not, in themselves, reconcile God to man. Only He in whom all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled could bring about this perfect condition.

This enormous and epochal change was taking place in accordance with the prophecy of old: For He of whom this is said belongs to a different tribe, of which no one ever attended at the altar; for it is evident that out of Judah our Lord sprang, to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. The word of David, Psalm 110:4, was said with regard to Jesus, the true High Priest, in whom all the types of old are fulfilled. But the Messiah did not belong to the tribe of Levi; He did not belong to those to whom God had entrusted the ministry of the altar. He became rather, by His incarnation, a member of a different tribe, of the tribe of Judah, as was well known, Genesis 49:8,10. This was the tribe and family from which the Savior, our great High Priest, sprang, a tribe to which Moses had said nothing about priests, giving them no intimation that any priest would ever be taken out of their midst. The fact, then, that Jesus has proved Himself to be the great High Priest, and has been accepted as such, shows that the Levitical priesthood and the entire Mosaic system have been abrogated.

That a change has been inaugurated and is in force follows from still another fact: And still more abundantly is it evident, if according to the likeness of Melchizedek another priest arises, who has become such, not after the law of an ordinance of the flesh, but according to the power of an indissoluble life. By the prophecy of God a new and wonderful Priest was to make His appearance, who was to enter upon His office, not according to ordinances which concerned external, temporal matters, such as the pedigree and the physical condition of the body, Leviticus 21:16-23, but one according to the likeness of Melchizedek, of whom the same things might be said, who entered upon His office according to the power of the indissoluble, endless life, according to the singular power of the eternal and unchangeable divine life which was transmitted also to His human nature. Even death could not dissolve and take away the power of this divine life; for He conquered death and brought back eternal life out of death. That which enabled the Son of God to be Messianic King and High Priest of men is His rank as Son, but as the Son who truly took into His divine person the weakness of the human flesh and blood and became the Redeemer according to both natures. All this is included when God testifies, Thou art a Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Incidentally the point is here emphasized that Christ’s redeemership did not come to an end, but that it is perennially new and exists in full power for the comfort of all sinners.

Through this installation of Christ into His office the change referred to above has been brought about: For a disannulment took place of the previous commandment on account of its weakness and uselessness; for the Law perfected nothing, but the introduction of a better hope did, through which we draw near to God. By the incarnation of Christ in the fulness of time, by His entering upon the work of His office, especially as our great High Priest, the previous, the Old Testament commandment, which had established and upheld the Levitical priesthood, was abrogated and disannulled, being set aside in favor of, and superseded by, the order of salvation in which Jesus Christ is the center. This had to come about on account of weakness and uselessness of the Old Testament priesthood, which failed utterly in bringing men back into the right relation to God. The Law revealed the holy will of God; it taught ceremonies, rudiments; it hinted, it foreshadowed, it presented types; but it brought nothing to perfection, did not effect man’s return into the fellowship of God. This was brought about only by the introduction of the better hope in Christ, of the powerful, comforting hope by which we draw near to God without the fear of eternal damnation, not with confidence in our own works and merits, but with a simple reliance in the perfect atonement and reconciliation gained for us by our great High Priest. There is no longer a need of a Levitical priesthood, of a Mosaic system, there is no need of depending upon an imperfect and useless system of outward forms and ceremonies; for in Christ and His work we have the hope of faith, which is sure to bring us into God’s presence and fellowship.

The oath of God a guarantee of the superiority of Christ’s priesthood:

This is another important consideration in the proof of Christ’s greater excellence: And in proportion as not without the swearing of an oath (was He made priest), in that proportion Jesus also became surety for a better covenant. Hebrews 7:20,22. Jesus became our High Priest in consequence of, and for the sake of fulfilling, a solemn oath made by His heavenly Father. This oath is one of the evidences which we have of the earnest intention and purpose which God has with regard to the salvation of all mankind. Christ was the only one in whose case such an extraordinary exception was made. By that token, therefore, He is the surety, the sponsor, the guarantee of a better, superior, more excellent covenant. This fact is brought out still more strongly by the clause which the author inserts for the sake of explanation: For the one indeed are priests, having become so without the swearing of an oath, but the other with an oath by Him that said to Him, Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The members of the Levitical priesthood were installed into office and discharged the functions of their ministry without a special objuration of the ordinand or oath on their own part. Their work was clearly defined by the Mosaic Law, and they discharged it in the knowledge that all their sacrifices were but types of the Messiah’s work. But in the case of Christ, the true High Priest, God swore an oath and had it recorded through His prophet, Psalm 110:4, designating His Son, the Messiah of the world, as the eternal High Priest. The incarnation of Christ, therefore, signified that the Levitical priesthood was no longer needed for the purpose of mediating between God and men, and the oath of God, in addition, set the priesthood of Christ just that much higher, God Himself indicating the superior excellence of Christ’s office.

Another feature of Christ’s priesthood is its eternal continuance:

This is a point in which the superiority of Christ is very evident. Christ not only brought us back again into the right relation with God, but He permanently insured to us this near fellowship with God: And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because of their being prevented by death from remaining, but He through His remaining forever has His priesthood inviolable. It was a definite and unchangeable handicap of the men that held the office of priests in the Old Testament: they were mortal, subject to death, they could not remain in life, and therefore also in office, beyond the span of life allotted to them by God. The ones that died were continually being replaced by young men, and there was a continual change in personnel. But Christ, the everlasting Son of God, Psalm 110:4; Daniel 7:14; John 12:34, holds His office of High Priest throughout eternity. It will never be transferred, no other person will ever step into it. He is the sole and perpetual occupant of this singular office, giving place to no successor. And therefore it follows: Whence He is also able even to save to the uttermost those who through Him approach to God, forever living to make intercession for them. Because Christ holds His office of High Priest in this unique and absolute manner, therefore the salvation earned by Him is complete in every detail, not lacking in any single item. Every person in the wide world that turns to Christ for salvation, puts his faith in Him as his Mediator, has Him as the Way, as the certain Approach to God. No need of priests and sacrifices and ceremonies and special festivals, for He is our Mediator forever; He has opened the way to the eternal love of the Father. This is so certain because Christ lives forever, and His function in His office of High Priest at the present time is to be our Advocate with the Father, to make intercession for us, Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2. As Christ’s life on earth was spent in the interest of men, so He continues to spend Himself in our behalf. The entire fulness of His present life is devoted to the end of insuring everlasting salvation to men. And we have another reason for acknowledging the superiority of Christ’s office over that of the Old Testament priests.

The writer concludes that Christ is the perfect High Priest:

The various advantages which Christ Jesus enjoyed in comparison with the men that held office in the Old Testament, as priests under the old dispensation, force this conclusion: For such was the High Priest that became us, holy, innocent, uncontaminated, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Jesus was the only one that fully measured up to the needs of mankind. The priesthood of the Old Testament was imperfect, unsatisfactory in many respects, it could not secure for men the assurance of salvation, of reconciliation with God. But all imperfections are absent in the case of our great High Priest. He possesses perfect personal holiness, neither inherited nor actual sin being found in Him; He is innocent, guileless in His relation to men; He was never guilty of harming any man; no one could convict Him of sin; He was undefiled, uncontaminated, stainless in spite of all contact with the sinful world, without blemish in the midst of men that are full of blemishes; separate from sinners, now that He has finished His work of redemption and been removed from the visible world; and made higher than the heavens, into which He has entered through the veil, Hebrews 4:14; Ephesians 4:10. He has been exalted to the right hand of His Father; not only His divine nature, but also His human nature partakes of all the eternal power and Godhead. Thus “our High Priest has carried through all the confusion and turmoil and defilement and exasperation of life an absolute immunity from contagion or stain. He was with God throughout, and throughout was separated by an atmosphere of His own from sinners.” (Dods.)

Owing to this excellence of Christ’s character, His office also has exceptional merit: Who does not have the need day by day, as the high priests, first to offer sacrifices for His own sins, then for those of the people; for this He did once, when He offered up Himself. Although the high priests of the Old Testament personally made the required daily sacrifices on only one day in the year, on the great Day of Atonement, offering first for themselves and then for the people, Leviticus 9:7-8; Leviticus 16:2; Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:3-8, yet they were responsible for all the ceremonies connected with the rites of the people. But all these things which they did personally year by year and through their assistants day by day, Christ was not in need of. For His own sins He had no sacrifices to bring, for He was sinless. And so far as those people were concerned whose sins He took upon Himself in offering up Himself as a vicarious sacrifice, He did that once and for all when He shed His holy blood, when He laid down His sinless life on Calvary. By the very nature of His sacrifice His offering could not be repeated, for its perfect and eternal worth rendered repetition superfluous. Ephesians 5:2.

That Christ is the one true High Priest is evident finally from His inherent perfection: For the Law appoints men as high priests that have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the Law (appoints) a Son, who has been made perfect forever. The Mosaic system could at best provide and appoint only weak, sinful men for the office of high priest, for though they were descendants of Levi, they were but human beings and not made sinless by virtue of their office. But the word of the oath sworn by the Lord in the prophecy, Psalm 110:4, being stated after the Law had been given, not only indicated that the Law needed revising and perfecting, but at the same time appointed the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who in the work of His office as High Priest was made perfect forever, being perfect in His own person, by virtue of His Godhead, from eternity. The perfectness of the Son was tested in contact with the sinful world and the many temptations which He was obliged to overcome as the representative of mankind; and therefore it was confirmed and sealed by His exaltation. Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, of our own flesh and blood, has gloriously stood the test of all the attacks He had to fight by reason of His humiliation, and therefore, in His human nature, has been exalted on high.

Summary

The inspired writer shows that Christ, as the fulfilment of Melchizedek’s type, as exalted above the imperfect Levitical priesthood, as being appointed by virtue of an oath of God, as the eternal Son of God, is the one perfect High Priest, whose sacrifice has everlasting value.

Verses 1-13

Christ’s eternal priesthood has superseded the temporary priesthood of Aaron

The more excellent ministry of Christ:

Beginning with chapter 5 the inspired writer has treated of Christ’s office of High Priest. He has shown the superiority of Christ, both as to His person and as to His qualifications. He now proceeds to emphasize the greater excellence of the Lord’s office from a consideration of the place of His ministry: But the chief point of all that has been said is this, Such a High Priest we have who is seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in the heavens. Many considerations have been urged till now to establish the claim of Christ’s superior excellence; what has been stated certainly does not lack in force or clearness. But the most persuasive argument, the point that clinches the matter, the thought which forms the headstone of the discussion, is that which the sacred author now offers. With solemn emphasis he says that the High Priest whom we have, in whom we place our trust, is such a one as to occupy a seat at the right hand of the eternal God’s majesty in the heavens. The most important part of Christ’s office as High Priest, so far as the certainty of faith is concerned, is that which He now performs as our advocate with the Father. His sacrifice here on earth gained salvation for us; our faith clings to the merits of the blood shed for us on Calvary. But we rest our hope of the bliss of heaven in the fact that Christ’s intercession for us continues day after day until the glorious consummation of the glory which is ours, though still in hope. For it is because of the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Majesty that He, also according to His human nature, has assumed the free and unlimited use of the divine glory and majesty imparted to it, that His intercession in our behalf avails something, that it has such great and encompassing value. Thus “His sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God proves, 1. that He is higher than all the high priests that ever existed; 2. that the sacrifice which He offered for the sins of the world was sufficient and effectual, and as such accepted by God; 3. that He has all power in the heavens and in the earth, and is able to save and defend to the uttermost all that come to God through Him; 4. that He did not, like the Jewish high priests, depart out of the Holy of Holies after having offered the atonement, but abides there at the throne of God as a continual priest, in the permanent act of offering His crucified body unto God, in behalf of all the succeeding generations of mankind.” ^■911 .

Lest his readers fail to grasp the full significance of the distinction implied in this argument, the writer adds: A minister of holy things and of the true tabernacle which the Lord constructed, not man. The word with which Christ is here designated is that used of the officials of a church in the act of worshiping, of priests in the discharge of their duties. Thus Christ is engaged in the service of holy things; He is taking part in ceremonies and in a worship which is infinitely higher than all the services of the earth, even of the ancient Jewish cult. The service of Christ is in the true tabernacle of heaven. The Tabernacle of the children of Israel in the wilderness and during the first centuries in Palestine was symbolical, figurative, typical, foreshadowing the tabernacle, the sanctuary, which was to remain forever. For the old Tabernacle, although built by the command of God and according to designs and plans shown by Him to Moses, was only temporary. The abiding, eternal tabernacle is that above, constructed, built, by the Lord Himself, for His everlasting temple and habitation. Cp. Hebrews 9:11,24.

The writer now explains his use of the term “servant of worship” with regard to Christ: For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts as well as sacrifices, whence follows the necessity that This One also have something to offer. It was not an idle, meaningless term which the inspired author used when he called Christ a minister of the sanctuary, but was fitting in every way. That was the business of the high priests of old, therein their service consisted, that they offered the gifts and sacrifices of the people to the Lord. We concede the necessity, therefore, of being able to show the same facts with regard to Christ. And this offers no difficulty, for Christ did have something to offer, Hebrews 7:27, He accomplished His priestly office by offering up Himself. His own blood, a sacrifice which retains its force in eternity.

In connection with this thought, that Christ is actually making an offering, the sacred writer adds: And, indeed, if He were on earth, He would not even be a priest, since there are men that offer up gifts according to the Law. If this fact is accepted as the truth, that Christ is our High Priest, it is in heaven that He must be exercising His ministry. At the time when this epistle was written, the Jewish Temple was still standing, and all the ordinances of the Jewish worship were still in force. This included that the work of the priests was still performed by the members of the tribe of Levi. The Jewish Ceremonial Law excluded men of every other tribe from the office of priests, and Jesus, as a member of the tribe of Judah, could not have performed the ministry of the Levitical priesthood. Only men whose descent from Levi could be definitely proved from the genealogical tables were permitted to offer up the sacrifices of the people in the Temple.

But far from detracting from the importance of Jesus, this fact rather brought out His excellency all the more: Who serve a mere type and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses received instructions when he was about to construct the Tabernacle; for, See, said He, that thou make everything according to the type that was shown to thee on the mountain. The priests of the Old Testament were busily serving, indeed, but their entire service, as they knew, was a mere outline and shadow prophetical of the heavenly things which were to be revealed in the Messiah. That fact distinguished their entire service: their work had no substance in itself, no independent existence. Their ministry would have been valueless without the hope of the coming fulfilment of all types and examples. The same lesson is drawn from the manner in which Moses prepared for the building of the Tabernacle. When he consulted with God, he was given the command to construct the Tabernacle and provide all its equipment, not according to his own ideas and designs, but according to the outline and patterns shown him on the mountain, Exodus 25:40. It is immaterial whether these sketches were shown to Moses in a vision or delivered to him by the hand of angels. The fact remains that God communicated to him in such a way as to make His will known to him, and that Moses had a clear idea of the will of God with regard to the entire structure and all its appointments. On the same order as the service of Moses on this occasion was the entire ministry of the Old Testament priests; all the acts of worship performed by them were mere types or patterns, whether they were concerned with sacrifices or with the burning of incense or with the ceremonies of the great festivals. While the writer, then, readily concedes that Jesus did not belong to the priests of the Levitical order, he emphasizes all the more strongly: But, as it is, He has obtained a more excellent ministry. The fact that the ministry of Christ is now being carried on in heaven, and that it represents the fulfilment of all the types and figures of the Old Testament, elevates it high above all the Temple services of the Levitical priesthood.

The proof that Christ’s ministry has fully replaced that of the Levitical priesthood:

The truth that we have a more excellent High Priest is established not only by the fact of His occupying the place of honor at the right hand of the Majesty, but also by the fact of His being our Mediator: But as it is, He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which is established upon better promises. As it is now, since Christ is not on earth, the greater superiority of His ministry appears at once, because that which is heavenly and real is more excellent than that which is here on earth and merely figurative. His office is so much more excellent in the same degree as His mediatorship refers to a better covenant, deals with matters that have been established or enacted, that rest upon a more solid foundation. The promises of the Gospel are better, more excellent, than the demands of the Law; the offer to impart salvation full and free is better than the absolute insistence upon perfection of works. Note: Christ is our Mediator; He represents not only the fulfilment of the work of Aaron, but He is also the true antitype of Moses, the mediator of the Old Testament, Exodus 20:19; Galatians 3:19. He stands between God and men, 1 Timothy 2:5, mediating between these two parties, having brought about the reconciliation between them by His sacrifice on the cross.

That the New Testament covenant is based upon better promises than that of the Old appears from a simple historical fact: For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place be sought for a second. If the ancient covenant of the Law, as made upon Sinai, had been fully sufficient, had met with all demands for the salvation of men, if there had not been a single flaw in this demand for perfection in restoring the right relation between God and man, then there would have been neither need nor occasion for a second covenant, and God would naturally not have made provision for proclaiming a new covenant. Note that the demand for a covenant which would bring about the restoration of the true spiritual fellowship with God and make it permanent did not originate with man, but with God, who alone is the Author of our salvation.

This fact is now established by reference to a long passage in the Old Testament Scripture, namely, Jeremiah 31:31-34: For, finding fault with them [the people of the first covenant], God says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will conclude upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they remained not in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. There is here a fine change of object, the blame, instead of striking the covenant with its imperfections, falling upon those whose imperfections and sinfulness made it impossible for them to be saved by means of this covenant. The old covenant was insufficient because it did not provide for enabling the people to live up to its terms, and the people are blameworthy because they are wilful transgressors of the Law. But the words of the prophecy, although addressed to Judah and Israel according to the flesh, in their real import concern the spiritual Judah and Israel only. Upon these the Lord wants to conclude a new covenant, one which would be fully sufficient for all needs of mankind. One covenant the Lord had made with their fathers at the time when He led them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, with a strong arm. It was in the third month after the beginning of the journey that the Lord made known to them His holy will in a body of precepts which included not only the Moral Law, but the Ceremonial and Civil Law as well. The loving care which the Lord showed toward His people in those days is well expressed in the words that He took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, an exhibition of tender solicitude which should have kept them faithful to their God. But the people did not remain in His covenant; in insolent disobedience they transgressed His holy Law and repudiated the Lord of their salvation. And therefore the Lord disregarded and rejected them, giving them at first into the hands of their enemies and finally permitting them to be dragged into shameful captivity. So much for the covenant of the Old Testament.

But now comes the comforting prophecy: For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: Giving My laws into their mind and I will write them upon their heart, and I will be to them for God, and they will be to Me for a people; and they shall not teach, every man his fellow-citizen and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all will acknowledge Me, from the smallest to the largest of them; for merciful will I be to their iniquities, and their sins will I no longer remember. The true spiritual house of Israel, the congregation of believers as it was found in the midst of God’s people at all times, received this promise as the covenant of the Lord in their interest. Three points stand out in this covenant which the Lord published among His people at the time of the Gospel proclamation. “It is inward or spiritual; it is individual and therefore universal; it is gracious and provides forgiveness.” (Dods.) He wanted to give this new commandment, the Gospel-message, into their mind, so that they would be sure to understand it; He wanted to write it upon their heart, so that they would be sure to keep it in loving memory. The Christian religion is in no way a matter of outward forms and ceremonies, but of the spirit and desires of man. Man’s will is so influenced by the Gospel proclamation that it conforms to that of God, and thus God is acknowledged by him as the true God, He, in turn, acknowledging and accepting the believers as His people. It is true that this was also the aim of the Old Testament covenant, but it was impossible for the Law to bring about this relation between God and man. Another feature of the new covenant is that it is not a matter of a people or race as a body politic, instructed by special scribes and priests whose instructions were necessary as mediatory actions. The fact made it imperative for every man to instruct his neighbor and brother as best he could. Now, however, that the Gospel-message has gone forth, there is such a wide distribution of divine light that intermediate services are no longer required, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, may know and accept the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. But the fundamental fact, which also gives the true value to the entire covenant, is this, that God’s grace and mercy, the forgiveness of sins, is the essential topic of the Gospel; for the sake of Christ He is merciful to our iniquities and remembers our sins no more. The quoting of the entire passage from the prophet makes the force of the argument all the greater.

The writer, therefore, is right in drawing the conclusion: By saying “a new covenant,” He antiquates the first; but that which is antiquated and aged is on the verge of disappearance. Since God expressly mentions a new covenant which He intends to make, He brands the first or former, that which was in force in the Old Testament, as old. Even in the time of Jeremiah the fact that a new covenant was required showed that the old was antiquated, had outlived its usefulness, could not possibly bring men to perfection. But as it is true of other matters, so it is true of this, that things which are antiquated and old cannot expect a much longer life; they must expect to be discarded and to be replaced with something new. Note: The covenant of God’s grace and mercy in the Gospel is the comfort of all believers. Instead of the Law with its threats and condemnations we have the Gospel with its offer of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Through this glorious truth we have the right knowledge of God and are God’s people.

Summary

The writer finds a further proof for the more excellent ministry of Christ in the fact that His work is now being done in heaven and shows that Christ as the Mediator of men has fully replaced and superseded every priest of the Old Testament.

Verses 1-28

The Old Testament cult inferior to the perfection of Christ’s sacrifice

Description of the Tabernacle and its appointments:

In this chapter the points which had been discussed but briefly in the foregoing paragraphs are taken up in greater detail, the first half of the chapter bringing the proof of the superiority of Christ’s office over the ministry of the Old Testament priests. This the author proceeds to prove by referring, first of all, to the place of worship and its appointments: Even the first covenant, indeed, had ordinances of worship and a worldly sanctuary. With these words a concession is made to the excellencies of the Old Testament covenant, such as they were, for the purpose of bringing out all the more strongly the beauties of the new covenant. There were regulations, ordinances respecting the worship, governing the public services in all its parts. The Jews also had a sanctuary, a place of worship, but, as the author immediately says, one pertaining to this world, suited for an external worship only, a tabernacle erected by man, constructed by human hands, with material of this earth.

He describes this sanctuary: For a tent was constructed, the fore-tent, in which were the candlestick and the table and the setting forth of the loaves, which is called the Holy Place. Cp. Exodus 25:23-39; Exodus 26:35; Leviticus 24:5-9. The Tabernacle, which was erected at the command of God, consisted of two parts. The first part of the tent, that into which a person stepped from the Court of the Priests, was called the Holy Place. In this eastern part of the Tabernacle were various articles of furniture, a lamp stand, or candlestick, made of gold, very beautiful, a table, which stood near the south wall. On the opposite side of the room stood the table of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which served as a stand for the showbread or the dozen bread cakes, the bread of the countenance of the Lord, which were renewed every Sabbath.

The other part of the Tabernacle is also described: And after the second veil the tent, which is called Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant, covered all over with gold, in which was a golden jar containing manna, and the rod of Aaron which had budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat, concerning which I need not now speak in detail. The second, or inner, tent was separated from the Holy Place by a second veil, the first one being that which hung before the Holy Place. This section of the Tabernacle was a shrine, the Most Holy Place, guarded with the greatest care against every profanation. At its entrance, at the place which was in the closest connection with the service of the Day of Atonement, in the center of the splendid curtain on the east side, stood the golden altar of incense with its golden censer, Exodus 30:1-10; Exodus 37:25-28. Here the priest designated for this special work was required to burn incense at both the morning and the evening sacrifice. Inside the curtain was the Ark of the Covenant, the only piece of furniture really inside of the Most Holy Place, Exodus 25:10-16. This large chest of acacia wood was overlaid both inside and outside with gold. It served as a depository for several articles. There was a golden pot, or jar, in which three quarts of manna were preserved, Exodus 16:33; there was the rod of Aaron which had budded at the time when some of the elders of the people had expressed their dissatisfaction with the Lord’s order ranking him a prince in Israel, Numbers 17:8,10; there were, above all, the two stone tables on which the Lord had written the words of the Law for the second time, with His own finger, Deuteronomy 31:25-26. The cover of the ark, or chest, was called the mercy-seat. It was made of gold and contained as its most prominent ornament two cherubim having their wings extended and facing each other over the center. They are called the cherubim of glory, because it was between them that the Lord appeared to Moses and communed with him, Exodus 25:22. All these things the author mentions, not with the purpose of discussing them in detail, but simply for the purpose of showing that the old covenant also possessed a measure of glory. His readers were familiar with these articles of equipment, having been told of them since their youth.

The ministry of the Old Testament priests imperfect:

The sacred writer now refers to the form of worship in these two parts of the Tabernacle: These matters having been thus arranged, into the fore-tent, indeed, the priests enter continually, accomplishing their ministrations, but into the inner the high priest alone once a year, not without blood. When the Tabernacle had been constructed according to God’s directions and all the equipment put into place as He had ordered, the priests took up their work, performing all the acts of their ministerial office as the Law prescribed. Their work took them into the outer tent every day, regularly, since the offering of incense had to be done both morning and evening, Exodus 30:7-9. The lamp also, with its everlasting light, had to be trimmed with the same regularity. But so far as the inner tabernacle was concerned, the daily use and entrance of the Most Holy Place was forbidden. Only once every year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the high priest, and he alone, entered into this shrine, performing the special work which was laid upon him by the precepts of the Day of Atonement. At least three times he put aside the heavy curtain which veiled the Most Holy Place, taking with him first the incense, then the blood of the bullock, which atoned for his own sins and those of his house, and finally the blood of the goat for the sins of the people. The offering of blood, therefore, the sprinkling of blood against the mercy-seat, was the essential part of the high priest’s ministry on that day. Cp. Leviticus 16. That was the divine rule for the performance of the priestly functions in the Tabernacle and, to some extent, in the Temple.

But all this was typical and prophetical for the time of the New Testament: The Holy Spirit signifying this, that the way into the Holiest was not yet manifest as long as the first tent still was in place. While the worship of the Jews was still being carried on in Tabernacle and Temple, in a so-called Most Holy Place, while the veil still separated even the priests from the shrine, the inner sanctuary, during the entire time of the Old Testament, in fact, the Holy Spirit intimated that the true access to God had not yet been furnished, that the restoration of perfect fellowship between God and man had not yet taken place. “The very object of the division of the Tabernacle into two rooms, an outer and an inner, was to impress men with the fact that the way of access had not actually been disclosed.” (Dods.) Now that the veil has been rent, matters have reached a different stage, Matthew 27:50-51. There is no more need of a Levitical priesthood; we have unhindered access to the Throne of Grace.

But so far as the Tabernacle and its appointments were concerned, the writer again emphasizes: Which is a figure for the time present, according to which are offered both gifts and sacrifices that cannot possibly make him that renders the service perfect as pertaining to conscience, relating only to food and drink and a variety of washings, ordinances of the flesh imposed until the time of correction. The fact that there was a first part of the Tabernacle distinct from the Most Holy Place was a continual lesson for the time being, for the time and the people of the Old Testament; whenever they looked at the double tent and remembered its significance, they were to think of the more perfect way of salvation which was to be revealed in the Messianic period. It was in accordance with the purpose of the Tabernacle that men brought gifts and sacrifices; these offerings were required of them at that time. But all these sacrifices in themselves could not possibly render the conscience of any worshiper perfect and clean. They were of no real value in themselves, but only inasmuch as they were types of the perfect offering to be made by Christ. These gifts and sacrifices were connected only with matters of food and drink, Leviticus 11; Numbers 6:2-4; Leviticus 10:8-11; Leviticus 11:34, with various washings, religious ablutions for the purpose of ceremonial purification, Exodus 29:4; Leviticus 11; Leviticus 14:2-9; Leviticus 15:5-13; Leviticus 16:4; Leviticus 16:24–28; Numbers 8:7; Numbers 19:17-21 ^■912 . All these were merely external ordinances pertaining to the flesh, to the consecration of the body, and they were supposed to remain in force only until the time of emendation, or correction, until the better covenant would be inaugurated and be in force. Thus it was evident that the entire Old Testament was imperfect and could not produce perfection, could put no man into such a state as would make him acceptable before God.

The perfection of Christ’s sacrifice:

This paragraph embodies a conclusion which covers practically the discussion of the entire letter, as Luther remarks: “For the proper understanding of this section it is necessary to understand the entire Epistle to the Hebrews.” ^■913 . The perfection of Christ’s redemption is thus brought out: Christ, however, having come as a High Priest of the good things to be, through a better and more perfect tent not made by hand, that is, not of this creation, neither through the blood of goats and oxen, but through His own blood entered once and for always into the Holy Place, obtaining eternal redemption. Christ is here placed into the very center of the Gospel proclamation. He has come, He has presented Himself, He was sent by God in the fulness of time as a High Priest, not of earthly and temporal goods and gifts, but of such gifts, joys, and blessings as are to be ours in the future, at the time when we shall have the consummation of our salvation. It is an eternal redemption which He has earned or obtained for us by paying the ransom required by the justice of His heavenly Father. The inspired author tells exactly how this was done, saying that Christ appeared through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by human hands, not pertaining to this present creation, to the visible world and age, not constructed of gold or silver or woven materials. It was the tabernacle of His human nature, of His flesh and blood, which enabled Him to shed His blood for us, in which He entered in to God. By giving His flesh, His human life, into death, Christ became partaker of the glory of His Father, was exalted to the right hand of God. Cp. Hebrews 10:19-20; Ephesians 2:14. It is immaterial whether we say that Christ entered into glory through the veil of His flesh or through the tabernacle of His flesh. It was not the blood of goats or bullocks which this High Priest shed, as did the priests of the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement and at other times, but it was His own most precious and divine blood. That is what gave to the ransom which He paid the perfect and eternal value. Only once He gave His life, only once did He shed His blood for us, but that sacrifice was once and for always, it paid for the redemption of the whole world forever. The high priests of the Old Testament had to renew their atonement for the sins of the people every year, chiefly because the sacrifices which they brought were only typical and symbolical; but here no such repetition is necessary: the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sins, 1 John 1:7.

This is further substantiated by a comparison: For if the blood of goats and of bullocks and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean purify toward the cleanness of the flesh, how much rather shall the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered up Himself to God unblemished, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The author here refers to the work which Christ is at the present time performing in our interest. His readers were familiar with the requirements of the Jewish cult, they knew that the blood of bullocks and of goats, used not only on the Day of Atonement, but also on other days in the year, was used to restore a transgressor to personal purity before the Law of God. Thus also, when the ashes of a red heifer, mixed with water, were sprinkled upon such as had become polluted by contact with a dead body, they were restored to Levitical purity and permitted to remain in the midst of the people. But the knowledge of sin, the consciousness of sinfulness, was not removed by all the sacrifices and washings of the Old Testament. The believers of the Old Testament did not place their confidence in the essential merit of their sacrifices, knowing that they were valid only in the measure of their prophetical quality, but in the Messiah and His work, to whom all their ceremonies pointed forward. Now that Christ has actually come, we know that His blood is able to cleanse our consciences from all dead works, from the vain and empty acts, from all transgressions of the Law which pollute the conscience, and from all the vain efforts of self-righteousness. That is true because He has offered up Himself through the eternal spirit as a sacrifice without blemish. The incomparable, priceless worth of the blood of Christ, of the offering of His life and body, is here emphasized. It was the pure and holy Son of God that gave Himself, as the innocent Substitute, for the sins of the whole world. Through the eternal spirit He did this, through His invisible, spiritual, divine essence, through His divine nature. Through, by virtue of, His eternal deity Christ offered up Himself. God’s blood, God’s martyrdom, God’s death was thrown into the scales; that fact gives us the blessed certainty of our salvation. And that fact also gives us the willingness and the power to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life, to make our life a continual offering of thanksgiving for all the wonderful gifts of His grace which we enjoy without ceasing. It is the living God whom we serve, He who Himself is the Source of life and finds His delight in pouring out upon us spiritual life and power in rich measure ^■914 .

The necessity of Christ’s death:

Having shown that the high-priestly office of Christ was in every respect more excellent than that of the Old Testament high priests, the author in the second part of the chapter furnishes proof of the fact that Christ is also the Mediator of a better covenant than that of the Old Testament. In demonstrating the necessity of Christ’s death, he refers, first of all, to the effect and purpose of the great sacrifice on Calvary: And for that reason He is the Mediator of a new testament that, a death having taken place for deliverance from the transgressions under the first covenant, those that have been called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For this reason, because Christ entered into the Most Holy Place of the heavens through His own blood, and because His blood cleanses the conscience from dead works to serve the living God, He is the Mediator of the new covenant. Through the annual atonement made by the high priests of the Old Testament the covenant of God with His chosen people was always renewed and Israel continually reinstated in its rights as the people of the covenant. But Christ, through His blood, through His salvation, has established a new covenant, one by which we are God’s children, God’s people, by which we are assured of the mercy of God and have fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, not only for one year or for a few years, but for all eternity. All this has been made possible through the death of Christ, which took place for the deliverance from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For unless these transgressions, of which all men were guilty, were atoned for, no man could receive the eternal inheritance. The sacrifices of the Old Testament not being able to atone for sin, a new covenant was necessary with a death which could accomplish this necessary object. Christ’s vicarious death being a historical fact, it follows that the promise can now be carried into effect. We, whom He has called by the Gospel, can now freely rely upon the promise of the eternal inheritance in heaven, where we shall enjoy the true, lasting gifts and blessings.

The covenant of God, assured to us through His promise, is at the same time the testament, the last will, of our Savior Jesus Christ. And from this fact the sacred writer argues: For where there is a testament, it is necessary that the death of him who made the testament be set forth; for a testament is in force with regard to dead people, since it is never in force while the testator is living. The illustration is taken from the general custom or law with regard to wills, for a man’s last will and testament is never valid while the testator is still alive. If the real or alleged heirs want the benefit of the inheritance, proofs of the death of the testator must first be adduced. Only when this fact is established beyond a reasonable doubt, when the man who has formally put his last will to paper is no longer among the living, then the provisions of the testament are in force. Thus also the death of Christ was necessary in order that Christ might really be the Mediator of a new and better covenant.

The type of the Old Testament sacrifices:

The statement of the preceding paragraph, that Christ became the Mediator of the New Testament by His death, by the shedding of His blood, is here substantiated by a reference to the type of the Old Testament: Whence neither the first (covenant) has been inaugurated without blood. The children of Israel were received into the covenant of the Lord through death, over the dead bodies of the sacrificial animals as representing the people. The death of these animals was necessary, partly as a means of expiating the sins of the people, partly as indicating that the people died to the past and became wholly the peculiar nation of the Lord. So even the first covenant, imperfect and temporary as it was, was not ratified without the shedding of blood and the resulting death of the animals substituted for the believers.

This fact is shown in one pertinent instance: For when every command according to the Law had been spoken by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of bullocks and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled it upon the book itself and the entire people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined upon you. The inspired author here refers to a story with which his readers were familiar. After Moses, in agreement with the command of the Lord, had repeated to all the people all the precepts which God had spoken, when they all had had an opportunity clearly to understand the obligations they assumed on entering the covenant, then Moses impressed the matter upon their minds by a solemn ceremony. The proper animals having been slaughtered, he took blood of bullocks and goats, added water to it, either to prevent coagulation or to symbolize the fact of cleansing, tied some scarlet wool on a stick of hyssop or wild marjoram, which was also associated with purifying, and then used this device for the purpose of sprinkling. Cp. Numbers 19:6-7; Numbers 19:18; Leviticus 14:4-7; Leviticus 14:49-52. He first sprinkled some of the blood upon the book itself, that is, upon the roll on which he had written the words of the Lord, the terms of the covenant, and then upon the people, as a party to the covenant, saying, at the same time, that this blood was the blood of the testament, that God thereby ratified the covenant between Himself and the nation chosen by Him. Cp. Exodus 24:3-8. Note that the words used by Moses are very much like those used by Christ at the institution of the Eucharist, by which the Lord signified that by the shedding of His sacrificial blood alone, for the remission of sins, the everlasting covenant of the New Testament is ratified.

But the author adds another point: And he even sprinkled with blood both the Tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry likewise; and practically everything is purified with blood according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood remission does not take place. What had happened on this occasion was later repeated in just as solemn a manner, Leviticus 8:15,19, namely, when the Tabernacle was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, Aaron in this case acting on behalf of Moses, at God’s command. It seems that while Moses attended to the anointing of the Tabernacle and its appointments personally, Exodus 40:9-11, and also sprinkled the blood of Aaron’s sin-offering upon the altar with his own hands, the high priest afterward performed the consecration of all the holy vessels used in the work of the Levitical priesthood. The author is right, therefore, in stating that practically all things were cleansed by blood according to the rite of the Old Testament, blood being the symbol or agency of purification. Water was used for cleansing only from certain pollutions. The conclusion, then, is fully justified that without blood-shedding there is no remission of sins. Thus it was in the Old Testament. The application for the new covenant is obvious, namely, that there is no salvation but through the sacrificial death of Christ. He gave His life for the life of the world, and thereby gained eternal life for the world.

The demands of the new covenant satisfied by Christ’s perfect sacrifice:

Here the necessity of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary, as well as the efficiency and the finality of Christ’s one sacrifice, is emphasized. Of the first point the author says: It was necessary, then, that the copies of the things in the heavens be cleansed by these, but the heavenly things themselves by better sacrifices than these. The copies, or patterns, of the heavenly things, the Tabernacle and its appointments, had to be cleansed and consecrated with the blood of the sacrificial animals. That was the ordinance of God, and this form of purification was sufficient so long as things of this world were concerned. For the Tabernacle with all it contained, being only a type and shadow of heavenly things, more than this purification was not needed. But it is different with the heavenly sanctuary itself; for its holiness is so immeasurably elevated above that of anything on earth that it required a more excellent and more perfect sacrifice, lest the influence of human sin and weakness defile this divine shrine, make the entrance into its holy portals impossible. In themselves things heavenly need no cleansing, but as entered upon by sinful men they need it.

The purification is now explained: For not has Christ entered into the holy places made with hands, the mere counterparts of the genuine, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God in our behalf. Christ, our High Priest, is in every way elevated far above the high priests of the Old Testament. For, unlike them, He did not enter into the sanctuary, into the Most Holy Place of the earthly Tabernacle, made by the hands of men, this being a mere type, figure, or counterpart of the real Holy Place in heaven. Into heaven itself, the true sanctuary, Christ has entered; by the shedding of His holy blood He laid open the entrance to the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle above. And it is not a mere earthly mercy-seat before which He appeared, at a place where the glory of the Lord was revealed only occasionally, to commune with His servants, but it is the throne of glory itself where He is now standing, in the very presence of the Lord of glory. All this He did in our behalf, as our Mediator, the Mediator of the new and better covenant.

This fact of Christ’s vicarious sacrifice is emphasized also from another side: Nor that He might offer Himself often, just as the high priest entered the Most Holy Place yearly with strange blood; for in that case He would have been obliged often to suffer since the foundation of the world; now, however, once, at the end of the world periods, has He been manifested for the abolition of sin through His sacrifice. The sacrifice which Christ made for us differed from that made by the Jewish high priests year after year, on the great Day of Atonement, also in this respect, that their offering had to be made repeatedly, had to be renewed every year, or the covenant would not stand. Like everything else that is performed by human beings, all the rites and ceremonies and sacrifices were incomplete and imperfect. And the high priests of old, in addition to this, performed the work of the atonement with, or in, strange blood, the blood of the offering being the instrument which enabled them to enter the sanctuary. But the sacrifice of blood not one’s own is necessarily imperfect. If the same thing held true in the case of Christ, then it would have been incumbent upon Him to suffer again and again since the creation of the world. If the entrance had always required repetition, then Jesus would have been obliged to be subject to periodical suffering and death. But now that Christ’s Passion and death is eternally efficacious, it was altogether sufficient for Him to appear now, at the consummation of the ages, in the fulness of the times, in the period of the world when all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament find their interpretation and fulfilment, in the period preceding the end of the world. Instead of making His sacrifice for every succeeding generation of men, He has made a single offering, this sacrifice being altogether sufficient to abolish and put away sin forever, because it consisted of His own body as the sacrificial victim. On the basis of Christ’s single sacrifice we are justified in saying that all is finished that was necessary for the salvation of the world.

To substantiate his statement that Christ’s sacrifice was once and for always, the inspired writer refers to the normal conditions of the death of men: And insomuch as it is fixed for men once to die, but after that the Judgment, so also Christ, being offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear the second time without sin to those that patiently expect Him unto salvation. It is a stern truth which the writer here uses to emphasize the point he wants to make. It is fixed, appointed, to men, to all men, once to die. That is a fact stated in Scripture and supported by the experience of the ages: mortal men must die. But death is not the end, death is not destruction; it is rather so that after death there comes the Judgment, when all men must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, whether they be good or bad, 2 Corinthians 5:10. But just as the results of every man’s life are settled when he dies, thus the death of Christ settled the matter of sin and salvation. He was offered up as a sacrifice once, to bear the sins of many. That was the burden which Christ took upon Himself and bore, even to the death on the cross: the trespasses, the guilt, the punishment of many, of the entire human family. But just as certain as this fact is the other, that Christ will appear a second time, that He will return in glory to judge the quick and the dead. And when He does appear, visible to the eye, it will not be for the purpose of establishing a millennial kingdom here on earth, but of giving, transmitting, to those that have patiently waited for Him in faith, eternal salvation, of taking them up to the eternal mansions. Cp. 2 Timothy 4:8. Thus Jesus Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant than that of the Old Testament. Thus may we put our firm trust in Him as our Savior.

Summary

In showing that the Old Testament cult is inferior to the perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, the inspired writer gives a description of the Tabernacle and its appointments, indicates how imperfect the ministry of the Old Testament priests was in comparison with the office of Christ, argues for the necessity of His death, proving, incidentally, that the demands of the new and better covenant are fully satisfied by Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

Verses 1-18

The insufficiency of the Old Testament sacrifices compared with the one perfect offering of Christ

The insufficiency of the Old Testament offerings:

The fact which has stood out in the entire discussion till now, namely, that all the acts of worship in the Old Testament cult were only figurative, symbolical, typical, is here restated in order to stress the finality of Christ’s one sacrifice: For the Law, having merely a shadow of the good things to come, not the actual figure of the things, can never make perfect, with the same sacrifices which they offer year by year perpetually, those that draw near. The Law with all its rites, ceremonies, sacrifices was but a shadow of the really good things to come in and with Christ; what it offered was inadequate, unsubstantial. With the appearing of Christ the better covenant was ushered in, for He brought the reality, in Him salvation was realized. In the Old Testament, indeed, the coming of the great spiritual blessings was intimated and prophesied, and the believers placed their hope of salvation in the Messiah that was to be manifested. But they were still obliged, year after year and generation after generation, to bring the same sacrifices, to renew their offerings, to expiate their sins by symbolical acts, to reconcile the God of the covenant through the blood of bullocks and goats, all of which, in itself, could not make the worshipers perfect, just as no repetition of the shadow can amount to the substance.

To emphasize this truth, the writer asks: Otherwise they would surely have ceased to be offered; — because of the no longer having a consciousness of sins the worshipers that were once cleansed. If the worship, the sacrifices, the offerings of the Old Testament had succeeded in making the people that partook in them perfect, if they had actually been cleansed from their sins and of the consciousness of guilt, then they certainly would not have sought a renewal of the sacrifices year after year. It was because the entire cult of the Jews had power only in so far as it foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of Christ that it was of any benefit at all. Being, however, only a type, the annual repetition of the sacrifices of atonement became necessary.

It remains true, then, as the author concludes: But in them there is a remembrance again of sins every year, for it is impossible that the blood of bullocks and of goats should take away sins. The sacrifices being unable in themselves to work perfection in the worshipers, their annual repetition became really an annual reminder of sins. The writer seems to have in mind especially the great Day of Atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month in the Jewish year. On that day, in the most solemn and impressive Temple service in the entire year, the trespasses of the entire people were confessed before the assembled multitude, their sins were ever again recalled to their mind. The sacrifices of the day were able to symbolize, to point forward to, the one perfect Sacrifice which took away the sins of the world; but they themselves were not able to produce this glorious effect. They were insufficient, inadequate; they could not remove the guilt that burdened man’s conscience. The Old Testament believer that wanted to be sure of his salvation could reach this happy state only by trusting in the coming Messiah.

The willing sacrifice of Christ:

The inadequacy of the Law, of the Old Testament worship with its sacrifices, having been demonstrated, the author immediately proceeds to point out that Christ’s offering was willing and fully adequate: Wherefore, on entering the world, He says, Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not want, but a body didst Thou prepare for Me; in burnt offerings and sin-offerings Thou hast no pleasure; — then I said, Behold, I come, in the roll of the Book it is written concerning Me, I come to do Thy will, O God. The author quotes Psalm 40:6-8, thus indicating that this is a Messianic psalm, and that the Messiah Himself expressed the scope of His work. Christ’s entrance into this world, His incarnation, suffering, and death, was made in full agreement with the gracious counsel of the Triune God concerning the salvation of mankind. It was the willingness of His vicarious work that gave it its wonderful value. Christ knew that with His entrance into the world the new and better covenant had begun, that the sacrifices and offerings, the whole burnt offerings and the sin-offerings of the Old Testament, had lost all their significance. God no longer wanted them, He no longer had any pleasure in them; the substance having appeared, there was no longer need of a shadow, of a type. Cp. also Psalm 50:7-15; Psalm 51:16-19 ^■915 ; Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 6:20; Jeremiah 7:21-23; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-23. Instead of that, the Lord had formed or prepared a body for the Messiah. The Hebrew text has, literally, Ears didst Thou bore for Me, which may refer to Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17, as indicating that Christ was the willing servant of His heavenly Father in the matter of His Passion and death. Or, if we adhere more strictly to the Greek text, it is evident that the Messiah states His willingness to have the will of God accomplished in His human body. This is brought out still more strongly in His cry: I come to do Thy will, O God, as it is written in the roll of the Book concerning Me. Christ’s entire ministry, during all of which time He fulfilled the Law of God for us, and especially His suffering and death, was not inevitable in the sense of His having submitted to it by force of necessity, but only in this sense, that He, of His own free will and in accordance with the gracious, eternal counsel of God, laid down His life for all mankind, John 10:17-18. Mark that He says “in the roll of the Book,” thus referring to an accepted canon of Scripture, even in the Old Testament. The word “roll” originally designated the end of the rod on which the parchment making up a book was rolled, and finally the roll itself.

The sacred writer now explains the significance of the quotation: He says above (in the first part of the quotation), Sacrifices and gifts and burnt offerings and sin-offerings Thou didst not want, nor didst Thou take pleasure therein (yet these are offered according to the Law), then He added, Behold, I come to do Thy will, O God! He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. — It was true, indeed, that the Ceremonial Law of the Jews prescribed the offering of the various sacrifices, those for every day and for the Sabbath, as well as those for the great festivals and for the Day of Atonement. But these sacrifices had served their purpose in the old covenant. They have been done away with, abolished, repealed, by the coming of Christ, who willingly offered His body as the adequate offering to gain a perfect redemption for the sins of the whole world. Thus the old way of sacrifices and offerings was replaced by the one adequate, eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all this in accordance with the gracious will of God. Of this will the author says: In which will we are sanctified through the offering of Christ once for all. In or by the gracious will of God, as expressed in the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son on the altar of the cross, as realized in the perfect atonement made by Christ, we are now sanctified, made holy and just in the sight of God, for the perfect righteousness of Christ, as established through His active and passive obedience, is imputed to us by faith. Thus we have now been brought into the one true fellowship with God through the offering of the body of Christ in accordance with the Father’s eternal will, a sacrifice so perfect that its adequacy lasts throughout eternity.

The one perfect offering:

That the one sacrifice of Christ has been acknowledged and accepted as such by the heavenly Father is illustrated and demonstrated by His being exalted to the right hand of God: And every priest, indeed, stands day after day ministering and often offering the same sacrifices, inasmuch as they are unable ever to remove sins entirely; but this Man, having brought one sacrifice for sins, has seated Himself for all time at the right hand of God, waiting, so far as the rest is concerned, till His enemies be made His footstool. The point here made in addition to the nature of the sacrifices of old is that pertaining to the action of the priests themselves. There was the never-ceasing, yet ever ineffectual and unavailing service of the Jewish priests. Daily they stood in their ministrations, again and again they offered the same sacrifices; it became a matter of almost deadly mechanical routine, Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7; Judges 20:26-28. In spite of all this they could never take away, entirely remove, the sins of the people by all their offerings; the best they could do was to comfort the worshipers with the antitype of the perfect sacrifice of the Messiah. But Jesus is no longer standing in the performance of the works of His office, as the priests of old were obliged to. One single offering He made, one single sacrifice He brought; but so great, so perfect was the value of this one offering that its perfection is indicated by the fact of Christ’s sitting down at the right hand of God as one who has quite finished His work and knows that its power and worth will last throughout eternity. As the Victor over all His enemies, He is quietly and confidently waiting to see them all laid at His feet, to be made His footstool, Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 15:25-27.

There is, then, no need of any further sacrifice: For by a single offering He has perfected for all time them that are sanctified. The fact that He gave Himself into death as the Substitute of mankind once, the fact that He paid the price of all men’s ransom with the price of His holy blood once, that is sufficient. No more needs to be done, no more can be done. Salvation, the reconciliation of man with God, is secured forever. In the one sacrifice of Christ there is a cleansing sufficient for all men, both to bring them into fellowship with God by imputing to them the perfect righteousness and holiness of God through faith, and to keep them in this fellowship by renewing their hearts by daily contrition and repentance and causing them to dedicate themselves, their lives, to God anew with every further day of their lives.

The sacred writer now offers proof from Scripture to show that the one sacrifice of our Mediator is final: But there testifies to us also the Holy Spirit; for after saying, This is the covenant which I will covenant toward them after those days, says the Lord, Setting My laws upon their hearts, and upon their minds I shall inscribe them, (He adds,) And their sins and their iniquities I shall remember no more. Note that the words here quoted, taken from Jeremiah 31:33-34, are directly and explicitly ascribed to the Holy Ghost, the real Author of the Holy Scriptures. Through Jeremiah the Lord expressly stated that after those days, when the period of the Old Testament should come to an end and that of the New Testament be ushered in with the incarnation of Christ, He would make a new covenant with His people, with those whom He had chosen for His own. The terms of this covenant are plainly stated and consist only of such things as God intended to do in the interest of mankind. He wanted to set His laws, the Gospel proclamation of the New Testament, upon their hearts; this wonderful message of redemption He wanted to inscribe in their minds, make it known to them by faith. And by that token, by their acceptance of the assurance of their salvation, all their sins, all their unrighteousnesses, all their iniquities, all their trespasses, all their guilt should be forgotten and never again be remembered. That is Gospel, glorious, saving Gospel-truth, not the opinion of some fallible man, but the assurance of the Holy Ghost, of the eternal God Himself.

And so the author fittingly concludes, from the entire discussion which began with chapter 5: But where there is forgiveness of these, there no longer exists an offering for sins. Where there is forgiveness of sins, where this glorious state of the complete and eternal remission of sins obtains, as it truly does in our case since the perfect sacrifice of Christ has been made and accepted, there a further offering of sins is useless and senseless, and the contention of the Romish Church, with its doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass, becomes actually blasphemous. We no longer have need of a Levitical priesthood, we no longer have need of any further sacrifices for sins, since the fact of the adequate, perfect offering of Christ is so soundly established. No matter how long the earth may still stand, the assurance of the forgiveness of sins is ours, and throughout eternity this fact will be the theme of our endless praises before the throne of the Lamb: We have remission of sins, we have the grace of God, we have eternal salvation!

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Verses 19-39

An admonition to stand firm in the faith, with patience and thanksgiving

The necessity of holding fast the profession of faith:

On the basis of the entire doctrinal discussion as the author brought it in the first part of his letter, he now offers various admonitions, since it is self-evident with a Christian that sanctification follows justification. The connection with the pictures of the entire preceding section is very skilful: Having, then, brethren, confidence for the entrance into the Most Holy Place in the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and a High Priest over the house of God. Because Christ Jesus, as the true High Priest, through the one sacrifice of Himself, has perfected us forever, therefore the writer may freely talk to us in this strain. It is the form of address which always makes an impression and usually has the desired result in the case of Christians. Our confident expectation of entering into the most holy place of heaven is not based upon any merit or worthiness in ourselves, but upon the blood, upon the merit of Jesus. For Jesus Himself is the new, the living Way. If we are but united with Him in the intimate fellowship of faith, then our way, with Him, will lead us through the veil of His own flesh into the very presence of the divine glory. For just as the high priest of old pushed aside the veil which barred the way into the Most Holy Place, so Jesus laid aside the mortality of His flesh, the weakness of His earthly life, and opened unto us heaven itself, giving us free access to the Throne of Grace, Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38 ^■916 ; Luke 23:45. Nor is that all. Not only did we have, when Jesus was living here on earth, but we have even now, a great High Priest over the sanctuary of heaven; for it is now that Christ is performing that part of His work which assures us of the fact that the mansions above are ready for our occupancy; for He is our Advocate with the Father. And who else would be qualified to plead our cause in the same measure as He to whom we owe our salvation? Knowing this, we have boldness and confidence of faith. We know that the way is prepared for us, and that we may enter into the sanctuary of heaven, into our home above, whenever the Lord calls us.

This being the case: Let us keep approaching with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled in our hearts from an evil conscience, and having our bodies washed with clean water. Using a term which is taken from the Old Testament cult concerning the regular and repeated entering of the priests, their drawing near to the altar to perform the work of their office, the inspired writer urges us, as true priests of the New Testament, to approach to the Lord with the confidence of faith. With a true heart we should come, not with hypocritical sanctimoniousness, but disposed in such a manner as to be really interested with the whole soul in the worship of the Lord, seeking His grace. In full assurance of faith we should draw near, not in absolute certainty, but in firm reliance upon the salvation earned by the blood of Jesus, since the correlate of faith is always the Word of the Gospel with its message of redemption. For that reason faith is not a subjective matter, not a matter of feeling and disposition, but an objective certainty which clings to the promises of the Lord. We should come having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience; being assured that the filth of our hearts has been washed away by the blood of Jesus, we can prepare our hearts for the work of priests to the almighty Lord, Exodus 29:4; Exodus 30:20; Exodus 40:30, even as our bodies are washed with clean water, the cleansing water of Baptism having washed away all our sins, Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5. Thus prepared, we are privileged at all times to approach the heavenly temple and the eternal altar by a new and living way, enter its inner sanctuary by faith, and present ourselves in the presence of God.

This being the situation, it follows: Let us hold fast and unbending the confession of our hope, for faithful is He that promised, and let us consider one another for the purpose of inciting to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling together, as is the custom of some, but admonishing one another, and this the more so, in proportion as you see the day drawing near. All Christians may be so firm in their faith and in their hope because this hope has such a firm foundation, one that does not rest upon the uncertain sands of human opinion or protestations of friendship, but upon the faithfulness of our Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24. We are not yet enjoying the fulness of the blessing which He has held out before us, we are not yet experiencing the consummation of our salvation, but God’s promises cannot fail, not one of them will ever fall to the ground. But while we are still walking in the flesh, we must take into account our own and our neighbor’s weakness, and for that reason, in a tactful way, incite and stimulate one another to love and excellent works. Cp. 1 Thessalonians 5:11. This constant stimulation and emulation cannot take place, of course, where the Christians do not meet together, both for public worship and for other assemblies in which the weal and woe of the work of the Lord is discussed. The writer, therefore, urges the believers not to neglect such meetings. Even in those days, as the writer is obliged to remark, some of the members of the congregations had the bad habit of staying away from such meetings of edification, probably with the plea of pressure of business or from fear of persecution, just as it is to-day. The nearness of the last day, however, and the remembrance of the account which we shall be obliged to render on that day should make us willing and eager to heed the admonition here given. If people professing the Christian faith neglect churchgoing and attendance at the meetings set aside for mutual encouragement and admonition, they not only give offense to the weak in faith, but are themselves endangering their Christianity, their faith. The change from faith to unbelief often comes on so gradually, so imperceptibly, that the damage is done before the deluded victim is aware of it. Faithfulness in the regular use of the Word and the Sacrament should characterize all true Christians.

The sacred writer now supports his admonition by a very solemn warning:

Here the dreadful result and the final consequence of falling from faith is portrayed with terrible realism: For if we go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no more remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expecting of judgment and of a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. The writer is not speaking of some ordinary transgression of the Ten Commandments, such as even Christians become guilty of every day. He emphasizes that he refers to a wilful sin, which consists chiefly in neglecting that to which he has just admonished, namely, that people that have come to the faith do not hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, that they neglect the means of grace, no longer attend church services, or at best very irregularly, and neither apply nor receive brotherly admonition. The denial of Christ is the sin, and the contempt of the means of grace is the road leading thereto. People that become guilty of this sin do so purposely, with deliberate intent, and they go on sinning, they persist in their transgression. Having received the knowledge of the truth, having accepted Jesus Christ and His salvation, such people maliciously and blasphemously deny the accepted facts, the truths of the Gospel. And in their case it holds true that the sacrifice for sins no longer exists for them. The very nature of their sin has this result; for, having denied the expiatory offering of Christ which they had once received in faith, they have discarded the only means of salvation. What they have to expect, therefore, is the terror of the Last Judgment, of the final doom; what they must look forward to is the fury of the fire of hell, which will consume and destroy forever, throughout eternity, the adversaries of the Lord. The intensity of this punishment is such as to make it impossible adequately to portray its fierceness.

The writer makes an attempt to do this by means of an example taken from the story of Moses: Any one that has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses; of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be considered worthy that has trampled on the Son of God and has reckoned the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of Grace? The readers of the letter were familiar with that provision of the Mosaic code which placed the penalty of death upon the sin of idolatry, Deuteronomy 17:2-7. If any person belonging to the children of Israel was found guilty of that sin, as substantiated by the testimony of two or three witnesses, capital punishment was the only punishment which was deemed adequate. For idolatry is essentially denial, a malicious breaking of the covenant existing between God and His people. In such a case, therefore, no distinction was made, there was no respect of persons: death was the penalty. Now the author lets his readers judge for themselves as to an adequate punishment for him that denies the faith in Jesus Christ in the manner here described. In order to show the heinousness of the offense, the blasphemous apostasy is characterized. It consists in trampling the Son of God under foot as a contemptible thing, not worthy of a better treatment. It includes a despising of the blood of the covenant, of the holy, innocent blood of Christ, as something common, of no more value than the blood of any human being. It finally goes to the extent of insulting the Spirit of Grace, the same Spirit who, in the means of grace, has given the redemption of Christ, has wrought sanctification in the heart. Such a person deliberately blasphemes. Such is the description of a man’s condition who, after having received the grace of God in conversion, now sins in such a terrible manner, and not only once and under particular provocation, but again and again, with a certain fiendish delight in shocking others by his utter recklessness. Note: There can be no doubt that the author is here describing the sin against the Holy Ghost, which, on account of its peculiar character, is outside of the pale of God’s forgiveness. But mark that he does not accuse any of his readers of having committed the sin, his only object being to warn them lest they do become guilty and be lost forever.

To bring home his warning properly, the sacred writer refers to two passages of the Old Testament: For we know who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay; and again, The Lord will judge His people. Terrible it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Deuteronomy 32:35-36; Psalm 135:14. When God, who is faithful also in keeping His threats, will sit in judgment and execute vengeance, then it will be too late to flee from the wrath to come. Then the knowledge that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God will no longer be able to turn the condemned person to repentance. If we believers, who are condemned by the Law, but have become partakers of the grace of God through the gift of the Holy Ghost, wilfully and maliciously deny the saving truth and grace and blasphemously spurn all offers of salvation, we have no one but ourselves to blame if the terrible vengeance of God strikes us on the last day ^■917 .

A motive of Christian patience:

Here is another excellent point made by the author in order to give his exhortation the proper force: But recall the former days, in which, after being enlightened, you endured much wrestling with sufferings, partly by being held up to reproaches and afflictions, partly by becoming associates of those that fared in that way. The eagerness and fervency of the first love is always an appropriate argument in stirring up new enthusiasm in the hearts of Christians everywhere. This was true also of the Jewish Christians. In the first years after their conversion, after they had just received the knowledge of the truth, after they had been fired by their love for their Savior, they endured the persecutions of their fellow-countrymen and of their rulers cheerfully, Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1. They considered it an honor to be held up before men with scorn and ridicule, with reproach and contempt. It may often have been a bitter wrestling with afflictions to which they were utterly unaccustomed, their own flesh and blood being a dangerous ally of the enemies and very often ready to give up the apparently unequal fight. But so strong was their faith in those years, so fervent their love, that they not only endured all such afflictions of derision and scorn, but also, in a measure, openly defied the adversaries by associating with those who fared the same way; they sympathized with those who were imprisoned, and welcomed the violent seizure of their possessions. This the author thankfully acknowledges in his own case: For indeed you had sympathy with those in bonds (including myself), and you endured the confiscation of your possessions cheerfully, knowing that you for yourselves have a better and lasting possession in heaven. That is the attitude of the believers at all times. Being united with their fellow-Christians by the most intimate bonds of faith and love, they rejoice with them that are happy, but also have compassion with those that are obliged to bear persecutions and tribulations. And so far as this world’s goods are concerned, their loss may be borne all the more cheerfully, since their true possessions are above, such riches as are beyond the reach of robbers and tyrants, Matthew 6:20; Luke 12:33.

The need of steadfastness:

With all these facts to stimulate them in their Christian life, the writer may well add the concluding exhortation: Do not cast away, then, your confidence, for it has a rich hope of reward; for you have need of patience, in order that, after having done the will of God, you might receive the promise. The remembrance of what they had already endured and the consciousness of their lasting possession in heaven are the best and most urgent motives to keep the Christians firmly and cheerfully confident. For this hope will most assuredly not make ashamed, since it has the promise of the most wonderful reward of grace, namely, that of eternal salvation through the merits of Jesus Christ. Thus the result and reward following their steadfast confidence is in itself a reason which should incite them to the greatest fervor and the highest efforts. At the same time they have need of this patient endurance, for circumstances and conditions certainly do not favor the Christians in their position in the midst of a world that is inimical to the cause of Christ. But it is only by enduring to the end, by holding fast to the faith in Christ and doing the will of God as long as life lasts, that the promised reward will be forthcoming, Revelation 2:10.

That this prospect, which holds out the idea of the cross, which is the lot of the Christians, might not discourage them, the author adds: For yet a little, a very little while, and He that is coming will have come and will not delay. Cp. Hosea 2:3-4 ^■918 ; Isaiah 26:20. It may often seem to the believers as though they were about to be crushed under overwhelming odds; but their final deliverance is near. It is only a little, a very little while, and the Lord will come for His second great advent, to judge the quick and the dead, to bring the enjoyment of everlasting salvation to His people. It may seem to some that He is delaying, that His promise will not come true; however, His day is coming just as sure as His word is the truth, 2 Peter 3:8-9. Keeping this in mind, the Christian will be upheld in his faith by the words of the Lord, Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11: But My just one shall live by faith, and if he draw back, My soul has no pleasure in him. Only he that to the end remains in the faith in Jesus Christ, that clings without wavering to the consolation of Christ’s perfect merit, and does not permit himself to be turned aside by any consideration from within nor by any attack from without, shall live. Faithfulness and loyalty are the two virtues which must stand out in every believer.

Very diplomatically and tactfully the sacred writer concludes his admonition: But as for us, we are not of those that shrink to perdition, but of faith to the gaining of the soul. By including himself with his readers, the author makes his appeal all the more effective. The true believers are not characterized by such timid shrinking which results in giving up the confession of faith. Their faith may sometimes grow weak under the constant battering to which it is subjected, and may have anything but a heroic aspect. Men of faith the Christians must be in spite of all attacks; for it is only thus that they acquire and hold their soul’s salvation, that they obtain the deliverance of their souls, to be held as the most precious possession throughout eternity.

Summary

The inspired author compares the insufficiency of the Old Testament cult with the one willing and perfect offering of Christ, adding an urgent admonition to be firm and patient in faith and thus to obtain the salvation of souls.

Verses 1-40

A wonderful epic on the power of faith

Faith as a trust in that which is invisible and future:

The sacred writer here states the fundamental thought of this chapter, the most impressive section on the power of faith in his entire letter, if not in the whole Bible. He begins with a definition of faith: But faith is a conviction of mind concerning things hoped for, a certainty of things which are not seen. Faith, saving faith, that has accepted Jesus and His righteousness, is always and without exception a definite firmness of mind, a certain persuasion concerning the things which God has promised us in His Word for the purpose of having us place our hope upon them; it is an unalterable conviction of the heart regarding those things which we cannot see, which it is impossible for our eyes and for our reason and for our understanding to fathom and to know. Faith thus concerns things which are future, though they may have their beginning in this life; it is not an expectation of dreadful happenings, but a hope of blessed, glorious gifts; it keeps its peculiar form and characteristics, even when it is weak, a mere glowing taper; it is opposed to doubt and unbelief. Faith stands firm in all afflictions. Faith overcomes all weakness, for it is in the midst of tribulation and persecution that faith proves itself a persuasion of the heart that clings to God’s promises. These qualities, or attributes, of faith the author now intends to bring out by referring to a number of examples of men and women of the Old Testament: For in this lay the commendation of the men of old. It was on the ground of their possessing faith that the leading men of the Old Testament received the commendation of God, their deeds being recorded for the benefit of ages to come, of the generations of the New Testament.

The example of Abel, Enoch, and Noah:

The sacred writer begins his recital with a general reference, purposely ascribed, not to Adam or any individual believer, but to the believers of all times: By faith we perceive that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, that what is seen has not come into being out of things which appear. The existence of the world, its creation and preservation, is not a matter of conjecture, of idle guesswork, with the Christians, as it is with the heathen and with the unbelievers in general, who have astonished the world with theories that challenge the belief even of the credulous. We hold no such vain theories, the products of speculation based upon false assumptions. Had the visible universe really been formed out of materials which were subject to our inspection, or to the observation of any human beings, then our standpoint would bear the marks of foolish speculation. But the entire manner in which the world came into existence, all parts being adapted to one another and the whole to its purpose, is not a matter of reasonable consideration, but of faith. Faith is the knowledge which tells us that it was the almighty word of God which called things into being out of nothing, created something which was not there before. And the result of this creative act on the part of Almighty God is the existence and preservation of all things which make up the visible universe. Note: It is a matter of comfort to us to know that the same almighty God rules the universe to-day, and that His promise concerning the preservation of the world still stands, Genesis 8:22.

In taking up specific instances, the writer now mentions that of Abel first: By faith Abel offered to God a more adequate sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to as being righteous, God testifying upon his gifts; and through the same he, though dead, yet speaks. The better, the more excellent, the more adequate sacrifice of Abel, the peculiar value of his offering, was not due to the choice of the materials, but to the fact that he had faith, that he believed in the coming Messiah. It was on account of this faith, also, that God testified of him that he was righteous, Genesis 4:3-5; Matthew 23:35. God accepted the offering of Abel, indicating His complete satisfaction with the gift and the prayer which accompanied it; He had respect unto him and his offering, as the text in Genesis has it. Thus the faith of Abel was the reason why God imputed to him the righteousness of the coming Messiah, in whom he placed his hope. Just in what way God showed His acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice, whether by having the smoke of its burning arise directly toward the sky, or by having fire fall down from heaven to devour his offering, or by revealing His attitude to Adam, as the priest of the family, we do not know. Of one thing we are sure, namely, that his offering was accepted because of his faith. And another fact is to be noted, namely, that the murder of Abel was not the end of his activity or influence. Though he is dead, yet he is ever speaking to us. His faith is a shining example to all men as to the manner of obtaining justification, as well as to the necessity of being faithful to the Lord, even if hatred and enmity on the part of the nearest relatives is the result, Genesis 4:10; Hebrews 12:24.

Next is cited the example of Enoch: By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had translated him; for before his translation he had had this testimony, that he was well-pleasing to God. Of Enoch very little is said in Scriptures. Cp. Genesis 5:22-24; Jude 14-15. Since the earliest days the children of God, the descendants of Adam that trusted in the mercy of the coming Messiah, had caused the proclamation of this Gospel-truth to be made in their midst, and had taught it to their children. Thus Enoch had learned the truth and the way of salvation, thus had he come to faith; and therefore he was well-pleasing to God. In his case, therefore, the Lord determined to manifest His good pleasure in a particularly extraordinary way. He removed him from the earth, in order that he might not see death; in some form or manner the Lord took his body away, up to the abode of the blessed. And all this because he believed and led a godly life in agreement with his faith, because he walked with God, as the Hebrew text has it, Genesis 5:22,24. He was translated, he was removed, he was no longer found. It may well be that his relatives searched for him, as the children of the prophets did for Elijah, 2 Kings 2:16, and that they eventually received information from the Lord as to the method of their relative’s removal from the earth. All this was the result of his faith: For without faith it is impossible to please God well; for he that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He becomes a rewarder to those that diligently seek Him. The author again uses the picture of a priest’s or a worshiper’s drawing nigh to God, Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:22. Such a person that worships God in truth will not only believe in the existence of God, but will know also that God will in mercy reward those that seek Him, that His gift to them is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Savior. It is he whose Christianity is not a matter of mere form and of outward ceremonies, but a true matter of the heart, he whose faith is of the kind that does not grow weary in seeking the Lord and His holy will, that will become a partaker of the Lord’s merciful reward.

The example of Noah teaches the same lesson: By faith Noah, after being informed by God concerning that which was as yet not seen, with pious reverence constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Genesis 6:8-9:29. Noah was perfect in his generations, in the midst of a world which blasphemed the Lord and scorned His Word; he walked with God and found grace in the sight of the Lord. For this reason the Lord gave him information, issued a warning to him concerning the plans which he had with regard to the world and its punishment. While Noah, at God’s command, constructed the ark, it was always with trust in things which had as yet not come to pass. It is very probable that he had to endure the scorn and derision of the unbelievers on all sides for his act of building a ship on dry ground. But Noah continued his work in pious reverence, combined with cautious forethought, knowing that this ark would serve for the saving of his household, or family, for since the Lord had first spoken with him, he had married, and his three sons had grown up and taken wives also. By this exhibition of his faith, Noah condemned the unbelieving children of the world, for by this time the congregation of believers had dwindled down to include only his family. The faith of Noah made the unbelief of the scoffers stand out all the more strongly. Incidentally it made him an heir of the righteousness which is given to men by faith. He became the possessor, the owner of its spiritual blessings, the righteousness of the coming Savior was imputed to him by God, not being earned by the act of his faith, but being accepted by this faith. It is the very same process which obtains to-day in bringing salvation to men.

The example of Abraham and Sarah:

Since he was the father of the Old Testament believers, the example of Abraham is treated at length, no fewer than five points in which his faith stood out prominently being given in this chapter: By faith Abraham, being called to go forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. Genesis 12:1-4. When the Lord issued His special call to Abraham, the latter was living with his father Terah at Haran. The call of God influenced his heart and mind to such an extent that he was no longer identified in any manner with the idolatry practised in his father’s house, and that his faith wrought in him a strong obedience to the call of the Lord. It may not have been an easy matter for Abraham, who at that time was already seventy-five years old and possessed great wealth, to leave the home of his father for an unknown country, where, moreover, idolatry was practised just as badly as in Mesopotamia. But his faith in the promise of the Messiah gave him power to believe also the promise concerning the land of his inheritance on earth.

Abraham’s faith was put to a severe test at this time: By faith he sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a foreign country, living in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he was waiting for the city having foundations, whose architect and builder is God. All these facts are recorded in the Book of Genesis. Having come into the Land of Promise, the land of Canaan, Abraham, instead of being given the country for his possession as he might have expected from the words of the Lord, did not get so much as a foot of land to call his own, being even obliged, at the death of Sarah, to buy a place of burial for her from the children of Heth. He lived the life of a nomad, dwelling in tents, and moving from one place to another as occasion offered. This was the lot also of his son Isaac and of his grandson Jacob. They lived in the land which God had promised to them as their inheritance, and yet it was a strange land to them, a country in which they were merely suffered as sojourners. This surely was a strong test for the faith of the patriarchs. But Abraham was equal to the test. Although possessing not a foot of soil in Canaan for more than fifty years and then only a small cave with the adjoining land, he looked upon this country as his possession and would not permit Eliezer to suggest taking Isaac back to Mesopotamia. In this faith Abraham was sustained by his firm hope of the future glory, which he knew to be his by virtue of the Messiah’s merits. He might be obliged, as long as he lived here on earth, to live the life of a nomad, but this did not shake his firm hope of entering the heavenly Jerusalem, the city which was designed and built by God for those that love Him. That is the hope of the believers of all times; for they have here no continuing city, but they seek the one to come.

The faith of Abraham was shared also by his wife Sarah, though not in the same measure: By faith also Sarah received strength to conceive and was delivered of a son though past the usual age, since she counted Him faithful that had promised. Genesis 18:12,15. When Abraham came to Canaan, Sarah was about sixty-five years old and had not only been barren, but was now past the age when she might expect to bear a child in agreement with the course of nature, Genesis 18:11. For twenty-four years she waited for the promise of God to be fulfilled, and her faith was sometimes not equal to the strain, as when she gave Abraham her maid Hagar as a second wife, and when she laughed at the final definite announcement of the Lord, Genesis 18:12-13. But the Lord’s gentle rebuke upon this last occasion seems to have had the beneficial effect of banishing all doubts from her heart, simply because she relied upon God’s promise. It was this faith, growing, as it did, out of the true faith in the promised Messiah, which was ever connected with God’s announcement to Abraham, that gave her strength to become a mother at the age of eighty-nine, against the course of nature.

The result of this unwavering reliance upon God’s word and promise was truly remarkable: Wherefore also there were begotten of one, and of one as good as dead, these (descendants) as the stars of the heaven for multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. In such a miraculous manner there was founded through Sarah, herself by nature doubly incapable for that purpose, a family. And another strange point is this, that Abraham at that time also was beyond the age when a man is ordinarily able to beget children; his generative power, according to the usual course of nature, had waned. Because God’s promise, however, was so certain, the result was that the descendants of Abraham, through Isaac, the children of Israel, finally were like the stars of the sky or the sand at the seashore for multitude. Genesis 21:2; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12. Thus was the faith of both Abraham and Sarah vindicated most wonderfully.

An application of the truths here offered:

The sacred writer here shows that his definition of faith applies well in the case of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob: These all died in keeping with their faith, although they had not become partakers of the promises, but had seen them from afar and hailed them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. As the patriarchs had believed during their lives, so they died in their faith, as it behooved men that had seen the day of the Lord, the coming salvation, from afar, through the promises of the Lord, John 8:56. They were so firmly persuaded that God would fulfil His word in every particular that they actually saw the fulfilment. They hailed the promises from afar, as people on board of a ship may wave recognition to a group of friends on shore. The fact that the Gospel-promises were not fulfilled while they lived, and that they did not see the Messiah in person, did not influence their faith. They cheerfully confessed and called themselves strangers and pilgrims here on earth, a fact for which their being sojourners in the Land of Promise was a type. Cp. Genesis 23:4; Genesis 47:9; Psalm 39:12; 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:11.

This open confession of the patriarchs, as evidenced in their lives, is further discussed: For they that say such things plainly show that they are in search of a fatherland. The acknowledgment and confession of the patriarchs that they were strangers and sojourners here on earth, that this world was not their home country, made it very evident that the true homeland must be elsewhere, that they are eagerly awaiting their entrance into that promised place. They think of, have in view, and are making for, a land which they can call their own, which is their own by the gift of God. Their entire attitude agreed with this state of mind: And if, indeed, they had cherished memories of that land which they had left, they would have had opportunity to return; but now they aspire after a better one, which is the heavenly one. If at any time during their sojourn in Canaan and also in Egypt the patriarchs had had regrets on account of their having left Mesopotamia, if they had cherished fond memories of that earthly country from which Abraham had gone forth, if their sighing had concerned itself with a mere earthly paradise, then it would have been an easy matter for them to return to their former homeland. But it was not an earthly country that their faith was aspiring after with such eager sighing, but the promised heavenly land, the city whose possession was assured by virtue of the Messiah’s merits. Thus the cordial relationship between God and them is brought out: Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. Because the faith of the patriarchs in the promises of God was so implicit, because they credited His promises even though they themselves did not actually become partakers of them while living here on earth, therefore God was not ashamed of them, did not hesitate to confess them, was willing to be called their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Exodus 3:15. For this reason, also, He was preparing for them a city, the heavenly Jerusalem, the mansions above, which would in every way satisfy the hopes and expectations they had held all their lives, John 14:1-3. This is also the goal of the hopes, the expectation of the faith, of all believers to this day — Jerusalem, the city fair and high.

The example of the patriarchs:

The history of Abraham was by no means exhausted by the incidents mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. There is another lesson recorded here: By faith Abraham offered up Isaac when he was put to the test, and he that had received the promises sacrificed his only-begotten, to whom it had been said that through Isaac shall the offspring be reckoned to thee; since he concluded that God was able to raise also from the dead, whence he also received him in type. Genesis 22. God had given Abraham the promise after the birth of Isaac: In Isaac shall thy seed be called, Genesis 21:12. Ishmael was thus ruled out, as were the children of Abraham by Keturah, who were born later. Isaac, therefore, was the only-begotten son of Abraham, the son of promise, the father having received the promises of God with a believing heart; the descendants of Isaac were to be known as the true seed, the heirs of the promise. But now God determined to test Abraham’s trust and faith by a trial of such severity as to have daunted every other heart. Abraham was to offer up, to sacrifice, this only son to the Lord. And this he prepared to do exactly in accordance with God’s instructions, as the account in Genesis tells us. This he could do only because his faith had taught him to come to the conclusion, to hold the opinion, that even from the dead God is able to raise up. It was this firm belief in the almighty power of God, together with faith in His promises, that enabled Abraham to deliver his only son to death. This faith God rewarded at once; for the father received his son back from the very jaws of death, he snatched him out of death, “not actually, because Isaac had not been dead, but virtually, because he had been given up to death. He had passed through the likeness of death, and his restoration to Abraham was a likeness of resurrection” (Dods). How gloriously was the faith of Abraham here established!

Of the other patriarchs similar demonstrations of faith are recorded: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning future things. Genesis 27. It had been a matter of some dispute between Isaac and Rebecca as to which son was to receive the Messianic promise. When, therefore, Isaac determined to give his blessing to his sons before his death, he instructed Esau to appear before him first. But through the dispensation of God it was Jacob that received the blessing of the first-born, a fact which was acknowledged by Isaac when he refused to change the blessing, giving to Esau, instead, a blessing concerning his well-being in this world only. It was the faith of Isaac which caused him to confirm the blessing which he had laid upon Jacob as the Lord’s choice for the bearer of the Messianic blessing, Genesis 28:3. The same faith lived also in Jacob almost a hundred years later: By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bending in prayer over the head of his staff. Shortly before the aged Jacob died, in the land of Goshen, he had Joseph bring his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, in order to transmit to them the blessing of his own children. Genesis 48:1-20. He gave each an individual blessing, crossing his hands in spite of Joseph’s protest, so that his right hand rested upon the head of the younger and his left upon the head of the older. In the distinction thus made in the blessing as it was afterward verified in the destiny of their descendants, in their inheritance of the Promised Land, Jacob showed his faith. Note: There is an addition to the story as related in Genesis, since we are here told that Jacob, shortly before his death, not only bowed himself upon the bed’s head in an attitude of worship, but did so while leaning upon his staff. Of Joseph, finally, it is said: By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the exodus of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. Genesis 50:24-25. The fact that Joseph, in such a solemn manner, assured his brothers that they would not be left in Egypt, but that God would lead them forth thence into the land which He had promised to their fathers, and that he, for his own person, relied so firmly in the promise of the Lord that he gave orders concerning the transfer of his mummy to the land of Canaan at the time of that deliverance, shows that Joseph shared the faith of his fathers in the Messianic promises, which included the possession of the land of Canaan for the children of Israel. His faith in the coming Messiah caused him to trust implicitly in the other promise connected with the assurance of His coming.

The example of Moses:

The first incident from the history of Moses is that which illustrates the faith of his parents: By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was well formed, and they did not fear the order of the king. Exodus 2:2. Moses was born at the time when a new dynasty had arisen in Egypt, and Pharaoh the king had, for political reasons, given orders that all male children among the children of Israel should be thrown into the Nile to die. But the parents of Moses, having in mind always the promise of deliverance out of Egypt, which was connected with the Messianic promise, and seeing that their new-born son seemed to be intelligent as well as well formed, defied the command of the king. Jochebed, the mother of Moses, therefore kept him at home for three months, managing to conceal him from the many spies of Pharaoh. Eventually the life of Moses was preserved in a miraculous manner. But this act of the parents of Moses was an act of faith and a fine example for all times.

Moses proved himself worthy of such parents: By faith Moses, when he had reached adult age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, preferring rather to suffer with the people of God than to have the enjoyment of sin for a time, since he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he steadily kept in view the reward. Exodus 2:3-10. When the daughter of Pharaoh found the child Moses at the river’s brink, his own mother became his nurse, thus receiving an opportunity to instruct him as to his descent. The instruction which Moses received in his early years was not driven out of his heart by all the subsequent studies which he took up as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. When he had grown up, at about the age of forty years, Acts 7:23, he renounced his adoption as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He preferred to suffer ill usage and persecution with his countrymen rather than to have a short-lived enjoyment of sin. In his position as the adopted prince of the land he could have satisfied his highest ambitions and gratified all his finer tastes. But his stay at the Egyptian court brought him into daily contact with idolatry and sins of every description. His faith, which had been implanted in his heart through the teaching of his mother, caused him to hold that God would surely fulfil His promise to His people, even though the outlook at that time was rather gloomy. It would mean disgrace for him, so far as this world was concerned, but he was willing to bear this scorn, this reproach, since it came upon him for the sake of the Messiah, in whose coming he believed. Although he saw Christ only in hope, yet the riches which his faith brought him even so were immeasurably greater than everything that the civilization of Egypt was able to offer him instead. So he resolutely turned away from the glittering promises of this reward and steadfastly fixed his eyes upon, constantly directed them to, the reward which the promise of God held out to him. Such an action, to forsake an apparently certain enjoyment of all that this world has to offer for an uncertain and hazy promise, as the children of unbelief see it, that is the characteristic of faith to this day.

A second incident from the life of Moses is held up as an example: By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he bided his time as seeing Him who is invisible. What Moses had openly confessed in renouncing his adoption as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter he just as openly carried into execution by casting his lot with his own people. He not only left the court of Pharaoh and Egypt proper, but he also made his home in Goshen, where his countrymen lived. By faith he braved the king’s wrath, because he saw an invisible monarch greater than Pharaoh on his side. He could afford, then, to bide his time, to wait till the Lord would show him what step to take next. That opportunity came after his flight to, and sojourn in, Midian: Through faith he celebrated the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer might not touch their first-born sons. Here again it required simple faith and trust in the word of the Lord to make all the necessary preparations for the first Passover in the history of Israel. It was a case of simply obeying the order of the Lord concerning the lamb and the entire Passover meal, and especially the act of painting the door-posts and the upper lintel of the doors with the blood of the slaughtered animal, Exodus 12:7,22. The Lord had stated that the object of this sprinkling, or painting, of blood was to keep the great destroying angel, the angel who, by God’s command, went through the land of Egypt and slew the first-born in every family, from the houses of the children of Israel. It certainly was no small act of faith which caused Moses confidently to promise the people security in the midst of the general destruction.

But just as the people, as a whole, had joined Moses in the keeping of the first Passover in the manner enjoined by God, so the Israelites showed their faith soon after: By faith they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, of which the Egyptians, making trial, were swallowed up, Exodus 14:22-23; Exodus 15:4. The Red Sea proved the first hard test of the faith of the Israelites after they had left Egypt. Before them was the sea, behind them was the army of Pharaoh; they seemed doomed to extinction. It was then that the Lord commanded the people through Moses to keep their peace, since they were going forward. In this promise they trusted, and when the sea opened up before them, the water forming solid walls on the right and on the left, they forgot the doubt and distrust with which they had been battling and boldly went forward under God’s protecting arm, passing over to the other side in safety. The Egyptians, however, that had no such trust, but were enemies of the true God, challenged the sea by their pursuit of the Israelites, the result being that they all perished, being swallowed up as the water once more followed the law of nature. Again a victory of faith.

The achievements of faith in the times of Joshua and later:

After the children of Israel had finally crossed the Jordan by another miracle, they were given an opportunity to show their faith in the Lord at the siege of Jericho: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, having been compassed about for seven days, Joshua 6. It must have been no easy matter for the soldiers of the army of Joshua to march around the city day after day without so much as touching their hands to a weapon, pursued, moreover, by the taunts of the besieged. Worse still, when they, on the seventh day, marched around the city time and again, and yet were kept back from using violence before the time appointed by the Lord, this was undoubtedly a sore trial of their faith. Yet they continued until the word of the Lord was literally fulfilled and they could annihilate their enemies.

An incident that is recorded in connection with the same siege is that in which the harlot Rahab was concerned: By faith Rahab, the harlot, did not perish with the unbelievers after she had received the spies with peace. Even when Joshua was encamped at Shittim, before the people crossed the Jordan, he had sent two men to view the land which he intended to subdue first of all, Joshua 2:1-2. In performing the work assigned to them, these men came to the house of Rahab, the chances being that they could get the information which they sought at this place. Rahab, however, though formerly a harlot, a notorious sinner, had been struck by the reports of the Lord’s fighting for Israel and had been converted to belief in Him. Accordingly, she received the spies in peace and saved their lives. This act of faith later saved her own life and that of her entire household, because she did not perish with her disobedient and unbelieving countrymen. She afterward became a member of God’s people, and her name appears in the list of the forefathers of Jesus.

But there are so many individual examples of faith in the records of the Old Testament that the inspired author summarizes: And what do I say further? For time would fail me while recounting of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Solomon, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, extinguished the force of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were restored out of weakness, became mighty in battle, routed the armies of strangers. The writer purposely does not observe a fixed order of narration, in order to indicate the great number and variety of examples which he might enumerate if he but had the time and the space to do so. There was Gideon, who with only three hundred men routed the mighty army of the Midianites, Judges 7. There was Barak, who with the aid of the prophetess Deborah routed Sisera and his host, after which Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, killed the invader as he lay asleep, Judges 4. There was Samson, also one of the judges of Israel, who gained a number of victories over the Philistines, Judges 14-16. There was Jephthah, who conquered the Ammonites, Judges 11. The great deeds of David and Solomon in behalf of the children of Israel, the people of God, are so well known that they are also merely referred to, 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 2 Samuel 8:1; 2 Samuel 21:15-22; 2 Samuel 10; 2 Samuel 12:26-31. Some of these men and others subdued kingdoms, those of all the nations of the Canaanites being recorded; they ruled their people with righteousness and equity, 2 Samuel 8:15; they obtained promises, not only Messianic promises, 2 Samuel 7, but also some of a general nature, Joshua 21:45; Judges 7:7; Judges 13:5; 1 Kings 8:56; they stopped the mouths of lions, not only Samson and David, but also Daniel, Daniel 6:22; Judges 14:6; 1 Samuel 17:34-36; the very power of fire to burn and destroy they extinguished, as in the case of the three men in the fiery furnace, Daniel 3; they escaped the edge of the sword, 1 Samuel 18:11; 1 Samuel 19:10; 1 Kings 19:1-3; they were restored after an attack of weakness, Judges 16:28-30; they became mighty in battle; the Lord being on their side, they were enabled to overcome all the resistance of their enemies. Such were the victories of faith.

But faith is equally strong in overcoming misery and suffering of every kind: Women received their dead by resurrection; others, however, were beaten to death, not accepting the deliverance, in order to obtain a better resurrection; but others endured the trial of mockings and scourgings, and still further of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were cut to pieces, they died in the slaughter of the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, suffering want, being abused, enduring affliction, — of whom the world was not worthy, — wandering over deserts and mountains, and in caves and in the holes of the earth. It is a long recital, which will fit practically every age of persecution in its principal points. Women, like the widow of Sarepta and the Shunammite, received their dead back from the embrace of death. In the case of others it is related (and the truth of history is here substantiated) that they were beaten to death, probably by being broken on a wheel, 2 Maccabees 6:17,28, and that they accepted this rather than perform a deed which conscience would not permit them to become guilty of; they knew, even if they died under the torture, a better resurrection awaited them at the end of time. Mockings and scourgings were endured by some of the martyrs at the time of the Maccabees, 2 Maccabees 7:1,7, and it happened often, as in the case of Jeremiah, that men were thrown into chains and imprisoned, Jeremiah 38:9. They were stoned, as is related of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, 2 Chronicles 24:20-21 ^■919 , and of Jeremiah, the latter incident, however, not being verified in Scriptures. The most cruel death of being sawn asunder while still alive was inflicted on some of the Old Testament believers, 2 Samuel 12:31; Amos 1:3, an apocryphal account stating this also of Isaiah. Others were cut to pieces, ruthlessly murdered with the sword, and tortured in other ways, as some accounts of the Maccabean period relate. Being driven from their homes, they were obliged to cover themselves against the inclemencies of the weather by donning sheepskins or goatskins and living out in the deserts and in the mountains, wherever a cave or even a mere hole in the rock afforded them some shelter, 1 Kings 18:4,13; 1 Kings 19:4-13.; 1 Maccabees 2:28-29; 2 Maccabees 5:27; 2 Maccabees 6:11; 2 Maccabees 10:6. All these sufferings their faith enabled them to endure. Surely the remark that the world was not worthy of them gives us the estimate which the Lord places upon the steadfastness of these martyrs.

The author’s conclusion:

In this respect the believers of old serve as excellent examples: And these all, although they were testified to through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that without us they should not be perfected. It is true, indeed, these heroes of the Old Testament are excellent examples; God Himself gave testimony in their behalf that their faith was of the genuine kind which He expects from all men that confess Him. Their salvation, therefore, will be as perfect as that of any of the Christians of the New Testament. And yet the inspired writer says that God has provided something better for us; for, whereas all these believers of whom he has written were living in the time of type and prophecy, we Christians are living in the time of the fulfilment. Our knowledge of Christ is not obtained from figures and signs and sacrifices, but we have the full account of His life, His ministry, His Passion, His death, His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of power: we have the perfect revelation of the Son, in His perfect covenant and His perfect sacrifice. Surely, if the faith of the patriarchs and prophets and all the true Israelites of old was so firm and steadfast, how much more ought we, to whom God has given the perfect revelation, be examples of faith to all men! ^■920

Summary

The inspired author gives a brief definition of faith, citing the example of the patriarchs and of many of the prophets and kings of the Old Testament in corroboration of the truths offered, as an incitement to the Christians of the New Testament.

Verses 1-13

An appeal to heed the Old Testament examples, aided by God’s chastisement

The example of the believers of old and of Christ:

On the basis of the example of faith as set before us in the believers of the Old Testament, the appeal of the author to be like-minded rests: Wherefore also we, having so great a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, let us likewise lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that clings to us, and through patience let us run the race set before us. Though the sacred writer, as he himself states, has cited but a few of the many cases of strong faith in the Old Testament history, yet even these are shining examples which envelop us like a bright cloud. It is a vast multitude of witnesses that have testified to the worth of faith, and wherever we may turn, we find their encouraging example. And just as they pursued their course unflinchingly and persistently till they reached their goal, so we also should be found running forward toward the heavenly object of our striving with steadfast, courageous patience. The course must be run, and it requires the very strongest endurance. We must accept the appointed course, cheerfully recognize the difficulties that beset it, and prepare our hearts and minds accordingly. Like an athlete that trains for a race with the greatest care, lest he bear even an ounce of flesh too much, so must we lay aside every encumbrance of this life, every weight, every burden that tends to hold us back in the appointed course. The greatest of these encumbrances is sin, our old evil nature, for this surrounds us, it clings to us and hinders the free use of our spiritual members, just as a long and heavy mantle which would always be in the way of an athlete running a race. Our constant endeavor, therefore, must be that we renounce this sin daily, shake off, throw aside its obstructing power.

Our success in this most necessary activity, as we must renew it daily, by daily contrition and repentance, depends upon one condition: Having our eyes fixed on the Leader and Perfecter of faith, Jesus, who, in consideration of the joy which was set before Him endured the cross, thinking nothing of the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. An athlete cannot afford to have his gaze toward the goal drawn aside to the consideration of various other interests. Even so we Christians cannot afford to have distractions draw our steadfast gaze away from Jesus, who beckons us on toward salvation. For it was He that not only set us an example of unwavering faith, but also leads us in the paths of perfect trust in God; it is He in whom faith finds its perfect embodiment. He that began the good work of conversion and sanctification in us will also perfect it until the day of the final revelation of glory. His example consists in this, that He willingly endured the cross, the entire burden of the Passion culminating in His crucifixion, at the same time disregarding the shame and disgrace which men were heaping upon Him. For during all this time Jesus kept before Him the prize, the eternal joy and bliss which would be His on the completion of His task, Philippians 2:9. And He received His reward; He was, also according to His human nature, elevated to the position of honor and glory at the right hand of God. Having held this position by virtue of His divine nature from eternity, He now holds it also by virtue of His human nature. Of His example we must never lose sight.

Just why the example of Jesus is able to serve us so well in the course which is appointed to us is also shown: For consider (your position) by comparing Him who steadfastly endured at the hands of sinners such terrible contradiction against Himself, lest you grow weary, fainting in your souls. The author wants us to consider carefully, to make our comparison in view of the example of Christ, this being the highest inducement which he has to offer. The force of the appeal lies in this, that Christ during His whole life suffered with the repudiation of His claims. Coming to men with the full love and mercy of His heavenly Father, He told them time and again that He was the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. But He met only with derision, with blasphemous denial, the few disciples excepted that remained true to Him. Just as Jesus did not grow weary in His work of saving souls, so we also must not let spiritual fatigue take hold of our souls nor permit our hearts to grow faint in the great work of sanctification. His spirit should live in us and enable us to follow in His steps.

The chastening of God to assist us:

The inspired writer here adds another thought to his appeal, namely, that his readers have by no means tasted the worst form of persecution yet: Not yet unto blood have you resisted, striving against sin. The Hebrew Christians of Judea were indeed suffering to some extent, both by reason of their isolation from others and by reason of the scorn which was heaped upon them. The fact that they were striving against sin in every form, especially against that of unbelief in Christ Jesus the Messiah, brought them many enemies. But the persecution had not yet reached the point that a great many of them had suffered death in the cause of Christ, the church in Judea had not yet become a martyr church as such. They might expect still worse conditions for them to endure.

Another thought is here brought in for the consideration of the readers: And you have altogether forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, nor faint when being corrected by Him; for whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges every son whom He receives. The Christians are here reminded that their sufferings are tokens of God’s fatherly love and care. They must never forget the exhortation and comfort which is contained in the words of the Lord, Proverbs 3:11-12. These words are addressed to sons, to children, and that in itself is a distinction, to be called sons of God. The believers should not make light of, should not despise, the discipline of the Lord, His entire method of training and educating His children, particularly through the necessary chastising. There must be no fainting, no despondency, no failure of faith when He reproves by word or deed. For it is necessary that all the children of God be subjected to the same discipline; it is a token of God’s love, a treatment which He accords only to such as He receives into His heart and cherishes with all the wonderful love of His fatherly mercy.

The author now presents his conclusion: It is for discipline that you are enduring, as sons God is dealing with you. For what son is there whom the father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then are you bastards and not sons. This is the view which the believers should hold: their sufferings are evidence that God considers them His sons and treats them as such; they need such training in order that their sonship may be maintained. In fact, if there were a child in the house and the father would not take his chastening, disciplining, into his hand, a person might draw the inference that such a child is not a genuine son, but a bastard, one that is not accorded the same treatment as the true sons. In the same way believers, far from resenting the disciplining which God lays upon them, should rather be thankful for this evidence of their heavenly Father’s regard and interest.

The object of God’s chastening:

Another consideration of the argument is here introduced: Further, fathers of our flesh we had to discipline us, and we gave them reverence; should we not much rather subject ourselves to the Father of spirits and live? The conclusion is from the smaller to the greater. We Christians, with the average run of humanity, had human fathers, parents of our own flesh and blood, who had charge of our training, including the necessary chastening, which cannot be omitted without disastrous results. To these fathers we gave honor and respect according to the Fourth Commandment. But if we did so much for our earthly fathers, who were, after all, merely human, does it not follow that our attitude toward the heavenly Father, the Father of spirits, whom we worship, with whom we come in contact, in the spirit, should be one of cheerful and obedient subjection? For in doing so, aside from the fact that the duty seems so obvious, this obedient relation toward God, flowing out of faith as it does, gives us the true spiritual life.

That this thought is altogether reasonable, and should appeal to all readers at once, the author now shows: For they, indeed, for a few days disciplined us as it seemed best to them, but He for our advantage, that we may be partakers of His holiness. The truth of the comparison is obvious. The earthly fathers had charge of our training for only a short while, during the short period of childhood and youth, and the training which they gave during this time was certainly done in accordance with the ideals which they had set before them, subject nevertheless, however, to mistakes, especially as to the means employed and the degrees of severity used in various instances. But the discipline of God is without fail, always to our advantage; He never makes a mistake in the kind and in the amount of suffering which He has us endure. For it is by this training that we are brought to that degree of holiness which He desires us to possess. His chastening constantly reminds us of the duty which we owe Him, and we are thus trained in His discipleship more and more.

The author here answers an objection which some reader may make: All discipline, indeed, seems for the time to be not joy, but grief; but afterwards it yields, to those that are disciplined by it, the peaceable fruit of righteousness. The writer has throughout spoken of God’s discipline in a most enthusiastic strain, and his ardor is not dampened by the objection which will tend to arise, at least in the hearts of such as are still weak in faith, that suffering of all kinds is a most unpleasant experience. That, indeed, is true: while the discipline lasts, while God permits the suffering to strike us, it certainly is a matter of pain and not of joy. But without training, correction, wholesome restraint, strict regulations, and an occasional punishment the aim of God cannot be accomplished with regard to His children. It is therefore solely in our interest that He uses this method. The result invariably is that those who are exercised and trained by it will be able to bear such peaceable fruit of righteousness as is well-pleasing to the heavenly Father. It is through this training of the Lord that our faith is rendered pure, true, precious, that we ourselves are thoroughly prepared, strengthened, founded unto eternal salvation, 1 Peter 1:6-9; 1 Peter 5:10; Romans 8:25; Romans 5:3-5.

This being true, the appeal may be made with full force: Wherefore lift up the listless hands and the paralyzed knees, and make the paths straight for your feet to walk in, that the lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed. Listless, nerveless hands and weak, paralyzed knees are not the members which should be found in true Christians, Isaiah 35:3. Knowing that the Lord always has thoughts of peace with regard to them, they can rely upon His promise, which He will keep without fail, Isaiah 40:29-31. Instead of walking with unsteady feet, as under the weight of a heavy load, which tends to bear him down to the ground, every Christian should let his feet go straight before him along the path of sanctification as prepared by Christ, swerving neither to the right nor to the left, Proverbs 4:26-27; Isaiah 30:21. If this is the case, then also the lame and limping, those Christian brothers that are still weak in the faith, will not be discouraged and turned quite out of the way, but will be given an opportunity of being healed of their spiritual infirmity. If the stronger believers are always firm and steadfast in all matters pertaining to sanctification and the discipleship of Christ, then their example will serve as an aid to the weaker brethren, causing them to follow the Master without doubt and without flinching until they reach the goal above, Isaiah 35:5-6.

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Verses 14-29

A warning against apostasy on the basis of the excellency of the new covenant

The warning example of Esau:

From the passage in Proverbs, to which the author has just referred, Proverbs 4:26-27, the author now takes another thought, namely, that of maintaining peaceful relations with others: Follow peace with all and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord. It seems that the characteristics of the Hebrews made them impatient of weakness, a feeling which might easily bring on alienation and lead to quarrels. But God wants His Church to be built up in peace, Romans 12:18; 2 Timothy 2:22, a peace based upon the unity of faith and making for holiness in general, for true consecration to the Lord and His cause, Ephesians 5:5; Matthew 5:8. Sanctification grows out of faith from the same seed, the Word of God, and without this holiness it is impossible to see the Lord, to be accepted by Him as His child. Only he that has accepted the vicarious sacrifice of Christ in such a spirit as to make him a partaker of the mind which lived in Christ will finally stand in the presence of the Lord and see Him face to face.

This is not a matter to be taken lightly, for the author continues: Watching lest any man fall short of the grace of God, lest some root of bitterness growing anew trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Christians must ever be on the alert, always watch carefully, lest one of their number fall away from the grace of God. The danger is always there that the one or the other may turn aside to some sin. But the believers should always be a closed company, held closely together by their faith and fellowship in Christ. That one of their number should turn aside, should miss the grace of God, must be a matter of grave concern to them all. And as they thus keep to the path together, they also guard against such pollution, such defilement, as follows the springing up in their midst of roots of bitterness. The words at this place are borrowed from Deuteronomy 29:18. The introduction of evil, sinful practises in their midst would be much like that of a poisonous root and plant, through whose pollution they would not only be troubled, but through which they would also be rendered unfit to approach to God and to enter into fellowship with Him. Cp. Galatians 5:9.

In just what way this might happen the author now states: Lest there be any fornicator or a profane person, like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright; for you know that afterward, though he wished to inherit the blessing, he was repudiated, for he found no room for a change of mind (in his father), although he sought it earnestly with tears. Here are examples of the bitter roots, of the poisonous plants of sin and evil, as they may spring up in a Christian congregation. There may be some one that will be overcome and stricken down by the sin of fornication, against the Sixth Commandment. Or some person may be tempted and fall into the sin of profaning such things as are sacred in the eyes of God. When the rich feast of God’s grace and mercy is spread in the same congregation for one or two generations, there is always danger that some one may become surfeited and barter away his salvation for the enjoyment of sin for a season. That was the sin of Esau, who considered the right of the first-born, though it included the fact that the first-born was also the bearer of the Messianic blessing, so lightly that he sold his birthright for a single meal, for a mess of pottage, Genesis 25:29-34. His case illustrates the danger of missed or rejected opportunities. For when Esau afterwards made an attempt to get the blessing of the first-born for himself, he did not succeed, Genesis 27:30-40. He made a very serious effort to get the blessing which had been given to Jacob for himself, beseeching his father with tears to change his mind. But Isaac remained firm; he realized that it was the will of God that Jacob should have the blessing of the first-born and the Messianic promise and therefore refused to change his decision. “I do not say that he was not saved, but that he could not obtain the blessing which he had once lost, in spite of all tears.” ^■921 .

The covenant of fear contrasted with that of grace:

Here is another reason for the entire appeal and warning as contained in this chapter, namely, the fact that grace is the compelling motive in the Christian’s life, and not fear: For you have not approached to the mountain that can be touched and burns with fire, to darkness and gloom and hurricane, and to the sound of a trumpet and to a voice sounding in words, which they that heard earnestly begged that further speech might not be added to them. The reference is evidently to the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Exodus 19; Deuteronomy 4. That was a solemn, a fearful occasion, for the mountain itself was burning with fire, Deuteronomy 4:11, and yet the rest of the country in the neighborhood was covered with a misty gloom, with a heavy darkness, while a stormwind having the proportions of a hurricane made every heart quake, Deuteronomy 4:11; Deuteronomy 5:22. To this fearsome scene was added the sound of a trumpet, in itself calculated to make even a stout heart shrink under such conditions, Exodus 19:16,19; Exodus 20:18, and then the voice of words which were spoken from the top of the mountain, Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5:4-22. No wonder that the children of Israel were filled with such terror that they earnestly entreated and begged Moses to arrange in some way that this fearful voice might not sound for them any more, Exodus 20:18-19; Deuteronomy 5:23-27. The very enumeration of the various phenomena gives some idea of the terrifying character of the spectacle.

How great the terror of the people was, is indicated in the following verses: For they could not bear that which had been ordered, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, Exodus 19:12-13. It was a day when all hearts quaked with a fear that could not be quieted, since all nature seemed in an uproar, and the Lord Himself appeared to be their threatening enemy. So inexpressibly great was the glory and majesty of God on Mount Sinai that Moses, upon returning from the presence of God with the two tables of the Law, and finding that the people had so far forgotten themselves as to become guilty of the basest idolatry, was terrified by the very thought of God’s possible revenge upon them, and cried out: I am extremely afraid and tremble, Deuteronomy 9:9; Deuteronomy 9:15-19. That is a picture which properly characterizes the Law with its terrible threats and curses of damnation.

Fortunate are the Christians that they are no longer under the Law, the very giving of which struck abject terror into the hearts of a whole nation: But you have drawn near to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the perfected righteous, and to the Mediator of a new covenant, Jesus, and to the blood of sprinkling, whose message is more excellent than Abel’s. The contrast between the old and the new covenant is brought out by every expression. For the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, is not an earthly, visible mountain, but a fellowship of saints, whose excellence can be but feebly indicated by attributes of human speech. Because David, the forefather of Christ, lived on Mount Zion and in the city of Jerusalem, and because the salvation of the Messiah was to take its beginning from this neighborhood, therefore the congregation and communion of saints, where God lives with His salvation in Christ, is commonly called Mount Zion, the city of God, in the prophecies, Psalm 9:11; Psalm 76:2; Psalm 110:2; Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:1-2. The ideal Zion is the place where God manifests His presence, the fulness of His grace in Christ. It is the heavenly Jerusalem, since it is not earthly and made with hands, and yet will be the final abode of all believers, Galatians 4:26. God has His home, the throne of His mercy, in the midst of His Church, Revelation 14:1; Revelation 21:2; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16. Into this communion the believers have entered. They are thus united with many thousands of angels in a fellowship of bliss, heaven and earth being united through the coming of Christ, Colossian 1:20; Ephesians 1:10. We belong, by faith, to the great festival assembly, to the congregation of God’s first-born children, those that have been converted to faith in the foremost First-born, the eternal Son of God. We have come to God, the Judge of all men, and are able to stand before Him in trusting confidence by virtue of the justifying faith which has been kindled in our hearts through the Gospel. We are even one great congregation with the spirits of the saints that have reached the final perfection, the last goal, the bliss of heaven, Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23. All this, however, is possible because we have come to the great Mediator of the New Testament, to Jesus, who restored mankind to the original relation of children to the heavenly Father, through His own holy, innocent blood, with which we have been sprinkled in faith. The blood of Abel may indeed act as a witness and as such have value for this life, Hebrews 11:4. But the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sins, and therefore pleads before God with a voice so loud and persuasive that it secures perfect righteousness for us. Thus the inspired writer brings home to us the fact that we have come to the pleasant, merciful, saving Gospel. What a glorious privilege!

The need of reverence and godly fear:

On the basis of the truths brought out in the last paragraph, of the fact that the Gospel with the fulness of God’s mercy in Christ is now preached to the world and has been given to the believers, the author launches into a final appeal: See to it that you do not try to turn from Him that speaks; for if those people did not escape who turned from Him that was uttering His oracles on earth, much less shall we, if we repudiate Him who speaks from heaven. This is a most solemn admonition, bidding the Christians by all means to heed the voice of the Lord, who is now speaking to us through His Son, through the Gospel. For if in the Old Testament they that refused to hear the Word of the Lord which He spoke here on earth, the Word of the Law, did not escape punishment, then there will be no chance whatever for the person who now, when the riches of God’s mercy are offered without stint and without condition, should refuse to hear His kind invitation. It cannot be emphasized too often or too strongly that the one sin which really condemns to everlasting damnation at the present time is the sin of unbelief, which turns from the Lord’s outstretched hand of mercy and refuses the gift of His love.

Every believer should remember: Then His voice shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. When the Lord gave His Law from Mount Sinai, the ground was shaken by mighty earthquakes, Exodus 19:18. But that was as nothing beside another manifestation of His power which He has promised for the time of the New Testament, saying that He would shake heaven and earth once more, Haggai 2:7. Cp. Isaiah 64:1-3; Micah 7:15; Haggai 2:22-23. For, as the author says: That word “once more” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as of things that have been made, in order that those things which are not shaken may remain. Only once more does God intend to reveal Himself before the world in the splendor of His almighty majesty, on the last day of the world. On that day, when God will shake the foundations of earth and heaven, all created things will be removed, will pass away in the form which they had for this present world. Then will only that which is not shaken, namely, the kingdom of Christ, the inheritance of the Christians, abide in all eternity, 1 Peter 1:4; Luke 1:33; Isaiah 65:17-19; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-5.

This being true, that the perishable things of this world must pass away: Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by means of which we may acceptably serve God, with reverence and fear; for indeed our God is a consuming fire. Ours is an immovable kingdom, the kingdom of His grace and glory; in it we shall reign with Him as kings, Revelation 1:6. By virtue of our membership in this glorious communion, the festival assembly of all angels and saints, we are assured of the grace, of the merciful love of God in Christ Jesus. In possession of this grace we can serve God in the proper manner, as it is well-pleasing to Him, with devout reverence and fear, Colossians 1:12. And let no man forget that we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for our God is a God whose wrath is a consuming fire, Deuteronomy 4:24, upon all those that reject His mercy and repudiate the remission of sins in Christ Jesus. Thus the author lays upon all believers the greatest obligation to live a godly life and not to let the saving faith in Jesus leave their hearts.

Summary

The sacred writer appeals to all Christians to heed the example of the Old Testament believers and of Christ and to be strengthened in holiness by the chastisement of God; he warns against apostasy, referring to the example of Esau and showing the greater excellency of the covenant of grace as compared with the covenant of fear.

Verses 1-25

Final admonitions and conclusion

Exhortations of a general nature:

The inspired author has presented the matter to which he wanted to call the special attention of the Hebrew Christians. But in connection with this doctrine he now takes occasion to address some special admonitions to his readers: Brotherly love should continue. Love of the brethren had existed in their midst, as he had frankly acknowledged, Hebrews 6:10. But if they did not heed the appeal and warning addressed to them in the preceding chapter, there was danger that the general decay of their faith would be accompanied by the inevitable corresponding loss of true brotherly love. But in order that brotherly love might remain, it required constant exercising, two forms of which are here mentioned. First of all: Entertainment of strangers do not neglect; for through this some have entertained angels without knowing it. True hospitality is here earnestly recommended, not an indiscriminate feeding of loafers. Conditions often made it necessary for the Christians to move from one place to another in those days, and many of them could ill afford to make use of the public inn. In such cases the brethren should be willing to show their love by receiving others, often fugitives, into their homes and providing for their wants. In this work of love the thought was to encourage them that some people at least who practised hospitality in that way had entertained angels without knowing it, Genesis 18:19. The hospitality of the early Christians was commented upon favorably even by heathen writers. It is a virtue which might be practised with far greater liberality in our days, when a suspicious coldness has come to mark the intercourse of Christians with one another, Romans 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8. But some of their fellow-Christians might be in even a worse plight, and therefore the text continues: Be mindful of those in bonds as fellow-prisoners, of those that suffer evil as being yourselves also in the body. The Christians to whom these words were addressed were living in troublous times. The general persecution which came upon them after the death of Stephen had indeed subsided, but the hatred of their enemies remained, and there were probably local disturbances. The believers, then, should feel a prayerful sympathy for all those that were languishing in prison for the sake of the Gospel, just as though they had been bound with them and were suffering the same hardships. In the same way they should remember those that were being abused, maltreated, showing this cordial sympathy all the more readily since they, being in the body, were liable to similar ill-usage. It was in accordance with these and similar instructions that the early Christians composed special prayers for those suffering imprisonment and in every way provided for their relief.

A special admonition concerns the sacredness of holy wedlock: In honor let marriage be held by all, and the marriage-bed be kept unstained; but fornicators and adulterers the Lord will judge. Whether a person has already entered the state of holy wedlock or is still unwed, marriage should be held in honor, sacred as an institution of the Lord. There must be no violation of its sanctity either by the unmarried, by presuming upon the special functions of this state, or by the married, by defiling the marriage-bed through unfaithfulness or in entering this holy estate for the mere gratification of sexual lust. The conjugal relations should be chaste. With solemn emphasis the writer adds that it is God who will judge and condemn the fornicators and adulterers, those who in any manner violate the sacredness of the boundaries which He has drawn around the state of marriage.

Of the entire conduct of the Christians the author says: Your mode of life be without covetousness, being content with what you have; for Himself has said, I will by no means leave thee, nor will I at all forsake thee. The entire life of the Christians, all their thinking and doing, their conduct under all circumstances, should be free from avarice, from the love of money, for God demands that His children on earth should be satisfied, content with what they have, with what He has given them. This contentment has a firm foundation in the promise of God that He will under no circumstances leave His own to want, nor will He in any manner forsake them, Deuteronomy 31:6,8; 1 Chronicles 28:20. Cp. Genesis 28:15; Joshua 1:5; Isaiah 41:17. This promise of God being secure, we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear, Psalm 118:6. The Psalmist asks the challenging question, but the author here changes the question to the bold statement of faith which fears no danger with God on its side. Cp. 1 Chronicles 28:20. Men can at their worst but take our lives; but our salvation in Christ Jesus is secure in the hands of the Father. The body they may kill, but the soul has been entrusted to the certainty of everlasting Mercy.

An admonition to stand firm:

The first point which the sacred author brings out in this paragraph is that of keeping in remembrance the former teachers of the Gospel: Keep in remembrance them that had the rule over you, who spoke to you the Word of God, upon the close of whose life look closely, and copy their faith. The Christians should remember their spiritual guides, or leaders, keep them in kind and honoring remembrance. This feeling should be intensified by the fact that it was they that proclaimed to them the glorious Gospel of their salvation, God’s Word of Love. These leaders, these early guides of the Hebrew Christians, had now passed away, but they were still acting as examples through their conduct. These men had sealed their teaching with their lives; they had remained steadfast in their belief in the Gospel to the end, and had thus exhibited a faith worthy of imitation. The believers should carefully consider this; they should keep the same faith, and God would keep them.

This may be set forth all the more emphatically, since the object of faith has not changed or passed away: Jesus Christ, always the same, yesterday and to-day and forever. That is the inscription which the Christians may at all times place upon their banner. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, is the basis of our faith. There was and is and will be only this one Redeemer; but in Him we have all that we need for this life and for the world to come, Acts 4:12; Acts 15:11; Revelation 5:13 ^■922 ; 1 Corinthians 3:11. “Yesterday is the time before His incarnation, to-day is the time of His revelation in the flesh. Thus it is now and in eternity the same Christ, through whom, and through whom alone, all believers in the past, in the present, and in the future time are delivered from the Law, justified, and saved.” ^■923 .

With this basis of faith, it follows: With various teachings, and strange, be not carried away; for it is a fine thing for the heart to be confirmed by grace, not by meats, which were of no avail to them that had recourse to them. This was the great danger which was menacing the Jewish Christians. There were many men that sought admission to the Christian congregations in those days who construed the Old Testament doctrine in such a way and insisted upon the former institutions and practises with such emphasis as to loosen the attachment of the believers to Christ as the only Mediator. Many a Christian who was not firmly grounded in the liberty of Christ was swept away by the flood of specious arguments brought forward by these Judaizing teachers. It was necessary, therefore, that the hearts of the Christians be strengthened and confirmed, a fact which only the grace of God in the Gospel could bring about. A fine and laudable thing it would certainly be if all Christians would stand firm in the knowledge of the efficacy of this grace, for it is all that we need for this life and the next. The writer, in this connection and for the sake of his readers, purposely rejects the idea that this aim might be reached by the use of certain foods of the sacrificial meals, of which some Jewish Christians still believed that they had the power to give spiritual strength. All the people that had ever placed their trust in these sacrificial meals, in the eating of the meat and other food that was connected with the offering of certain sacrifices, had had no benefit of their work, having thereby not become justified before God, Galatians 4:9-10; Galatians 5:1-4.

It is in contrast to this ceremonial eating of the Old Testament that the author says: We have an altar, from which to eat they have no authority that serve the tabernacle. The contrast is between those that cling to the Levitical sacrificial cult and those that place their trust in the mercy and grace of God alone. Those that still serve the tabernacle, whose heart is bound up with the form of worship of the Old Testament, who insist that the observance of the Ceremonial Law is necessary also in the New Testament, have no authority, no right and power to take part in the blessings which come to us from our altar, from the Cross of Christ, on which the Lamb of God was offered for the sins of the world. For to eat of this altar means to become a partaker of the benefits which the great Sacrifice brought to the world, it means to accept in faith the true righteousness before God and eternal salvation. Cp. John 6:51-58.

This is emphasized by another comparison between the sacrifices of the Old Testament and the one great offering of the New: For of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, their bodies are burned outside the camp; therefore also Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside of the gate. According to the Ceremonial Law of the Jews, the carcasses of those animals whose blood, on the great Day of Atonement, was taken into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled against the mercy-seat, Hebrews 9:8-25; Hebrews 10:19, had to be burned outside of the camp of the Jews, and later outside of the city of Jerusalem, Leviticus 16:27. Of the flesh of these sacrifices, therefore, no one was permitted to eat, as was the case with many other offerings. But now the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement is the principal type of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 9:7-12. It was for this reason, then, that Christ, in consecrating the sinners to Himself, in working salvation for all mankind through His own blood, suffered and died outside of the gates of the city of Jerusalem. Like a malefactor He was taken outside of the city and put to death, Leviticus 24:14; Numbers 15:35-36; Deuteronomy 17:5; Mark 15:20-27 ^■924 . The very fact that Christ was cast out and condemned and put to death won salvation for all men. Those, then, that still insist upon keeping all the precepts of the Ceremonial Law are obliged to look upon Christ as an unclean criminal; whereas we, who know ourselves to be free from the demands of the old church law of the Jews, rejoice that Christ was made to be sin and a curse, because we know that it was done for us, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13.

Bearing Christ’s reproach and working for His glory:

Here the natural consequence of our having cast our lot with the crucified Christ is brought out: Let us, therefore, go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. The author wants his readers to consider it a privilege to be branded outcasts and traitors to the Jewish cause. Having chosen Jesus as their Lord and Master, they should freely confess that they were willing to join Him in His shame and reproach as a malefactor and criminal in the eyes of the Jews. True believers will have nothing to do with the Law and its ordinances as necessary for their salvation, they will have nothing to do with legalistic practises. Having cast their lot with Jesus and His salvation by grace alone, they will be glad to bear the shame and reproach which fell upon Him, for His sake.

Surely this step is one which should not cause regret in the heart of any one that has accepted Jesus in truth: For not have we a lasting city here below, but we seek earnestly the one to come. The believers are strangers, sojourners, in this world; they are the Lord’s pilgrims, Psalm 39:12. The short span of life which is granted them in this world is but a time of preparation for the world to come. Our real home, where we have our true citizenship, is in heaven, Philippians 3:20. Only that which is spiritual and eternal can truly satisfy the ambition and fill the heart with that peace which passes all understanding. We strive earnestly, therefore, for the city which abides forever; we keep our attention centered on its glorious advantages, on its bliss inestimable.

Thus we are enabled also to do what the inspired author urges: Through Him, then, let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is to say, the fruit of lips celebrating His name. We believe in the virtue of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, we have openly taken the part of Him who was condemned as a criminal by men; but through Him we are also identified with the Father as His children and worshipers. As such it is our cheerful duty, our glad privilege, to bring sacrifices to Him through Christ. Not only occasionally and periodically, but continually we offer to God, our heavenly Father, the fruit of our lips in the praise and celebration of His holy name. Hosea 14:3; Psalm 50:14,23; Isaiah 57:19.

At the same time we do not lose sight of the fact that our faith, expressed in the sacrifice of the lips, will also express itself in the fruit of the hands: But do not forget beneficence and charity; for those are the sacrifices which are well-pleasing to God. A heart that is enjoying the certainty of salvation through the redemption of Christ cannot but feel some of the deep and wonderful love which the Savior showed all men in His vicarious suffering and death. All acts of beneficence, therefore, all forms of doing good, of communicating to the brethren and to all men in need, are the sphere of the Christian’s activity. And such good works, growing out of a heart filled with faith, imperfect as they are in themselves, nevertheless are looked upon by the heavenly Father with all good pleasure, since the merits of Christ cover up all their shortcomings. Thus we Christians are living under the good pleasure of God.

But in this connection there is one more point to which the holy writer deems it necessary to call attention: Obey your leaders and submit yourselves; for it is they that watch for your souls, as men that will have to render an account of their trust; that with joy they do this and not groaning, for this would be a loss to yourselves. Of the example of the former leaders the author has spoken above, Hebrews 13:7. Here he speaks of the teachers, pastors, ministers that have charge of their spiritual welfare at the present time. They should yield themselves trustfully to their teaching, as long as they teach the Word of God, the pure Gospel of the salvation of all men, as this was being done by the teachers in Judea. Christians should always remember what a great responsibility was resting upon these men and is resting upon the true pastors to-day, that they must render an account to the Lord on the last day for every soul that was entrusted to their pastoral care. It is a solemn word for both the teachers and the hearers. Since it is in the interest of the souls of the people that faithful pastors discharge their duty, therefore the parishioners should make it their object thus to conduct themselves toward their pastors at all times that the latter may perform the work of their office cheerfully and joyfully and not groaningly, with sighs and laments; for such a condition of affairs would surely react in such a manner upon the hearers as to deprive them of at least some of the benefit which God intends for them through the ministry of the Word, Luke 10:16; Ezekiel 3:17-21. This word of warning should be heeded also in our days when men are inclined to look with suffering compassion upon the pastors and to disregard their teaching and warning from the Word of God. On the other hand, it should be remembered that this passage does not give the ministers absolute power over the souls of the parishioners, as the Romanists falsely claim ^■925 .

An admonition to prayer and good works:

The close of this letter, as those written by the Apostle Paul, breathes the spirit of intimacy which characterized the fellowship among the early Christians. The inspired author pleads: Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to conduct ourselves well. Paul also pleads for the intercession of the Christians to whom he addresses some of his letters, 1 Thessalonians 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; Romans 15:30-32; Ephesians 6:18-20; Colossians 4:3. Because the responsibility which rests upon the pastors is so great, therefore their parishioners will do well to include them and their work in their daily prayer. But incidentally, because the author was aware of the fact that the doctrine which he taught was not acceptable to the Judaizing Christians, he boldly declares that he is convinced that he has a clear conscience, that he is not conscious of any offense, that his conduct, so far as he knew, at all times was such as not to require an apology at this time. He had lived up to his intention of behaving with decency and propriety toward all men. For that reason his appeal is so urgent: I appeal to you all the more impressively to do this, in order that all the more quickly I may be restored to you. The writer was either imprisoned or else hindered in some way from coming to Palestine. But he felt that he and his labors belonged to them, and that they, as well as he, would welcome his return to them with open arms. The trust which the writer here shows in the power of prayer is that which ought to be found in the hearts of all Christians.

The sacred author, in turn, adds a prayer for his readers, which concludes with a doxology: But the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of an everlasting covenant, confirm you in every good thing to the doing of His will, working in us that which is well-pleasing before Him through Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. He calls God the God of peace, 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Romans 15:33 ^■926 , since through the relation and condition of peace which has resulted in consequence of the redemption of Christ there is once more peace between God and mankind, and because the believers are, by virtue of this knowledge, able to follow after peace with all their heart. That peace between God and man actually obtains is due to the fact that God restored, brought back from the dead, Jesus, the great Shepherd of His sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant. Cp. John 10. As Christ Himself informed the Jews, He, as the Good Shepherd, laid down His life for His sheep, He shed His holy blood in consequence of God’s covenant of mercy, the counsel of love which was made in eternity and has for its object the salvation of all mankind. This God of mercy also has the power to give the necessary strength to the believers, enabling them to be eager for the doing of every good work, for everything that pleases the heavenly Father. This the Christians then do, not by their own reason and strength, but in Jesus Christ, through the might which flows from their Savior into their hearts and minds by faith. In this way, by the continued growth of all believers in sanctification, the end and aim of God’s work in them will be realized, Christ Himself being glorified, world without end.

Greetings and benediction:

The writer now closes his letter. Tactfully he appeals to the Hebrew readers: But I beseech you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation. Some of them might be inclined to resent his open, frank way of putting the matter before them, especially since their conscience was somewhat uneasy. His letter, he explains, had surely been brief enough; he had purposely refrained from wearying them. Note that he does not apologize for a single word, but that his plea is rather an admonition for them to be sensible about taking his words in good grace.

Concerning Timothy he informs them that he is now set free, having been imprisoned for some time, probably at Rome, and it is his intention to come to Palestine with Timothy and visit them all. He intimates that this event will take place soon. He sends greetings to their leaders, their pastors or ministers, the letter being intended for all the congregations of Judea or of Palestine, and includes all the saints, all the believers that have been consecrated to God by faith. He sends greetings from the Christian brethren in Italy, the fellowship between the believers in those days being much more cordial than it is in our days. The very last words of the letter are the common, but by no means meaningless formula: Grace be with you all! Every person that is assured of the mercy and love of God in Jesus Christ and accepts this message in simple faith is a partaker of that grace and of all the blessings which it transmits, here in time and hereafter in eternity.

Summary

The inspired author adds to the doctrinal part of his letter some exhortations of a general character, an admonition to stand firm, to bear the reproach of Christ, and to include him in their intercessory prayer; he closes with some personal remarks and greetings.