4. Jesus’ Superiority to Moses, part 2 (4:1–13)
4. Jesus’ Superiority to Moses, part 2 (4:1–13)
Outline
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C. An Invitation to Enter God’s Rest
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4:1–5
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1. God’s Rest
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4:6–11
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2. God’s Day
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4:12–13
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3. God’s Word
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C. An Invitation to Enter God’s Rest
4:1–13
4 1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
12 The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
1. God’s Rest
4:1–5
In the third chapter of his epistle, the writer of Hebrews quotes at length from Psalm 95 and speaks of the unbelievers who were cursed by God and died in the desert. Although the author speaks of the unbelievers in chapter 3, he addresses the believers in chapter 4. The admonition of 3:12–14 is now resumed and is substantially enlarged in 4:1–11. The question that is raised is this: Is the promise of entering God’s rest, given to the Israelites but forfeited because of unbelief, still valid in our time? The answer is a resounding yes. The message of entering the rest that God promises is the same and still calls for acceptance in faith. The assurance is that “we who have believed enter that rest” (Heb. 4:3).
1. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
The first word therefore is rather significant because it looks backward to the quotation and the interpretation of Psalm 95, and points forward to the believers who read the Epistle to the Hebrews. The message of 4:1 can be summarized in three words: fear, promise, failure.
a. Fear
The author is a pastor who, filled with concern, strives for the spiritual well-being of his people. He does not want to see a single member of the church fall into the same sin (i.e., unbelief) that was displayed by the Israelites who died in the desert. The author is a shepherd, so to speak, who watches over every sheep in the flock.
But the writer is not the only one in the church to care for the members of the congregation. He exhorts the recipients of his epistle to be equally concerned. Thus he writes, “Let us be careful.” He shares his pastoral concerns with all the members—all are responsible for the welfare of the church. To be concerned about one’s own salvation is commendable; to pray for one’s fellow man is praiseworthy; but to strive for the salvation of everyone within the confines of the church is exemplary. We ought to take careful note of members who may be drifting from the truth in doctrine or conduct and then pray with them and for them. We are constantly looking for spiritual stragglers. Says Philip Edgcumbe Hughes in his commentary on this point, “There is no attitude more dangerous for the church than that of unconcern and complacency.”1
Most translations have the reading let us fear or some variation, denoting something that causes concern and anxiety in a person’s heart (Acts 23:10; 27:17, 29; II Cor. 11:3; 12:20; Gal. 4:11).
b. Promise
God’s promises remain the same for all times and for every generation because God is true to his Word (Deut. 3:18–20; Josh. 1:12–18; 21:45; 23:14; I Kings 8:56; Ps. 89:1; I Cor. 1:9; Heb. 6:18). On the basis of this scriptural truth, I prefer the translation “since the promise of entering his rest still stands.” We have the assurance that God’s promise is still valid today and did not come to an end with the Israelites in the desert. And because of the certainty that the promise of God still stands, we must have special care for and interest in the spiritual growth and development of fellow believers.
Some translations describe the duration of the promise of entering God’s rest: “while the promise of entering his rest remains.” Others express the concessive idea, namely, “although there is still left a promise to enter into his rest.”2 These translations are to the point and accurate—they stress the continuing validity of God’s promise to his people. This promise is in a specific sense still incomplete and open.3 In other words, the promise will lose its significance only at the end of time when in fact the last of the believers has entered God’s rest.
c. Failure
For the Israelites on their way to the land of Canaan, for David who composed Psalm 95, for the writer of Hebrews and his readers, and for us today the promise of God is firm and spans the centuries. This does not mean, however, that God is obligated to fulfill his promise when faith is lacking. When man fails God by not believing in his Word, God turns the promise into a threat and a curse as he did during Israel’s journey in the wilderness.
What then does the writer of Hebrews imply when he tells his readers that they have the promise of entering God’s rest? The answer must be that the idea of rest has taken on a much broader meaning, because when the word rest was first used it referred to entering Canaan. The concept included rest from harassment by Israel’s enemies in neighboring countries; spiritually it related to a blessed life spent in harmony with the law of God. When David spoke of rest, he lived safely in his palace at Jerusalem. For the recipients of the epistle, the term rest had spiritual significance.
In the congregation that originally received the epistle, the possibility that someone had fallen short of appropriating God’s promise seems to have been real. The expression to have fallen short may have been borrowed from the sports arena; it conveys the meaning of being left behind in the race and thus failing to reach the goal.4 When someone does not reach the goal, he cannot give even the appearance of having arrived. In the eyes of the spectators in the arena, the contestant has failed. He cannot receive a prize and in many cases even forfeits sympathy.
This type of failure to claim the promise of God’s rest may not be found in the church. The writer is direct in his appeal “that none of you be found to have fallen short” (italics added; see also 3:12; 4:11). The entire congregation ought to be vigilant about possible lack of interest in spiritual matters. No one may let his guard down. No one may be lost. Responsibility for one another’s spiritual interest is the obligation of every believer.
2. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
The conjunction for links the concept of the promise, given to the Israelites but still valid today (v. 1), with that of the gospel preached to the nation Israel in the desert and to us.
Highlights in verse 2 are the following points.
a. The Word of God, although a continuous revelation from the first book in the Bible to the last, is the same. It is good news for the Israelite and for the Christian.
b. The clause “we also have had the gospel preached to us” receives a certain degree of emphasis. The writer does not say, “We have received the gospel.” Instead, he states that the Word has been preached to us for a considerable time so that we are fully evangelized.
c. The Israelites traveling from Egypt to Canaan also had the Word preached to them over an extended period.
d. However, the gospel news (I Thess. 2:13) that the desert travelers heard did not do them any good, because they failed to pay attention.
e. Those who heard the Word did not combine it with faith (Rom. 10:16–17). And that was their downfall.
The last clause in 4:2, depending on the wording in a number of ancient manuscripts, varies in translation. There are two usual ways of translating the clause. One of these is, “because it [the Word] was not united by faith in those who heard.”5 This translation is by far the more prevalent, frankly because it fits the context and is readily understood. The manuscript evidence, however, favors the second translation, “because they did not share the faith of those who listened.”6 The implication is that among the Israelites in the desert were two people who obeyed the Word of God: Joshua and Caleb. It is rather strange that the writer is not more explicit; he leaves the reader to fill in the historical details and to draw the necessary conclusions.
Differences exist and the difficulties in the passage are undeniable, but in both translations the emphasis is on the faith that was not shared. During the entire period in which the Israelites had the Good News preached to them, they refused to accept it in faith. Their refusal was not a momentary reaction but a continuous rejection of God’s written and spoken Word.
God fulfills his promises only in those who accept his Word in faith and trust, whether that happens to be Joshua, Caleb, or “the soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose.” No one among the Israelites could complete the desert journey and enter the Land of Promise except the one who demonstrated true faith in God. And no one shall enter God’s eternal rest unless his faith is anchored in Jesus, the Son of God.
3. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
After comparing the Israelites who wandered in the desert and the recipients of his epistle, the writer of Hebrews confidently asserts, “Now we who have believed enter that rest.” He does not use the future tense (“we will enter”). He says, “We who have believed enter,” and thus affirms that God’s promise has become reality according to his divine plan and purpose.7 At the moment—in principle but not yet in full realization—we are entering that rest. As long as we keep our eyes fixed on “Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), we enjoy the rest God has promised, and eventually we shall be with him eternally.
This point raises the following questions.
a. Who enters that rest? The author is quite specific. We; that is, those of us who have believed and have demonstrated our faith in Christ by professing his name (Acts 4:32; 16:31; Rom. 10:9; I Thess. 2:13). And we enter because God’s promise still stands.
As God’s promise does not lose its validity, so God’s threat remains true for everyone who does not accept God’s Word in faith. God’s Word prevails because he has spoken:
“So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
These words not only apply to Israel’s experience in the wilderness, but also remind readers of the epistle that God’s promise and threat are equally valid today.
b. What is God’s rest? The writer of Hebrews has expected this question, it seems. The next sentence, “And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world,” indicates that.8 The author explains the word rest in his own inimitable way by quoting an expression from Genesis 2:2, which he cites in 4:4. This expression (the words his work), along with the rest of the sentence, anticipates the reference to the Genesis account. (It is significant that the writer of Hebrews constantly quotes from the Old Testament Scriptures.9 He never appeals to the words of Jesus or the teachings of the apostles, although he was acquainted with the gospel [Heb. 4:2]. For him and for the recipients of his epistle, the writings of the Old Testament were authoritative.)
After the world was created, the author tells us, God initiated a new period—a period of rest. God rested from his work of creation at the conclusion of the sixth day. Whereas for the six days of creation the concluding words are “there was evening, and there was morning,” for the seventh day these demarcations of time are lacking. With the seventh day, then, the period of God’s rest began.
4. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5. And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
Once before, in 2:6, the author has expressed himself rather vaguely about a Scripture passage. He does this deliberately to focus attention not on the precise location of the reference, but on the words themselves. Every reader knows that a reference to the seventh day comes from the creation account in Genesis. The quoted words, however, are more important: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”
The term rest merits attention, especially if we think of Jesus’ words when the Jews persecuted him for healing an invalid on the Sabbath: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17). Rest for God does not mean idleness; rather it is a cessation from the work of creation. God continues to enjoy this rest now that the work of his creation is completed.
On the combined strength of the two Old Testament passages—one from Psalm 95 and one from Genesis 2:2—the author concludes that only those persons who believe enter God’s rest. This rest, to be sure, has become a reality for the believer. Unbelievers have no access to the rest God provides, for by spurning God’s Word they have forfeited the privilege of entering his rest.
Note the author’s repeated reference to the solemn oath God swore: “They shall never enter my rest” (Heb. 3:11, 18 [with minor variations]; 4:3, 5). This recurring warning ought not be taken lightly by the reader. And no one can ever say, “It will never happen to me.” If the Israelites, entering the land of Canaan, had listened to words spoken by Moses (Deut. 28:1–14) and obeyed the commands of God, they would have been the recipients of all the blessings God had promised. They would have been honored above all the nations of the earth, and they would have enjoyed rest by living in God’s favor and grace. For them, life in Canaan would have been living in the presence of God. But one generation after the death of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, the people turned their backs on the God of their fathers (Josh. 2:10), and the promise of God turned into a threat and a curse. It is for this reason, vividly documented by historical fact, that the author of Hebrews repeats the verse they shall never enter my rest.
Practical Considerations in 4:1–5
The exhortations in 4:1–3 are in effect an application of the lesson learned from history. As in chapter 3 the unbelieving Israelites were mentioned, so in chapter 4 the believers are addressed. The call to faithfulness and mutual care is earnest and sincere.
The gospel is proclaimed to believers and unbelievers, so that no one can claim the excuse of not having heard the promise of God. Man’s failure to listen to God’s Word does not terminate the promises: for the unbeliever these become threats; for the believer they remain promises which in due time are fulfilled.
Believers, because of firm faith, enter God’s rest, which is a spiritual state of being in the presence of God. The Genevan Reformer John Calvin had a motto, Coram Deo (in the presence of God). The believer by faith lives in harmony with his God. As Calvin puts it: “The highest happiness of man is to be united to his God.”10
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 4:1–5
Verse 1
φοβηθῶμεν—the author includes himself in the exhortation and thus identifies himself with the readers. The aorist subjunctive expresses the exhortation to watch over one another’s spiritual welfare. The author tells the reader to do so without delay.
ἐπαγγελίας—in the epistle this noun occurs fourteen times and the verb an additional four times. There seems to be word play involved in the Greek when the author speaks of promise (ἐπαγγελία) and preaching the gospel (εὐαγγελίζομαι). The latter verb appears only two times in Hebrews (4:2, 6). The noun ἐπαγγελία is in the genitive absolute construction with a causal connotation.
Verse 2
εὐηγγελισμένοι—together with the verb ἐσμεν, the perfect passive participle forms a periphrastic construction that expresses the idea of a continuous activity that began in the past and lasts into the present. Note that the personal pronoun ἡμεῖς is not used, in order to place emphasis on the verb instead.
ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς—the genitive is qualitative in nature (see also Rom. 10:17; I Thess. 2:13) and is related to the aorist active, dative plural participle ἀκούσασιν.
Verse 3
οἱ πιστεύσαντες—the aorist active participle and the preceding definite article modify the main verb εἰσερχόμεθα. The aorist is ingressive.
γενηθέντων—the aorist passive (deponent) participle in the genitive and the words τῶν ἔργων form a genitive absolute construction.
2. God’s Day
4:6–11
The emphatic threat “they shall never enter my rest” does not rule out God’s honoring his promise to those who believe. Some enter God’s rest.
6. It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
Note these observations.
a. Unalterable fact
From biblical history the reader knows that Joshua and Caleb entered the land of Canaan. They put their trust in God, who kept his Word. They were privileged to enter the Land of Promise, because God does not break his Word. This fact remains throughout the ages and is unchangeable.
Thus the reader of these verses is exhorted to enter God’s rest, because God is true to his Word and does fulfill his promise. A careful reading of the first part of 4:6 shows that the thought expressed is somewhat incomplete. That is, the introductory clause, “it still remains that some will enter that rest,” needs a concluding remark, perhaps in the form of an exhortation. And this exhortation is given in 4:11, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.”11 If we accept God’s Word in faith and do his will obediently, the promise of rest will be fulfilled for us, too. That fact is unquestionable.
b. Just reward
Some enter God’s rest; others are denied entrance. This is not a matter of injustice nor of favoring one party over another. Rather, the author of Hebrews perceives that the distinction is just. Says he, “Those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.” Those people who heard the voice of God from Sinai and who were given the law of Moses refused to accept the promise. They were without excuse, for although they heard the gospel, they chose to disobey. They received their due when entrance into Canaan was denied. Their unbelief turned into disobedience; heart and hand were willfully opposed to God and his Word.
c. Repeated promise
God remains in control; he rules and overrules. His promise, which the Israelites ignored and which was consequently nullified, God repeats. “Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today.”
The word Today emphasizes the characteristics of relevance, timeliness, and newness. The text indicates that God set a certain day and mentions that “a long time later he spoke through David.” God spanned the centuries from desert life to Davidic rule, from Moses recording Israel’s history in the Pentateuch to David composing his songs for the Psalter.12 He makes his promise available today, which is the time for embracing the gracious offer of salvation. God appeals to readers:
Today, if you hear [my] voice,
do not harden your hearts.
d. Timeless validity
Why is the promise of God always valid? In at least three different verses of chapter 4 the author gives the answer: God has spoken (vv. 3, 4, 7). The simple phrase as God has said, which in the original Greek is in the perfect tense, signifies that what God says has permanent validity (see also Heb. 1:13; 10:9; 13:5). No matter how many centuries elapse, God’s Word spans the ages; his message is just as clear, firm, and sure today as it was when first uttered. God’s Word is divinely inspired and, as Paul says, “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16).
8. For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
The writer clearly appeals to biblical history, specifically to the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. God promised rest to the wandering Israelites when Moses declared, “But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety” (Deut. 12:10; also see Deut. 3:20; 5:33).
This promise was fulfilled literally when Joshua addressed the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh: “Now that the Lord your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan” (Josh. 22:4; see also Josh. 1:13, 15; 21:44; 23:1).
The writer demonstrates once again that he knows the Old Testament Scriptures thoroughly, and as an expert theologian he formulates the conditional sentence: “For if Joshua had given them rest—and we know that God fulfilled this promise—God would not have spoken later about another day, as he does in Psalm 95.” In other words, the rest of which God speaks is a spiritual rest and has much greater significance than living safely in Canaan.
The rest that God intended for his people transcends the temporal and attains the eternal. It is a spiritual rest that is effected by the gospel, whether proclaimed in Old Testament or New Testament days. It is a rest from sin and evil. As Zacharias Ursinus, with the help of Caspar Olevianus, aptly expressed it:
that every day of my life
I rest from my evil ways,
let the Lord work in me through his Spirit,
and so begin already in this life
the eternal Sabbath.13
9. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10. for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
From Psalm 95 the author has shown that the rest that the Israelites enjoyed in Canaan was not the rest God intended for his people. The intended rest is a Sabbath-rest, which, of course, is a direct reference to the creation account (Gen. 2:2; see also Exod. 20:11; 31:17) of God’s rest on the seventh day.14
For the believer the Sabbath is not merely a day of rest in the sense that it is a cessation of work. Rather it is a spiritual rest—a cessation of sinning. It entails an awareness of being in the sacred presence of God with his people in worship and praise. John Newton captured a glimpse of what Sabbath-rest is to be when he wrote:
Safely through another week
God has brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek,
Waiting in His courts today;
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.
The day of rest is indeed an emblem of eternal rest! During our life span on earth, we celebrate the Sabbath and realize only partially what Sabbath-rest entails. In the life to come, we shall fully experience God’s rest, for then we will have entered a rest that is eternal. “ ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them’ ” (Rev. 14:13).
Who then enters that rest? Only those who die in the Lord? The answer is: All those who in faith experience happiness in the Lord because they are one with him. Jesus prays for those who believe in him, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21). In God we have perfect peace and rest.
My heart, Lord, does not rest
Until it rests in Thee.
—Augustine
However, the text indicates that whoever enters God’s rest does so only once. He enters that rest fully when his labors are ended. He then enjoys uninterrupted heavenly rest from which death, mourning, crying, and pain have been removed; at that time God’s dwelling will be with men; he will live with them and be their God, for they are his people (Rev. 21:4).
11. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4:6 serves as an introduction to 4:11. With the introductory clause, verse 11 reads: “Since therefore it remains for some to enter, let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest.” The intervening verses must be understood as a parenthetical thought.
a. “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.” From now on, says the author, let us exert ourselves to enter God’s rest. Let us not take that rest for granted but earnestly strive to live in harmony with God, to do his will, and to obey his law. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians puts the same thought in different words: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12). This eagerness ought to be the hallmark of every believer and the password of the church. We are not to be fanatical, but are to demonstrate inner assurance in obedience to God’s Word. The writer of Hebrews does not cease to warn and to exhort his readers. He is utterly serious when he says, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Heb. 12:4).
b. “So that no one will fall.” The key word in this clause is the term fall, which of course is a direct reminder of the desert journey of the Israelites as it is recorded in the Pentateuch and in Psalm 95. These people sinned, and as a consequence of God’s curse, their bodies fell in the desert. The word fall must be taken in a broader sense than referring only to physical death; it includes falling away spiritually and thus being completely ruined. Those who fall have lost their salvation and deserve eternal destruction.
As a pastor watching over his flock, the writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers to take care of one another spiritually. He stresses the responsibility of each believer toward the individual members of the church. No one in the Christian community should be neglected and thus, left to himself, be allowed to fall (see Heb. 3:12; 4:1).
c. “By following their example of disobedience.” The disobedient Israelites who perished in the desert became an example to their descendants. They became the object lesson of how not to live in the presence of God. Fathers would teach their children (Ps. 78:5–8) what the consequences of disobedience were for the rebellious Israelites on the way to the land of Canaan. And they would warn them not to follow this example.
Implicitly the author of Hebrews is saying to his readers: If any of you falls by following the example of the Israelites in the wilderness, he himself will be an example to his contemporaries, and everyone will take his failure as a warning not to make the same mistake. Rather, the reader must do everything in his power to walk the pathway of obedience and to exhort his brother and sister in the Lord to do likewise.
Unbelief leads to willful disobedience, which results in an inability to come to repentance. And what is the conclusion? The answer is forthright and to the point: eternal condemnation. Therefore, says the writer, let us make every effort to enter God’s rest.
Doctrinal Considerations in 4:6–11
If Joshua, leading the Israelites into the land of Canaan, had given them rest, the psalmist would not have had to repeat the promise of rest (Ps. 95:11). The rest promised in Psalm 95 and explained in 4:10 is a copy of God’s rest; this rest is attained by the believer in personal repentance and an ardent dedication to obey God. When the believer rests from his evil works, he enters the Sabbath-rest granted to the people of God.
God commands us to remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and, referring to the creation week and his rest on the seventh day, instructs us to follow his example (Exod. 20:8–11; also see Deut. 5:12–15). The noun rest does not convey the thought of idleness but rather of peace. “It stands for consummation of a work accomplished and the joy and satisfaction attendant upon this. Such was its prototype in God.”15
One of the motifs in the Epistle to the Hebrews is the author’s recurring use of statements that describe a condition contrary to fact (see Heb. 4:8; 7:11; 8:7). The writer employs a conditional sentence in each instance and shows that in the Old Testament era rest (Heb. 4:8) and covenant (Heb. 8:7) were incomplete. Perfection, he writes, could not be attained (Heb. 7:11). But Christ brought fulfillment to promise and prophecy when he delivered the fullness of God’s revelation.
The name Joshua (Heb. 4:8) is equivalent to the name Jesus in the Greek New Testament. Joshua, the son of Nun, led the Israelites across the river Jordan into the Land of Promise where they enjoyed rest and peace from wandering and warfare. Jesus leads his people into the presence of God and grants them the eternal Sabbath-rest.
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 4:6–11
Verse 6
ἀπολείπεται—the compound verb has a directive connotation: “to leave behind.” In 4:6 and 9 it has the meaning to remain. The present tense expresses lasting validity.
εὐαγγελισθέντες—the aorist passive participle (compare Heb. 4:2) is preceded by the definite article οἱ to indicate a definite group. Between the article and the participle stands the adverb πρότερον (formerly) for emphasis.
ἀπείθειαν—in Hebrews 3:12 and 19 the noun ἀπιστία occurs; in Hebrews 4:6 and 11 the noun ἀπείθεια. The former (unbelief) leads to the latter (disobedience). Disobedience comes to expression in obstinate opposition to God’s will.
Verse 7
ὁρίζει—from the noun ὅρος (boundary) the verb ὁρίζω (I mark, define) is derived. The English derivative is the word horizon.
προείρηται—a few manuscripts have the perfect active προείρηκεν (he has said before).
Verse 8
εἰ—this conditional clause is contrary to fact. If Joshua had given the Israelites rest—but he did not provide permanent rest—God would not have spoken later about another day as he did in Psalm 95.
ἐλάλει—in this statement that is contrary to fact, the use of the imperfect tense is eloquent testimony that God’s promise is valid for all generations and that God repeats his offer of eternal rest. For the use of the verb λαλέω, see 1:1, 2.
Verse 9
σαββατισμός—the verb σαββατίζω (I keep the Sabbath) is the basis of the noun σαββατισμός, which occurs only once in the New Testament. The ending -μός signifies the progressive act of keeping the Sabbath.
τῷ λαῷ—modified by the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (the people of God), the noun refers to the believers in the Christian community; that is, the people God has elected for himself (Acts 15:14; 18:10; Rom. 9:25; I Peter 2:10; and see Hos. 1:6, 9; 2:23).
Verse 10
ὁ εἰσελθών—the participle in the aorist indicates that entrance into God’s rest happens once.
ὥσπερ—in 4:10 and the immediate broader context, the Greek word order is highly significant. Note that the first word and the last word in the sentence receive the emphasis. Also, the author frequently arranges words in the original Greek (see, for instance, the adjective ἄλλης, which modifies the noun ἡμέρας in Heb. 4:8) in such a way as to accentuate them, much the same as we italicize words for emphasis. Last, the enclitic particle περ adds force to the word ὡς. It means “thoroughly,” “indeed,” “in fact.”
Verse 11
σπουδάσωμεν—this is one of the twelve hortatory subjunctives the author employs in Hebrews. Ten of these are in the present tense; the other two (Heb. 4:1, 11), in the aorist tense.
3. God’s Word16
4:12–13
In the last section of the author’s discussion about the rest of God that is reserved for the believers, the focus is on the power of God’s Word (v. 12) and on man’s inability to hide from that Word (v. 13). Because of the rather striking word order and word choice in these verses, the assumption is that the writer has borrowed a line or two from a poem, circulating in the early church, about the Word of God. This is a possibility. The effect of these two verses, however, is to give the discussion about Sabbath-rest a fitting conclusion by appealing to the nature and authority of the Word of God.
12a. The word of God is living and active.
The writer reminds the reader that God’s Word cannot be taken lightly; for if the reader does not wish to listen, he faces no one less than God himself (see Heb. 10:31; 12:29). The Bible is not a collection of religious writings from the ancient past, but a book that speaks to all people everywhere in nearly all the languages of the world. The Bible demands a response, because God does not tolerate indifference and disobedience.
In their interpretation of verse 12a, some scholars assert that the phrase Word of God is a reference to Jesus.17 This view is difficult to maintain, even though such a reference exists in Revelation 19:13 (where the rider on the white horse is called the Word of God). The phrase Word of God occurs at least thirty-nine times in the New Testament and almost exclusively is the designation for the spoken or written Word of God rather than the Son of God. In the introductory verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer clearly states that God spoke to the forefathers in the past, and in the present he spoke to us in his Son (Heb. 1:1–2). In Hebrews Jesus is called the Son of God, but never the Word of God.18
In the original Greek, the participle living stands first in the sentence and therefore receives all the emphasis. This participle describes the first characteristic of God’s spoken and written Word: that Word is alive! For example, Stephen, reciting Israel’s history in the desert, says that Moses at Mount Sinai “received living words” (Acts 7:38), and Peter tells the recipients of his first epistle that they “have been born again … through the living and enduring word of God” (I Peter 1:23).
A second characteristic is that the Word of God is active. That is, it is effective and powerful. (The original Greek uses a word from which we have derived the term energy.) God’s Word, then, is energizing in its effect. No one can escape that living and active Word. Just as God’s spoken Word brought forth his beautiful creation, so his Word recreates man dead in transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1–5). As in the wilderness some Israelites refused to listen to God’s Word while others showed obedience, so today we see that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).
The Bible is not a dead letter, comparable to a law that is no longer enforced. Those people who choose to ignore the message of Scripture will experience not merely the power of God’s Word but its keen edge as well.
12b. Sharper than any double-edged sword.
In the ancient world, the double-edged sword was the sharpest weapon available in any arsenal. And in verse 12b, the author of Hebrews likens the Word of God to this weapon. (In a similar passage [Rev. 1:16] we read about the “sharp double-edged sword” coming out of the mouth of Jesus as John saw him on the island of Patmos. Whether this means that the tongue resembles a dagger is an open question.) The symbolism conveys the message that God’s judgment is stern, righteous, and awful. God has the ultimate power over his creatures; those who refuse to listen to his Word face judgment and death, while those who obey enter God’s rest and have life eternal. Let no one take the spoken and written Word for granted; let no one ignore it; let no one willfully oppose it. That Word cuts and divides, much as the scalpel of a surgeon uncovers the most delicate nerves of the human body.
However, the Word of God also provides protection. Paul in his Epistle to the Ephesians equates the Word with the sword of the Spirit—that is, part of the Christian’s spiritual armor (6:17).
12c. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
I do not think that the writer of Hebrews is teaching the doctrine that man consists of body, soul, and spirit (I Thess. 5:23). Of course, we can make a distinction between soul and spirit by saying that the soul relates to man’s physical existence; and the spirit, to God.19 But the author does not make distinctions in this verse. He speaks in terms of that which is not done and in a sense cannot be done.
Who is able to divide soul and spirit or joints and marrow? And what judge can know the thoughts and attitudes of the heart? The author uses symbolism to say that what man ordinarily does not divide, God’s Word separates thoroughly. Nothing remains untouched by Scripture, for it addresses every aspect of man’s life. The Word continues to divide the spiritual existence of man and even his physical being. All the recesses of body and soul—including the thoughts and attitudes—face the sharp edge of God’s dividing sword. Whereas man’s thoughts remain hidden from his neighbor’s probing eye, God’s Word uncovers them.
God’s Word is called a discerner of man’s thoughts and intentions. In the Psalter David says:
O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways. [Ps. 139:1–3]
And Jesus utters these words:
As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. [John 12:47–48]
The Lord with his Word exposes the motives hidden in a man’s heart. In his epistle the author stresses the act of God’s speaking to man. For instance, the introductory verses (Heb. 1:1–2) illustrate this fact clearly. And repeatedly, when quoting the Old Testament Scriptures, the writer uses this formula: God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit says (consult the many quotations, for example, in the first four chapters). The Word is not a written document of past centuries. It is alive and current; it is powerful and effective; and it is undivided and unchanged. Written in times and cultures from which we are far removed, the Word of God nevertheless touches man today. God addresses man in the totality of his existence, and man is unable to escape the impact of God’s Word.
13. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
The emphasis in 4:12–13 shifts from the Word of God to God himself. If God’s Word uncovers everything, then it follows that God himself is fully aware of all things. It is therefore impossible for man to hide his sinful motives in the dark corners of his heart. God knows. He sees everything; even darkness is as light to him (Ps. 139:12).
Moreover, the past, the present, and the future are all alike to God. While we are bound to time and place, God dwells in eternity and transcends all that he has made in his great creation. He created the magnificent constellations in outer space and hung the stars in place. He also created the tiny spider that busily weaves its web. If then his eye is on the sparrow, does he not know the hidden motives of man? Before we open our mouths to speak, God already knows. If we remain silent, he discerns.
No creature is hidden from God’s sight, because with God everything is light—there is no darkness. Man, the pinnacle of God’s creation, is invited to walk in that light, so that he may see clearly. Consider these verses:
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. [Ps. 119:105]
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. [John 8:12]
The unbeliever seeks to hide from God but is unable to do so (Jer. 23:24). Secret sins man can hide from his fellow man, but before God sinful man is “uncovered and laid bare.” This latter expression, in the original Greek, refers to the neck. The precise meaning of the word, however, is not clear. Perhaps it indicates that a sinner will have his head pushed up and back so that his face and neck will be exposed to view.20 Whatever the interpretation may have been, the expression itself is sufficiently clear in context. It is synonymous with the word uncovered and indicates that God’s all-seeing eye rests upon everything.
The clause “to whom we must give account” is rather interesting. The books must be audited, and all the bills, payments, and receipts handed over to be checked. Man must give an account of himself before God, the auditor. The books of man’s conscience are open before God’s eyes. Nothing escapes him.
In the last day sinners may call to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” (Rev. 6:16). In the final judgment, everyone must give an account of himself. Only those who are in Christ Jesus will hear the liberating word acquitted.
Doctrinal Considerations in 4:12–13
In a sense, 4:12 is a summary statement of earlier references to the spoken and written Word of God. Whether spoken or written, God’s Word is a unity. The same voice speaks with clarity and authority to every generation. It addressed the Israelites in the desert, the citizens of Israel in David’s day, and the recipients of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the first century. That voice still speaks today.
The Word of God is living and powerful in the hearts and lives of the believers. Unbelievers, however, brazenly reject the very Word that addresses them. They echo the words of William Ernest Henley:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
Paul writes to the Corinthians that his preaching is to the one the smell of death, to the other the fragrance of life (II Cor. 2:16). And Calvin observes that God “never promises to us salvation in Christ, without pronouncing, on the other hand, vengeance on unbelievers, who by rejecting Christ bring death on themselves.”21
The expression double-edged sword ought not be taken literally and thus interpreted to mean that one edge is directed toward believers and the other toward unbelievers. The writer uses symbolism to imply that the Word of God does indeed “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37).
God’s knowledge is all-comprehensive, including self-knowledge and complete understanding of all events, past, present, and future.22 Scripture repeatedly refers to God’s omniscience (see Deut. 2:7; I Sam. 16:7; I Chron. 28:9, 12; Job 23:10; 24:23; 31:4; 37:16; Ps. 1:6; 33:13; 37:18; 119:168; 139:1–4).
Hebrews 4:12 teaches that God’s Word “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Here, as elsewhere in the epistle, there is no reference to Christ as the judge. Quoting Deuteronomy 32:36 (“The Lord will judge his people” [Heb. 10:30]), the writer concludes, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).
Greek Words, Phrases, and Constructions in 4:12–13
Verse 12
ζῶν—the use of the present active participle teaches that the Word of God does not merely exist; it must be understood as “having in itself energies of action”23 (see I Peter 1:23).
ἐνεργής—a variant reading in Codex Vaticanus reads ἐναργής (clear, evident). As an adjective from the verb ἐνεργέω (I am effective), ἐνεργής means “effective, powerful.”
τομώτερος—this adjective in the comparative occurs once in the New Testament; it is derived from τομός (sharp), which in turn is from the verb τέμνω (I cut).
δίστομος—the compound adjective double-edged (δίς [twice] and στόμα [mouth]) appears in the Septuagint in Judges 3:16 and Proverbs 5:4; and in the New Testament in Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 1:16; 2:12; 19:15 (variant reading).
διϊκνούμενος—this present middle participle from the deponent verb διϊκνέομαι (I penetrate) occurs once in the New Testament, but see Exodus 26:28 in the Septuagint. The form is a compound of the preposition διά (through) and the verb ἵκω or ἱκνέομαι (I come, reach, arrive at).
μερισμοῦ—from the verb μερίζω (I divide), the noun—because of the ending -μός—shows progressive action. In Thayer’s Lexicon, preference is given to translating the word passively: “even to the division, etc., i.e. to that most hidden spot, the dividing line between soul and spirit, where the one passes into the other.”24
Verse 13
τετραχηλισμένα—as a perfect passive participle of τραχηλίζω (I seize the neck; I expose by bending back), the word has been interpreted in numerous ways. The basic meaning is “to expose.” Because the verb occurs only once in the New Testament, the exact meaning cannot be ascertained.
ὁ λόγος—the noun λόγος appears at the beginning of 4:12 and at the end of 4:13. The latter evidently is in the form of an idiom, “we must give an account,” while the former refers to the Word of God.
Summary of Chapter 4
The focus in chapter 4 is not so much on the unbelieving Israelites who refused to obey God as it is on the believers who in faith enter God’s promised rest. The unbelieving desert travelers failed to listen to God’s voice and perished on the way to the land God had promised. The Christian who lives by faith enters into God’s rest, the Sabbath-rest for the people of God. And this entrance into rest can be accomplished only by listening obediently to the gospel.
The first thirteen verses of this chapter form an introduction to the author’s discussion about the high priesthood of Jesus the Son of God. Already in 2:17–18 the author introduced this subject, which in succeeding chapters he fully develops and explains.
1 Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), p. 155.
2 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James (Columbus: Wartburg, 1946), p. 125.
3 Bauer, p. 413, translates the phrase “a promise that is still open.”
4 Joseph H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago: American Book Company, 1889), p. 646, says the expression means “to fall short of the end.” William L. Lane (NIDNTT, vol. 3, p. 954) speaks of a “broad range of nuances” for the sixteen times that the word occurs in the New Testament. The primary meaning is to arrive too late for an appointed meeting or event. The secondary nuance, obviously a consequence of the first, is that of failure and of lacking something.
5 Representative translations are KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASB, MLB, and R.S.V..
6 See, for example, RV, NEB, JB, NAB, and GNB.
8 Numerous texts and translations combine the sentence with the preceding quote and divide the two only by a comma (see Nes-Al; BF; and KJV, RV, ASV, and R.S.V. as examples). Other translators are of the opinion that the sentence should stand separately, serving as a bridge between the quote from Ps. 95 and the one from Gen. 2:2.
11 John Brown, in The Epistle to the Hebrews (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1961), p. 207, labels Heb. 4:6b–10 parenthetical and maintains that the writer chooses this structure “to establish the principle on which this exhortation proceeds.”
12 The Hebrew Bible does not have a superscription for Ps. 95. The Septuagint ascribes the psalm to David. The author of Hebrews quotes exclusively from the Septuagint; this translation was, for him and his readers, Scripture. Thus he considered David the composer.
13 Heidelberg Catechism, answer 103.
14 H. W. Attridge, in defining God’s rest, speaks of type and antitype—rest in Canaan is the antitype of God’s rest upon completing the week of creation. Refer to “Let us strive to enter that rest: The logic of Hebrews 4:1–11, ” HTR 73 (1980): 279–88.
16 Paragraph division differs in Greek texts and translations. Heb. 4:11–13 is taken as a complete paragraph in Merk, Nes-Al, R.S.V., MLB, NKJV, and Moffatt. On the other hand, the United Bible Society (3d ed.), GNB, NAB, NEB, JB, and NIV put 4:11 with the preceding paragraph and place 4:12–13 separately.
17 Among recent defenders of this view is James Swetnam in “Jesus as Logos in Hebrews 4:12, 13, ” Bib 62 (2, 1981): 214–24. The view, although prevalent in the early church and in the Middle Ages, is rejected by modern commentators. Bertold Klappert (in NIDNTT, vol. 3, p. 1113) writes, “This word of God, which had its beginning in the words of Jesus (Heb. 2:3) is decisively grounded in the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God (Heb. 1:5ff.) and in his installation as eschatological high priest (Heb. 7:1ff.).”
18 Says Henry Alford, Alford’s Greek Testament: An Exegetical and Critical Commentary, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Guardian, 1976), vol. 4, pt. 1, p. 83, “Every where He is the Son of God, not His Word.” See also Hugh Montefiore, The Epistle to the Hebrews (New York and Evanston: Harper and Row, 1964), p. 87.
19 For a complete discussion on trichotomy, see William Hendriksen, I–II Thessalonians, New Testament Commentary series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1955), pp. 146–50.
20 Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, 2 vols. (Edinburgh: Clark, 1877), vol. 1, p. 216.