 |  |
(Joshua) had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken
of another day' (Heb. 4:1 -8).
Just as the death of Moses preceded the ministry of Joshua, so the epistle to
the Hebrews shows the failure and futility of the law and its offerings, and
reveals the glorious triumph of the Work of Christ. Let us take the other
word 'slack'. First of all we must draw attention to the fact that while
Joshua 1:5 says 'I will not be slack', Joshua 18:3 says to Israel 'How long
are ye slack ...?' There is in this the idea of the co-operating power of
faith. The land may be given, but it also has to be taken. If the believer
fails or comes short of any of the promises of God, that cannot be attributed
to any slackness on the part of God; it means that there has been a lack of
faith and spiritual boldness on the part of the believer.
It will be remembered that Peter had witnessed to the near approach of
the Second Advent, but as the days of waiting lengthened out into years, some
of the enemies of the truth began to scoff and said,
'Where is the promise of His coming?' (2 Pet. 3:4).
There were many legitimate reasons why the long hoped for coming of the Lord
in glory should be delayed. Peter points to the whole purpose of the ages
for an answer (2 Pet. 3:5 -7), but comes down to a specific reply when he
said,
'But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day' (2 Pet.
3:8).
This means that before any man attempts to criticize the work of the
Lord, he must rise above the time measure of mortal man, to the level of God
Who is from age to age the Lord:
'The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us -ward, not willing that any
should perish' (2 Pet. 3:9),
and with this strong assertion of truth in the faithfulness of the Lord,
Peter is content to leave the problem, merely referring his readers to the
epistles of Paul for a fuller answer.
Paul, in the epistle to the Hebrews touches upon this matter in chapter
10:
'Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye
might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall
come will come, and will not tarry' (Heb. 10:36,37).
The apostle is here quoting from Habakkuk. That prophet knew what it meant
to wait for an answer to prayer and to be surrounded by apparent evidence
that 'God had forgotten to be gracious' (Hab. 1:1 -4). He actually uses the
word 'slack' in verse 4. In the second chapter we read,
'Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that
readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the
end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because
it will surely come, it will not tarry' (Hab. 2:2,3).