There can be no question but that these two sections very closely

correspond with one another, and if they contain all the occurrences of

'tempt' and 'temptation' that are to be found in the epistle to the Hebrews,

then those temptations must be intimately related to the two ideas

of 'perfection' and 'perdition'; with 'going on', or with 'drawing back'.

When we come to consider the first portion of Hebrews that contains the

passage under review, we discover that its historic background is the story

of Israel's failure in the wilderness; a failure to 'go on unto perfection',

with which the words 'tempt' and 'temptation' are closely interwoven.

A

2:17 to 3:1.

B  3:2 to 4:11.

The Temptation.

They tempted Me.

A

It will be seen that Hebrews 4:15 is an integral part of this larger

context, and no interpretation is therefore valid that ignores or contravenes

the general direction of the teaching of the larger context.  A 'profession'

is in view; something to 'hold fast'; something involving trials and self-

denial; something that may be lost.  Further, with the structure before us,

it is impossible to isolate Hebrews 4:15; we must keep in mind the temptation

mentioned in chapter 3.

'Your fathers tempted Me' (Heb. 3:9), said God.  Now whatever

questionable views we may entertain concerning the temptations to which our

Lord was subjected in the days of His flesh, no such thoughts are possible

when we consider the words, 'Your fathers tempted Me'.  It is not only

repugnant to common sense, but contrary to positive Scripture, that God can,

by any possibility, be 'tempted' to, or by, evil.  'God cannot be tempted

with evil', is the categorical statement of Holy Writ (Jas. 1:13),

consequently we are immediately faced with a fact concerning 'temptation'

that must influence our views of Hebrews 2:18 and 4:15.

If we had continued the quotation of Hebrews 3:9 we should have read,

'When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years'.

'Proved' is dokimazo, 'to test, try, as a metal'.  This meaning is borne out

by the passages in Hebrews 11, 'By faith Abraham, when he was Tried (peirazo,

"tempted"), offered up Isaac' (Heb. 11:17).  Shall we say that God tempted

Abraham to sin when He made the great demand concerning Isaac?  God forbid!

because Scripture positively declares that God never tempts man to sin (Jas.

1:13), and also because a reading of Genesis 22 reveals that this

'temptation' was a 'testing' of Abraham's faith, 'Now I know that thou

fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from

Me' (Gen. 22:12).

The contexts of the references to temptation in Hebrews 2 and 4

introduce such words as 'succour', 'sympathy' ('cannot be touched with'),

'infirmities', but we can scarcely speak of 'sympathy' and 'infirmities' when

we speak of sin as it appears in Scripture.

The word translated 'succour' (Heb. 2:18) and 'help' (Heb. 4:16) occurs

once more in Hebrews 13:6, 'So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my

Helper'.  This is associated, not with 'sin' or 'forgiveness', but with the