COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES
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Hebrews 11:7. The salvation of Noah's house in the Ark is the nearest approach to the salvation of the sinner
that these seven references provide. Yet the deliverance from the future day of wrath is clearly foreshadowed, Noah
himself being already a saved and justified believer, and the record is part of a series illustrating faith as the
substance of things hoped for, rather than faith that saves from sin, the `saving of the soul' of Hebrews 10:39
notwithstanding.
Whatever the exact meaning of the word `salvation' may be, as used in this epistle, it is evident that no reference
gives a clear evangelical statement of the way of salvation. On the other hand, the type of the wilderness journey,
its Tabernacle, its Camp, and the rest that remaineth, its temptations and its perils, is so fully applied in this epistle,
that we cannot dismiss them without losing great light upon this subject.
The title `Saviour' never occurs in Hebrews. In Acts 5:31 Christ is called both a `Prince and a Saviour'. In
Hebrews the title of Prince is retained (2:10, 12:2 Gk.), but the title Saviour is omitted. The contexts of both
occurrences speak of suffering in view of glory, rather than suffering to expiate sin. Other epistles speak of Christ
as Saviour, this one speaks of Him as Captain and Leader. Other epistles tell of salvation from sin, this one speaks
of the salvation that is to be inherited at the Second Appearing of the Lord.
The literal rendering of Hebrews 1:14 is those who are `about to be heirs', and this is an expression frequently
used in Scripture. In Hebrews it is found ten times, and often connected with the future kingdom, `The habitable
world about to be', `The city about to be' (Heb. 2:5; 9:11; 10:1; 13:14). This inherited salvation is something future,
related to the world which will be subjected to the Lord Jesus Christ and closely associated with that city Whose
builder and maker is God.
CHAPTER 2
CONFIRMED COVENANTS AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES (Heb. 2:1-4)
If we look at Hebrews 1 and 2 as a whole, we shall see that chapter 2 goes back beyond the intervening
revelation and argument to the one outstanding fact -
`God ... hath in these last days spoken unto us IN SON ... therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed ...'.
and immediately we are involved in an argument that revolves around the superiority of the Saviour to angels.
Hebrews 1,2
A 1:1,2. God once spoke by prophets.
Now by His Son.
B 1:2-14.The Son. His Glories.
God and Lord,
better than angels.
A 2:1-4. God once spoke by angels.
Now by the Lord.
B 2:5-18.The Son. His humiliation. Man and Abraham's
seed. Lower than
angels.
The `therefore' of 2:1 is dia touto, `on this account', or `for this reason'. We must not look for the prime reason
in the preceding verse which speaks of the ministry of angels, but to the preceding clause which speaks of the
superior testimony of the Son (1:1,2). `On this account it behoves us to give more earnest heed to the things which
we have heard, lest at any time we should let slip' We differ from the A.V. in the rendering of this verse, agreeing
more with the R.V. which reads, `drift away from them'. Rotherham renders the word, `drift away'; J.N. Darby
renders it `we should slip away'. A great deal of controversy has arisen over this word, one set of interpreters taking
the passage to mean `lest we should fall or stumble', the other taking it to mean `lest we forget'. The one makes the
passage teach that we should give earnest heed lest WE slip away; the other that we should give earnest heed so that
we do not let the WORDS slip away. Both sides refer to Proverbs 3:21 to prove their point. J.N. Darby says:
`Proverbs is a free translation, for the Hebrew is plural "let them not slip away from thine eyes", that is, what is
spoken of in the end of the verse; but it shows the sense of the word'.