meaning (as stated before). Shall we allow the Hebrew usage to help us? Granting that the word often means

individual salvation as in Romans 1:16, there are other usages which show that the word has a wider meaning.

Psalm 14:7. `Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity

of His people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad'.

The national restoration of Israel is here called their salvation.

Psalm 98:2,3. `The LORD hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight

of the heathen'.

What is this salvation which has been `made known'?

`He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the

salvation of our God'.

Isaiah 11:11; 12:1,2. `And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set His hand again the second

time to recover the remnant of His people ... and in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise Thee: though

Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation'.

Isaiah 52:9,10. `The LORD hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare

His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God'.

The close connection between `salvation' and the restoration of Israel makes comment unnecessary.

Revelation 19:1,2. `Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and

righteous are His judgments'

Here the overthrow of Babylon ushers in the full redemption of Israel.

There is something beyond the initial salvation from sin, so those who are under the New Covenant have to learn

that there is an aspect of salvation which is beyond the testimony of the Scriptures just quoted. The `so great

salvation' is something that could be `neglected'; the salvation of the Psalms and Isaiah referred to above is

unrelated to human faith or faithfulness.

Now we know that Abraham, while dwelling in tents in the land of promise, looked for the city which hath

foundations, but we do not learn that from the Old Testament. There is no hint there of anything of the kind. This

special aspect of salvation had its commencement in being spoken by the Lord. Literally the passage reads, `which

having received a commencement to be spoken by the Lord'. The idea is that the Lord Jesus was the first One to

give shape and expression to this new aspect of salvation. It may be asked, why? In the first case, He was born

King and came preaching the Kingdom, and until it became manifest that He would be rejected by His people the

`so great salvation' was not stressed. When, however, signs began to multiply showing that His ministry would end

in rejection, then He spoke more openly of the added glory that should be shared by those who in His day of

humiliation shared His reproach.

A hint is given in the parables of these two aspects in the distinction made between the Treasure which, having

been found in the field, was hidden again, and the One Pearl (Matt. 13). When the Lord `began' to speak of His own

death, He also began to speak of the qualifications of those who should attain the `so great salvation'. He speaks of

self-denial, of losing one's soul, and of finding it when the Lord comes with His angels (Matt. 16:21-28). To the

young man the Lord said:

`If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:

and come and follow Me ... he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions ... Peter ... said unto Him,

Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have THEREFORE? And Jesus said unto them,

Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the

throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel' (Matt. 19:21-28).

The parable which comes later in the Gospel, that of the marriage of the King's Son, is a warning to those who

`neglect so great salvation', the very word translated `neglect' in Hebrews being here rendered `to make light of'.

The unwise and the unready virgins of Matthew 25 speak again of the folly of neglect; they neglect the word spoken

by the Lord, `Watch therefore'. The Hebrews on the contrary were commended in that they had taken joyfully the