PERFECTION

PERDITION

OR

which the Lord did in David's time, as is seen in Psalm 95. Not only is the rest here spoken of likened to the entry

of the faithful overcomer into Canaan, it is also likened to the Sabbath day rest of the week in creation:

`For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works'

(Heb. 4:4).

The structure of Hebrews 4:1-13 will help us to see the chief features of the passage and guide us in our study.

The A.V. of 4:2 reads `not being mixed with faith' and gives in the margin `Because they were not united by

faith to'. The R.V. reads `But the word of hearing did not profit them, because they were not united by faith with

them that heard'. This reading turns our attention to the great division that came about after the return of the spies.

Israel did not join with Caleb and Joshua in their triumphant faith, but with the unbelievers and the complainers.

a Let us therefore fear, lest

A 1,2.

b Any come short.

c Not united by faith.

d The Word of hearing.

B 3,4.  Nature of this rest After works, e.g., Creation.

C 5,6.  It remaineth (apoleipo) - a rest.

D 7. David.

D 8. Joshua.

C 9. There remaineth (apoleipo) - a rest.

B 10. Nature of this rest After works, e.g., Creation.

A 11-13. a Let us therefore labour, lest

b Any fall.

c Example of unbelief.

d The Word of God.

With regard to the nature of this `rest' both verses 3, 4 and 10 look back to Genesis 1 and 2, where we are told

that God rested upon the seventh day after the completion of the six days' creation. The believer is said to rest `from

his works as God did from His' when he enters into this `rest that remaineth'. Verse 9 departs from the usual word

for rest to give us its full and perfect meaning:

`There remaineth therefore a Sabbatismos (a Sabbath rest) to the people of God'.

There is one further feature that demands attention, and that is the statement made in 4:3:

`Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world'.

`The foundation (katabole) of the world' is an expression that has been carefully examined in The Berean

Expositor, and the translation `The overthrow of the world' has been adopted instead of the A.V.

This `overthrow' we find indicated in Genesis 1:2:

`And the earth became without form, and void',

the six days' work which follow being the preparation of the earth as a platform for the outworking of the plan of the

ages. When the writer of Hebrews wished to speak of laying a foundation, he uses the verb themelioo, Hebrews

1:10, and not kataballo. The question that comes to us as a result of this is:

`In what way does this reflect upon the believers to whom the apostle addressed his words, for their rest is likened to the

seventh day rest of God' (see Heb. 4:3,4,10)?

A little wider study, we think, will help us to appreciate the apostle's meaning. In 4:1 he writes:

`Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it',

and in 4:11 he adds: