judgment'. Hitherto, all the passages quoted are in keeping with Hebrews 6:2. Turning now to Mark 9:9,10 we

shall discover something which will throw light upon Hebrews 6:

`And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen,

till the Son of man were risen from (among) the dead (ek nekron). And they kept that saying with themselves,

questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean'.

If the Pharisees, Martha and the Jews generally, believed the resurrection of the dead, we may be certain that

these disciples believed it too. What then was their difficulty? Wherein was the need for questioning? `That

saying' certainly contained a problem for them, and it is found in the little word ek translated `from'.

They, in common with the majority, believed in a resurrection of the dead at the last day, but this statement as to

a resurrection `out from among the dead' was something new. In Luke 16:31 it is said, `If they hear not Moses and

the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose out from among the dead' (ek nekron). The sign of the

prophet Jonah was the only sign which God would vouchsafe to that sinful generation. After the Lord Jesus had

been crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, the words of Luke 16:31 proved only too true.

The apostles, during their ministry in the Acts, emphasized the resurrection of the Lord, but it was rejected. We

have such words from Peter concerning Christ, `Whom God raised up'; `this Jesus hath God raised up'. In

connection with the healing of the lame man (Acts 3:13-15) Peter says, `God ... hath glorified His Son Jesus ... God

hath raised Him out from among the dead' (ek nekron). The Sadducees were grieved that `they taught the people,

and preached through Jesus the resurrection out from among the dead' (Acts 4:1,2,10).

We find the expression again in Romans 1:4 `By the resurrection out from among the dead'. The epistles of the

Mystery reveal, as one of the blessings peculiar to themselves, that the believer in Christ will be raised out from the

dead, even as was the Lord Himself. Philippians 3 teaches this plainly. Starting at verse 4 the apostle summarizes

his position as a Pharisee. Then following his wondrous conversion he declares, `What things were gain to me,

those I counted loss for Christ'. Among the `gains' he enumerates is this one of resurrection. As a Pharisee he held

the orthodox belief in a resurrection of the dead. The time came, however, when he gave up that belief, not to

become a Sadducee, but to be a participator in the resurrection out from among the dead.

Hebrews 11:35 and 40 speak of a `better resurrection', and of being `made perfect'. When these Hebrews left

the primitive doctrine of the resurrection, it was but to see more clearly what was set before the believer, as

contrasted with the Pharasaic doctrine of a general resurrection at the last day. Paul speaks of this subject in the

same way as he does concerning `baptisms'. There were the divine ordinances, and there were the human traditions

connected therewith. The first had to be left because the dispensation had changed, the second, because they made

void the Word of God.

Just in the same way does the apostle deal with eternal judgment. In the first place, God is the Judge, not man,

and in the second place, much has been read into the Word on that dread subject which is untrue. Note the passages

in Hebrews where the word `eternal' is used, every one of which, except Hebrews 6:2, having reference to

redemption, and not to judgment.

`Eternal salvation' (Heb. 5:9).

`Eternal judgment' (Heb. 6:2).

`Eternal redemption' (Heb. 9:12).

`Eternal Spirit' (Heb. 9:14).

`Eternal inheritance' (Heb. 9:15).

`Eternal covenant' (Heb. 13:20).

Din olamim is the eleventh fundamental of the Jewish creed. It involves both reward and punishment. The

apostle would urge them to leave their reasonings concerning judgment for the more blessed, and to them, personal

realities concerning redemption. `Vengeance is Mine, I will repay'. The Hebrew believers like many Christians

today, were perhaps too fond of apportioning out the future judgment upon those who did not believe with them, or