'But the
question is raised: If the everlasting inheritance is the subject of the
argument, why does the writer introduce the seventh day, and also speak of
another day? They who ask this question seem to think that the apostle is
arguing concerning the weekly Sabbath, and its change to another day; but,
surely, they never would gather such an idea if they carefully read or studied
the connection. Besides the facts which have been already presented, showing
that the inheritance is the subject of the discourse, we notice.
1. If the
Sabbath is “the rest” spoken of, then the Lord must have sworn in his wrath
that they should not keep the Sabbath! So far from this, he had some put to
death who refused to regard the Sabbath. But he declared that they should not
go into the land of Canaan.
The
Atonement - 214
2. They
who fell in the wilderness did not come short of the Sabbath, but kept it on
their journeyings. But they did not see “the rest” which was given to the
survivors.
3. The
rest which remains is the antitype of that which Joshua gave to them. But
Joshua did not give them the Sabbath, he gave them “there stand the
inheritance,” to possess which they left Egypt.
Looking at
it in every light we see but this fact, that the inheritance only is the
subject of the argument. In answer to the question we first remark, that the
inheritance of the saints, and the kingdom which shall be given to them, are
very closely related. So far as territory is concerned, they are identical. As
Abraham, with his seed, is to be the heir of the world, and possess the whole
earth, so the Son of David is to receive the kingdoms of the world and reign
unto the uttermost parts of the earth; the kingdom and dominion “under the
whole heaven” shall be given to the saints. As this rest or inheritance was
finished from the foundation of the world, so of the kingdom; it was prepared
from the foundation of the world. Matt. 25:34.
Mat
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world
And by the
text in question Paul proves that it was finished from the foundation of
the world. At the end of the work of creation “God did rest the
seventh day from all his works.” This proves that “all his works” were finished
at that time, for rest is subsequent to work. This was “the dominion” given to
Adam, which he lost by sin. It is to be redeemed and restored by the last or
second Adam; but he will do it as the seed of Abraham, under a covenant or
promise made to Abraham. This is the use, the only use, which Paul makes of the
seventh day. It stands related to the promised rest to attest that the promise
was not a matter of uncertainty; it related to that which was already made.
And now we
are prepared to appreciate the remark which he makes on Ps. 95. It is on the
record that the children of Israel received a certain rest, or possession,
under Joshua; also that some who came out of Egypt provoked the Lord, and came
short of that rest. But the Holy Spirit by David, some four hundred years
afterward, exhorted the children of Israel who were then in the land of Canaan,
not to follow in the ways of the rebellious ones who failed to enter into the
rest. And the conclusion is drawn by Paul that if that land were in truth the
- 215 - J.
H. Waggoner
inheritance
intended in the promise, then those who lived in the days of David did not need
the exhortation, seeing they were already in possession of it. Thus he speaks:—
“Seeing therefore it remaineth that some should enter thereinto, and they to
whom the good tidings were before preached failed to enter in because of
disobedience, he again defineth a certain day, saying in David, after so long a
time, To-day, as it hath been before said, To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have
spoken afterward of another day. There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for
the people of God.” Heb. 4:6-9, Revised Version.
As Paul
spoke by inspiration this must be conclusive; and this rest which remains must
bear the same relation to that which Joshua gave to the house of Israel that
Christ bears to Joshua—the latter is the antitype of the former. It is the
substance of the original “promise made of God unto the fathers.” And this
proves that the house of Israel no more
received the inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed, than that
circumcision in the flesh, outward, is the real circumcision which God
requires, or that an unconverted Israelite, one who rejects Christ, is of the
seed of Abraham, an heir according to the promise.
The only
apparent difficulty presented in Paul’s argument on “the rest” in Heb. 4, is
the change from the use of the Greek word katepausis, rest, to that of
sabbatismos, literally “the keeping of a Sabbath,” or a sabbath rest, in verse
9. But there is no real difficulty when we consider that Sha-vath and noo-ah
are interchanged as verbs. Katepausen properly represents the latter, yet in
verse 4, Paul follows the Septuagint and uses katepausen in a quotation from
Gen 2:3, where sha-vath is used in the Hebrew. Sabbatismos has a signification,
according to the lexicons and the most judicious commentators, beyond literal
Sabbath-keeping. Thus Greenfield says: “spoken of an eternal rest with God.
Heb. 4:9.” Robinson the same: “in N.T. only of an eternal rest with God. Heb
4:9.” Dr. Smith, in Bible Dictionary, notices the opinions which have been
offered that it refers to the Sabbath, and says: “The objections, however, to
The
Atonement - 216
this
exposition are many and great, and most commentators regard the passage as
having no reference to the weekly Sabbath.” The “Bible Commentary” says:—
“There remaineth.—Or, v. 6, ‘there still remaineth,’—is still to be looked for
hereafter, over and above that rest in the land of Canaan. This inference
follows, since the Holy Ghost speaks in the Psalms to us. A rest.—Rather a
Sabbath rest; lit. ‘a keeping of sabbath;’ when the people of God, the ‘Israel
of God,’ Gal. 6:16, shall obtain rest from all that trouble them; 2 Thess. 1:7,
and when all enemies shall be put under the feet of Jesus, the Captain of the
Lord’s host. Then, at last, the faithful shall ‘enter into the joy of their
Lord.’ (Matt. 25:21, 23).” The Cyclopedia of M’Clintock and Strong has the
following: “Sabbatism (sabbatismos, Heb. 4:9, A. V. rest), a repose from labor
like that enjoyed by God at creation; a type of the eternal Sabbath of Heaven.
See Rest.” And of “rest,” it says: “Rest also signifies a fixed and secure
habitation;” and refers to the texts quoted on that subject. The great
difficulty in referring Heb. 4:9 to a weekly Sabbath lies in this: it leaves
the apostle’s argument without any logical conclusion. Although the verse
begins with the word “therefore” (in the Greek), if it refers to the weekly
Sabbath, it has no logical connection with the argument preceding; certainly no
relation to the declaration in verse 8, that if Joshua had given them
rest—implying the rest of the promise—he would not afterward have spoken of
another day—for receiving it. And this is the view taken by most authorities.
Dr. Clarke says:— “The apostle shows that, although Joshua did bring the
children of Israel into the promised land, yet this could not be the intended
rest; because, long after this time, the Holy Spirit, by David, speaks of this
rest; the apostle therefore concludes—verse 9, ‘There remaineth therefore a
rest to the people of God.’ It was not, 1. The rest of the Sabbath; it was not,
2. The rest in the promised land, for the psalmist wrote long after the days of
Joshua; therefore there is another rest, a state of blessedness, for the people
of God.”
- 217 - J.
H. Waggoner
Dr. Barnes
speaks at length on this subject, and marks clearly the relation of argument
and conclusion. We quote briefly. On Heb. 3:11, he says:— “The particular rest
referred to here was that of the land of Canaan, but which was undoubtedly
regarded as emblematic of the rest in Heaven. Into that rest God solemnly said
they should never enter.” And on chap. 4:8, 9, he says:— “The object is to
prove that Joshua did not give the people of God such a rest as to make it
improper to speak of a rest after that time. If Joshua had given them a
complete and final rest; if by his conducting them to the promised land all had
been done which had been contemplated by the promise, then it would not have
been alluded to again, as it was in the time of David. Joshua did give them a
rest in the promised land; but it was not all which was intended, and it did
not exclude the promise of another and more important rest. . . . “There
remaineth, therefore, a rest. This is the conclusion to which the apostle
comes. The meaning is this, that according to the Scriptures there is now a
promise of rest made to the people of God. It did not pertain merely to those
who were called to go to the promised land, nor to those who lived in the time
of David, but it is still true that the promise of rest pertains to all the
people of God of every generation. The reasoning by which the apostle comes to
this conclusion is briefly this:
1. That
there was a rest called ‘the rest of God’—spoken of in the earliest period of
the world,—implying that God meant that it should be enjoyed.
2. That
the Israelites, to whom the promise was made, failed of obtaining that which
was promised, by their unbelief.
3. That
God intended that some should enter into his rest—since it would not be
provided in vain. 4.
That long
after the Israelites had fallen in the wilderness, we find the same reference
to a rest which David in his time exhorts those whom he addressed to endeavor
to obtain.
5. That if
all that had been meant by the word rest, and by the promise, had been
accomplished when Joshua conducted the Israelites to the land of Canaan, we
should not have heard another day spoken of when it was possible to forfeit
that rest by unbelief. It followed, therefore, that there was something besides
The
Atonement - 218
that;
something that pertained to all the people of God to which the name rest might
still be given, and which they were exhorted still to obtain. The word rest in
this verse, sabbatismos, sabbatism, in the margin is rendered ‘keeping of a
Sabbath.’ It is a different word from sabbaton—the Sabbath; and it occurs
nowhere else in the New Testament, and is not found in the Septuagint. . . . It
means here a resting, or an observance of sacred repose, and refers undoubtedly
to Heaven, as a place of eternal rest with God. It cannot mean the rest in the
land of Canaan, for the drift of the writer is to prove that that is not
intended. It cannot mean the Sabbath, properly so called, for then the writer
would have employed the usual word sabbaton, Sabbath. It cannot mean the
Christian Sabbath, for the object is not to prove that there is such a day to
be observed; and his reasoning about being excluded from it by unbelief and by
hardening the heart would be irrelevant.”
This is a
very fair statement of the case, though the writer appears almost to lose sight
of the object of the promise in referring it to Heaven. He is certainly correct
when he says: “If Joshua had given them a complete and final rest; if by his
conducting them to the promised land, all had been done which had been
contemplated by the promise, then it would not have been alluded to again.” It
must be kept in mind that the promise which was not exhausted in their
possession of Canaan, was “the promise made of God unto the fathers,”
especially unto Abraham and to his seed, and embraced “the land of promise,”
which according to the New Testament, was “the world,” or “the earth,”—the
whole earth, or as the angel said to Daniel, “under the whole heaven.” And here
we rest the argument on this point, believing that it is abundantly proved that
the children of Israel “according to the flesh,” were not all “the seed of
Abraham;” that their circumcision in the flesh was not all that was intended in
that ordinance; and that a temporary possession by Abraham’s natural
descendants of the land of Palestine, was not all that was meant in the promise
that he and his seed should inherit it for an everlasting possession. The
promises to Abraham will be fulfilled only when “the meek shall inherit the
earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
- 219 - J.
H. Waggoner
We will
notice one more objection; not so much because of its strength or plausibility,
as that it has been urged by some eminent theological scholars, in whose
opinions people may have confidence. It has been said that the righteous, the
meek, do now possess the earth; that all the blessings and enjoyments of this
world really belong to the people of God. But this objection is readily
disposed of; indeed it seems strange that any one with the New Testament in his
hands should urge that the meek now inherit the earth; that the promises are
now being fulfilled to them. It is disproved by most explicit declarations of
the Scriptures. (1) The poor of this world, the rich in faith, are only “heirs
of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him;” the kingdom
prepared “from the foundation of the world.”
(2) When
the meek inherit the earth “they shall delight themselves in the abundance of
peace.” Ps. 37:11. This is not the case at present, as we all know by
observation and experience; the following words of our Saviour settle it:
(3) “In
the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world.” John 16:33. The enjoyment or blessing of the Christian is not from or
of the world, but from what Jesus has done for us to overcome the world. So far
from the meek having “abundance of peace” in this world, they have persecutions
and afflictions; their life is only a warfare, in which they are speedily
overcome if they lay aside their armor.
(4) The
wicked inherit more of this present world than the righteous do, the latter
being “the poor of this world,” while a woe is pronounced upon the rich. But
the scripture says: “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” Gen. 21:10: Gal.
4:30. If the inheritance is of this present world, the son of the bondwoman has
the largest share.
(5)
Abraham dwelt in the land, but he did not inherit it. He with others, heirs
with him of the same promise, dwelt in the land of promise as in a strange
country. And so the apostle said his brethren were “strangers and pilgrims.” 2
Peter 2:11. Abraham had to buy a place to bury his dead in the land which was
promised to him for an
The
Atonement - 220
everlasting
possession; even so now, the children of Abraham have an abiding-place in the
earth only by paying tribute to earthly powers. But of this we do not complain.
The time for us to inherit the earth has not yet come.
(6) That
the Spirit is an “earnest of our inheritance” is proof on this point. The
earnest looks to the fulfillment of a promise in the future When God promised
the land to Abraham he gave him circumcision as a token, an assurance of his
promise. So now we have the circumcision
of the Spirit, “which is the earnest of our inheritance.” How long do we
need the earnest or token? Until we take possession of the inheritance. And how
long is that in the future? “Until the redemption of the purchased possession.”
The meek will not inherit the earth before it is redeemed, for in its present
state they can only possess it in common with the children of the bondwoman,
and they cannot “delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Jesus purchased
the earth with the right to redeem it from the curse. And he will surely claim
his right, and his people shall receive their reward. The expectation of the
poor shall not perish. “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of
the Most High.” Dan. 7:27.
(((2Co_1:22
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2Co_5:5
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given
unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Eph
1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph
1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. ))))
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
