'In the
book of Hebrews are several lines of argument proving the exalted nature, and
office, and the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth.
It is
affirmed, and proved from the Scriptures, that he is superior to the angels, to
Moses, to Joshua, and to Aaron. On the last point the writer dilates, giving a
lengthy argument on the priesthood. That Moses, Joshua, and Aaron were types of
Christ is beyond dispute.
Of Moses
it is written: “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant,
for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a
son over his own house;” etc. This fixes the standing of Moses and the typical
nature of his work.
In like
manner the writer argues that Joshua did not give to the house of Israel the
rest or the inheritance which was promised, but that it remains yet to be given
to the people of God. That the Lord did give rest in the land of Canaan to the
descendants of Abraham is no more proof that the promise was therein exhausted,
than the fact that they were circumcised, and that they were descended from
Abraham, fulfilled all that was designed in circumcision, and met in full all
that was expressed by the term seed. But we have seen that this was not the
case.
And we
have seen also that the promise was to Abraham as well as to his seed, and that
it was not fulfilled to him in any sense; also that the promise was “that he
should be the heir of the world,” which has never been fulfilled to him or to
any of his descendants. This is that “rest” which remains to the people of God,
of which Paul speaks in Heb. 4:9.
It has
been assumed, and is by many supposed, that, because Sabbath means rest,
therefore whenever the word rest is found it is equivalent to the Sabbath. But
this is not the case, as an examination of the Scriptures will plainly show.
When Lamech begat a son (Gen 5:28, 29) “he called his name Noah, saying, This
shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands.” The margin says,
“That is, rest or comfort.” The name was prophetic; it means rest. This word
was used by Moses in his address to the two tribes and a half who chose their
inheritance east of Jordan. He said: “I commanded you at that time, saying, The
Lord
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H. Waggoner
your God
hath given you this land to posses it; ye shall pass over armed before your
brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war....Until the
Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they
also possess the land which the Lord your God hath given them beyond Jordan.”
Deut. 3:18-20. And again: “For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the
inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you.” Chap. 12:9. Joshua also uses
the same word when speaking on the same subject: “And to the Reubenites, and to
the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember
the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord
your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. . . . Ye shall pass
before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valor, and help them: until
the Lord have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also
have possessed the land which the Lord your God giveth them.” Josh. 1:12-15.
And again, after the land beyond Jordan was subdued before them, it is written:
“And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto
their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them.”
Josh. 21:44. And to the two tribes and a half Joshua said: “And now the Lord
your God hath given rest unto your brethren as he promised them; therefore now
return ye, and get ye unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession,
which Moses the servant of God gave you on the other side of Jordan.” Chap.
22:4.
In these
passages this word rest is used as the equivalent of inheritance, and as
applied it refers to the peaceable possession of the land. But the generation
which came out of Egypt, with the exception of two men, rebelled against the
Lord and were not permitted to see the goodly land. Of these the Lord spake,
saying, “Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a
people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways; unto whom I
sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” Ps. 95:10, 11. This
refusal to permit them to enter into his rest is recorded in Num. 14:23, in
these words: “Surely they shall not see the land which I
The
Atonement - 212
sware unto
their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoke me see it.” And in verse
30: “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make
you dwell therein.” By these texts we
see again that “the rest” was the possession of the land promised to them.
This is the subject of the argument of the apostle in Heb. 3 and 4. “But with
whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose
carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not
enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see they could not
enter in because of unbelief.” Heb. 3:17-19. He then proceeds to exhort his
brethren (which exhortation is spoken unto us), saying: “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.” Chap. 4:1.
This
exhortation contains the announcement that, as the rebellious Hebrews who fell
in the wilderness did not enter into the rest because of unbelief, so we should
fear lest we come short of it; and labor to “enter into that rest, lest any man
fall after the same example of unbelief.” Verse 11. This is equivalent to a
declaration that the promise which was given to them remains to be fulfilled;
that we may inherit the rest offered to them, or fail of receiving it—”come
short of it”—if we follow their example of unbelief. And to sustain this idea
is the intention of the argument in Heb. 4:1-9. But before examining this
argument we must call attention to the uses of the Hebrew words to which we
have referred. The Hebrew verbs sha-vath and noo-ah may be used interchangeably
as far as they simply convey the idea, “to rest.” Of this it is sufficient
proof to cite Ex. 20:11, where noo-ah is used: “And he rested the seventh day.”
But when used in a substantive form they, or their derivatives, differ in this respect:
Shab-bath signifies a time or a period of rest; whereas no-ah (menoo-hah)
passes to the idea of a resting-place; a place of rest. That Shab-bath,
sabbath, relates to a period of rest every reader knows; that noo-ah carries
the idea of a place of rest is sufficiently shown by the passages quoted.
Menoo-hah (feminine termination ah, from the root noo-ah) is the word used in
Ps.95:11. And Paul’s quotation from this
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H. Waggoner
Psalm in
Heb. 3:7-11 proves that that rest, or resting-place, the possession, the
inheritance, is the subject of his exhortation and his argument in chapter 4.
According
to the New Testament the people of ancient times knew much more of the counsel
of God, through the types and shadows given to them, than we are wont to give
them credit for, and even more than some Christians are able to discover in
those same types.
Abraham
had the gospel preached to him, Gal. 3:9;
Gal
3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham.
and he
rejoiced to see, by faith, the day of Christ; John 8:56.
Joh
8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was
glad.
The Jews
in the desert of Arabia drank of the rock which followed them, and that rock
was Christ; 1 Cor. 10:4.
1Co
10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
It was
“the reproach of Christ” that Moses esteemed as greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt; Heb. 11:24-26;
Heb
11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Heb
11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb
11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
and the
gospel was preached to the rebellious ones whose carcasses fell in the
wilderness. Heb. 4:2
Heb
3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that
had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb
4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it.
We, in
this age, are quite too apt to draw a line of distinction between the faith of
the ancient worthies and that of the faithful of this dispensation, which does
not exist. Their gospel, their faith, their hope, were identical with ours.
Through the types they looked forward to the “blessed hope” which cheers our
hearts. “The rest” which was promised to them is promised to us; and, as many
of them fell under the displeasure of God, and were not permitted to see even
the land which was typical of the true inheritance (and which, of course,
worked their forfeiture of the true), so may we fail of receiving the true
inheritance if we follow their example of unbelief.
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.'
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
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