Chapter Four

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Let Us Exhortation #1, Lest Warning #4, Let Us Exhortation #2, and Lest Warning #4 Interpreted

In verse 1 below, our Author introduces us to the first of the Let Us Exhortations. There are thirteen of these Let Us Exhortations in Hebrews. These are specific Greek constructions. In Greek grammar, they are named Hortatory Subjunctives. In translation, all thirteen of them start with “let us.” For this reason, we refer to them as the Let Us Exhortations in this work.

 These Hortatory Subjunctives, Let Us Exhortations, are Greek devices in which a speaker or writer exhorts one or more people to join in with him in an action. He could exhort them to join in with him to start an action that has not begun yet. Or, he could exhort them to join in with him in an action that is already in progress and in which he, the exhorter, is already engaged.

 In verse 1 below, the Author is exhorting his Hebrew readers to join with him in starting an action that has not begun yet. In other words, the Hebrews have not yet begun fearing that they are about to miss out on God’s rest. They do not realize that they are in the same danger as those in the wilderness experience for the same reason; they do not believe God. Consequently, our Author begins this chapter with the words, “Let us therefore fear. . . .”

 Heb 4:1-3

1                    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.

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.

3                    For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (KJV)

“Lest Warning” #4 Interpreted

In addition, the Author brings us to his fourth Lest Warning in verse 1. He declares his reason for his Let Us Exhortation to fear; he doesn’t want any of them to seem to come short of obtaining God’s promised rest.

 Notice how he couples his Let us Exhortation and his Lest Warning together: He is so very direct; He uses no any connecting words; He runs the two right together; He states his exhortation for them to join with him in fearing for the Hebrews as a people; He closes the verse with, “..lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

 At the end of this chapter we show you how a Hebrew came short of obtaining the promise of rest. To put it differently, we answer this question: “What does a Hebrew have to do or not do to come short of entering God’s promised rest?”

 Next, in verses 2 and 3, our Author includes himself in a group of Hebrews that not only had the gospel of rest preached to them but also profited from the gospel-of-rest-message, because they accepted it by faith. In other words, they believed the message. Finally they proved that they believed the message because they acted upon it. Consequently, once they acted upon it, they had what they acted upon. They entered God’s rest. For clarity, see these things in list form below.

1.      These Hebrews had the gospel-rest-message preached to them.

2.      Some profited from it because they accepted the message as having come from God.

3.      Out Author included himself in this group.

4.      This group of Hebrews believed (acted upon) this message.

5.      Immediately when they acted upon it, they entered God’s promised rest.

We must briefly define for you, here, the two Bible words, faith and believe. First, we define the term faith: “Faith is information we receive from God for us to act upon. This information enables us to know in advance the will of God on a given matter. This information enables us to know in advance what God plans to do about something before he does it. This advance information is what the Bible calls faith.”

 Many times this information we get from God contains instructions for us to walk out. In other words, this information shows us in advance what our part is in what God is about to do. This advance information is what the Bible calls faith.

 We get this information from the Scriptures, from sermons, from radio and TV messages, from Sunday School lessons, from prophetic words, a “knowing in your spirit” and any other way God wishes to give it to you. This advance information is what the Bible calls faith.

 Just remember this! The Bible is Check Point Charlie. Any “word” you get from any source that contradicts the Scripture, in any place and in any way, is not from God. God will never communicate any message to you that contradicts his written Word.

 Believe, in the Biblical sense, does not reside just between your ears. “Rather, believe means to act upon the information (your faith) you received from God.” This is what the Bible calls believe.

 It can never be said that anyone “believes God until and unless he acts upon what God said for him to do.” For a thorough, complete explanation of this subject, faith and believe, read our book, How to Obtain Abraham’s Blessings. It is free on the Internet--www.jaysnell.org.

 Now the “rest gospel” did not profit those in the wilderness who heard the message from God. Why? Because they did not mix it with faith! But what does the statement mean, “not being mixed with faith in them that heard it”?

 Look at the words, “mixed with.” This is the translation of one Greek word. This Greek word, however, is composed of two Greek words combined. It combines the Greek preposition, sun, which means “together with” and karannumi, which means “to mingle or mix.” The combination, then, means “to mix or to mingle together with.” Now we shall apply this definition for you in the following paragraphs and all this will become crystal clear for you.

 Previously we said that faith is information we get from God for us to act upon. The Hebrews in the wilderness already had information from God that they had accepted as having come from God. They had the Abrahamic covenant. In that same covenant, they had God’s promise that he would deliver them from bondage in Egypt. (He gave this promise about four hundred years in advance.)

 They not only had this information but also accepted it as having come from God. As such, this body of information became their faith. Remember this well, dear reader! They had information from God, which they acknowledged and accepted as being from God. This acknowledgment and acceptance made this information their faith! Therefore, the Hebrews in the wilderness had faith!

 Now, the time came to possess the land God promised them, but “giants” occupied it. God, however, sent information through Moses that they could uproot the “giants” living in the land God gave them by Abrahamic promise. But they refused to believe it. They refused to believe that they could, indeed, uproot the giants and conquer the land. They refused to mix or mingle this new information with the information they already had that they considered as being from God. They absolutely would not mix this “rest message” into their reservoir of information they had already received from God that they were to act upon.

 Over the centuries, they had previously received information from God that they accepted as having come from God. Their acceptance of it made this information their faith. They would not, however, mix this new gospel-rest-message-information with the information they had already received and accepted over the centuries. They rejected it and therefore, would not and did not act upon it. Now we know what our Author meant when he said they did not mix their “rest-gospel-message-information” with the other information God had already said to them. They refused to “mix this new-rest-message-information with their faith information.” Since they did not consider it to be from God (faith), they did not accept it. Since they did not accept it, they did not act upon it (unbelief) and therefore, they did not occupy the land. That generation died off without realizing the great land promise in the covenant with Abraham. Their unbelief did them in. Their entire generation died in the wilderness.

Heb 4:6

6        Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (KJV)

Heb 4:9-11

9            There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10            For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11            Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (KJV)

In the wilderness, “the rest” was the land. “The rest” in the Book of Hebrews was (among other things) “the rest” from the many sacrifices required by Moses’ law. In other words, those Hebrews in the wilderness did not enter into God’s rest. They could not enter into it because they refused to act upon the information (unbelief) that God gave them through Moses.

How, then, are we to interpret Lest Warning #4, here? How did a Hebrew, in this context, “come short of God’s rest?” The following paragraphs will clearly answer this for you.

 A rest remained for God’s people then and it remains for them until this day. Our Author said this twice. In verse 9 above, he said, “there remaineth a rest for the people of God.” In verse 6 above, he said, “it remaineth that some must enter” God’s rest. Those (in both ages) who accept the “rest-gospel-message” as information from God and act upon it (believe), enter God’s rest. Those (in both ages) who do not accept the “rest-gospel-message” as information from God and act upon it (unbelief), do not enter God’s rest.

Obviously, those who enter God’s rest cease from their own labors (verse 10 above). In other words, the Hebrews to whom our Author wrote still labored under the multiple bull and goat sacrifices required by Moses’ law. They sacrificed here and they sacrificed there. They never get through sacrificing. They sacrificed for each and every individual sin. They never get through sacrificing. They worked, worked and worked!

But now, God no longer accepts the sacrifices of bulls and goats. He only accepts the one time sacrifice of the Son of God. Jesus shed his blood and it was and is so complete and so powerful that no sacrifice will ever be required again. His sacrifice blots out all sins, past, present and future. (More on this subject later.)

Compare this with the sacrifices required by Moses’ law. Many times they had to sacrifice. They had to sacrifice as each sin was committed. They had to sacrifice as it happened. They worked, worked, and worked. They labored, labored, and labored. Then, if all this was not enough, they had an annual sacrifice, the National Day of Atonement. Labor! Labor! Labor! Work! Work! Work! Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Sacrifice!

No wonder our Author emphatically declared in verse 10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

They “come short” of God’s rest simply by (1) refusing to act upon God’s information concerning Jesus, the last sacrifice for their sins, and (2) by attempting to stay with the sacrifices of bulls, goats, cows, and sheep! “Come short,” here, has nothing to do with any Christian losing his healing, prosperity, family well being or salvation. This is strictly aimed at those Hebrews who attempted to stay under the Mosaic sacrifices.

Let Us Exhortation #2

Then, we come to the second Let Us Exhortation and the Fifth Lest Warning in Hebrews. Verse 10 above says, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest. . . .” Remember the Let Us Exhortations? The writer or speaker exhorts his hearers or listeners to join with him in an action that is either already in progress or has not started yet.

In this passage, our Author exhorts his readers to join with him to start an action. Obviously, his readers had not yet started laboring to enter God’s rest in the way prescribed by God. They frantically attempted to establish their own righteousness by the works of the Law. Work! Work! Work! Labour! Labour! Labour! They did not realize that by the works of the Law absolutely no flesh--Jew or Gentile--could ever be justified (cleared of the guilt of all their sins).

(The words justified, just, justify, righteousness and righteous all translate the same basic Greek root, which means “to clear of all guilt.” These five translations above mean that one has been cleared from the guilt of all his sins.)

Gal 2:16

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law: for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. (KJV)

You see, Dear Reader, their works were in vain. They could never be cleared of all the guilt of all their sins by the works of the Law, because the Law of Moses was never given for this purpose. It was given to maintain the blessings contained in the Abrahamic covenant. Remember, they were born with the blessings of healing, prosperity, family well being and salvation.

These Hebrews--addressed by our Author--attempted to earn, by the works of Moses” law, what they already possessed. They already possessed them because of their place (by birth) in the Abrahamic covenant. They had forgotten, however, that they possessed these blessings by birth. They had forgotten that they did not have to earn them. By trying to work for them, they forfeited them. They forfeited them because they did not tap into them by faith. Therefore, they lost everything they were born with in God’s covenant with Abraham. Why?

They lost all the Abrahamic blessings listed above because the Abrahamic blessings could only be appropriated by faith. They had to accept the provisions of that covenant as “information from God (faith) that they must act upon.” Next, they had to act upon it (believing). Then they obtained what they acted upon. (Remember the discussion above. Faith is information from God. Believing is acting upon that information.)

By now it should be crystal clear to you, Dear Reader. The Hebrews could never obtain by the works of Moses’ law the blessings (listed above) that God gave them in the Abrahamic covenant. For these Hebrews to attempt to earn the blessings of Abraham (which they already possessed) by the works of the Moses’ law is equivalent to trying to go to the moon in a Volkswagen! A Volkswagen, as cute as it is, will never take you to the moon. It was not designed to do this. Never.

Neither was Moses’ law designed to enable the Hebrews or anyone else to earn the blessings of Abraham. It was designed to maintain the Abrahamic blessings. It was never designed to earn them. As the Volkswagen will never take you to the moon, Moses’ law will never earn the Abrahamic blessings listed above.

All four of the Abrahamic blessings were contained in the Sixty Promises of the Abrahamic covenant, and Moses’ law maintained them. This was their information from God. Once they acted upon the promises, they obtained what they acted upon. Finally, making the proper sacrifice, maintained the blessings for them.

Thank God! Gentile Christians are grafted into these four things also. These four things belong to us as Gentile Christians on an absolute equal footing with these Hebrews. Remember, Gentiles are included in thirteen of the Sixty Promises in the Abrahamic covenant. When is the Gentile grafted in? God grafts him in immediately when he receives Jesus as his personal savior. To thoroughly understand the “the grafting,” see our book, The Unbroken Force of Abraham’s Blessings. It is free on the Internet. Go to www.jaysnell.org.

Lest Warning #5 Interpreted

Look again at verse 11 above. Our Author exhorted his readers to join in with him and start the action of laboring to enter God’s rest. He exhorted them to do it God’s way, by faith and not by works. Then he warned them with Lest Warning #5. He said that unless they labor to enter God’s rest in God’s way (by faith) that any one of them could fall after the same example of unbelief that caused them to fall in the wilderness. Of course, this unbelief in the wilderness experience cost them. It cost them the immediate realization (fulfillment) of the Land Promise. It also cost them their lives. That entire generation died in the wilderness. Only a handful of Faith People survived. 

To put it differently, the Works People in the wilderness experience were the example of unbelief to the audience our Author addressed here. He warned his readers not to mimic them. He said that if they mimicked them, they too would fall just like they did in the wilderness and for the same reason; they refused to act upon God’s information. They made no attempt to conquer the land. Likewise, many of the Hebrews here refused to act upon God’s information. They did not accept Jesus, even though God said that He was the final sacrifice for their sins. Because they did not act upon this information, they lost everything they had by birth in the Covenant. 

 How, then, are we to interpret Lest Warning” #5? What does our Author mean by “fall after the same example of unbelief?” In other words, how did a Hebrew fall in this context? Remember that he was born with healing, prosperity, family well being and salvation in the Abrahamic covenant. If he sacrificed properly when he sinned, he maintained all the above.

 Conversely, if he did not sacrifice properly when he sinned, he lost all the above. Now, the proper sacrifice is Jesus. His blood is now all that God will accept for their sins. He is now the only sacrifice for their sins. Nothing else will suffice for them anymore. Therefore, had these Hebrews just accepted God’s final sacrifice, Jesus, they would forever maintain everything they had by birth in the Abrahamic covenant. Since they did not accept Jesus, they “fall out of” everything above. They fall! They lose it all. 

 Furthermore, this warning applies to everyone. There are no exceptions. Anyone who substitutes religious works in place of faith and believing (acting upon God’s information) will fall. He is lost. He is doomed. He has had it!

Dear Reader! Let our Author’s warning sound loudly in your ears! If you substitute works for faith acted upon, you too will fall for the same reason they fell in the wilderness. You will fall for the same reason they fell in our Author’s day! You will not make it. You will wake up in hell. There are no exceptions! The Abrahamic blessings are given in the Abrahamic covenant. You do not have to work to get or maintain them. They are a given!

In the next chapter, we begin a series of chapters that demonstrate with rock solid proof that the people addressed are indeed Hebrews, not Gentiles. This section is the most faith building and startling of all that we say in this work. Read it and grow into a spiritual giant!

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