|
The Reign of the Servant Kings By Joseph C. Dillow A Review-Summary-Outline
Chapter 5—The Inheritance-Rest of Hebrews
It is the desire of God that every Christian should be able to say at the end of life, “I have finished my work.” This accomplishment was termed “entering into rest” by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Perhaps no other writer of the New Testament reflected as deeply and profoundly upon the theme of the inheritance as did the author of Hebrews. Addressing believers undergoing persecution who were considering a return to Judaism, he presses upon them the failure of the exodus generation and warns them of a similar fate. With unusual insight he notes that their failure to enter into rest was a failure to finish their work, precisely the danger facing the Hebrews who were considering an abandonment of their confession.
The Rest of God
But what is the content of the inheritance in Hebrews? Does it refer to heaven or our rewards there? To answer that, we must consider the “rest” described in chapters 3 and 4:
So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.” (Hebrews 3:11)
The readers of this epistle were in danger of “falling away” (Hebrews 6:6) and “ignoring a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). All five of the warning passages are directed against this peril. To enforce their perseverance, he sets before them the example of the Israelites in the wilderness who fell away and did not enter into Canaan. When the Old Testament passages describing the conquest as “entrance into rest” are studied, it seems that the Old Testament writers related the two ideas of “rest” and “Canaan” even if they did not precisely equate them. In what way did they relate these words together? They related them as to “place” and as to “experience.” “To enter into rest” simply means “to complete the conquest of Canaan.” Instead of “rest” being only a place, it also is a condition, or state of being.
The Rest Is the Land of Canaan
First, the rest seems to be equated with the land that God swore they would not enter into (Psalm 95:11; Numbers 14:21-23; 32:10-12; Deuteronomy 1:34-36; 12:9). Second, the terms “rest” and “Canaan” [the land, Israel’s inheritance] seem to be used interchangeably in several scriptures:
You shall not at all do as we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the rest [the resting place]and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety. (Deuteronomy 12:8-10)
Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, “The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.” (Joshua 1:13)
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” (Psalm 132:13, 14)
The Rest Is Our Finished Word
The concept of “rest” is not limited to the idea of entering the land. In Joshua 1:13 God says He is giving them rest and the land. This is also the message of Deuteronomy 12:10. Rest has another meaning, different from “land.” Its usage elsewhere suggests the experience one enters into when he finishes his work:
But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: "How long will you neglect to go and possess [Heb. “yarash,” inherit] the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?” (Joshua 18:2, 3)
So the LORD gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of [Heb. “yarash,” inherited] it and dwelt in it. The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. (Joshua 21:43-45) [See also Joshua 18:7; 22:4; 23:4, 5; 24:28]
The “rest” involved completion of the battle and victory over the enemies. A similar theme is echoed elsewhere in Joshua when, after the battles of the conquest are won, the enemies defeated, and the inheritance divided, we are told that “then the land had rest from war” (Joshua 14:15). Similarly, God announced to David that his son Solomon, whose name means “peace,” would enjoy a reign of peace and rest:
Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. (1 Chronicles 22:9, 10)
The rest from enemies is immediately connected with the opportunity for peace, for building God’s house, and for fellowship with Him there. The suspicion that “rest” is a broader concept than mere land seems to be confirmed by the fact that the word for rest (Heb. nuah) is used interchangeably with the word for Sabbath (Heb. shabat):
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested [Heb. “shabat”] on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested [Heb. “shabat”] from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:2, 3)
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested [Heb. “nuah”] the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)
The Hebrew word shabat (to cease from labor) is used to describe God’s rest in Genesis 2:2, 3, but the Hebrew word nuah is used in the parallel passage concerning God’s rest on the Sabbath in Exodus 20:11. Thus rest includes the notion of completing one’s work.
The particular work that Israel had to complete was the conquest of their enemies and the secure and successful settlement of the land of Canaan. It is an experience similar to that which God experienced when He completed His work! God’s work was creation; theirs was conquest (Joshua 21:44, 45; Deuteronomy 12:10; 2 Samuel 7:1; 1 Kings 5:4; 1 Chronicles 22:9). That “rest” included the notion “to defeat Israel’s enemies and give them rest (victory and security) in the land.” A definite relationship between land and rest exists because “possession of [entering] the land brings ‘rest’ (Deuteronomy 12:9; 25:19; Joshua 1:13; 21:44), i.e., both freedom from foreign domination and the end of wandering.” Rest is the inheritance, but it is also a condition or state of finished work and victory over enemies, which the Israelite entered into when he obtained [conquered] the inheritance.
This impression is reinforced by the Lord’s startling statement in Psalm 95:11, “So I declared on oath in My anger, they shall never enter into My rest.” Here He calls the rest, into which the exodus generation should have entered, “My” rest. The thought immediately casts us back to Genesis 2:2, 3, “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested.” God’s rest is the experience of having “finished the work.” That experience is what God desires for His people of all ages, including ours!
But when did the Israelites enter into rest? They entered it only after the victory had been won and the inheritance was distributed (Joshua 12-22). Between initial entry into the land and the final conquest there were victories to be wrought and battles to win, a task to complete.
There is a persistent notion that the land of Canaan is somehow typical of the future millennial kingdom. Indeed, the numerous Old Testament promises that one day Israel will return to the land (Ezekiel 37:21, 22), be established as an independent state (Ezekiel 37:22), be in possession of the old city of Jerusalem, and become a focal point of global concern (Zechariah 12:1-4) indicate that such a parallel can be drawn. (see also Jeremiah 3:11-20; 12:14-17; 16:10-18; 28:1-4; 29:1-14; 30:1-3, 10, 11; 31:2-14, 15-20; 32:1-44; 42:1-22; 50:17-20; Ezekiel 11:14-21; 20:39-44; 34:1-16; 35:1-36; 36:16-36; 39:21-29. The sheer number of these promises by nearly every prophet of the Old Testament makes it highly unlikely that the meager return under Zerubbabel was the fulfillment. Indeed, if that was the predicted fulfillment, then why did Zechariah in 518 B.C. continue to predict the future return as if it had not yet occurred?)
These land promises are all fulfilled in the future kingdom. Does not entering the land equal entering the kingdom? And, if it does, are not all who enter heirs of that kingdom? The answer: Obviously not! The book of Joshua provides one example of an Israelite who in fact entered the land but never finished the task, and as a result, he never obtained the inheritance and entered into rest. His name was Achan, and his account is in Joshua 7. Precisely the same situation existed in the early church when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5. All three were subjected to capital punishment.
It is therefore evident that a person can enter into the land but not obtain the inheritance there, thereby never entering into rest. The former was available to all Israelites on the basis of a promise, but the latter came only to those who obeyed and won the victory.
In the parallel to which the writer of Hebrews alludes, all Christians enter into the kingdom at the time of spiritual birth. But not all Christians finish their work. For the writer of Hebrews the predicted Old Testament kingdom has already begun. He tells us that the New Covenant predicted by Jeremiah (31:31-34), which will be fulfilled for national Israel in the millennium, has already been inaugurated by the death of Christ (Hebrews 9:15-18). Alluded to here is that the kingdom of heaven was inaugurated with the life and death of Christ and will be consummated in its literal Old Testament form at the second coming of Christ.
If this conclusion is valid, then all enter the kingdom at spiritual birth (John 3:3). Our present struggle against the principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12) is the spiritual counterpart to Israel’s struggle against her enemies after having entered the land. Like Achan and the exodus generation before him, some Christians will not finish the battle. They are out of Egypt and in the kingdom (in its present form), but they never obtain an inheritance there and will never enter into rest.
Paul tells us that “these things occurred as examples” (1 Corinthians 10:6) so there is some justification for such speculations. Entering Canaan is not to be equated with entering the kingdom. A Christian enters the kingdom when he is born again. Rather, entering Canaan pictures the decision by a person who already is a Christian to trust God for victory, submit to His lordship, and engage in the spiritual battle necessary to finish our course as victors and, as a result, enter into rest. When the battle is won and when, unlike Achan, we persevere in obedient faith to the end, we receive the inheritance, our rewards in heaven. We have completed our work, and we enter into rest.
To enter into rest was to possess the land of Canaan by means of spiritual obedience and resultant victory over all who would oppose them. So entering rest was more than just obtaining some real estate; it had a spiritual dimension as well. It is impossible to enter into rest without entering into the land, but it was possible to enter the land and not enter rest. To enter into rest is to obtain the inheritance of Canaan by faithful obedience, to complete our task and persevere to the final hour.
From Egypt to Canaan
One day the city of Zion, the central city of Canaan in the kingdom, the capital of the entire globe (Isaiah 2:3), will be the “resting place” (Psalm 132:13, 14) of God when He pours out His blessings on that heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:10) that is located in the heavenly (an affirmation of its divine origin) country, the restored millennial land of Canaan (Hebrews 11:16), which is the subject of many Old Testament predictions (Amos 9:13-15; Joel 3:17-21; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Zechariah 14:8-21; Isaiah 2:2-5, 11: 1-16).
It may be concluded that the “rest” of Hebrews 3 is more than the land of Canaan, although it includes that. The inheritance spoken of in the Old Testament was obtained by faithful obedience, connected to merit. It included the experience of having completed one’s task, a spiritual dimension. To enter “rest” was to be victorious over one’s enemies through spiritual obedience and to complete the task assigned to them by God, to take possession of the land. This paves the way for the writer’s concept of receiving a reward for faithful perseverance (Hebrews 10:36). He wants his readers to finish their work and thus avoid the loss of inheritance experienced by the exodus generation.
The Partakers
The concept of entering “into rest” was appropriate to apply to the readers of the Epistle to the Hebrews who were in danger, like the exodus generation, of a failure to complete their life work by doing the will of God to the end (Hebrews 10:36). So he warns them:
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. (Hebrews 3:14)
The phrase “for we have become partakers in Christ” uses the Greek word metochoi for “partakers,” which then more accurately translates to “we are Christ’s partners or companions”—the basic meaning of metochoi. If the word metochoi means to be “in Christ” or be “part of Christ,” then the verse is suggesting that we are Christians if and only if we persevere to the end [Reviewer’s comment: a position that is most certainly anti-scriptural].
Being Christ’s partner is not the same as being His son. Only sons are partners, but not all sons are partners—only those who “hold firmly to the end the confidence” they had at first. The word metochos was used in the papyri for partner or associate in a business enterprise. The word is found in classical Greek for a wife, a member of a board of officials, a partner in business, or the joint-owner of a house.
The Hebrew word chaber is translated by metochos nine times in the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the Old Testament in the third century B.C.]. In each case it refers to a “companion” or one in partnership with another. Its common meaning is “companion, associate, knit together.” It describes a close bond between persons such as the close relationship between Daniel and his three friends because of their common faith and loyalty to God (Daniel 2:13-18).
It was perfectly normal for a king to surround himself with certain associates with whom he maintained a more intimate relationship than he did with all other citizens of his kingdom (2 Samuel 23:8-39; 1 Kings 12:8). Such would qualify to be called chaber in the Hebrew or metochos in the Greek.
God’s King-Son in Hebrews has likewise surrounded Himself with companions (Hebrews 1:9, Gk. metochoi). Jesus made it clear that only those Christians who “do the will of My Father in heaven” are His “friends” (Matthew 12:48-50). He told them that friendship with Him was conditional: “You are My friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Yet these from whom He drew back had “believed in His name” and were therefore born again.
Many people saw the miraculous signs and episteusan eis to onoma autou (“believed on His name”). Yet Jesus would not episteuen auton autois (“entrust Himself to them”) because he “knew all men.” The phrase “believe on His name” is used throughout John for saving faith. Note especially John 3:18 where the same phrase is used.
The phrase pisteuo eis is John’s standard expression for saving faith. One believes “on Him” or “in His name,” 6:40; 7:39; 8:30; 10:42; 11:25, 26; 12:11. Therefore, Calvin’s claim in the Institutes (3.2.12) that they did not have true faith but were only borne along “by some impulse of zeal, which prevented them from carefully examining their hearts” is fallacious.
The metochoi of King Jesus then are His co-heirs in the rulership of the messianic kingdom. They are those friends, partners, and companions who have endured the trials of life, were faithful to the end, who will therefore obtain the inheritance-rest. The danger in Hebrews 3:14 is not that they might lose their justification but that they might lose their inheritance by forfeiting their position as one of Christ’s metochoi in the coming kingdom. It is to help them avoid this danger that the writer applies to them the lesson of the failure of the exodus generation to enter “rest.” They too are in danger of not entering into “rest.”
Entering into Rest (Hebrews 4:1-11)
Having set before their eyes the failure of the exodus generation, he now warns them against the possibility of failure in their Christian lives as well.
The Warning (4:1, 2)
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
There is no reason for assuming the “rest” (Gk. katapausis) in Hebrews 4 is any different from the inheritance of Canaan obtained by obedience as described in Hebrews 3. The transition between the chapters is smooth, the application is precise and without any qualification, and the same word, katapausis, is used. It involved a spiritual victory over all opposing enemies that was achieved by spiritual faith-obedience to the King. It was an inheritance merited on the field of battle:
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (Hebrews 4:2)
What “gospel” was preached to them? The word “gospel” means simply “good news.” The good news they received was the promise of the inheritance of the land of Canaan and the possibility of entering into that inheritance by faithful perseverance and faith-obedience (e.g., Deuteronomy 12:10-12). This gospel was not only preached to them, but it has been preached to us! Where? A major theme of the New Testament is that the Church has been grafted into Israel’s covenants and are now heirs of the same promises (Romans 11:17). The “good news” in this context seems to be good news about entering God’s rest (4:10) and not the forgiveness of sins.
The Present Existence of the Rest (4:3-7)
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)
Here he makes it explicit that only those who believe enter into rest. His interest is not in those who have believed at a point in time but in those who continue to believe to the end of life (3:6, 14). It is perseverance in faith, not a one-time exercise of it, which guarantees that we enter into rest. He quotes Psalm 95:11 again, which is a Davidic commentary on the failure of the exodus generation. The significance of the statement, “And yet His work has been finished since the creation of the world” probably means that God completed His work of creation and has offered the experience of completed work to every generation of man since then. This completed work has yet to be entered into by man but will be when the kingdom of heaven is consummated in the millennium kingdom to come.
In the discussion above it was argued that the meaning of entering into “rest” included not only the obtaining of the inheritance of Canaan [entering into the land] but also signified the completion of one’s labor. This possible meaning of the term in the Old Testament is now made explicit by the writer to the Hebrews in the words to follow:
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." (Hebrews 4:4, 5)
Since God has completed His work, the experience of completed work, rest, has been available to all since the creation of the world. We enter into that experience the same way God did, by finishing the task. Possession of Canaan was the task that they were to complete. The concept of rest is thus enriched to mean “finished work.”
No Final Rest Under Joshua (4:6-9)
Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." (Hebrews 4:6, 7)
The exodus generation failed to enter the land. They never finished their task, and that task still remains to be completed! Even under Joshua the task was not completed. But, someone might argue, was not the entire promise of the land of Canaan fulfilled under Joshua? Did not the Old Testament say that the conquest of the land was the fulfillment of the promised rest (Joshua 22:4; 23:1)? This kind of eschatology is rebutted with the following words:
For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:8, 9)
If the experience of Sabbath rest had been fulfilled in Joshua’s conquest of the land, David, four hundred years later, would not still be offering the same promise in Psalm 95:11 and saying it is available “today.” The writer is evidently setting before his Christian readers the hope of an inheritance in the land of Canaan that was made to Israel. This future inheritance is still to be obtained, and the experience of “finished work” is still to be achieved!
How the Rest is Obtained (4:10-11)
For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 10, 11)
As Christian believers they will have an inheritance in the land of Canaan in the consummation of the present kingdom if they make every effort to finish their course. We are to enter “rest” the same way the exodus generation should have, by finishing our work. Entering “rest” is therefore more than obtaining the land of Canaan, although it is also that. It is the fulfillment of man’s destiny to “rule and have dominion” (Genesis 1:26-28). It is the finishing of our work—for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His (Hebrews 4:10); or, as the writer expressed it in the chapter 10:
For you have need of endurance [perseverance], so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. (Hebrews 10:36)
In a similar way Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34).
The conclusion is that the content of the inheritance in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the millennial land of Canaan. This inheritance-rest is the participation with Christ in that great messianic partnership, the final destiny of man. It certainly involves ownership of the land of Canaan, but obtaining Canaan was more than just obtaining some land. It was to live there in the heavenly country, ruling from the heavenly city with the King. Only Christ’s metochoi will reign with Him in the kingdom. To be invited to rule with Christ on earth in the coming kingdom is synonymous with hearing Him say:
Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. (Matthew 25:21)
There are many in the kingdom today, but only some will inherit the land in the consummation. That is why the rest must be worked for (Hebrews 4:11). Not all Christians will make that effort or will make equal effort, and those distinctions will be acknowledged by Christ in the coming reign of the metochoi during the millennial kingdom.
Conclusion
We enter into “rest” only when we persevere in faith to the end of life. When we do this, we will obtain a share in the inheritance, the millennial land of Canaan, and will rule with Christ as one of His metochoi there. God has not set aside His promises to Israel. The promise of the inheritance, the land, is eternally valid, and those Christians who remain faithful to their Lord to the end of life will share in that inheritance along with the Old Testament saints.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||