Redemption of the Earth.
By Editor
"THERE REMAINETH A REST."
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;" &c. 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 your God hath given you this land to possess 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 swore 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 swore 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 swore 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 swore 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 swore 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 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; and he rejoiced to see, by faith, the day of Christ; John 8:56. The Jews in the desert of Arabia drank of the rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ; 1 Cor. 10:4. It was "the reproach of Christ" that Moses esteemed as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; Heb. 11:24-26; and the gospel was preached to the rebellious ones whose carcasses fell in the wilderness. Heb. 4:2. 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, 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. 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 "the rest and 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. 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 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:293 "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.