Hebrews 4:2, commentary and pictures

The gospel was preached to Israel in the wilderness just as it is preached to later hearers, with the glad news of the promised home in Canaan set before them. Merely hearing that preached word gives no benefit unless it is mixed with faith and received in those who hear it. Such faith takes the Word as from heaven into mind, will and affections by the Holy Spirit, and proves itself by becoming doers who practice it in daily life. The promise of entering God's rest still stands open, calling for fear lest anyone come short through the same unbelief and hardness of heart that shut Israel out. Selfishness, pride, murmuring, prejudice and faultfinding shut out even words given by the Holy Spirit, while living faith that obeys, searches Scripture humbly, and shares the light enters the rest.

Gospel Preached to Both

The gospel was preached to later hearers just as it was preached to Israel in the wilderness, but the word preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hearing the message alone does not benefit unless it is received with faith and united with belief, and unbelief kept Israel from entering God's rest. The promise of entering into God's rest is still left open, and therefore there must be fear lest anyone should seem to come short of it. Profit requires cooperating with God, living in hourly communion with Him, holding the beginning of confidence steadfast unto the end, and heeding the Holy Spirit's voice today rather than hardening the heart in provocation as Israel did in the forty years' temptation. An evil heart of unbelief that departs from the living God, a heart always erring and not knowing God's ways and hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and personal feeling, repeats that provocation and shuts the hearer out of rest. Those who do not walk in the light as Christ is in the light stand in the same position as unbelieving Israel, and in this perilous time the warning presses on ministers and people who are full of self-esteem, lack genuine fellowship and love, and lay plans to carry out their own ideas, calling the ministry north and south, east and west to an entire change of spirit and thorough conversion lest the day of God come as a thief in the night upon all who give heed to Satan's suggestions. The verse is a warning to take God's promise seriously and a call to rise through faith in Jesus, depart from sin, and become fit for the Master's use.

The glad news heard by Israel was the promise of their future home in Canaan, the promise of the land, and it did not profit them because they did not believe what they heard. The promise becomes effective for hearers only through faith. Fear and distrust led them to reject it and lose the opportunity to enter, and their history warns God's people near the heavenly Canaan not to let doubts, criticism, or complaints keep them from trusting and obeying God.

That same gospel was spoken to Israel by Jesus Christ from the pillar of cloud as glad tidings of truth and righteousness, as it is heard today, and the grace of God through Christ is ever to be cherished as the only way of approaching God. This explains why so little is accomplished by the many discourses preached: the words may be indited by the Holy Spirit, but the result lies with the hearers. The word must be received into good and honest hearts, heard with consecrated ears and with a desire to be benefited, believed with living, active faith, and practiced, for only active faith makes the gracious promise of any avail. Selfishness and pride, murmuring and unbelief shut out its benefit and aggravate guilt, keeping hearers from believing and obeying in the last days as they did then. Lack of living faith brought destruction in the days of Noah because men would not hear and receive the engrafted word which would have saved them, while heeding the appeal as the voice of God would have brought a different result, and the verse therefore calls hearers to be doers of the Word. Without faith in God Israel left a very checkered history, while faith in the promises would have enabled a record of a very different character, for having faith in the promises, walking forward by faith and pressing on without being governed by circumstances, is a hard lesson yet a positive necessity for every child of God.

God did not wish Israel to wander in the wilderness and would have led them promptly into the promised land if they had submitted to Him and trusted and obeyed His leading alone. Because they repeatedly grieved Him He swore that they would not enter His rest, except for the two who wholly followed Him. He required His people to trust Him alone and obey His leading, not to seek help from those who did not serve Him, and the promise is fulfilled for those who so trust and obey.

God's rest includes the seventh-day Sabbath in which God rested from all His works. The gospel was preached to those having the light on God's commandments just as it was to ancient Israel, but Israel was not profited because those who heard did not receive it with faith, and the same warning bids fear lest any come short of entering that rest. The coming great issue will be over reverencing that day while the world and the professedly Protestant churches take sides with the man of sin.

Faith Makes Hearing Profitable

Hearing the preached gospel by itself does not benefit anyone; it profits only when it is mixed with faith in those who hear it and received with faith. Israel heard the glad news of the future home in Canaan, but it did not profit them because they did not believe what they heard, and their unbelief kept them from entering God's rest. The promise becomes effective for hearers through faith, and those who hear must believe and remain faithful and hold fast to faith rather than repeat Israel's example. Those who receive the Word yet remain selfish, critical, and unwilling to obey are not prepared to profit from further ministry, for the Word benefits its hearers as they believe it and become doers of it. The word Christ gives is profitable and brings life when it is brought into practical life, and Israel's repeated access to truth without following it warns later hearers to heed God's call if they are to enter His rest and be ready to meet Christ in peace.

Faith accepts the Word as a message from heaven, studies it carefully, and takes its truths into the soul and spiritual life. Mind, will, and affections must yield to God's word, so that through the Holy Spirit its teachings become principles that shape the life. Hearing sermons, reading the Bible, or having it explained is not enough without this faith-filled reception. Without it the Spirit's impression is lost, and the hearer does not experience the rest found by receiving God's assurances in the Word.

To hear savingly is to hear in faith, to be vitalized by spiritual knowledge, to practice His words, and to give earnest heed to what is heard lest at any time it slip. Christ calls all to hear His words that they may know Him, but without this faith-hearing all else is valueless. Faith-filled hearing requires seeking to understand the truth, bringing it into home and daily life, and growing in knowledge of God. Without this, Scripture does not make its hearers wise unto salvation, and they backslide from God.

Living, working faith takes God at His word, for His Word will be verified and His declaration is Yea and Amen, so acting on His word may look like presumption but is true faith. It means complying with the conditions, occupying the promise by personal appropriation, drawing near to Christ so that He is apprehended by the believing soul, and holding full confidence that He keeps what is committed to Him. The Word must be appropriated as spiritual food, for merely knowing about the promised rest, singing about it, and rejoicing at the prospect of entering it does not bring possession of it, as Israel's failure to enter Canaan proves. Failing to so appropriate it leaves believers weak.

Without hunger for an experimental knowledge of justification by faith and without genuine love for the truth, the word finds no entrance, gives no light and understanding, and precious sacred truth is made of no effect to the hearer. When mixed with faith by hungering and thirsting for righteousness, the word is appropriated as the bread and water of life and satisfies every soul-longing. It then places the hearer in the channel of light to receive the heavenly current as a well of water springing up into everlasting life with special light and advancement in knowledge of the truth.

Faith is shown by becoming doers of the Word and bringing it into practical life, not merely hearing it or enjoying its sound. The Word is preached so people will believe and obey it, and the word Christ gives is profitable and brings life when brought into practical life. A life changed by the truth, including conversation that reflects its hold on the soul, proves faith. Otherwise truth passes through without effect like water from a leaky vessel.

Faith is proved by appreciating received light enough to be aroused and to give it to others. Those on whom blessings are poured abundantly yet who leave large cities and unworked portions of the vineyard without the gospel show the truth is not appreciated because hearing has not been mixed with faith.

Promise of Rest Remains

The promise of entering into God's rest is still left open, and it calls for fear lest anyone should seem to come short of it. The gospel was preached to later hearers just as it was preached to Israel in the wilderness, but the word preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. Profit requires cooperating with God, living in hourly communion with Him, holding the beginning of confidence steadfast unto the end, and heeding the Holy Spirit's voice today. Hearing does not profit unless the word heard is united with belief, but must be received with faith.

Israel's unbelief and hardening of heart in the provocation kept them from entering God's rest, though truth was kept before them and repeated to them. The same call to hear His voice today and believe presses upon later hearers, who must believe and remain faithful rather than repeat their example and fail through unbelief. They must hold the beginning of confidence steadfast unto the end, hold fast to faith, and be ready to meet Christ in peace if they are to enter His rest. Israel had repeated access to God's truth but failed to follow it, and hearing the message alone did not benefit them because they did not receive it with faith.

The unbelieving heart is an evil heart departing from the living God, always erring and not knowing God's ways, hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and personal feeling. Such a heart repeats Israel's provocation in the forty years' temptation and shuts out of rest. A stony heart is as unimpressible as the stony-ground hearers in Christ's parable and does not receive the engrafted word. Unless the heart is softened by the grace of God and made new, hereditary tendencies, prejudices, holding fast to impressions of men and things, walking contrary to righteousness and truth, and objectionable traits of character taken advantage of by the enemy spoil the Christian experience and keep a person from ever entering the kingdom of heaven.

Israel's history with fear and distrust rejecting the promise warns God's people near the heavenly Canaan and at the very borders of the heavenly Canaan not to let doubts, criticism, complaints, or fear keep them from trusting and obeying. Israel heard the promise of the land, but fear and distrust led them to reject it and lose the opportunity to enter. Those who do not move onward and upward under increasing light go backward and will fail at the very borders of the heavenly Canaan. In this perilous time the warning applies to ministers and people who are full of self-esteem, lack genuine fellowship and love, and lay plans to carry out their own ideas, calling the ministry north and south, east and west to an entire change of spirit and thorough conversion, lest the day of God come as a thief in the night upon all who give heed to Satan's suggestions.

The verse warns to take God's promise seriously by rising through faith in Jesus, departing from sin, and becoming fit for the Master's use. Those who desire purification must mix faith with what they hear in the Word. Living, working faith that takes God at His word is required, for His Word will be verified and His declaration is Yea and Amen, so acting on His word may look like presumption but is true faith. Great prudence rooted in unbelief brings great hindrance, and lifting up the soul in self-sufficiency or lagging behind sluggish through the leaven of unbelief keeps even those with great light and truth and evidence from advancing as they should and from entering rest, for without faith it is impossible to please God.

Unbelief That Blocks Blessing

Even words prompted by the Holy Spirit do no good unless they are heard with desire to be benefited, with consecrated ears, into good and honest hearts, with living active faith, and then practiced. Selfishness and pride, murmuring and unbelief shut out the benefit and bring guilt upon the hearers, and not hearing with faith and not practicing the word spoken aggravates guilt. Only active faith makes the gracious promise of any avail, as shown when lack of living faith brought destruction in Noah's day because men would not hear and receive the engrafted word which would have saved them. Heeding the appeal as the voice of God would have brought a different result.

Hearing a message from God does not benefit people when unbelief and resistance keep it from taking root in their hearts. Prejudice, jealousy, doubts, and an obstinate spirit cause rejection of light sent through messengers. A fretful, faultfinding, harshly judging, unreasonable, perverse spirit sees everything in a perverted light and neutralizes all the good the messenger might do, even when he comes with words given by God.

Selfish, exacting and covetous members who demand the ministry of the Word reveal they are not prepared to be benefited even if they had it. The ministry does not profit hearers whose hearts are weak and faith small, who receive unbelief, criticism, envy and evil surmising and sow the same seed in other minds. They have ears but hear not because their ears are unsanctified, and have eyes but see not because Satan has interposed his shadow between God and their souls. Those overfed with the precious banquet from heaven, with light flashing upon them and evidence piled upon evidence, who go away to criticize messengers and message, need not more evidence and more food, which would only do them harm, but a new heart, a converted soul, a new mind and a new purpose, so they can hear and be blessed.

Even the most solemn message of mercy brings no benefit when it is not united with faith in those who hear it. Hearers who close the door of the heart against the truth receive no profit from the spoken Word and remain dead in trespasses and sins. Such hearers value the gospel little, do not practice the truth, carry no burden for perishing souls around them, feel aggrieved when the truth is carried to those who have never had the privilege of hearing it, and think preaching should entertain them.

Hearing ministers while refusing to obey, refusing to pay tithe, finding fault and criticizing the message, and failing to apply truth to one's own life leaves the heart hard and hinders the church. Profit comes only when hearers receive the message as from the Lord, come into harmony with brethren and the work of God, confess, and are converted with a new heart and changed home life. Members who attend sermons without a spirit of worship or service, and who live worldly rather than close to Christ, hear the truth without receiving its transforming influence. Even when truth is proclaimed in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, with special meetings held and money and earnest labor spent, hearing without faith leaves the object of labor ungained and the time and expense in vain.

That lack of power in the church is often charged to the ministry, but it is directly chargeable to members who hear without faith, not to the ministry alone. Speaking words that disparage one another is part of that failure to hear in faith, and it causes the ministry to be blamed. Ministers are to be men of faith, and members are to give no offense so the ministry is not blamed.

Time and labor spent on those who know the truth but are not helped by messages of truth, while neglecting those who never heard, is less pleasing to God than earnest humble work to save the perishing. Both those who minister and those who hear need the inward working of the Spirit, and members must be molded differently to work earnestly and humbly to save those perishing in sin. The same money, anxiety and earnest labor put into establishing the standard of truth in new fields and sending the gospel into regions beyond would advance the work, bring conversions, and raise up new laborers together with God who feel the value of souls and work hard to save those ready to perish.

Mere hearing is useless without faith, and the verse describes those who reject God's message. It applies to ministers who resisted the message presented at Minneapolis, warning hearers not to act in that same unbelieving way. Those who hear must humble hearts before God, put away sins by repentance and confession, and receive messages God sends through His delegated servants.

The promise of entering rest remains open with command to fear lest any come short of it, and hearing does not profit unless the word heard is united with belief. Those who do not walk in the light stand in the same position as unbelieving Israel, including those full of self-esteem, lacking genuine fellowship and love, and laying plans to carry out their own ideas. Great prudence rooted in unbelief brings great hindrance, and lifting up the soul in self-sufficiency or lagging sluggish through the leaven of unbelief keeps even those with great light and truth and evidence from advancing as they should and from entering rest. Greater living, working faith that takes God at His word is required, for His Word will be verified and without faith it is impossible to please God, and the ministry north and south, east and west is called to entire change of spirit and thorough conversion lest the day of God come as a thief in the night upon all who give heed to Satan's suggestions.

Living Out Heard Word

The word is preached in order to be believed, obeyed and practiced, and it benefits hearers to the degree they believe it and become doers of it. Hearing alone does no real good unless what is heard is mixed with faith and carried into life, received into good and honest hearts, heard with consecrated ears, believed with living, active faith, and practiced. The gospel heard now is the same gospel heard by Israel, spoken to them by Jesus Christ from the pillar of cloud as glad tidings of truth and righteousness, yet it did not profit them because faith was lacking in those who heard. Words may be indited by the Holy Spirit, but the result lies with the hearers, and selfishness and pride, murmuring and unbelief shut out the benefit and aggravate guilt, as lack of living faith brought destruction in Noah's day because men would not hear and receive the engrafted word that would have saved them, whereas heeding the appeal as the voice of God would have brought a different result.

Those who remain selfish, exacting, covetous, critical and unwilling to obey show they are not prepared to profit even if ministry is multiplied to them. Hearts that are weak and faith that is small receive unbelief, criticism, envy and evil surmising and sow the same seed in other minds, having ears but hearing not because the ears are unsanctified and having eyes but seeing not because Satan has interposed his shadow between God and the soul. Those overfed with the precious banquet from heaven, with light flashing upon them and evidence piled upon evidence, who go away to criticize messengers and message, need not more evidence and more food, which would only do harm, but a new heart, a converted soul, a new mind and a new purpose, so that hearing brings blessing.

Profitable hearing requires a heart cleansed from rubbish and earthliness, thoughts brought into captivity to Christ, and diligent searching of Scripture rather than dull, divided, surface hearing. Teachers and learners must open the Word with the right spirit, compare Scripture with Scripture without controversy, and seek the light and knowledge needed for faith, for hearing and professing profits nothing and does not make men Christians unless the word heard is joined with belief. Those who thus mix hearing with faith enter into promised rest, while unbelief repeats the old failure and comes short of the promise that still remains.

Hearing must never be careless, indifferent, or independent of God, but done in humility of mind with the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. What is needed is living, growing faith and hearing in faith, and lack of such faith is a fearful sin that leaves preaching without profit. Having faith in the promises, walking forward by faith and pressing on without being governed by circumstances, and ever cherishing the grace of God through Christ as the only way of approaching God, is a hard lesson yet a positive necessity for every child of God. Such faith would have given Israel a record of a very different character instead of a checkered history, for the word spoken to them by Christ enshrouded in the pillar of cloud did not profit them because they lacked faith in God.

Faith united with the word acts in earnest obedience, firm love, unity, strength against evil, divine power with healing and calm holy joy, and advance proportionate to increasing light toward purity and holiness through self-denial, self-sacrifice and diligent use of entrusted talents so that they increase. Abundant privilege and opportunity require faithful acceptance and appreciation of light, making believers channels of light to the world. Deadness and formality that cripple energy prove the word has not been united with faith, and those who do not move onward and upward under light go backward and will fail at the very borders of the heavenly Canaan. When heard in unbelief with faultfinding, evil thinking and evil speaking, the power of principle is neutralized, temper and disposition are shaped by what is fed upon, and the hearer remains in darkness without meekness and lowliness of heart.