Post 28 of Study: Hebrews 4:2

Chapter 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.

 

Who is “them”? The Israelites in the third chapter who did not enter into the “rest” of the Holy Land. They did not believe the word and the leadership of God through Joshua and Moses, and died in the wilderness before the entrance into Canaan. They got out of Egypt, but didn’t move into the next step. It is a metaphor for the spiritual rest of Christ. I don’t think we can spiritualize or allegorize this into a “you can get deliverance but not the real Christian experience” idea. That is not the emphasis.

 

The emphasis is that the message (called the gospel here, of deliverance and rest, but not fully of Christ’s propitiation) was not “mixed with faith in them that heard it.” That’s an interesting phrase. The gospel message can have no consequences, then, if a person does not “mix it with faith.” We see this; many people hear the gospel and actively dismiss it, or react violently to it, or ignore it.

 

I do think Hebrews bothers some Christians because it doesn’t align with the doctrine of total human un-involvement with the grace of God. There is a human part. It’s very minor, but it’s there. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it’s there.

 

Listening to a Tim Keller sermon this morning, from Jonah, the verse: Jonah 2:9. Salvation is of the Lord, he remarked that this was the core message of the Bible. We must remember that but know that it has to be mixed with faith in those who hear it. God doesn’t save us without our knowledge.