Hebrews 4 Commentary

Hebrews 4 Commentary

In the believer’s mind, Israel was one stubborn nation; they never obeyed God! We have evidence to back this unfortunate statement! But we should look at ourselves more. We have heard the voice of the LORD like Israel did. Have we obeyed?

The scripture posts a strong warning. Don’t fall short of it. The consequence of disobedience is excommunication. You are excluded from the rest that the LORD God has promised. We cannot joke about it. Our friends fell in the wilderness because of disobedience. The same LORD has spoken and we must listen.

Obedience is believing the LORD Jesus Christ. Verse 3. Hear Him speak and believe Him. You will have entered the rest that the LORD promised a long time ago.

The symbol for rest is the well-known seventh-day – Sabbath. You didn’t break the Sabbath with impunity! It underlined the difference between salvation and condemnation. The other neat word for rest would be peace. Such is the importance of rest or peace that the Son assumed the title of Prince of Peace.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

The word of God is alive – the same voice spoken by God’s Son. Chapter 1 verse 2. Let this word define the character and personality of the saint. Then you can be sure of God’s rest. Obedience.

No one knows how the word ‘obedience’ is spelled in today’s world. It is an impossible word! But the scripture gives a different view. It doesn’t deny our weaknesses. It actually underlines our weaknesses by pointing to the one High Priest who alone can make things work for us. Obedience becomes a possibility and even more. It becomes the reality of the transformed soul.

Salvation isn’t about the perfection or excellent execution of God’s commands. The gospel isn’t a call to apply every effort possible to attain an acceptable level of obedience. Keywords in salvation are mercy and grace that flow from the LORD. The weak are helped in their time of need. Verse 16.

Look at it this way: Team B won the match not because they were good on the day. The referee helped the weak team win the day. This High Priest helps ‘weak us’ to win it against our obviously poor abilities.

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