Sermon Tone Analysis

*HEBREWS 4:8-13 *

In [4:1-11] the writer advances the interpretation of Psalm 95 to a new stage.

The focus of [3:12-19] was upon the exclusion of the desert generation from God’s rest because of blatant unbelief and rebellion.

The tragic aftermath of death in the desert as the result of failing to believe God constituted the basis of warning for the hearers.

In [4:1-11] the accent falls upon the Christian community as heir to the promise of entrance into God’s rest.

the writer’s task in this section is to pose in sharp terms the alternatives of rest and peril that now confront the people of God.

III.

The Promised Rest (3:7-4:13)

        A.

Scriptural Basis (3:7-11)

        B.

Some Did Not Enter the Rest (3:12-19)

        C.

Christians Enter the Rest (4:1-10)

        D.

Exhortation to Enter the Rest (4:11-13)

 

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*THE REST OF GOD *

*1.        **The Warning *

*a.       **The Attitude*

The new attitude: “/let us therefore fear/…” [4:1].

§  Φοβηθῶμεν - “/let us fear/” [4:1], aorist passive subjunctive, ‘be afraid’; ‘be terrified’;

§  The aorist subjunctive, ‘let us /begin/ to fear’;

§  This appeal implies that the attitude toward the word of God within the community has not been acceptable.

*b.       **The Promise  *

*                                                                                                         i.

**The Available Promise *

The fact that the promise still remains explains the urgency: “/lest a promise being left us/…” [4:1].

§  ἐπαγγελίας - “/promise/” [4:1], ‘to declare, announce, before hand’;

§  καταλειπομένης - “/being left/” [4:1], present passive participle, from /katá/, an intensive, and /leípō/, ‘to leave behind’; ‘to forsake, leave, reserve’;

*                                                                                                       ii.

**The Rest of God *

The content of the promise: “/of entering into his rest/…” [4:1].

§  εἰσελθεῖν - “/entering into/” [4:1], ‘to move into’; >>> identifies the content of the promise in the language of Psa.95

§  κατάπαυσιν - “/rest/” [4:1], from /katá/, an intensive, and /paúō/, ‘to make to cease’; ‘to make to cease’; ‘to give rest to’;

§  αὐτοῦ - “/his/” [4:1], ‘an intensive pronoun to emphasise identity’;

*c.        **The Danger *

The present danger: “/any of you should seem to/…” [4:1].

§  δοκῇ - “/seem/” [4:1], ‘to think, imagine, consider, appear’;

§  ὑστερηκέναι - “/come short/” [4:1], perfect active infinitive, ‘come late’; ‘fail to attain to’; ‘stop halfway’; “/what lack I yet?/” [Mat.19:20];

*Application *

In the context of God’s oath barring the rebellious fathers in the desert from his rest: “/unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest/” [Psa.95:11],

they implied the permanent availability of that rest for those who remained responsive to the word of promise.

§  The account of Israel at Kadesh in Numbers 14 provided a biblical foundation for the pattern of promise, and promise renewed: “/but your little ones…them will I bring in/” [Num.14:31].

*2.

**The Gospel  *

The peril of exclusion from God’s rest exists precisely because of the privileged position of standing before the word of promise.

*a.       **The Good News  *

The good news heard by all: “/for unto us was the gospel preached/…” [4:2],

§  εὐηγγελισμένοι - “/gospel preached/” [4:2], perfect passive participle, ‘to proclaim good news’;

§  The /perfect/ tense indicates that this expression is all-inclusive; it includes the people of the exodus and the people in receipt of this epistle.

§  κἀκεῖνοι - “/unto them/” [4:2], ‘that one too’;

*                                                                                                         i.

**The Exodus *

The message of good news was heard by the exodus generation through Caleb and Joshua:

§  The Promised Land: “/let us go up at once and possess it/…” [Num.13:30].

§  The good land: “/the land is an exceeding good land/…” [Num.14:7-9].

*b.       **The Failure *

The past generation received the promise in vain: “/the word did not profit them/…” [4:2].

§  ὁ λόγος - “/word/” [4;2], ‘content’; ‘what is preached about Christ’;

§  οὐκ ὠφέλησεν - “/profit/” [4:2], ‘to be useful’; ‘to benefit’;

*c.        **The Lack of Faith  *

The root cause of their failure: “/not being mixed with faith/…” [4:2].

§  μὴ συγκεκερασμένους - “/not being mixed/” [4:2], from /sún/, ‘together, or with’, and /keránnumi/, ‘to mix’; ‘to mix together, intermingle with’;

§  τῇ πίστε - “/with faith/” [4:2], ‘trust’; in Hebrews, the focus on ‘confident expectation for the future’; ‘a present grasp on a future reality’: “/faith is the substance of things hoped for/…” [11:1].

§  The “faith” is a quality of response that appropriates the divine promise and recognises the reliability of God. 

*Application *

 

*3.

**The Biblical Demonstration *

The demonstration that God’s rest still remains open is achieved exegetically.

the failure of the Exodus generation to enter the promised rest does not abrogate the reality and presence of that rest.

*a.       **The Exodus & Psalm 95*

The writer begins by focussing again on the passage of the Old Testament that has been central to his argument: “/we which have believed do enter into rest/…” [4:3].

* οἱ πιστεύσαντες - “/have believed/” [4:3], aorist active participle, ‘to trust’;

* Εἰσερχόμεθα - “/do enter/” [4:3], present middle or passive indicative, ‘to move into’;

* The quotation: “/as I have sworn in my wrath/…” [Psa.95:11].

*                                                                                                         i.

**Human History *

God’s place of rest existed from the time of creation: “/although the works were finished/…” [4:3].

* ἔργων - “/works/” [4:3], ‘activities, tasks’;

* γενηθέντων - “/finished/” [4:3], aorist passive participle, ‘come to exist’; ‘come into being’;

* ἀπὸ καταβολῆς - “/from foundation/” [4:3], ‘laying down’;

* The force of this final clause is to emphasise that the promised “rest” does not refer in the first instance to some future reality prepared fro humanity, but has primary reference to God’s own repose, which precedes and stands outside human history.

*b.       **The Exodus & Genesis 2*

The presence of the cognate verb κατάπαυσιν in Genesis 2 allows the inference to be drawn that God’s rest in Psalm 95:11 had reference to the primal Sabbath rest of God:

·         κατέπαυσεν - “/rest/” [4:4], aorist active indicative, from /katá/, an intensive, and /paúō/, ‘to make to cease’; ‘to make to cease’; ‘to give rest to’;

·         ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ - “/from all his works/” [4:4], ‘activities, tasks’;

* The quotation: “/God did rest on the seventh day/…” [Gen.2:2].

*c.        **Hebrews Rest & The Eschatological Goal   *

The repetition of Psa.95:11 in [4:5] links the rest following creation with the promise of rest that was the goal of redemption: “/and in this place again/…” [4:5].

·         God entered the archetypal temple on the eternal seventh day where he began his rest: “/God did rest on the seventh day/…” [Gen.2:2].

* The image of God “resting” on the seventh day draws the picture of a King returning to his palace and his throne having returned victoriously from his duties: “/all very good/” [Gen.1:31].

* The Sabbath rest presented Adam with an /eschatological goal/: ‘Adam would have performed the labours of the covenant of works and with each passing Sabbath rested from his labours in anticipation of the completion of his work and his entrance into the eternal seventh day rest of God.

* The fulfilment of the church’s hope represents nothing less than the fulfilment of the original purpose of God in creation.

* Because of the entrance of sin, it may be more accurately said that ‘the realisation of God’s purposes of redemption is the means to the end of realising his purposes in creation’.

*Application *

The point is that both Gen.2:2 and Psa.95:11 witness to the continued existence of God’s κατάπαυσιν.

* The implied sequence of thought: God made a promise that his people would one day have access to his own place of rest.

The place of rest has been available since the seventh day of creation.

The promises cannot be repealed; but it was not fulfilled at the time of the exodus; it therefore remains open for some.

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*THE CONSISTENCY & CONTINUITY *

*1.        **The Exodus *

*a.       **The Availability *