The
writer of Hebrews shared about the children of Israel and their
prohibition to enter into God's “rest”,
the promise land, because of their “unbelief”,
and in chapter four and verse one of Hebrews the writer exhorts his
readers to “fear, lest, a promise
being left us
of entering into his rest” where we read:
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.
The verse begins, “Let
us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us
of entering into his rest,...” The
writer began with the words, “Let us
therefore fear”
which is “phobeō oun phobeō” in
Greek and
means “reverence, be afraid of and be put to flight”, “lest”
or “whether or not, if haply and peradventure”, “a
promise”
which means “a message or announcement” “being
left” or
“leaving, forsaking and reserving”“us
of entering”
which means “coming in or arising” “into
his rest”
or “into God's calming or the heavenly blessedness in which God
dwells and of which he has promised to make persevering believers in
Christ partakers after the toils and trials of life on earth are
ended”. The writer's exhortation was for his reader to “reverence
and be afraid” because they also could be prevented from
“entering into his rest”.
The
verse continues, “ ...any of you
should seem to come short of it.” The
writer added, “any of you should
seem”
which means “any certain one of the Hebrew writer's reader might
suppose, think, be of opinion and repute” “to
come short of it”
which in Greek is the word “hystereō”
and means “lack, want, come short, fail, come behind and be
destitute”. If we are unbelievers like the children of Israel, we
also shall “come short” of
the “rest”
God has promised.
When
we think through these words in Hebrews, we should be warned by the
writer's words. The fact that he expresses caution to us should let
us know there is the possibility that we too may “come short”
of God's “rest”. Jesus Christ came to be our “rest”,
and when we put our faith and trust in Him and His provision, there
is peace within and the promise of an eternal “rest” with
Him. Let all who read these words pay attention to the writer of
Hebrew's warning, and be as those who shall “enter in” to
God's promise land.
Next
time the writer of Hebrew tells his readers,
“For unto us was the gospel
preached”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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