The Beauty and Peculiarity of the Book of Hebrews (2)

Hebrews 3:6 KJV
(6)  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Is this saying, I am not the House of Jesus anymore?
Is it saying it is until i finish my race before Jesus will start to live in me? That will in fact be ridiculous, because at the end of this life, we will see Him face to face, and not that that is when He will start to live in us.

So what 'end' is Heb3:6 saying?

The word 'end' there is the greek word 'telos'. It means
1. a set out point (a limit)
2. intended aim, purpose of a thing
3. a toll (just like toll  gates are sited at the END of a road)



Ofttimes in translating, there is no one-cap-fits-all word. You often cannot get one word equivalent in the other language. So you often have words to play with and you pick the one you find most appropriate, JUDGING BY THE CONTEXT.

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the SET-OUT POINT, or unto the INTENDED PURPOSE/AIM, or TOLL GATE.

Hmm... Makes sense?

Where is this "toll gate" or "set-out point"?

Heaven?

Next verses may be helpful.

Hebrews 3:7-11 KJV
(7)  Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

He is quoting scriptures to back up the fact that we are not His house until we hold fast...unto the set-out point/toll gate/intended purpose.


(8)  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
(9)  When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. {Hmm.. these are their confidence and rejoicing of hope days}

(10)  Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways.
(11)  So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

"into my rest"... so God had a "rest" prepared, SET OUT for them.

He had an INTENDED PURPOSE for them. Hmm...

While they were forty years in the wilderness, God wanted them to carry this confidence and rejoicing of hope to the SET-OUT POINT. Oh! That is definitely talking about the land of Canaan.

But... wait!

That 'rest' is not Canaan..

Heb 4:8  For if Jesus {Joshua rather. Jesus and Joshua are written the same way in the Greek} had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 


Joshua gave them canaan, but this passage says "rest" had not been given! If it had, David who came several years after Joshua, speaking from the land of canaan will not have prophesied "if they shall enter my rest". So that "rest", which is God's SET-OUT POINT or intended PURPOSE has not been entered (for some people)..

Heb 4:3 now says
For we which have believed do enter into rest.

"Rest" is therefore wherever it is we entered when we believed.

We which have believed have reached that SET-OUT POINT. And that is why TODAY, we are the house of Christ because we have believed.

But as for those who have not entered, the following portions of the epistle is written

Heb 4:11 Let us {that is them} labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. {"fall" here will therefore mean dying (your carcasses falling) on your way to canaan while your heart is still hardened}


Heb 4:1  Let us {them} therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. {we which have believed have entered, don't forget}

Heb 2:1  Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard

what things?
...words of salvation first spoken by the Lord and confirmed to us by them that heard}, lest at any time we should let [them] slip.

Heb 2:3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him]; 

To "neglect" here will therefore mean to refuse to believe the word of salvation

Heb 4:16 Let us {them, because we which believe already come} therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. {we which have believed have obtained these already! Take note}


Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 

Who? Who is "dull of HEARing" here?

Heb 3:7  ...To day if ye will HEAR his voice, harden not...

What is the "dullness" in the hearing?
Unbelief.. refusing to be persuaded... being slow to receive.. being skeptical to agree.. Our Lord has spoken the so great salvation. Them that heard Him has confirmed it to us. God bore witness with signs and wonders. Yet you are dull of hearing all of these.
that's why you'll always find words like "come boldly", "confidence", "surety", "immutability" etc in this book of Hebrews

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
Who is leaving?
Again, it is those who have not entered..

How do i know?
...let us go on unto TELEiotace {word formed from our "telos"}

It is still the same "end" that is, rest - set-out point / intended purpose that we know to be salvation through Christ he is still talking about.

In fact there is a "the" before that word "perfection" in the Greek. So it's actually not saying "let us go on to be perfect now",
rather, it is saying,
"let us go on unto THE perfection" and THE PERFECTION - (teleiotace) is understood to be Jesus.
Because the "laying on of hands", "baptisms" that is "washings/ablutions" etc that are to be left, are by "the levitical priesthood", by the law, in whom is no perfection.

Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection {root: telos} were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 

Why should we not have simply continued or even improve upon the laying on of hands, baptisms etc if there is Telos in it?

Heb 7:28  For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, [maketh] the Son, who is consecrated {TELEioo} for evermore
It's saying Jesus is the "end", the rest, the toll gate, the finaliser, the "perfecter", the "finisher".

So..
Heb 6:4  For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened...
Who are those? Quickly rush to chapter 2

Hint: Heb 2:1  Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have HEARD...


...and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Who is that?

Hint: Heb 2:4 God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost...


Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away...

Hint: Is this the first place he used the word "fall"? NO. Remember them "whose carcasses FELL in the wilderness" is the "them that believe not, despite the forty years proving of God, when they saw both signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost.

What was their falling there?
They died IN UNBELIEF. Because everybody in that generation is dead today. But it is the ones that didn't believe that were said to "fall".

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man FALLLLLL... after the same example of UNBELIEF. 


So, what makes people "fall away", and UNRENEWABLE to repentance?

Ans: The wilderness example which is UNBELIEF


Same message throughout! "Jesus is God's set-out point. Believe in Him" is the singular message of this book.

In Heb 6, He says it is impossible to renew to repentance...
In chapter 2, He says How shall we escape if we neglect
In 3, He says "take heed brethren, lest there be...heart of UNBELIEF"
In 4, He says "let us fear, lest...", "let us labour to enter...", and "let us boldly come..."
In 10, He says, "let us draw near... in full assurance" and "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" if we do "despite unto the spirit of grace"

One message in all. God bless the learning of His word.