KJV versus JST: Entering or not into the Lord’s Rest

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KJV Hebrews 4:3	JST Hebrews 4:3
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.	For we who have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, If they harden their hearts they shall not enter into my rest; also, I have sworn, If they will not harden their hearts, they shall enter into my rest; although the works of God were prepared, (or finished,) from the foundation of the world.

The JST helped a lot on this particular verse to make it coherent. Without the JST, it seems like Paul is quoting something that says God makes an angry oath concerning those entering His rest, as though that is not where they (or anyone) is supposed to be. The KJV also makes it seem as though the work of salvation was finished before the world started, and a few more people trying to be saved is an awful attempt to mess things up.

All in all, a very confusing idea of God, His plans, and the significance our choices have.

On the other hand, the JST shows us Paul is paraphrasing Psalms 95:7-11 and simply collapsing the important appeals together.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

The important parts of those verses indicate that if someone hardens their heart against the truth, God swears they will not enter His rest.

The JST then adds the positive side of it too—those who do not harden their hearts obtain a divine oath that they shall enter the Lord’s rest. And there is no anger associated with that oath.

Also, the JST shows us that God prepares His works from the foundation of the world, not finishing them in the sense that everyone is already sorted into “saved” and “damned” groups. Rather, the divine machinery to save man is put in place with Christ’s atonement and messengers, and church, and so on. Man need only receive it and not harden their hearts against it.

So what is this rest Paul speak of, which we can enter? “For we who have believed do enter into rest.” He speaks of believers in Christ. We must believe in Christ enough to repent, and then we can have rest from the gnawing burden of sin. We must believe in Christ enough to pray for grace, and then we can have rest from the despair of our besetting weaknesses, frailties, and faults.

I had a little experience just yesterday with entering into the Lord’s rest. I had a nagging feeling at the back of my mind for about three or four days that I had done something wrong and I needed to make it right. It was such a little thing that I questioned whether it was really necessary.  But finally, I decided I needed to listen, so I fixed it and repented.  And immediately, I felt at peace.  It was real.  And just think, that peace and rest is offered to each of us if we will just respond to the Lord’s calls!

How Christ learned obedience

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; (Hebrews 5:8-9)

That first verse there has puzzled me a long time.  How did Christ learn obedience by the things He suffered?

I know I have learned obedience, but hardly ever has it been by suffering, except from suffering the consequences of disobedience.  How did Jesus learn from suffering when He did not disobey?

I’ve learned obedience by learning from other people’s mistakes, but that did not involve my suffering at all.  I’ve learned the sweetness of obedience by enjoying the blessings afterward, but that certainly wasn’t suffering.  I’ve been cajoled into obedience by parents and leaders, but I don’t know that can be called suffering either.

The only thing I can think of is if that suffering happened as Jesus had to make righteous choices and do His Father’s will.  We are told elsewhere that Jesus said, “I do not my own will, but His that sent me.” We often think those righteous choices were easy and painless for Jesus, but what if they weren’t?  What if it was just as hard for Him to give up His own will in favor of what Heavenly Father wanted as it is for anyone else?  I wonder what kind of pain Jesus went through as He worked to reconcile His own will to Heavenly Father’s. Still, we know He yielded willingly.  Every. Single. Time.  Knowing what I know of my own stubbornness, that gives me a huge respect for Jesus’s righteousness.

It’s also possible that part of the learning obedience through suffering happened as Jesus was stretched by what Heavenly Father asked Him to do.  Growing from grace to grace, He must have been stretched almost constantly.

Hmm, maybe I've learned obedience through suffering more than I thought.

What do you think?  Can you think of any other way Jesus might have learned obedience through suffering?

Paul Prooftexts Christ’s Condescension and Oneness with the Saints

11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same… (Hebrews 11:11-14)

It looks like Paul is trying to prove through the scriptures that Jesus called those of the church His brethren, and he appeals to three different places in scripture to back him up.  When I first looked at these quotations, I couldn’t see how they helped Paul’s argument; in fact, some of them looked unrelated.  So I decided to look deeper into them to see if I could find out why Paul considers them good evidence.

“I will declare thy name unto my brethren” (v12) –This is from Psalms 22:22.  Psalms 22 is one that is widely acknowledged to foretell events in the Messiah’s life, such as “why has thou forsaken me?” and “they laugh me to scorn” and “they pierced my hands and my feet” and “they part my garments among them.”  So Paul takes the phrase from Psalms 22:22 as if it is a declaration Christ made and uses it to prove Jesus considered those of the church to be His brethren and felt like one of them.

“I will put my trust in him” – This is from Psalms 18:2, according to the footnotes, but the phrase in 18:2 is quoted differently.  “My God, my strength, in whom I will trust.”  If we read this quotation as if it were spoken by Christ, we see that He had to trust in Heavenly Father just like other righteous men, so He made Himself a brother by submitting to difficulty and uncertainty just like the rest of us.

“Behold I and the children which God hath given me” – The reference for this is not footnoted, so I had to search for it, and I found it was a fragmented quotation of Isaiah 8:18—“ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts.”  This one should also be read as if it were Christ speaking, and it shows Jesus wasn’t the only sign to others, but all those who submitted to Him and became children of Christ would be signs as well.  And if others besides Jesus could be signs, then they were brethren in the sense of being instruments in the hands of God to help save others.

Clearly, Paul was very sophisticated in his use of sources and textual evidence.  He writes taking it absolutely for granted that his readers can instantly recall the scriptures he briefly cites; he trust they can fill in the blanks with anything he left out. It’s sort of a scripture shorthand, but it means that if we aren’t familiar with his sources, then we are kind of left out of his conversation.   This exercise kind of makes me want to go over other places where he cites scripture to prove things and see if I can track down the sources that might show me the full meaning of what he tries to say. 

Temple Veil & Garment Symbolism

19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (Hebrews 10:19-20)

Here Paul speaks of how Christ made it possible for us to enter into heaven, which is symbolized by entering into the holiest (holy of holies) through the veil of the temple.  Paul also shows that the veil becomes symbolic of the flesh of Christ that was torn for us.

Hugh Nibley in his article “Worthy of Another Look: Classics from the Past: The EarlyChristian Prayer Circle”  talks about the cosmic veil that is appropriately adorned with marks and emblems, and in his article “Sacred Vestments” he talks about these same marks present on sacred garments of very early Christians.  There is a certain symbolism to consider through these corresponding marks. 

It makes the sacred garments a sort of temple veil, which the initiate carries about with him as a second skin, so that in essence one lives perpetually at the temple veil, standing in a holy place anywhere one is, ready to speak (pray) to the Lord with full confidence of being heard and answered.     

And too, since the veil symbolizes Christ’s flesh (or skin), we put on Christ and we try to make our lives match His, while He covers us with His atonement.

One is also reminded with this second skin that passing through it will happen at death.

Living so near the veil can remind us how close we are to crossing over into the next world, which should help us appreciate the importance of never procrastinating our repentance.