The Book of Hebrews – Heb 4:2-7 “To Day if ye Will Hear His Voice, Harden not Your Hearts” – Part 2

[Study Aired July 16, 2020]

“For we which have believed do enter into rest” of verse 3 of our study speaks of the promise that is given to those who are granted belief in this life (Mat 13:11, Mat 13:16), and when we believe (Joh 6:29) we can then labour to enter into God’s rest through Jesus Christ who represents our Sabbath, our seventh day within us. Jesus gives us the ability to live by faith and not by sight as we fulfill God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven (Rom 1:17, 1Jn 5:4, Heb 11:8, Gen 12:1, Gal 2:20, Rom 8:14, Luk 22:42-43).

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven [Luk 17:20-21, Col 1:27], but to them it is not given.[Rom 8:9, Rom 9:8, Mat 16:4]

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

We become a new spiritual creation through Jesus Christ as we rest from our own labours by losing our life (Mat 16:25). We receive the witness (Rom 8:16) that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. As we are dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) He gives us the power to seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness (Php 2:13, Mat 6:33-34). It is God’s good pleasure to do this work within His workmanship, which we are (Eph 2:10), as He gives us the kingdom in earnest today within (Eph 1:14). God’s people are now a zealous and peculiar people (1Pe 2:9) who move with fear and trembling knowing that what we have been called to requires us to move with fear to the saving of our souls (Heb 11:7) as we go without the camp with our Lord and witness around us a world without and within that is coming to a climactic end before our Lord returns (Mat 24:6-13).

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God [Luk 17:21], and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Mat 24:5   For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The only way we will be able to endure until the end of this age is to go without the camp with our Lord, going where our flesh does not want to go, as we keep under ourselves (1Co 9:27), dying daily, and praying for God’s kingdom and for His will as opposed to going back into the world where there is no hope (1Jn 2:15-17, 2Ti 4:10). Going without the camp symbolizes our partaking of the bullock offering, Jesus Christ, who was consumed for us in His service giving up everything, losing His life, just as the bullock that was slaughtered and completely consumed with fire without the camp (Lev 4:12, Heb 13:13, 1Pe 4:12). It should be clear to God’s people that to labour to enter into His rest means that we must put off our flesh and partake of Jesus Christ’s flesh and blood (Joh 6:53) which gives us the power to present our lives a living sacrifice to God, which is our reasonable service (Rom 12:1).

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

Lev 4:12  Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.

Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed^G4786 with faith in them that heard it.

Christ made it abundantly clear for those who have been given eyes to see that hearing and having faith which comes through that hearing is not enough (Rom 10:17). Rather it is the doers of God’s word who will be justified in believing (Rom 8:30-31), meaning the word that we heard will not lie dormant in our hearts because “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8), and God will compel us to love and good works through our Lord who is working within us, and using each other to that end, to provoke to love and good works (2Co 5:12-15, Rom 8:28, Php 2:13, Heb 10:24).

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

2Co 5:12  For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

2Co 5:13  For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.

2Co 5:14  For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: [Joh 12:24, Rom 6:4]

2Co 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

The point being made is that you can have a whole lot of planting and watering going on, but if the seed sown is not “mixed^G4786 with faith” then the seed will remain dormant. Our labours are not in vain because we know in God’s perfect timing the dormant seed will return to fulfill God’s purpose whether in this life or the second resurrection, which is the lake of fire or great white throne judgment (Isa 55:11). What makes that seed grow in the lives of God’s elect is the accompanying judgment which is upon us today (1Pe 4:17).

Those good works of God to which we are being compelled are ongoing and predestined for His elect so we can mature in our faith and be knit together (Col 2:2, Rom 2:13, Jas 2:17, Tit 3:8). It is through the doing, mixed with the trial of our faith that is so precious to God (1Pe 1:7), that we grow in our ability to hear and see with spiritual eyes which don’t need to hear or see anything in front of us to believe (Joh 20:29, 2Co 5:16). It takes the fiery trials of this life to temper that [mixed^G4786] faith God gives us as we labour for that meat which will not perish, laying a foundation of works or treasure stored up in heaven (Mat 6:19-20) that reassures us that we are His first fruits bearing fruit (Luk 6:43-45) to His glory in this life (Php 1:6, 1Ti 6:19, Joh 15:8). God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6), and we are told that our labours are not in vain in Christ but that they will spiritually preserve us (1Co 15:58, Mat 9:17, Mat 13:52).

Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The word can be preached and not profit us, because the seed that falls on us is not being [mixed^G4786] or dying so that it brings forth much fruit (Joh 12:24).

The seed can sit on various conditions of land depending on where God’s sovereign hand has that seed to reside. The elect are called to recognize that we are going through every stage of this parable of the sower (Mat 13:3-13). Only by the grace and faith of God, not just the faith but by the grace through faith, that seed is dying as we decrease and Christ increases within us through the increase God gives (1Co 3:6-8). The decrease comes when we acknowledge our blindness and our choking of the word with the cares of this world, as God mercifully leads us unto a repentance (Rom 2:4) which convicts us that unless the Lord had given that increase in our heavens we would have continued to not receive that word mixed^G4786 with faith as Esaias prophesied in verse 14 for our sakes (Mat 13:14, 1Pe 1:12).

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Mat 13:5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

Mat 13:6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Mat 13:8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

G4786 sugkerannumi soong-ker-an’-noo-mee

From G4862 and G2767; to commingle, that is, (figuratively) to combine or assimilate: – mix with, temper together.

G2767;   kerannumi
Thayer Definition: 1) to mix, mingle  2) to mix wine, water  3) to pour out for drinking.
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
fill, 1  Rev_18:6
filled, 1  Rev_18:6 (2)
poured, 1  Rev_14:10 [Rev 14:9-12]

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out^G2767 without mixture [Heb 4:2] into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The reason we must have these fiery trials of our faith, and much tribulation to enter into the kingdom of God, is so that the faith God has given us can continue to mature and be tempered together within the body of Christ with each member operating in the measure of faith that God gives for the edification and building up of each member in love (1Th 5:11, Eph 4:16). The strong meat of the bullock that is consumed without the camp is what we need in order to become mature sons who can discern good and evil and be used of the Lord to usher in God’s kingdom (Rom 12:3, Heb 5:14, Heb 13:13).

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

God’s elect are convinced that He knows those who are going to enter into His rest because He has declared the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10), and that is the point of these three scriptures to give us the comfort and consolation through these promises (2Pe 1:4) which God has “sworn in his wrath” not just that a certain group won’t enter into His rest but that the world would see that He is the one who determines who is going to enter. Israel of old did not enter due to blindness and unbelief as opposed to the Israel of God who will enter in, being given eyes to see so that we can believe and labour to enter into that rest. Adam parallels the first Israel, just as Christ and His body parallel the second Adam, who is made a quickening spirit (1Co 15:45, Joh 6:63).

The scripture then goes on to describe the type and shadow events of creation which explain how His spiritual workmanship is revealed through His physical workmanship (Rom 1:20). God has spoken about both events, the light and the darkness, saying in “a certain place of the seventh day on this wise” revealing to those who have eyes to see that if God wants us to labour into that rest there is nothing that is going to prevent His workmanship from drinking the cup of His wrath which will complete or fill up His wrath against our old man, the first Adam who must die (Mat 20:23). The unbelief of Israel of old will serve to motivate us to labour in the Lord and not be unbelieving of those works that are now unfolding in the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). It is worded this way to remind us that God is the one who determines who will believe and who will not believe (“If they shall enter into my rest“) and to remind us that we must labour to enter into that rest through Christ who was in the midst of Israel of old but not in their hearts (Joe 2:27, Act 2:22, Gal 6:14-15, Rom 8:9).

‘If they shall enter into my rest’ is not God’s way of telling us if we will just muster up enough courage and do enough good works in this life, then we will “enter into my rest“. No, and again a thousand times no, nobody enters into that rest unless the Father drags us to him (Joh 6:44, 1Co 15:50). We are highly favored as God’s children to be loved in this manner – being dragged to Christ and bound to the altar so that we can “enter into my rest“. It has always been God’s good pleasure to give us that kingdom where joy resides permanently (Mat 25:21), and nothing shall defile that kingdom, including the thought that we could have gotten there by our own might and power, when scripture clearly says that flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life and that we are entering into His rest not by might or power but by God’s holy spirit (Zec 4:6).

These last two verses make this point of God determining who endures until the end and who doesn’t (Rom 11:22) even brighter for us, showing that one group “they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief” is being contrasted with the other group “he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” that second group representing God’s elect who are having their hearts softened of the Lord in the day of the Lord “a certain day” through the fiery trials of this life so that we can put off our flesh and live by faith and not by sight through Christ typified by the words “in David” (Rom 1:17).

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The infirmities of this life are needful and necessary for God’s power to rest upon us so we can enter into the spiritual rest we find through Christ (2Co 12:9), and when we enter into that rest through much tribulation (Act 14:22) we will bring forth much fruit as we operate by the power of God and no longer by the wisdom of men (1Co 2:5).

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Our goal then is to be found with the righteousness of Christ and not our own (Php 3:9-10), and only Christ in us our hope of glory (Col 1:27) can give us this power to overcome the beast which wants to define his own journey and go where we would in our own righteousness (Joh 21:18).

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

If we are blessed to continue to reach out our hands today and be clothed by another, it will be because the Lord is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom in earnest today so that we can inherit it in the fulness in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye (Luk 12:32, 1Co 15:52).

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.