Glory be to Jesus Christ!
🌞
This reading is a continuation of the one I wrote about here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19032023.html
Hebrews IV, 4 — 'ἡμέρᾳ' - 'emera' - 'day' .
Hebrews IV, 7 — 'ἡμέραν' - 'emeran' - 'day'.
Hebrews IV:8 — 'ἡμέρας' - 'emeras' - (of) 'day'.
Hebrews IV:13 — 'ἡμῖν' - 'emin' - (to) 'us'.
Paul is explaining the previous idea of God's rest
, which people need to enter
(cf:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18122023.html
).
He uses words of uncertainty. I will stop here to go a little deeper. We believe and confess that the Lord opened the minds of the apostles to understand the Scriptures, but at the same time we see here that Paul did not understand everything in the Scriptures clearly and completely, but at the same time he found in the Scriptures, under the action of the Holy Spirit, what was necessary for solving certain issues, ultimately for the salvation and welfare not only of himself but of many. Therefore, we need to understand that there are always certain questions in the Scriptures that are not entirely clear, but at the same time, we can always learn sufficient lessons from them to do God's will.
Furthermore, it should be noted that although Paul uses the word sabbath
(rest
), which is known and revered by the Jews, he does not write about the commandment to keep the Sabbath day. The rest
of God, which is to be entered, is a state of ease in virtue and sinlessness, when the good, pure and holy are done easily and without difficulty, as if in a state of rest.
Therefore, this is not a reference to the Sabbath day
but to something else.
This rest of God will be final in the Kingdom of God for the faithful and the saved, but it is possible and necessary to enter it now — and this is possible only through faith in Christ, through Christ Himself.
This is the meaning of the two readings.
Finally, today's reading concludes with the confession of God's omniscience and the openness of all creation to God's Word.
I wrote about the parallel passage in Matthew (Matthew XIX, 3-9) at the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/18082023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21072023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!