         
- CLARKE'S COMMENTARY -
Chapter 3
- Jesus is the High Priest of our profession, 1.
- And is counted worthy of more honour than Moses, as the
Son Israelites did, and were excluded from the earthly
rest in Canaan, 7-11.
- We should be on our guard
against unbelief, 12.
- And exhort each other, lest we be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; and we
should hold fast the beginning of our confidence to the
end, and not provoke God as the Israelites did, and who
were destroyed in the wilderness, 13-17.
- They were
promised the earthly rest, but did not enter because of
unbelief, 18,19.
Verse 1. Holy
brethren
Persons consecrated to God,
as the word literally implies, and called, in consequence, to
be holy in heart, holy in life, and useful in
the world. The Israelites are often called a holy
people, saints, consecrated to God, and because
they were bound by their profession to be holy; and yet these
appellations are given to them in numberless instances where
they were very unholy. The not attending to this
circumstance, and the not discerning between actual positive
holiness, and the call to it, as the
consecration of the persons, has led many commentators
and preachers into destructive mistakes. Antinomianism has had
its origin here: and as it was found that many persons were
called saints, who, in many respects, were miserable
sinners, hence it has been inferred that they were called
saints in reference to a holiness which they had in
another; and hence the Antinomian imputation of
Christ's righteousness to unholy believers, whose hearts were
abominable before God, and whose lives were a scandal to the
Gospel. Let, therefore, a due distinction be made between
persons by their profession holy, i.e. consecrated
to God; and persons who are faithful to that
profession, and are both inwardly and outwardly
holy. They are not all Israel who are of Israel: a man,
by a literal circumcision, may be a Jew outwardly; but the
circumcision of the heart by the Spirit makes a man a Jew
inwardly. A man may be a Christian in profession, and not such
in heart; and those who pretend that, although they are
unholy in themselves, they are reputed holy in
Christ, because his righteousness is imputed to them, most
awfully deceive their own souls.
Dr. Owen has spoken well on the necessity of
personal holiness against the Antinomians of his day. "If a
man be not made holy he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
It is this that makes them meet for the inheritance of the
saints in light; as without it they are not meet for their
duty, so are they not capable of their reward. Yea, heaven
itself, in the true light and notion of it, is undesirable to
an unsanctified person. Such a one neither can nor would enjoy
God if he might. In a word, there is no one thing required of
the sons of God that an unsanctified person can do, and no one
thing promised unto them that he can enjoy.
"There is surely then a woful mistake in the world. If
Christ sanctify all whom he saves, many will appear to have
been mistaken in their expectations at another day. It is
grown amongst us almost an abhorrency to all flesh to say,
the Church of God is to be holy. What! though
God has promised that it should be so; that Christ has
undertaken to make it so? What! if it be required to be so?
What! if all the duties of it be rejected of God, if it be not
so? It is all one, if men be baptized, whether they will or
not, and outwardly profess the name of Christ, though not one
of them be truly sanctified, yet they are, it is said, the
Church of Christ. Why then let them be so; but what are they
the better for it? Are their persons or their services
therefore accepted with God? Are they related or united to
Christ? Are they under his conduct unto glory? Are they meet
for the inheritance of the saints in light? Not at all: not
all nor any of these things do they obtain thereby. What is it
then that they get by the furious contest which they make for
the reputation of this privilege? Only this: that, satisfying
their minds by it, resting if not priding themselves in it,
they obtain many advantages to stifle all convictions of their
condition, and so perish unavoidably. A sad success, and for
ever to be bewailed! Yet is there nothing at all at this day
more contended for in this world than that Christ might be
thought to be a captain of salvation to them, unto whom
he is not a sanctifier; that he may have an unholy
Church, a dead body. These things tend
neither to the glory of Christ, nor to the good of the souls
of men. Let none then deceive themselves; sanctification is a
qualification indispensably necessary to them who will be
under the conduct of the Lord Christ unto salvation; he leads
none to heaven but whom he sanctifies on earth. The
holy God will not receive unholy persons. This living
head will not admit of dead members, nor bring men
into possession of a glory which they neither love nor like."
Heavenly calling
The Israelites had an earthly calling; they were called
out of Egypt to go into the promised land: Christians have a
heavenly calling; they are invited to leave the bondage of
sin, and go to the kingdom of God. These were made partakers
of this calling; they had already embraced the Gospel, and
were brought into a state of salvation.
Apostle and High Priest of our
profession
Among the Jews the high
priest was considered to be also the apostle of
God; and it is in conformity to this notion that the
apostle speaks. And he exhorts the Hebrews to consider
Jesus Christ to be both their High Priest and
Apostle; and to expect these offices to be henceforth
fulfilled by him, and by him alone. This was the fullest
intimation that the Mosaic economy was at an end, and the
priesthood changed. By our
profession, or that confession of ours, the apostle
undoubtedly means the Christian religion. Jesus was the
Apostle of the Father, and has given to mankind the new
covenant; and we are to consider the whole system of
Christianity as coming immediately from him. Every system of
religion must have a priest and a prophet; the
one to declare the will of God, the other to
minister in holy things. Moses was the apostle
under the old testament, and Aaron the priest. When
Moses was removed, the prophets succeeded him; and the sons of
Aaron were the priests after the death of their father. This
system is now annulled; and Jesus is the Prophet who
declares the Father's will, and he is the Priest who
ministers in the things pertaining to God, see Hebrews
2:17; as he makes atonement for the sins of the people,
and is the Mediator between God and man.
Verse 2. Who was faithful to
him
In Numbers
12:7, God gives this testimony to Moses: My servant
Moses-is faithful in all my house; and to this testimony
the apostle alludes. House not only means the
place where a family dwells, but also the
family itself. The whole congregation of Israel was the
house or family of God, and God is represented
as dwelling among them; and Moses was his
steward, and was faithful in the discharge of his
office; strictly enforcing the Divine rights; zealously
maintaining God's honour; carefully delivering the mind and
will of God to the people; proclaiming his promises, and
denouncing his judgments, with the most inflexible integrity,
though often at the risk of his life. Jesus Christ has his
house-the whole great family of mankind, for all
of whom he offered his sacrificial blood to God; and the
Christian Church, which is especially his own
household, is composed of his own children and
servants, among and in whom he lives and
constantly resides. He has been faithful to the trust
reposed in him as the apostle of God; he has faithfully
proclaimed the will of the Most High; vindicated the Divine
honour against the corrupters of God's worship; testified
against them at the continual hazard of his life; and, at
last, not only died as a victim to cancel sin, but also
as a martyr to his faithfulness. Christ's faithfulness,
says Leigh, consists in this: "That he has as fully
revealed unto us the doctrine of the Gospel, as Moses did that
of the law; and that he hath faithfully performed and
fulfilled all the types of himself and all the things
signified by Moses' ceremonies, as Moses hath faithfully and
distinctly set them down."
But there is a sense given to the word neeman, Numbers
12:7, which we translate faithful, by several of
the Jewish writers, which is well worthy of note: it
signifies, say they, "one to whom secrets are
confided, with the utmost confidence of their being
safely and conscientiously kept." The secret of God was
with Moses, but all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge were in Christ. Life and immortality were
comparatively secrets till Christ revealed and
illustrated them, and even the Divine nature was but
little known, and especially the Divine philanthropy,
till Jesus Christ came; and it was Jesus alone who
declared that GOD whom no man had ever seen.
Moses received the secrets of God, and faithfully taught them
to the people; Jesus revealed the whole will of God
to mankind. Moses was thus faithful to a small part
of mankind, viz. the Jewish people; but in this sense Jesus
was faithful to all mankind: for he was the light to
enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel.
Verse 3. For this man was
counted
As Jesus Christ, in the character
of apostle and high priest, is here intended,
the word apostle, or this person or
personage, should have been supplied, if any, instead
of man. Indeed, the pronoun should have been
translated this person, and this would have referred
immediately to Jesus Christ, Hebrews
3:1.
More glory than
Moses
We have already seen that the
apostle's design is to prove that Jesus Christ is higher
than the angels, higher than Moses, and higher
than Aaron. That he is higher than the angels has
been already proved; that he is higher than Moses he is
now proving.
He who hath builded the
house
There can be no doubt that a man who
builds a house for his own accommodation is more honourable
than the house itself; but the house here intended is
the Church of God. This Church, here called a
house or family, is built by Christ; he is the
Head, Governor, Soul and Life of it; he must therefore be
greater than Moses, who was only a member and
officer in that Church, who never put a stone in this
spiritual building but was even himself put in it by the great
Architect. Moses was in this house, and faithful in this
house; but the house was the house of God, and builded and
governed by Christ.
Verse 4. For every house is builded
by some man
The literal sense is plain
enough: "Every structure plainly implies an, architect,
and an end for which it was formed. The architect may
be employed by him for whose use the house is intended; but
the efficient cause of the erection is that which is
here to he regarded." The word house, here, is still
taken in a metaphorical sense as above, it signifies
family or Church. Now the general meaning of the
words, taken in this sense, is: "Every family has an author,
and a head or governor. Man may found families, civil and
religious communities, and be the head of these; but God alone
is the Head, Author, and Governor, of all the families of the
earth; he is the Governor of the universe. But the apostle has
a more restricted meaning in the words, all these
things; and as he has been treating of the Jewish and
Christian Churches, so he appears to have them in view here.
Who could found the Jewish and Christian Church but God? Who
could support, govern, influence, and defend them, but
himself? Communities or societies, whether religious or civil,
may be founded by man; but God alone can build his own
Church. Now as all these things could be builded only
by God, so he must be God who has built all these things. But
as Jesus is the Founder of the Church, and the Head of it, the
word GOD seems here to be applied to him; and several
eminent scholars and critics bring this very text as a proof
of the supreme Deity of Christ: and the apostle's argument
seems to require this; for, as he is proving that Christ is
preferred before Moses because he built this
house, which Moses could not do, where he to be understood
as intimating that this house was built by another,
viz. the Father, his whole argument would fall to the
ground; and for all this, Moses might be equal, yea,
superior to Christ. On this ground Dr. Owen properly
concludes: "This then is that which the apostle intends to
declare; namely, the ground and reason whence it is that the
house was or could be, in that glorious manner, built by
Christ, even because he is GOD, and so able to effect it; and
by this effect of his power, he is manifested so to be."
Verse 5. As a servant
The fidelity of Moses was the fidelity of a
servant; he was not the framer of that Church or house;
he was employed, under God, to arrange and order it: he was
steward to the Builder and Owner.
For a testimony of those
things
Every ordinance under the law was
typical; every thing bore a testimony to the
things which were to be spoken after; i.e. to Jesus Christ,
his suffering, death, and the glory which should follow; and
to his Gospel in all its parts. The faithfulness of
Moses consisted in his scrupulous attention to every ordinance
of God; his framing every thing according to the pattern
showed him by the Lord; and his referring all to that Christ
of whom he spoke as the prophet who should come after him, and
should be raised up from among themselves; whom they should
attentively hear and obey, on pain of being cut off from being
the people of the Lord. Hence our Lord told the Jews, John
5:46: If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed
me, for he wrote of me; "namely;" says Dr.
Macknight, "in the figures, but especially in the prophecies,
of the law, where the Gospel dispensation, the coming of its
Author, and his character as Messiah, are all described with a
precision which adds the greatest lustre of evidence to Jesus
and to his Gospel."
Verse 6. But Christ as a Son over
his own house
Moses was faithful as a
servant IN the house; Jesus was faithful, as the
first-born Son, OVER the house of which he is the Heir
and Governor. Here, then, is the conclusion of the argument in
reference to Christ's superiority over Moses. Moses did not
found the house or family, Christ did; Moses was but in
the house, or one of the family, Christ was over the
house as its Ruler; Moses was but servant in the house,
Christ was the Son and Heir; Moses was in the
house of another, Christ in his own house.
It is well known to every learned reader that the pronoun
without an aspirate, signifies his
simply; and that with the aspirate, it signifies
his own: the word being in this form a contraction, not
uncommon. If we read it without the
aspirate, then his must refer to God, Hebrews
3:4.
But Christ as a Son over his (that is, God's)
house: if we read it with the aspirate, as
some editions do, then what is spoken refers to Christ;
and the words above convey the same sense as those words, Acts
20:28: Feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood. Some editions read the word
thus; and it is evident that the edition which our translators
used had the word his own, and not his. The Spanish and London Polyglots have the same
reading. From the most ancient MSS. we can get no help to
determine which is to be preferred, as they are generally
written without accents. The two first editions of the Greek
Testament, that of Complutum, 1514, and that of
Erasmus, 1516, have his; and they are
followed by most other editions: but the celebrated edition of
Robert Stephens, 1550, has his
own. The reading is certainly important; but it belongs
to one of those difficulties in criticism which, if the
context or collateral evidence do not satisfactorily solve it,
must remain in doubt; and every reader is at liberty to adopt
which reading he thinks best.
Whose house are we
We Christians are his Church and family; he
is our Father, Governor, and Head.
If we hold fast the
confidence
We are now his Church, and shall
continue to be such, and be acknowledged by him IF we
maintain our Christian profession, that
liberty of access to God, which we now have, and
the rejoicing of the hope, i.e. of eternal life, which
we shall receive at the resurrection of the dead. The word
which is here translated confidence, and
which signifies freedom of speech, liberty of
access, Christian privilege. Under the old testament no
man was permitted to approach to God: even the very
mountain on which God published his laws must not be touched
by man nor beast; and only the high priest was permitted to
enter the holy of holies, and that only once a year, on the
great day of atonement; and even then he must have the blood
of the victim to propitiate the Divine justice. Under the
Christian dispensation the way to the holiest is now laid
open; and we have liberty of access, even to
the holiest, by the blood of Jesus. Having such access unto
God, by such a Mediator, we may obtain all that grace which is
necessary to fit us for eternal glory; and, having the witness
of his Spirit in our heart, we have a well grounded hope of
endless felicity, and exult in the enjoyment of that hope. But
IF we retain not the grace, we shall not inherit
the glory.
Verse 7. Wherefore (as the
Holy Ghost saith, Today
These words are
quoted from Psalms
95:7; and as they were written by David, and attributed
here to the Holy Ghost, it proves that David wrote, by the
inspiration of God's Holy Spirit. As these words were
originally a warning to the Israelites not to provoke God,
lest they should be excluded from that rest which he
had promised them, the apostle uses them here to persuade the
Christians in Palestine to hold fast their religious
privileges, and, the grace they had received, lest they should
come short of that state of future glory which Christ had
prepared for them. The words strongly imply, as indeed does
the whole epistle, the possibility of falling
from the grace of God, and perishing everlastingly;
and without this supposition these words, and all such like,
which make more than two-thirds of the whole of Divine
revelation, would have neither sense nor meaning. Why should
God entreat man to receive his mercy, if he have rendered this
impossible? Why should he exhort a believer to persevere, if
it be impossible for him to fall away? What contemptible
quibbling have men used to maintain a false and dangerous
tenet against the whole tenor of the word of God! Angels
fell-Adam fell-Solomon fell-and multitudes of believers have
fallen, and, for aught we know, rose no more; and yet we are
told that we cannot finally lose the benefits of our
conversion! Satan preached this doctrine to our first parents;
they believed him, sinned, and fell; and brought a whole world
to ruin!
• CLARKE Top
Verse 8. Harden not your
hearts
Which ye will infallibly do, if ye
will not hear his voice.
Provocation
the exasperation, or
bitter provocation. "The Israelites provoked God
first in the wilderness of Sin, (Pelusium,) when they
murmured for want of bread, and had the manna given them, Exodus
16:4. From the wilderness of Sin they journeyed to
Rephidim, where they provoked God a second time for want of
water, and insolently saying, Is the Lord God among us
or not? Exodus
17:2-9, on which account the place was called
Massah and Meribah. See "1Co 10:4", note
1. From Rephidim they went into the wilderness of Sinai, where
they received the law, in the beginning of the third year from
their coming out of Egypt. Here they provoked God again, by
making the golden calf, Exodus
32:10. After the law was given they were commanded to go
directly to Canaan, and take possession of the promised land,
Deuteronomy
1:6,7: God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have
dwelt long enough in this mount: turn you, and take
your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and
unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in
the hills, and in the vales, and in the south, and by
the seaside, to the land if the Canaanites, and unto
Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river
Euphrates. The Israelites, having received this order,
departed from Horeb, and went forward three days' journey, Numbers
10:33, till they came to Taberah, ; 11:3,
where they provoked God the fourth time, by murmuring for want
of flesh to eat; and for that sin were smitten with a very
great plague, Numbers
11:33; this place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,
because there they buried the people who lusted. From
Kibroth-hattaavah they went to Hazeroth, Numbers
11:35, and from thence into the wilderness of
Paran, Numbers
12:16, to a place called Kadesh, Numbers
13:26. Their journey from Horeb to Kadesh is thus
described by Moses, Deuteronomy
1:19-21: And when we departed from Horeb, we went
through all that great and terrible wilderness, which
you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as
the Lord our God commanded us; and, we came to
Kadesh-barnea. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the
mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth
give unto us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the
land before thee; go up and possess it. But the
people proposed to Moses to send spies, to bring them an
account of the land, and of its inhabitants, Deuteronomy
1:22. These after forty days returned to Kadesh; and,
except Caleb and Joshua, they all agreed in bringing an evil
report of the land, Numbers
13:25-32; whereby the people were discouraged that they
refused to go up, and proposed to make a captain, and return
into Egypt, Numbers
14:4. Wherefore, having thus shown an absolute disbelief
of God's promises, and an utter distrust of his power, he
sware that not one of that generation should enter Canaan,
except Caleb and Joshua, but should all die in the wilderness,
Numbers
14:20; ; Deuteronomy
1:34,35; and ordered them to turn, and get into the
wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea. In that
wilderness the Israelites, as Moses informs us, sojourned
thirty-eight years, Deuteronomy
2:14: And the space in which we came from
Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zereb,
was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of
the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as
the Lord sware unto them. Wherefore, although the
Israelites provoked God to wrath in the wilderness, from
the day they came out of the land of Egypt until their
arrival in Canaan, as Moses told them, Deuteronomy
9:7, their greatest provocation, the provocation in which
they showed the greatest degree of evil disposition,
undoubtedly was their refusing to go into Canaan from Kadesh.
It was therefore very properly termed the bitter
provocation and the day of temptation, by way of
eminence; and justly brought on them the oath of God,
excluding them from his rest in Canaan. To distinguish this
from the provocation at Rephidim, it is called
Meribah-Kadesh," Deuteronomy
32:51. See Dr. Macknight.
Verse 9. When your fathers tempted
me
It would be better to translate ου
where than when, as the Vulgate has done in its
ubi; and this translation has been followed by
Wiclif, Coverdale, Tindal, and our first
translators in general. In my old MS. Bible the 7th, 8th, and
9th verses stand thus:- Hebrews
3:7-9
Wherefore as the Holy Gost seith, to-day gif yhe han
herde his voyce: nye yhe herden ghour hertis as in
wrath-thinge, after the day of temptacioun in desert.
Where ghoure fadris temptiden me: provyden and saiden
my werkis. Wherefore fourtye yeere I was offendid or
wrothe to this generatoun.
In behalf of this translation, Dr. Macknight very properly
argues: "The word WHEN implies that, at the time of the
bitter provocation, the Israelites had seen
God's works forty years; contrary to the
history, which shows that the bitter provocation
happened, in the beginning of the third year after the
Exodus: whereas the translation where, as well as the
matter of fact, represents God as saying, by David, that the
Israelites tempted God in the wilderness during forty years,
notwithstanding all that time they had seen God's miracles."
Verse 10. Wherefore I was
grieved
God represents himself as the
Father of this great Jewish family, for whose
comfort and support he had made every necessary provision, and
to whom he had given every proof of tenderness and
fatherly affection; and because, they disobeyed him,
and walked in that way in which they could not but be
miserable, therefore he represents himself as grieved and
exceedingly displeased with them.
They do alway err in their
hearts
Their affections are set on earthly
things, and they do not acknowledge my ways to be
right-holy, just, and good. They are radically evil;
and they are evil, continually. They have every proof,
of my power and goodness, and lay nothing to heart. They might
have been saved, but they would not. God was grieved on this
account. Now, can we suppose that it would have grieved him
if, by a decree of his own, he had rendered their salvation
impossible?
Verse 11. So I sware in my
wrath
God's grief at their continued
disobedience became wrath at their final impenitence,
and therefore he excluded them from the promised rest.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 12. Take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you
Take warning by
those disobedient Israelites; they were brought out of the
house of bondage, and had the fullest promise of a land of
prosperity and rest. By their disobedience they came short of
it, and fell in the wilderness. Ye have been brought from the
bondage of sin, and have a most gracious promise of an
everlasting inheritance among the saints in light; through
unbelief and disobedience they lost their rest, through the
same ye may lose yours. An evil heart of unbelief will head
away from the living God. What was possible in their
case, is possible in yours. The apostle shows here
five degrees of apostasy: 1. Consenting to sin, being
deceived by its solicitations. 2. Hardness of heart, through
giving way to sin. 3. Unbelief in consequence of this hardness
which leads them to call even the truth of the Gospel in
question. 4. This unbelief causing them to speak evil of the
Gospel, and the provision God has made for the salvation of
their souls. 5. Apostasy itself, or falling off from the
living God; and thus extinguishing all the light that was in
them, and finally grieving the Spirit of God, so that he takes
his flight, and leaves them to a seared conscience and
reprobate mind. See Leigh. He who begins to give the
least way to sin is in danger of final apostasy; the best
remedy against this is to get the evil heart removed,
as one murderer in the house is more to be dreaded than
ten without.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 13. But exhort one another
daily
This supposes a state of chose Church
fellowship, without which they could not have had access to
each other.
While it is called
to-day
Use time while you have: it, for by
and by there will be no more present time; all will be future;
all will be eternity. Daily signifies time continued.
To-day, all present time. Your fathers said: Let us
make ourselves a captain, and return back unto Egypt, Numbers
14:4. Thus they exhorted each other to depart
from the living God. Be ye warned by their example;
let not that unbelieving heart be in you that was in
them; exhort each other daily to cleave to the living
God; lest, if ye, do not, ye, like them, may be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Verse 14. For we are made partakers
of Christ
Having believed in Christ as the
promised Messiah, and embraced the whole Christian system,
they were consequently made partakers of all its
benefits in this life, and entitled to the fulfilment
of all its exceeding great and precious promises relative to
the glories of the eternal world. The former they actually
possessed, the latter they could have only in case of their
perseverance; therefore the apostle says, If we hold fast
the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the
end, i.e. of our life. For our participation of glory
depends on our continuing steadfast in the faith, to the end
of our Christian race.
Verse 15. While it is said,
To-day
You may see the necessity of
perseverance from the saying, "Today, if ye will hear
his voice," therefore harden not your
hearts-do not neglect so great a salvation; hold fast what
ye have obtained, and let no man take your crown. See on Hebrews
3:7-9, and ; 3:12.
Verse 16. For some, when they had
heard, did provoke
Should it be said that all did not provoke, for
Joshua and Caleb are expressly excepted; I answer, that the
term all may be with great propriety used, when out of
many hundreds of thousands only two persons were found
who continued faithful. To these also we may add the
priests and the whole tribe of Levi, who, it is
very likely, did not provoke; for, as Dr. Macknight very
properly remarks, they were not of the number of those who
were to fight their way into Canaan, being entirely devoted to
the service of the sanctuary. See Numbers
1:3,45, and ; 1:49.
And therefore what remained of them after forty years, no
doubt, entered Canaan; for it appears from Numbers
34:17, and ; Joshua
24:33, that Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was one of
those who did take possession of Canaan. Should it be still
said our version appears to be most proper, because all
did not provoke; it may be answered, that the common reading,
some, is too contracted in its meaning to
comprehend the hundreds of thousands who did rebel.
• CLARKE Top
Verse 17. But with whom was he
grieved forty years?
I believe it was
Surenhusius who first observed that "the apostle, in
using the term forty years, elegantly alludes to the space of
time which had elapsed since the ascension of our Lord till
the time in which this epistle was written, which was about
forty years." But this does not exactly agree with what
appears to be the exact date of this epistle. However, God had
now been a long time provoked by that race rejecting the
manifested Messiah, as he was by the conduct of their
forefathers in the wilderness; and as that provocation was
punished by a very signal judgment, so they might expect this
to be punished also. The analogy was perfect in the crimes,
and it might reasonably be expected to be so in the
punishment. And was not the destruction of Jerusalem a proof
of the heinous nature of their crimes, and of the justice of
God's outpoured wrath?
Whose carcasses
fell
• CLARKE Top
Verse 18. To whom sware
he
God never acts by any kind of caprice;
whenever he pours out his judgments, there are the most
positive reasons to vindicate his conduct.
Those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness were they who
had sinned. And those who did not enter into his rest were
those who believed not. God is represented here as
swearing that they should not enter in,
in order to show the determinate nature of his purpose,
the reason on which it was founded, and the height of the
aggravation which occasioned it.
Verse 19. So we see that they could
not enter in
It was no decree of God
that prevented them, it was no want of necessary
strength to enable them, it was through no deficiency
of Divine counsel to instruct them; all these
they had in abundance: but they chose to sin, and would not
believe. Unbelief produced disobedience, and
disobedience produced hardness of heart and blindness
of mind; and all these drew down the judgments of God, and
wrath came upon them to the uttermost.
1. THIS whole chapter, as the epistle in general, reads a
most awful lesson against backsliders, triflers, and
loiterers in the way of salvation. Every believer in
Christ is in danger of apostasy, while any remains of
the evil heart of unbelief are found in him. God has
promised to purify the heart; and the blood of Christ cleanses
from all sin. It is therefore the highest wisdom of genuine
Christians to look to God for the complete purification of
their souls; this they cannot have too soon, and for this they
cannot be too much in earnest.
2. No man should defer his salvation to any future time. If
God speaks to-day, it is to-day that he should
be heard and obeyed. To defer reconciliation to
God to any future period, is the most reprehensible and
destructive presumption. It supposes that God will indulge us
in our sensual propensities, and cause his mercy to tarry for
us till we have consummated our iniquitous purposes. It shows
that we prefer, at least for the present, the devil to Christ,
sin to holiness, and earth to heaven. And can we suppose that
God will be thus mocked? Can we suppose that it can at all
consistent with his mercy to extend forgiveness to such
abominable provocation? What a man sows that shall he reap. If
he sows to the flesh, he shall of the flesh reap corruption.
Reader, it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.
They heard the Divine
instructions, they saw God's stupendous miracles; but they
would not suffer themselves to be persuaded, that he who said
and did such things would perform those other things which he
had either threatened or promised: hence they had no
faith, because they were unpersuaded; and their
unbelief was the effect of their
unpersuaded or unpersuadable mind. And their
minds were not persuaded of God's truth, because they had ears
open only to the dictates of the flesh; see on Hebrews
4:2. Here then is the damning sin, the not inferring, from
what God has said and done, that he will do those other things
which he has either threatened or promised. And how few are
there who are not committing this sin daily! Reader, dost
thou in this state dream of heaven? Awake out of sleep!
4. Where there are so many snares and dangers it is
impossible to be too watchful and circumspect. Satan, as a
roaring lion, as a subtle serpent, or in the guise of an angel
of light, is momentarily going about seeking whom he may
deceive, blind, and devour; and, when it is considered that
the human heart, till entirely renewed, is on his side, it is
a miracle of mercy that any soul escapes perdition: no man is
safe any longer than he maintains the spirit of
watchfulness and prayer; and to maintain such a
spirit, he has need of all the means of grace. He who neglects
any of them which the mercy of God has placed in his power,
tempts the devil to tempt him. As a preventive of backsliding
and apostasy, the apostle recommends mutual
exhortation. No Christian should live for himself
alone; he should consider his fellow Christian as a member of
the same body, and feel for him accordingly, and have,
succour, and protect him. When this is carefully attended to
in religious society, Satan finds it very difficult to make an
inroad on the Church; but when coldness, distance, and a want
of brotherly love take place, Satan can attack each
singly, and, by successive victories over
individuals, soon make an easy conquest of the whole.
• CLARKE Top
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
electronic edition prepared by GodRules.net.
Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on Hebrews 3". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=heb&chapter=003>.
1832.
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