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Hebrews 4:1
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being leftus of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 6:11
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Matthew 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wideis the gate, and broadis the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

lest.

Hebrews 3:12,18,19
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God…

unbelief.

Acts 26:19
Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

Romans 11:30-32
For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: …

Ephesians 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

so that no one will fall
The warning here is against apostasy and spiritual failure. The term "fall" suggests a spiritual downfall or missing out on God's promises, similar to the Israelites who fell in the wilderness due to their lack of faith (1 Corinthians 10:5). This serves as a cautionary reminder of the consequences of disobedience and unbelief. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes the importance of community and mutual encouragement to prevent such a fall, as seen inHebrews 3:13, where believers are urged to encourage one another daily.

by following the same pattern of disobedience.
This phrase refers to the historical disobedience of the Israelites during their wilderness journey. Their pattern of disobedience included grumbling, idolatry, and a lack of trust in God's promises (Exodus 32:1-6;Numbers 14:1-4). The "pattern" implies a repeated behavior that leads to spiritual failure. The author of Hebrews uses this historical example to warn contemporary believers against similar unbelief and rebellion. The call is to learn from the past and to live in obedience and faith, as seen in the exhortation to "hold firmly to the faith we profess" (Hebrews 4:14). This serves as a reminder of the importance of faithfulness and the dangers of hardening one's heart against God's voice (Hebrews 3:7-8).

(1) Christ is not elsewhere in this Epistle designated as "the Word" but as "the SON." His eternal relation to the Father, though otherwise plainly intimated, is not expressed by this term, as it was by St. John.

(2) The description of the Word,as "sharper than any two-edged sword," is not suitable to the Hypostatic Word himself, but rather to the utterance of his power. Thus inRevelation 1:16, "the Son ofman," and inRevelation 19:15, "he whose name is called the Word ofGod," has a "sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth." The sword is not himself, but that which "came forth out of his mouth." Cf.Isaiah 11:4, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked;" cf. alsoEphesians 6:17, "The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Hence, notwithstanding the prevailing view of the Fathers, it seems best to understand the term here as meaning generally the Divine utterance, without definite reference to the Hypo-static Word. It was the Word of God, in this sense, that debarred the ancient Israelites from their rest, and doomed them in the wilderness; it is the same Word which still more, as being uttered in the Son, is so searching and resistless now. True, it is through the Hypostatic Word that the Godhead has ever operated, of old as well as now, being God's eternal utterance of himself: the only question is whether this truth is here intended to be expressed, or, in other words, whetherλόγος has here the personal sense in which St. John uses the term. It is possible that the writer passes in thought to a personal sense in theἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ of ver. 13, whereαὐτοῦ μαψ refer toὁ λόγος preceding, rather than toτοῦ Θεοῦ. But certainly at the beginning of the passage this specific sense does not seem to be suggested either by the context or the language used. Ver. 12. - For living is the Word of God, and powerful (or,effectual;cf.Philemon 1:6;1 Corinthians 16:9), and sharper than any two- edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Observe how the predicates form a climax. The Word of God is, first,living, instinct with the life of the living God who utters it, itself a living power (cf.λόγια ζῶντα,Acts 7:38); then, not only so, but alsooperative, effective of its purpose; then, in this its operation, more keenlycutting than any sword; cutting so as toperpetrate through and through - through the whole inner being of man to its inmost depths; then, in doing so,discerning and opening to judgment all the secrets of his consciousness. This description of the power of the Word of God is given as a reason fur the warning,σπουδάσωμενα etc., "Let us give diligence," etc.;for, if we slight the Word of God, we can have no escape from its irresistible operation; we shall be thoroughly exposed and inevitably judged. The view of the Word of God having a sharplycutting operation is found in Philo, from whom Bleek cites a series of passages cognate to this in the Epistle. Cf. especially one in the treatise, 'Quis Rerum Divinorum Haeres.:'Τῷ τομεῖτῶν συμπάντωναὐτοῦ λόγῳὅς εἰς τὴνὀξοτάτης ἀκονηθεὶς αὐτοῦ λογῳ ὅς οὐδεπουςλήγει τὰ αἰσθητὰ πάντα ἐπειδὰν δὲ μέχρι τῶνἀτόμων καὶ λεγομένων ἀμερῶν διεξέλθῃ, etc. And for the comparison to a sword, cf. (as above referred to)Ephesians 6:17;Revelation 1:16;Revelation 19:15; andIsaiah 11:4. The true reading of the part of the sentence, "of soul and spirit," etc., isψυχῆς καὶ πνεύματος ἁρμῶν τεκαὶ μυελῶν, theτε of the Textus Receptus afterψυχῆς being ill supported. The secondτε, afterἁρμῶν, is therefore most naturally taken, and so as to give the best sense, in the sense of "both," not "and;"i.e. the second clause is not to be taken as denoting a further dividing - of the bodily parts as well as of the soul and spirit, but as expressing, by recurrence to the figure of a sword, the thoroughness of the division of soul and spirit. Further, the division spoken of is surely not of the soulfrom the spirit, as some have taken it. Delitzsch,e.g., explains to this effect - that in fallen man hisπνεῦμα, which proceeded from God and carries in itself the Divine image, has become, "as it were, extinguished;" that "through the operation of grace man recalls to mind his own true nature, though shattered by sin;" "that heavenly nature or' man reappears when Christ is formed in him;" and thus the Word of God "marks out and separates" theπνεῦμα in him from theψυχὴ in which it had been, "as it were,extinguished." Then, taking the clause,ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, to express a further process of dissection, he explains by saying that the Word of God "exhibits to man the fact that ungodly powers are working also in hisbodily frame, which has now in every joint and chord and marrow become the seat of sin and death, and so "goes on to scrutinize" his bodily as well as his spiritual part," and "lays bare before the eyes of God and before his own the whole man thus described." But the idea of the separation, in the above sense, of theπνεῦμα φρομ theψυχὴ, even if tenable, is certainly far-fetched, and that of the corporeal dissection supposed is hardly intelligible. Further, the "dividing" of the bodily parts spoken of in the text (whether an illustration or a further process) does not suggest the separation of one part from another, since a sword does not divide the joints or the limbs (whichever be meant byapathy)from the marrow, though it may penetrate both. We may explain thus: It is well known that St. Paul divides man's complex nature into body, soul, and spirit -σῶμα ψυχὴ πνεῦμα (1 Thessalonians 5:23). His bodily organization (σῶμα) is not apparently here under consideration, except in regard to the figure of the sword; theψυχὴ is his animal life or soul, the seat (so to speak) of his sensations, and of his natural affections and desires; hisπνεῦμα is the more Divine part of his nature, in virtue of which he has a conscience, aspires after holiness, apprehends spiritual mysteries, holds communion with God, and is influenced by the Divine Spirit. The idea, then, is that, as a very keen sword not only cuts through the joints dividing bone from bone, but also through the bones themselves into the marrow within them, so the Word of God penetrates and discloses not,, . only. theψοχὴ but theπνεῦμα too, "piercing through soul and spirit,yea [with reference to the illustration used] through both joints [or, 'limbs'] and marrow." Ebrard, takingἁρμῶν in the sense of "limbs" (a sense in which the word is used, though that of "joints" is its proper and more usual one), regards these and the "marrow" as corresponding respectively to theψυχὴ and theνεπῦμα: theψυχὴ being understood as "something lying deep in man, theπνεῦμα lying still deeper." Thus as a very trenchant sword cuts through, not only the limbs, but also the marrow within them, so the Word of God penetrates, not only that part of human consciousness which is expressed byψυχὴ, but also that deeper and more inward part which is expressed byπνεῦμα. But the general sense of the passage is plain enough without our supposing this strict analogy to have been intended. Expositors, in their analysis of the meaning of passages, may often detect more than the author thought cf. Onκριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων (translated "a discerner of"), cf.1 Corinthians 14:24, 25, where the effects of the Word of God, brought to bear through the gift of prophecy on one without the gift entering into a congregation of prophesying Christians, are thus described: "he is convinced of all, he is judged [rather, 'examined,' 'scrutinized,'ἀνακρίνεται] of all; the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you [or, 'among you'] of a truth." So searching and judicial is the power of the Word of God, that it reaches and discloses the inmost depths of a man's consciousness - discloses them to himself, and, though he should resist, leaves him without escape, exposed and judged.

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