BRDC 774

HEBREWS 4:9-13

EXAMINE YOURSELVES

The Hebrew Christians of the first century had great difficulty because of their confusion about their new profession of faith in Jesus Christ their Messiah, brought about by the "legalizers" - the Levites - who did not want to give up their professional status. They did not know how much of the law of Moses and the traditions of their fathers they were required to retain. Were they supposed to go back to the temple to worship once in a while? Were they still required to have their sons circumcised as they had under the law of Moses? Circumcision was not only a religious ritual, but it was good hygiene. Because of the cleanliness provided by circumcision, Jewish women have 8.5% less cancer of the cervix than Gentile women.1

Why were Jewish baby boys to be circumcised on the eighth day of their life? It is because God is the great Physician, and medical Scientist, and God fit all of creation together, including this religious rite of the Jews. Circumcision, like tithing, predated the law. Tithing was first practiced by Jacob (Genesis 28:22), and circumcision was first practiced by Abraham, who was commanded to do it by the Lord (Genesis 17:11). The Lord very nearly killed Moses over this matter, and may have done it if Zipporah had not circumcised the little boy (Exodus 4:24-26). The rite of circumcision was given in Leviticus 12:2,3: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean." 3 "And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." But why the eighth day?

"Vitamin K is known to synthesize in the human intestinal tract by bacteria. Subsequently, vitamin K is responsible for synthesis (manufacture, ed) of prothrombin by the liver. If vitamin K is deficient, there is a corresponding prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Since vitamin K is synthesized by bacteria in the intestional (sic) tract, newborn infants are particularly disposed to suffer from vitamin K and prothrombin deficiencies. These deficiencies occur because newborn infants have not had time to become contaminated with bacteria. Nathan Scanzillo has prepared a paper in which he indicates that the rise of vitamin K and prothrombin levels in infants reaches its peak around the eighth day. Thus, he points out that circumcision is best performed on that day. Prothrombin levels rise to 30 percent on the third day of life, and to 110 percent the eighth; thereafter, it levels off to 100 percent. The eighth day is the best day to circumcise and avoid hemorrhaging."2

The Jews must be reassured that Jesus was better than Moses and the prophets, and His covenant better than the Old Covenant, and the law of Moses was fulfilled in Christ. The law was still good for ethical and health guidelines, but it had no effect as a means of salvation or worship. Romans 3:31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." We establish the law for what it was all the time: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians 3:24)

In Hebrews 4:9-13, the prophet who wrote Hebrews continues his exhortation. Hebrews 4:9-13 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." 10 "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." 11 "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." 12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 13 "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

"Rest" in verse 9 is a different Greek word than the words in the next two verses. Verse 9 simply assures the reader that there is a Sabbath rest awaiting the people of God. Then verse 10 goes back to speaking of the Canaan rest, and we must labor to enter into that rest, and then we must labor after we get it, for we are in a land of warfare just as those ancient Hebrews were. We labor to enter into it when we go through the conviction, repentance, confession process to salvation. In verse 10 we enter into God's rest, and we cease from our works because God has done all the work. And in verse 11 we are exhorted to make haste, to exert ourselves, to take heed, that we are not guilty of the sin of unbelief, and die in the wilderness as those Hebrews of long ago did. The reason we must do this is because the Word of God penetrates the innermost being, and as a sharp sword, can divide our most secret thoughts and fears asunder to examine them.

If we examine ourselves with the sharp two-edged sword which is the Word of God, then we may be sure that we will make right judgments about ourselves, our works, and our salvation. I have challenged people to examine their faith. I have done that on this broadcast. Stand back, and look at your faith through objective eyes. Forget all your emotional notions, and be harsh with yourself. Are you saved according to the Word of God? Forget everything you have ever heard in your life, and everything you have ever thought up for yourself, and allow the Word of God to cut you to pieces.

The Word of God is so sharp that it can discern the thoughts and intents of your heart. Stop thinking about this verse in regards to the lost, and start thinking about it as applying to the saint (which it does), and you will be delighted or disappointed in what you learn. The sharp sword should operate on me first of all. I must use it to be certain that my profession of faith is not false, and that I have believed unto salvation. I refer you again to the verse, 10:39, where the prophet says, "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition: but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." This statement is so critical to our understanding that it cannot be brought to mind too often. The sharp sword, the Word of God will enable us to know whether we have believed unto salvation, or whether our faith is futile.

Verse 13 gives more reason why we should examine ourselves critically. "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Friend, you may want nothing to do with God, but you may be sure that He will have something to do with you, and you cannot escape it. His judgment will be true. He will need no witnesses and no testimony. You will stand before him naked and open. There will be nothing to cover your shame. And what a shame it will be when He demands of you what you did with His only begotten Son.

Do you see, my friend, how critical it is that you make certain your salvation? My purpose here is to cast doubts in the minds of members of the church, because if I can cast a doubt in your mind, it may be because you are not saved, and a doubt will lead you to repentance and faith. Those who are saved and grounded in the Word of God are not troubled by this sort of preaching. In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul says, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Are you faithful to your church? Do you love the Bible? Do you ever pray? Do you think all religions are good? Do you have many thoughts that you are a pretty good fellow after all, without also remembering that if you are good, it is because Christ Jesus enables you to be good? Why did you make a profession of faith in Christ? Was it because everybody else was doing it? Great numbers of people are unsaved in our churches today. Be sure you are not one of them. There is yet a rest for us who belong to Jesus Christ.

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1. Jean Sloat Morton, Science in the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978), p. 244.

2. Ibid., p. 243,244.