Homilies on Hebrews 6

Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

where your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.'

'Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said:

but they did not know My ways.'

'So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest.'

Paul, having discoursed concerning hope, and having said that 'We are His house, if indeed we hold fast the confidence and the boasting of our hope firm unto the end';

in order to establish also from the Scriptures that we must wait in expectation, confirms this.

For he expressed it somewhat with difficulty, and in a manner rather hard to grasp.

Therefore it is fitting first to state our own remarks, and to teach you the whole subject briefly, and thus to let loose the discourse upon what is written;

for you will no longer have need of us, if you learn the apostolic aim.

His discourse was concerning hope, and that we must hope for the things to come, and that there will assuredly be for those who have labored here some reward and fruit and rest;

this then he shows from the Prophet;

and what does he say? 'Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

where your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.'

'Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said:

but they did not know My ways.'

'So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest.'

He says there are three rests;

one, that of the Sabbath, in which God rested from His works;

second, that of Palestine, into which the Jews, having entered, were to find rest from their great misery and toils;

third, that which is truly a rest, the kingdom of the heavens, of which those who attain it rest truly from their labors and toils.

Of these three, then, he here makes mention.

And for what reason, in discoursing about the one, did he mention the three? In order to show that the Prophet was speaking about this one.

For he did not speak, he says, concerning the first;

for how could he, of one that had come to pass long ago? But neither concerning the second, that in Palestine;

for how could he, of one that had already received its end? It remains then that he must be speaking concerning the third.

But it is necessary also to unfold the history, so as to make the discourse clearer.

For when they had come out of Egypt, and had accomplished a long journey, and had received countless proofs of the power of God, both in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, they resolved to send spies to survey the nature of the land;

and these, having gone and returned, marveled indeed at the country, and said it was fruitful in noble produce, yet declared it to be a land of invincible and mighty men;

but the ungrateful and senseless Jews, when they ought to have remembered the former benefits of God, and how, when they were shut in the midst of so many Egyptian armies, He not only snatched them from the dangers, but also made them lords of the spoils of their enemies, and how again in the wilderness He clove the rock and bestowed abundance of waters, and gave the manna, and, remembering these and the other wonders which He had wrought, to have believed God;

of these things they considered nothing, but, as though nothing had happened, being so struck with dismay, they wished again to return to Egypt, saying, 'God has brought us out here, in order to destroy us with our children and wives.'

God then, being angry that they so quickly cast out the memory of the things that had happened, swore that that generation which had spoken these things should not enter into the rest;

and they all perished in the wilderness.

Since then David was discoursing later, after that generation of theirs;

'Today, if you will hear His voice,' he says, 'harden not your hearts, as in the provocation';

why? that you may not suffer the same things which your forefathers did, and be deprived of the rest;

evidently he said these things as though there were a certain rest.

For if they had received the rest, he says, for what reason does he say to them again, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation'? What then is the other rest, but the kingdom of the heavens, of which the Sabbath is an image and a type? Then, having set down the whole testimony (and this is it: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness';

your fathers, proved Me, and saw My works forty years.'

'Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart';

But they have not known my ways;

as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest'), then He adds:

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

For it is from hardness of heart that unbelief comes to be;

and just as those bodies that are indurated and hardened do not yield to the hands of physicians,

so also souls that have been hardened do not yield to the word of God.

For it is likely that some go on even to disbelieve, as though the things that have come to pass were not true.

Take heed, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

For since the discourse concerning things to come is not so persuasive as that concerning things past, he reminds them of a history in which they had need of faith.

For if your fathers, he says, since they hoped not as they ought to have hoped, suffered these things;

for indeed this word is addressed to them as well.

For the word 'Today,' he says, is always, so long as the world holds together.

But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today.

That is, build up one another, set yourselves upright, that the same things may not happen.

That none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Do you see that sin produces unbelief? For just as unbelief begets an evil life, so also the soul, when it comes into the depth of evils, becomes contemptuous;

and having grown contemptuous, it can no longer bear to believe, so as to deliver itself from fear.

For they said, he says, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob understand;

and again, Our lips are our own;

who is Lord over us? And again, Wherefore has the wicked provoked God? And again, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.

They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings.

And again, There is no fear of God before his eyes;

and again, that He has dealt deceitfully in His sight, in finding out his iniquity and hating it.

And Christ too declares this very thing, saying:

Every one that does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light.

For we are made partakers of Christ.

What means, We are made partakers of Christ? We partake of Him, he says;

we and He have become one.

if indeed He is the Head, and we the body, joint-heirs and of one body with Him.

We are one body, of His flesh, he says, and of His bones.

If indeed we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.

What is, The beginning of our confidence? He means faith, through which we came into being and were made to be and were, so to speak, made of one substance with Him.

Then he adds, While it is said, Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

This is by way of transposition;

and the natural sequence is thus:

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to have come short of it.

For indeed we have had the gospel preached to us, even as also they, in that it is said, Today if you will hear His voice.

But the word of hearing did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard it;

showing how it was that the word did not profit;

for it was because it was not mixed together that they were not profited.

Then, wishing to strike them with fear, he shows this very thing by what he says:

For some when they had heard did provoke, but not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

But with whom was He displeased forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that were disobedient? And we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Having again stated the testimony, he adds the question, making his argument clear.

For He said, he says, Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Of whom, he says, does he make mention as having been hardened, and of whom as having been disobedient? Was it not of the Jews? And what he means is this:

we hear, but it was of no benefit to them.

Do not then suppose that you shall be profited from merely hearing the preaching;

since they also heard, but gained nothing, because they did not believe.

Those, then, that were with Caleb and Joshua, since they were not mixed with those who disbelieved, that is, did not consent with them, escaped the punishment that was brought upon those.

He did not say, they did not consent, but, They were not mixed together;

that is, they stood apart without sedition, while all those others held one and the same mind.

Here he seems to me also to hint at a faction.

For we which have believed, he says, do enter into the rest.

Then, confirming this, he added:

As He has said, As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest;

and yet the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Since it was likely that some one would say, But surely this is not indicative of our entering in, but rather of their not having entered;

what does he do? He is at pains to show for the present that, just as that rest does not prevent another rest from being spoken of, so neither does this one prevent the rest of the heavens.

For the present, then, he wishes to show that those did not obtain the rest.

For that he means this, is plain from what he adds:

For he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this manner:

And God rested on the seventh day from all His works;

and in this place again, They shall not enter into my rest.

Do you see how that rest does not prevent this from being a rest? Since therefore it remains, he says, that some must enter into it, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of disobedience;

again He limits a certain day, saying in David, Today;

after so long a time, as it has been said before.

And what is it that he says? Since therefore, he says, some must by all means enter in, and those did not enter in, He again limits a third other rest.

And that it is necessary to enter in, and that some must enter, let us hear from whence he establishes this.

For that it is after so many years, he says, David again says:

'Today, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.'

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not afterward have spoken of another day.

It is plain, therefore, that He says these things as of some who were destined to obtain a certain recompense.

'There remaineth therefore a keeping of a sabbath to the people of God.'

Whence? From His enjoining, 'Harden not your hearts.'

For if there were no keeping of a sabbath, these things would not have been enjoined, nor would they have been commanded not to do the same things, that they might not suffer the same, unless they were about to suffer the same.

But how were those who possessed Palestine about to suffer the same things, unless there were some other rest? (III)

And he concluded his argument admirably.

For he did not say 'rest,' but 'a keeping of a sabbath,' the fitting name, in which they rejoiced and to which they eagerly ran, calling the kingdom a keeping of a sabbath.

For just as on the Sabbath He commands to abstain from all evil deeds, and that those things alone be done which pertain to the worship of God, which the priests were wont to perform, and whatever benefits the soul, and nothing else;

But he himself did not speak thus. But how? 'For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His own.'

As God, he says, ceased from His works, so also does he who has entered into His rest.

For since their discourse was concerning rest, and they earnestly desired to hear when it would come;

into this he brought his argument to a close.

And he said 'Today,' so that they might never despair.

'Exhort one another,' he says, 'daily, while it is called Today.'

That is to say, even if one has sinned, so long as it is Today, he has hope.

Let no one, then, despair so long as he lives.

Best of all, indeed, he says, let there not be an evil heart of unbelief;

but if it should even come to pass, let no one despair, but let him recover himself;

for so long as we are in this world, the Today has its opportunity.

But here he speaks not of unbelief alone, but also of the murmurings.

'Whose carcases,' he says, 'fell in the wilderness.'

Then, lest anyone should suppose that he would be deprived merely of the rest, he adds also punishment, saying:

'For the word of God is living, and effectual, and sharper.'

'than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart.'

Here he discourses concerning hell, and concerning the punishment.

It pierces, he says, into the hidden things of our heart, and cuts asunder the soul.

It is not carcases that fall here, nor being deprived of a land, as there, but of the kingdom of heaven, and to be delivered over to eternal hell, and to undying punishment and vengeance.

Behold the gentleness and the mildness;

he did not say, 'rebuke,' but, 'Exhort.'

In this manner ought we to deal with those who are hard pressed by affliction.

This too he says when writing to the Thessalonians:

But concerning the faint-hearted, not thus, but what? 'Comfort the faint-hearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.'

What is, 'Exhort'? It is instead of, 'do not despair, do not give up in despair';

for he who does not exhort the one hard pressed by affliction makes him harder.

'Lest any of you,' he says, 'be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.'

Either he speaks of the deceit of the devil;

for it is indeed a deceit to expect nothing concerning the things to come, to suppose that our doings will go unaccountable, and that we shall not give account here for the things we have done, nor will there be a resurrection;

or otherwise, the deceit is insensibility, or despair;

for to say, 'What remains for me? I have sinned once; I have no hope of recovering myself,' this is a deceit.

Then he instils hope into them, saying, 'We are made partakers of Christ';

as if to say, He who has so loved us, who has counted us worthy of so great things as to make us His own body, will not overlook us when we perish.

Let us consider, he says, of what things we have been counted worthy;

we and Christ are one.

And again he hints at that which is said elsewhere, that 'If we endure, we shall also reign with Him';

for this is, 'We are made partakers,' we partake of the same things as Christ also does.

He urged them on from the good things;

'For we are partakers,' he says, 'of Christ.'

Then again from the gloomy things;

'Let us fear, therefore, lest, a promise being left of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to have come short of it';

for that is plain and confessed.

'They proved me,' he says, 'and saw my works forty years.'

Do you see that we must not demand accounts of God, but, whether He present them or not, we must believe Him? For this it is that He now charges upon them, that they tempted God.

For he who wishes to receive proofs, either of His power, or of His providence, or of His care, does not yet believe either that He is able, or that He is loving toward man.

This too he hints at in writing to these, who perhaps already wished to obtain in their trials the examination and the proof of His power and of His providence over them.

Do you see that everywhere the provocation and the exasperation proceed from unbelief? What then does he say? 'There remaineth therefore a keeping of a sabbath to the people of God.'

And see how he reasoned out the whole argument.

He swore, he says, to the former ones that they should not enter into the rest, and they entered not.

Then, a long time after those, discoursing with the Jews, he says:

'Harden not your hearts, as your fathers.'

Plainly, then, there is another rest;

for concerning Palestine it cannot be said;

and concerning the seventh day it cannot be said;

for surely He was not discoursing concerning this one which had come to pass of old.

Therefore he hints at some other, the true rest.

For that is truly rest, whence sorrow and grief and sighing have fled away; where there are neither cares, nor toils, nor agony, nor fear striking and shaking the soul, but only the fear of God, which is full of delight.

'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread';

'neither shall it bring forth to thee thorns nor thistles';

No longer thorns and thistles.

There is no 'In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children,' nor 'Thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'

There all is peace, joy, gladness, delight, goodness, gentleness, uprightness, love.

There is no jealousy nor envy, no sickness, no death—neither that of the body nor that of the soul; there is no darkness, neither night.

All is day, all is light, all is rest.

There is no growing weary, no being sated; but ever shall we continue in the desire of good things.

Would you have me give you also some image of the condition there? It is not possible.

Nevertheless, as far as may be, I will try to give you some image.

Let us look up to the sky when, with no cloud disturbing it, it displays its own crown of stars.

Then, having lingered long upon the beauty of its appearance, let us consider that we shall have a floor too—not indeed such as this, but as much more beautiful as the golden roof surpasses those of clay.

Then again the roof yet higher than that.

Then the angels, the archangels, the countless hosts of the bodiless powers, the very palaces of God, the throne of the Father.

But, as I said, speech has not the power to set forth the whole.

There is need of experience, and of the knowledge that comes through experience.

How do you suppose Adam was in paradise, tell me? Far better than that is this manner of life, by as much as heaven surpasses earth.

But let us seek yet another image. Suppose he who now reigns should gain possession of the whole inhabited world, and then be troubled neither by wars nor by cares, but only honored and living in luxury, having many tributes, gold flowing to him from every quarter, and being an object of all men's gaze—what kind of soul do you suppose he would have, if he saw the wars everywhere upon earth brought to an end? Some such thing shall it be then too.

Nay rather, I have not even yet reached that image.

Therefore it is necessary to seek yet another.

Consider for me a royal child, who so long as he is in the womb perceives nothing; but suppose that, coming forth suddenly from thence, he should ascend to the royal throne, and receive all things not gradually but all at once.

Such is this present state and that one.

Or if some prisoner, having suffered a thousand ills, should suddenly be caught up to the royal throne.

But not even thus have I reached the image exactly.

For here, whatever good things one may attain—even if you name the very kingdom itself—on the first day one has one's desire at its height, and on the second and the third.

But as time goes on, it remains indeed a pleasure, but not so great.

For by familiarity it ever wanes, whatever it may be.

But there it not only does not diminish, but even increases.

For consider how great a thing it is for a soul, having departed thither, no longer to look for any end of those good things, nor any change, but increase, and a life having no end, freed from all danger and from all despondency and care, full of good cheer and of countless good things.

For if, when we go out into a plain where we see soldiers' tents pitched of curtains, and spears and helmets and the bosses of shields gleaming, we are lifted up with wonder;

and if it should happen that we saw the king too running through the midst, or riding a horse with golden armor, we think we have everything;

what do you think it will be, when you see the eternal tabernacles of the saints pitched in heaven? For 'they shall receive you,' He says, 'into their eternal tabernacles.'

when you see each one of them shining forth above the rays of the sun—not from bronze and iron, but from that glory whose flashings the human eye cannot behold? And these things indeed concern the men;

but what could one say of the thousands of angels, of archangels, of the Cherubim, of the Seraphim, of the Thrones, of the Dominions, of the Principalities, of the Powers, whose beauty is beyond all conception, and surpasses every mind? But how long shall I not cease pursuing things unattainable? For 'eye hath not seen,' He says, 'nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.'

Therefore nothing is more pitiable than those who fail to attain these things, and nothing more blessed than those who attain them.

And may it be granted that we too become among the blessed, that we may also attain the eternal good things, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the

Holy Spirit be glory, might, and honor, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.