(3.) There is in the words the punishment itself denounced against this provoking people,—that they should not enter into the rest of God. And there is a double aggravation of the punishment in the manner of the expressing of it :—
[1.] In the act denied: “They shall not enter,”—no, not so much as enter into it. Doubtless many of the people during their wan- derings in the wilderness had great desires that they might at least see the place promised for a habitation to their posterity, and wherein all their future interests were to be stated. So in parti- cular had Moses. He prayed, saying, “I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon,” Deut. iii. 25. So, doubtless, did many others of them pray and desire. But the sentence is passed,—they shall not now so much as enter into it, nor set one foot within its borders.
[2.] In the expression of the object denied there lieth another aggravation. He doth not say that they shall not enter into the land of Canaan, no, nor yet into the promised land; but he describes it by such an adjunct as may let them see the greatness of their sin and their punishment, and of his displeasure. “They shall not,” saith he, “enter into my rest;”—“‘It is my rest, the place where I will dwell, where I will fix my worship and make myself known: you shall not enter into my rest.’
And so have we passed through this passage of this chapter; on which though it may be we have seemed to dwell somewhat long, yet, as I suppose, not longer than the matter doth require, nor in- deed so long as we should and would have done, but that sundry concerns of it will again occur unto us, both in this and the next chapter. Some few observations from the last clause of the words we may yet touch upon; as,—
Obs. XXXI. When God expresseth great indignation in himself against sin, it is to teach men the greatness of sin in themselves.
For that end is he said here to “swear in his wrath.” There are
VER. 7-11.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 95
expressions in Scripture about God’s respect unto the sins of men that are strangely emphatical; as,—sometimes he is said to be “pressed under them as a cart is pressed that is laden with sheaves;” sometimes, that he is “made to serve with sin, and wearied with iniquity ;” sometimes to be “broken” with the whorish heart of a people, and “grieved at the heart” that he had ever made such a creature as man; sometimes, that the sins of men are a “fume in his nostrils,” that which his soul loatheth ; commonly, to be “angry,” “vexed,” and “grieved,” to be “wrathful,” “stirred up to fury,” and the like.
Now, all these things, taken properly, do include such alteration, and consequently imperfections and weaknesses, as the pure, holy, perfect nature of God can by no means admit of. What is it, then, that God intends by all these expressions, by these ascriptions of that unto himself which really is not in him, but might indeed justly befall that nature whereof we are partakers, on the supposi- tion of the like occasions? As was said, it is all to express what indeed sin doth deserve, and that a recompence of revenge is to be expected, or that it is of so great a demerit as to excite all the per- turbations mentioned in the nature of God, were it any way capable of them. So doth he make use of all ways and means to deter us from sin. And there is much of love, tenderness, and care in all these expressions of anger, wrath, and displeasure. So he is pleased to teach us, and such teachings do we stand in need of. Again,—
Obs. XXXII. God gives the same firmitude and stability unto his threatenings that he doth unto his promises.
He swears to them also, as he doth in this place. Men are apt secretly to harbour a supposition of a difference in this matter. The promises of God they think, indeed, are firm and stable; but as for his threatenings, they suppose one way or other they may be evaded. And this deceit hath greatly prevailed in and inflamed the minds of men ever since the first entrance of sin. By this deceit sin came into the world,—namely, that the threatenings of God either would not be accomplished, or that they were to be understood after another manner than was apprehended. ‘ Hath God said so, that you shall die if you eat? Mistake not; that is not the meaning of the threatening; or, if it be, God doth not intend to execute it; it will be otherwise, and God knows it will be otherwise.’ This gave sin its first entrance into the world; and the same deceit still prevails in the minds of men. ‘Hath God said that sinners shall die, shall be cursed, shall be cast into hell? Yea, but sure enough it will be otherwise; there will be one way or other of escape. It is good to affright men with these things, but God intends not so to deal with them. Whatever the threatenings be, many things may intervene to prevent their execu- tion. What God promiseth, indeed, that shall come to pass; we may