And I would argue, contra Stern, that the author of Hebrews is trying to get his audience of readers to think in new covenant terms, not in “traditional Jewish” terms. Traditional Jews denied the reality of the messianic age in the 1st century (and beyond) because they denied Jesus Christ is the Messiah and has provided all the redemption for the people of God promised in the Old Testament. We are told to avoid “Jewish fables” (Titus 1:14).
But we are told in Hebrews that Jesus appeared “at the end of the ages (aeon)” for the redemption of His people (Heb. 9:26). It is the messianic age, and the next is the eternal state following the resurrection of our bodies. All those who have a part in the first (Christ’s) resurrection will receive His rest. While the righteous are positionally seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), we will not experience the fullness of our redemption until the day of rest in the new heavens and new earth.
The “seventh day” (ἕβδομος ) in view in Hebrews 4:4, is not the Jewish sabbath (σάββατον ) of the old covenant, but it is the seventh day rest of God at creation. God’s creation resting was a picture of our eternal resting with Him in the new Eden, the new heavens and new earth. The writer contrasts “today”, the day of salvation, in chapter 3, with the eternal rest of God in chapter 4. “Today” is a day of opportunity, and day when salvation is still available to all the house of Israel and the rest of the nations. In the day of rest, the opportunity is gone. Only the righteous enter into His rest.
The futurist millennium is not a place of rest ala Hebrew 4. I’m afraid Mr. Stern’s presupposed messianism gets in the way of his interpretation of Hebrews. All we are left with, after reading his thoughts, is the lack of biblical support for the 'year-day' theory.
But we are told in Hebrews that Jesus appeared “at the end of the ages (aeon)” for the redemption of His people (Heb. 9:26). It is the messianic age, and the next is the eternal state following the resurrection of our bodies. All those who have a part in the first (Christ’s) resurrection will receive His rest. While the righteous are positionally seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), we will not experience the fullness of our redemption until the day of rest in the new heavens and new earth.
The “seventh day” (ἕβδομος ) in view in Hebrews 4:4, is not the Jewish sabbath (σάββατον ) of the old covenant, but it is the seventh day rest of God at creation. God’s creation resting was a picture of our eternal resting with Him in the new Eden, the new heavens and new earth. The writer contrasts “today”, the day of salvation, in chapter 3, with the eternal rest of God in chapter 4. “Today” is a day of opportunity, and day when salvation is still available to all the house of Israel and the rest of the nations. In the day of rest, the opportunity is gone. Only the righteous enter into His rest.
The futurist millennium is not a place of rest ala Hebrew 4. I’m afraid Mr. Stern’s presupposed messianism gets in the way of his interpretation of Hebrews. All we are left with, after reading his thoughts, is the lack of biblical support for the 'year-day' theory.
On one side we have thirty-five hundred years of deep study of YHvH's Word, The other view is clouded by nineteen hundred years of anti-semitism, Views which have from the beginning been molded by conforming to Verse 7 repeats the “Today” theme of 3:7, 13, 15. 8 Y’hoshua. Greek Iêsous, same as the Greek word for “Yeshua” (see Mt 1:1N); in fact, KJV renders the beginning of this verse, “If Jesus had given them rest.” By leading God’s people into the Promised Land, Y’hoshua bin-Nun (Joshua the son of Nun) prefigured the Messiah whose name he shares; and just as God’s people Israel rested in Eretz-Israel, so God’s Messianic Community rests in Yeshua. 9–10 A Shabbat-keeping, Greek sabbatismos, used only here in the New Testament. In the Septuagint, the related Greek word “sabbatizein” was coined to translate the Hebrew verb shabat when it means “to observe Shabbat.” The usual translation, “There remains a Sabbath rest,” minimizes the observance aspect and makes the role of God’s people entirely passive. Christians often assume that the New Testament does not require God’s people to observe Shabbat and go on to claim that Sunday has replaced Saturday as the Church’s day of worship (see 1C 16:2N). But this passage, and in particular v. 9, shows that Shabbat-observance is expected of believers. From Co 2:16–17, which says that Shabbat was a shadow of the things that were to come, but the substance comes from the Messiah, we learn that the essence of Shabbat-observance for believers is not following the detailed rules which halakhah sets forth concerning what may or may not be done on the seventh day of the week. Rather, as v. 10 explains, the Shabbat-keeping expected of God’s people consists in resting from one’s own works, as God did from his; it consists in trusting and being faithful to God (vv. 2–3). Although the specific “works” from which the readers of this letter were to rest were animal sacrifices (see 6:4–6), by implication all self-struggle, in which one relies on one’s own efforts instead of trusting God, is to be avoided; and in this the author is making the same point as Sha’ul does at Ro 3:19–4:25. Stern, D. H. (1996, c1992). Jewish New Testament Commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed.) (Heb 4:6-9). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.As I stand back to observe the two views of the Word,
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
I am struck by the stark differences.
by His Chosen People unencumbered by allegiance to King, Emperor, Prince,
Pope or any other earthly power.
While I have my differences with some Rabbinical fables,
on the whole the Holy Word of G-d
shines through with the illumination of the Ru'ach HaKodesh.
The faithful remnant of YHvH's Chosen People remain.
obscured by sixteen hundred years of syncretism,
compounded by four hundred years of Jesuit counter-reformation
disinformation.
Pagan Emperors, mad Princes, debauched and profligate Popes
or lawlessness of iniquitous Cardinals
All this confusion, coming only from the source of all confusion. Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 4
6–8 The close reasoning and exact use of texts is typically rabbinic; compare Yeshua’s logic at Mt 22:31–32&N.