WESLEYAN HERITAGE Library Commentaries GODBEY'S COMMENTARY VOL. II. HEBREWS-JUDE By Rev. Wm. B. Godbey, A.M. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” Heb 12:14 Spreading Scriptural Holiness to the World Wesleyan Heritage Publications © 1998 COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT VOL II. HEBREWS — JUDE HEBREWS(Apollos) — Perfection; JAMES — Practice; PETER — Fire; JOHN — Love; JUDE — Lightning. BY REV. W. B. GODBEY, A. M., Author of “Commentary on the New Testament, Volume I,” “Spiritual Gifts and Graces,” “Holy Land,” “Victory,” “Holiness, or Hell,” “Christian Perfection,” “Sanctification,” “Baptism,” and “Woman Preacher” HEBREWS — JUDE PROLOGUE TO VOLUME II. When I acquiesced in the importunate clamor of the Holiness people to write a Commentary on the New Testament, I felt that the Lord wanted me to begin at the mouth of the Gospel River and go up. Consequently I wrote Volume I. on Revelation. Other commentators have all sailed down the river. But as full salvation has plenty of steam, we can well afford to sail up stream. In this volume we expound Hebrews, Peter, James, John, and Jude. As the reader will have the Scriptures constantly under his eye, I have only quoted salient passages, needing explanation, making my own translation from the Sinaitic Greek (the oldest manuscript), by Tischendorf, the highest New Testament authority. While reading these books, keep your Bible open before you. If I should quote all of the text, it would add immensely to the size and cost of the volume. HEBREWS PROLOGUE AUTHORSHIP.—The author’s name is not found in this book. Consequently, we are utterly at sea with reference to the writer. It was never assigned to Paul till about 500 years ago, when the Roman Catholics first Classified it in the Pauline series. Much investigation, and a vast diversity of opinion in reference to its authorship, have prevailed among the critics. I do not think Paul wrote this letter. 1. All of the other letters assigned to Paul contain his name. Consequently, I think he would have given his name in this one if he had written it. 2. It is not the Pauline style, which is exceedingly plain, clear and logical, whereas this letter is diffuse, florid and eloquent. 3. In all of Paul’s letters he evolves the plan of salvation out of the Abrahamic covenant. In Hebrews it is evolved out of the high priesthood of Christ. I believe with Dean Alford, the prince of English Critics, that Apollos wrote it. 1. It is literally crowded full of the Judaic institutions. This would harmonize with the authorship of Apollos, as he was educated at Alexandria, Egypt, at that time the greatest literary emporium on the globe. Under the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Old Testament had been translated into Greek, B.C. 290, for the convenience of his Jewish subjects. 2. Apollos was the most eloquent man in the world during the apostolic age, whereas Paul avowedly discarded eloquence. 1 Corinthians 2:4. This Hebrew letter is transcendently eloquent. Of course the reader understands the utter insignificance of the whole question appertaining to human authorship, since the letter is actually indicted by the Holy Ghost. Consequently we should not consider it the revelation of Paul, or Apollos, or any other man, to the Hebrews, but God’s letter straight from heaven to us. These Hebrews were the Palestinian Christians who had passed out of the Mosaic into the gospel dispensation under the preaching of Christ and the apostles. They not only suffered a terrible persecution by the Jewish church, but incessant and most powerful temptations to return to the so-called religion of Moses and the prophets. Though God had raised up the Jewish church through the inspired leadership of Abraham, Moses Joshua, and all the holy prophets, the good old people had died and gone to heaven, and new generations succeeded them, who had never known God in His saving power. Consequently, the church, with its membership and pastors, had degenerated into dead formality and torpid hypocrisy; so they signally failed to recognize their own Christ when, after the fond expectancy of four thousand years, He appeared on the earth. Therefore, instead of receiving Him with jubilant enthusiasm, they not only ignored Him, but actually repudiated and crucified Him. The true Church of God is identical in all ages, and under all dispensations, and in all nations, simply consisting of God’s family on the earth, entered by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost, and matured by the sanctification of the Spirit. Therefore, these Palestinian Christians, though denounced by the pastors and church members as comeouters and heretics, were the true and orthodox nucleus of God’s Church, perpetuated out of Judaism into Christianity. The great end of this letter is to fortify those Palestinian Christians against the incessant and overwhelming temptations to apostatize into fallen Judaism and to edify them in the great climacteric Bible truth of Christian perfection. If Paul wrote the letter we know that he was abundantly competent for the responsible duty of elucidating and enforcing the great doctrine of entire sanctification. The case is equally obvious if Apollos wrote it, as we know he received the sky-blue experience of sanctification under the ministry of Priscilla and Aquila. Acts 18:26. Hence we learn from this letter that the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification constitute the only available breakwater against apostasy. HEBREWS CHAPTER I. 1. This verse sweeps forever from the field all the prophets, like Mohammed and Joe Smith, claiming inspiration, since the days of Christ. 2. “Whom he set forth the heir of all things, through whom also he ordained the ages.” Satan conquered this world in Eden when he captured Adam and Eve, its king and queen. God recognized his conquest. 2 Corinthians 4:4. If Satan had carried out his scheme he would have added this world to hell. Christ volunteered, bled and died, gloriously redeeming this world from Satan’s conquest. When he flew up to heaven God received him as a conqueror and said: “Well done.” Hence Christ is the rightful heir of all things, i.e., the whole earth and all the people. Hence he saves all the people who will let him and will completely save the whole earth and firmament, not only from sin, but all the effects of sin, completely sanctifying and restoring it back to the heavenly state in which Satan found it. This world was a part of heaven before the devil broke it loose in order to add it to hell. Christ is going to purify it by the fiery baptism (2 Peter 3:10-13), and add it back to heaven. Revelation 21:1. Where the old English says, “made the world,” the Greek has aioonas, i.e., the ages. Hence we translate it, “ordained the ages.” The popular opinion, proclaimed from a hundred thousand pulpits, that the world is to have an end, originated from a wrong translation of this word aioon. It does not mean “world,” as the old English has it, but “age,” while cosmos means world. The Bible positively reveals the eternal perpetuity of this world. Time, which is simply the measure of the mediatorial kingdom, will have an end. After the glorious millennial ages shall have come and gone, during the final judgment the earth will be cremated and thoroughly sanctified by fire, made over and transformed into a heaven, and given to the occupancy of the redeemed saints and glorified angels forever. The last two chapters in the Bible present a vivid and glorious description of this earth and firmament after their glorious transformation into the heavenly state. In this verse we see the ages were instituted in the divine restitutionary economy in the progressive development of this miserable, fallen world, preparatory for the coming kingdom. The antediluvian, patriarchal, Mosaic, Judaic ages have come and gone, each verifying its office in the grand preparatory drama. The Gentile age winds up the grand panorama and ushers in the glorious kingdom. 3. “Who being the brightness of His glory and the character of His person.”. The Greek word for “express image” is character. Since that word has been transferred into the English language, it should not be translated. Hence, in the life of Jesus, faithfully delineated by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, his inspired biographers, we see the very character of God. Therefore, we find that God is “meek and lowly in heart,” going about doing good. Therefore, if you would go up and live with God in heaven you must be like Him, i.e., meek and lowly in heart, doing good, and no harm. “Having made the expurgation of sins He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.” You see from this statement that Jesus completely and forever settled the awful sin-problem, so far as this world is concerned. When He died on the cross He perfectly and eternally satisfied the violated law, and swept every conceivable difficulty completely out of the way; so the vilest sinner on the whole earth has nothing to do but totally, radically and unconditionally abandon sin and Satan world without end, look away to Calvary, and shout victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, now and through all eternity. Nothing but stubborn unbelief can ever keep a soul out of heaven. The very fact of the Father’s royal congratulation and glorious coronation of Jesus on the mediatorial throne a His right hand is an indisputable and eternal recognition of His perfect and satisfactory approval of the expiation and redemption Jesus came on the earth to execute.