the O. T. of the theocratic monarch, came to be appropriated to the expected Saviour.
We are able to see now how these various hopes were harmonised and fulfilled by Him whom we acknowledge as the Son of David, the Son of man, and the Son of God. And in the first age they contributed to guide the apostles naturally, if the word may be used, to the apprehension of the depths of His Being. In this respect it will be evident that the expectation of the coming of the Lord was of critical significance. The work of the Baptist was recognised as preparatory to this Divine Advent (Mark 1:2; Lk. 1:76; Matt. 11:10 [Mal. 3:1]; Matt. 11:14; 17:11; Mark 9:12; Lk. 1:16 f. [Mal. 4:5 f.]; and the remarkable change of pronoun in the first quotation from Malachi ( before thee for before me ) seems designed to point to the coming of the Lord in One Who is His true Representative. The herald of the Lord was indeed the herald of Christ. This, St John tells us, was the Baptist's own view of his mission. He was sent to make straight the way of the Lord (Is. 40:3; John 1:23; comp. Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:2 f.; Lk. 3:4 ff.). And after the Resurrection and the descent of the Spirit, the apostles proclaimed that in Christ the promise of the Lord's coming was indeed fulfilled (Acts 2:16 ff., 21, 36, 38; 4:12; Joel 2:28 ff.), and looked forward to His revelation in glory (Zech. 14:5; Matt. 16:27; 25:31; Mark 8:38; 1 Thess. 3:13; 2 Thess. 1:10), when He should exercise the divine office of judgment (Acts 17:31; Ps. 9:8; 2 Thess. 1:7 f.; Is. 66:15).
So it was that the apostolic writers applied to Christ the prerogatives of the Lord (Jer. 17:10, Apoc. 2:23; comp. Num. 14:21, Apoc. 1:18; Ps. 10:16, Apoc. 11:15), and His Sovereign Name (Deut. 10:17, Apoc. 19:16; comp. Ps. 24:10, 1 Cor. 2:8), and the accomplishment of His promises (Is. 57:19, Eph. 2:13 ff.; comp. Is. 60:3 ff., 19, Apoc. 21:24 ff.). St Peter distinctly applies to Christ what was said of the Lord of hosts (1 Pet. 3:14, Is. 8:12, 13). And St John in especial, looking back from the bosom of a Christian Church, found deeper meanings in His Master's words (John 13:19, Is. 43:10), and discerned that the divine vision of Isaiah was a vision of Christ (John 12:39 ff.; Is. 6:1 ff.). The very phrase in which he expresses the Gospel includes implicitly the declaration of the fulfilment of the promise of the Lord's dwelling with His people (John 1:14; Lev. 26:11 f.; Ezek. 37:27).
From the study of such passages it is not difficult to see how, as has been briefly said, the fact of the Covenant leads to the fact of the Incarnation. The personal intercourse of God with man is a prophecy of the fulfilment of man's destiny:
ejn ajrch'/ h\n oJ lovgo", kai; oJ lovgo" h\n pro;" to;n qeovn, kai; qei;" h\n oJ lovgo"
...
kai; oJ lovgo" sa;rx ejgevneto kai; ejskhvnwsen ejn hJmi'n
.
(2) The promise remaining (Hebrews 4:1-13)
(2) 4:1-13. The promise remaining. It follows from the consideration of the history of Israel that the promise of God to His people was not fulfilled by the entrance into Canaan.
There is, therefore, ( a ) a rest, a divine rest, a rest from earthly labour, promised still and not enjoyed (4:1-10). And ( b ) towards this rest Christians must strive, filled with the feeling of their responsibility (4:11-13).
( a ) The rest of God is prepared for believers in Christ (4:1-10). The development of this main thought is somewhat perplexed and formally incomplete. The promise of the entrance into the divine rest is first