I wondered about the source of the “expert advice” that concluded that "the intrinsic worth of Hobbs’ writings was nil."
I haven’t checked the commentaries listed, but perhaps the “intrinsic worth” in his, Some Comments on The Brethren which are Based on a Book by Napoleon Noel (1959) is wanting.
Some of his interpretations are startling. On page 15 he comments on the rapture and coming again of Christ to earth—“The day of the Lord, or of Christ, which is the hope of the Church, commences at the seventh trumpet, when the mystery is finished. It is then, when Christ comes to the air for the Church, that Israel will look on Him Whom they pierced; and seeing this great sight and that He then disappears into heaven, they will mourn for Him feeling that all hope is gone. Then while the Church is in heaven for the Marriage Supper and the Judgement Seat, the vials will be poured out (Rev 16), and then the Lord will descend to earth for the deliverance of the remnant of Israel, who will NOT be caught up to heaven, but be preserved for the glorious reign on the earth. This one and only change of dispensation will take place at the last trumpet.”
He stumbles over the eternal Sonship and tries to prove that “I have begotten thee” means the resurrection of Christ and not His incarnation—“In Rev 1:5 Jesus Christ is called ‘the first begotten from the dead.’ And in Col 1:18 ‘the first born from the dead,’ both are the same, ‘firstborn.’ Therefore, Heb 1:6 refers to Christ coming again, since resurrection, when He began a new life. These things occur at a point in the book where Psalm 2:7 is in question; and where Acts 13:33 is quoted. Nothing could be clearer than that Paul uses this here to prove resurrection. And the Psalm is equally clear on this point—‘this day have I begotten thee’ means the day when Christ rose from the dead.” (page 19).
