Hebrews Chapter 4 A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God
Hebrews 4:1-2 “Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."
Can we learn from their lack of unbelief?
This verse is connected to the prior verses which are simply summed by the last statement "So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19). We can see how the author of Hebrews warned us about failure to enter God’s rest, due to unbelief, a hardened heart, and disobedience. They had experienced deliverance and were given a foreshadowing of the gospel of the Passover lamb. When the test finally came and they stood on the borders of the Promised Land, they were given the word of the Lord through Moses to advance and take the land. But they held back because they were afraid of the giants that inhabited the cities of that land. When they were asked to face the giants and, by the principle of faith, to overcome them and enter into the rest of the land, they refused to do so. They turned back and for forty years wandered in the wilderness. The test came when they were asked to step out in faith to take hold of what had been promised to them. Their failure revealed the bitter truth that they never had any faith. Is there a difference between belief and faith? The Israelites stood at the borders of the promised land. They had experienced God's deliverance and faithfulness. They knew that the Promised Land was given to them as their inheritance and it was desirable. But they had no faith to receive it. Faith is more than belief. Faith results in action upon belief. They would not act upon that which had been given. Fear does not produce rest The Israelites focused on their past. And out of their fear they wanted to retreat to the traditions of the past. This was true of the Israelites who had just been delivered from Egypt and it was also true of the Hebrews at the time that the letter of Hebrews was written. Fear can cause us to retreat to something hurtful because it is what is familiar. Negative fear causes us to run from God. Positive fear results in a kind of respectful attitude causing us to be drawn and run to God. This is what the author is warning of when he tells us to "be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of God's rest. We can't LIVE in a place of rest until we ENTER into the place of rest. You enter into the rest of God by reading His Word, believing His Word and acting upon His Word through faith. |
Is this still and open invitation (and warning) for believers TODAY? What is the remaining rest that still stands?
In the opening of this chapter, we see that there "still remains a rest". From Chapter 3, we learned that the Israelites in Moses day, were offered a rest provided by their inherited Promised Land. But many did not enter that rest, did not cross over to the Promised Land, because of their disobedience and unbelief. However, through the leadership of Joshua, a new generation of people were able to take the land. These people were given a rest provided by their inheritance, the Promised Land. They were delivered from the bondage of slavery and they were given freedom to live in peace under God's protection as long as they were obedient to His laws and exercised faith in the belief of God's promises. But the writer of Hebrews says there still remains a rest. Knowing that the Hebrew people at the time of the letter were still living in Israel, the rest that the author is talking about is greater than just occupying the promised land. Belief in God’s Word is the key to “rest",it must be combined with faith (4:2), just as “unbelief” is the reason why men fail to enter into God’s rest (3:19). While the “good news” that the ancient Israelites received was not the full-blown gospel that we have heard, it was nevertheless good news that did them no good because they failed to believe it and act upon it. Warning and Application for Today The author of Hebrews wants his readers to know that there is still a rest available to us, but there is likewise a danger of failing to enter this rest, for the same reasons that earlier generations failed. The ancient Israelites, along with those who lived in the days of the psalmist, had the promise of rest, a rest which could only be attained by faith. Because the first generation of Israelites failed so badly to enter God’s rest – in spite of the extent of revelation from God, and miracles to confirm it – we should have a keen sense of our own fallibility, and thus the danger of a failure in our faith and walk (4:1). We are not that different from those ancient Israelites. Just as they received the good news of a promise of entering the land of Canaan, so we have received an even greater revelation of good news, the good news of salvation by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We were delivered. We have celebrated the Passover Lamb. We have been baptized into Christ's death and resurrection. And we have the same possibility of entering into a life of rest. Ray Stedman (How to Live What You Believe, pg 45) says: We think we can receive Jesus as Savior, raise our hand to accept Christ, and that settles the matter. We will go to heaven and there can never be any doubt about it from then on, though there is no change in our lives. But the promise of Christ is that when He comes into the human heart there is a radical change of government (ruling in our lives) which must inevitably, in the course of its working, result in a revolutionary change in behavior. Unless that takes place there has been no reality to our conversion. The goal of His working in us is rest. Just as the “good news” the ancient Israelites received did them no good because of their lack of faith, so our “good news” is only profitable through faith. It requires not only initial faith on our part, but an on-going faith. This kind of faith is encouraged and stimulated by our association with others who share the same faith. |
Hebrews 4:3-6 “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest.' And yet His work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words: 'And on the seventh day God rested from all His work.' And again in the passage above He says, 'They shall never enter my rest.' It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.
Uh, What?
This seems like a strange contradictory passage. But the author is making a point by showing that God has spoken about rest all throughout the Old Testament beginning with the account of creation. The author is pointing out that when God said they couldn't enter God's rest; there was still a rest available. And even after God rested on the 7th day, there was still some kind of rest available that the people weren't entering into in the Old Testament. And now, the author is saying, "It's still not over - there is still a rest to be entered into."
This seems like a strange contradictory passage. But the author is making a point by showing that God has spoken about rest all throughout the Old Testament beginning with the account of creation. The author is pointing out that when God said they couldn't enter God's rest; there was still a rest available. And even after God rested on the 7th day, there was still some kind of rest available that the people weren't entering into in the Old Testament. And now, the author is saying, "It's still not over - there is still a rest to be entered into."
How do we enter into this rest?
First - by faith (as seen in prior passages) "We who have believed enter that rest" (vs 3) Second - by recognizing that this is God's rest not your rest. God refers to "My rest" "They shall never enter my rest" (vs 3) "And on the seventh day, God rested from all His work" (vs 4) ( a little later, vs 10 specifically refers to "God's rest") God didn't rest from His work because He was tired. He rested because His work was complete. This was to represent a forward truth expressed in the completed work of Jesus. |
God's Rest
The “rest” into which we enter is God’s rest, God’s Sabbath rest, such as we find in Genesis 2:2. This is the rest God entered after He had finished His work of creation. It is this rest into which the ancient Israelites failed to enter, for “My rest” is God’s rest, God’s Sabbath rest. This is the rest which remains available to us today, a rest received by faith. |
Hebrews 4:7-10 “THEREFORE God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later He spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His."
The writer wanted the people to understand that God's rest was not all in the past. If he was just talking about the Promised Land, he wouldn't say there still remains a rest. He also was not talking about the weekly Sabbath because if He was, He would not say there still remains a rest, since they were still practicing a weekly Sabbath.
Today, there is still a spiritual rest that God wants us to enter into.
Today, there is still a spiritual rest that God wants us to enter into.
Jesus' Rest is Greater!
Just as the psalmist could seize upon the term “today” and apply it to his readers, so God has fixed a “today” for us, the same “today” as was offered in the psalms. And so we need to believe God and enter this rest, rather than to refuse to believe and fail to enter, as did the ancient Israelites. This “rest” must be more than merely entering Canaan because Joshua did lead the second generation of Israelites into the Promised Land, and yet many years later the psalmist spoke of a rest that was still available, a greater rest. And that rest was God’s “Sabbath rest,” a rest still available, a rest of ceasing from futile works in an effort to earn God’s favor. The one who has entered God’s rest has set aside striving in the flesh, and has trusted in the work God has finished, in Christ. Isaiah 11:10In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. Titus 3:4-7 “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life” Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast' |
God wants us to enter His rest. For the Israelites of Moses' time, the rest was the earthly rest to be found in the promised land.
For Christians, it is peace with God now and eternal life on a new earth later. We do not need to wait for the next life to enjoy God's rest and peace, we may have it daily now. Our daily rest in the Lord will not end with death but will become an eternal rest in the place that Christ is preparing for us. John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” The concept of rest is such a beautiful thing to one who is weary of striving to please God in his (or her) own strength. To trust in Jesus is to cease from one’s own labors, one’s own efforts, and receive the fruit of the work which Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. For a Hebrew Christian to entertain thoughts of retreating back to Judaism, of going back under the law, was to set aside rest for fruitless works. For the Christian, there is not only the rest of salvation, but the day-to-day rest of dependence upon God for living the Christian life. There are many things which can interfere with our “resting” in Christ and in all of God's promises. |
This is why Jesus could say:
Matthew 11:28-30“ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry."
Matthew 11:28-30“ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry."
Hebrews 4:11-13 "Let us, THEREFORE, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
Why must we “make every effort to enter that rest” when we have just been told, “For the one who enters God's rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works” (verse 10)?
"Faith" is the effort that the author is speaking about. "Faith" still takes energy and time dedicated to spending time with God on a daily basis through prayer and reading His word. We are to make every effort to grow our faith by believing in Jesus, God's promises and trusting in His promises by acting on our faith. This is why the word of God is emphasized in verse 12. God uses the Word to enable us to see the sin and unbelief in our own hearts. The Word exposes our hearts, and then, if we trust God, the Word enables our hearts to obey God and claim His promises. It also takes intentional effort not to try to work things out ourselves but to trust in God and allow Him to work in our lives. Along with this is the effort to cease from trying to work things out in our own power...the power of the flesh and rely wholly on the power of the Spirit. |
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"
(Romans 10:17). "So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds [works] God requires?” Jesus replied, “This is the deed [work] God requires - to believe in the one whom he sent” (John 6:28-29) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9-12) |
Hebrews 4:14-16 "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way; just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
What does it mean that we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens?
THEREFORE....Let us hold firmly to the faith we profess This is why we can hold fast to our confession and draw near to our High Priest – because He alone can keep us from falling. Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen (Jude 24-25). |
Why should we approach Jesus, our High Priest, with confidence?
In sum: once we make every effort to to enter our rest through faith, we are to hold firmly on to that faith we profess by approaching Him with confidence! Also, the author has been building up through these chapters two major points:
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