When God rested on the seventh day, He celebrated the completion of His work of creation, but He did not just take a day off eternally. When we enter into rest with Jesus, we will find God’s presence, blessing, and peace but not a cessation from labor. Our rest with God gives us new strength, but it does not introduce us into inactivity. God’s salvation produces people who receive divine energy to serve, obey, and work for Him.
This rest we enjoy as believers in Christ becomes a type of our rest in heaven after leaving earth. Our life in heaven is not merely an eternity of vacations but a new experience of being in the presence of God (1 John 3:2–3; Rev. 14:13). Heaven is a place of rest, but not of listless laziness. In the eternal state, God will provide an experience (new heaven and new earth) in which we can live, work, and glorify God (Rev. 21:1). Chief among our labors will be the privilege of offering praises to God (Rev. 5:12–13).
1 Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united with those who listened with faith. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They certainly shall not enter My rest.” (NASB)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Jesus is superior because He provides spiritual rest
- The theme of rest has its beginning in God’s own rest after creation
- We get no benefit from merely hearing the gospel. We must believe it and act on it to receive its benefit. Faith involves a wholehearted trust in God’s message
CLOSER LOOK:
Verse 1: The thought continues in 4:1 with “therefore” (oun). The writer continues to build on Israel’s experience at Kadesh Barnea. The writer is still discussing Numbers 14 or maybe better to say that the writer is occasionally looking at Numbers 14. The author is contrasting what we should do in contrast to what Israel did. Notice in verse 1 we see “any one” which is consistently throughout the entire book of Hebrews.
It follows from the tragic example of Israel that Christians should also take warning. This is true because the “promise remains of entering His rest.” There are several controversial issues in this verse and the next. The first controvery revolves around the verb “seem” (dokeo) and what it means. This is possible that it does mean “seem”, but the word “found” cloaks a difficulty in the underlying text, involving a word which usually means “to seem” or “to suppose.” Dokeo the verb does mean to appear, to look like, but it also can refer to what actually is or should turn out or might be deemed (cf. 1 Cor. 11:16; Luke 8:18). Some take the verb here to mean “to be judged.” In this latter understanding, it means the readers really did come up short of entering rest. Some earlier scholars take this understanding. Some modern writers prefer the meaning, “let us be careful that none of you suppose that he/she has missed it.” Since the following context seems dedicated to demonstrating that God’s rest is still open, this understanding has some good points to its argument. The warning about “coming short” is an excellent term to apply to Jewish professors who failed to hold to their confessions of faith in Christ and went back to Judaism. They would indeed “come short” of the promised rest (cf. Heb. 12:15).
Another controversy is centered on whether these readers were saved or were unsaved or were once believers and they have a broken fellowship with God. Some interpreters explain rest as a lifetime experience of unbroken fellowship with God. They feel that the issue discussed by the writer concerns a loss of fellowship rather than an experience of salvation. This interpretation rests on valid points. Others say that wherever rest appears in 3:1 to 4:11, they believe it refers to an experience of salvation we enter by faith in Jesus Christ. These say the writer of Hebrews makes this interpretation when they insist on the necessity of faith in the gospel the readers had received (v. 2). This faith demands a dependence on God’s work instead of on our own works (v. 10). Those who have begun the Christian walk by an experience of faith in Jesus Christ demonstrate the reality of their commitment when they continue to enjoy the rest God has promised. Those who cease to share in that rest show by their spiritual failure that their profession of faith was false. They feel that the total evidence supports the interpretation of rest as related to salvation rather than to sanctification. It is difficult to accuse proponents of either viewpoint of being completely in error as both views have good support.
The writer’s concept of “rest” must not be separated from its Old Testament roots. The Septuagint includes notable passages where the word for rest (katapausis), in connection with Israel’s possession of the land, is clearly paralleled with the word for inheritance (klēronomia). Moses showed clearly (Deut. 3:18–20; 12:9–11) that for Israel their rest was their inheritance. In the same way it is natural to suppose that the term “rest” for the writer of Hebrews was a functional equivalent for a Christian’s inheritance. The writer has already affirmed that Christians are “heirs” (Heb. 1:14) and will shortly do so again (6:12, 17; cf. 9:15). How exactly the author understood their relationship to this inheritance will unfold as their argument proceeds. But the inheritance itself can hardly be divorced from their presentation of the Messiah’s kingdom and His “partners‘” share in that. If this needed explicit confirmation, it could be found in 12:28.
If the writer was concerned that none of their readers would think they had missed their “inheritance- rest,” it is quite conceivable that the author was confronting the problem of the delay in the Second Advent, which Paul himself had also already encountered at Thessalonica. The writer of Hebrews’ later call to patience that the readers may “…receive what is promised” is followed by the assurance that “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay” (10:36–37). If this was God’s concern, it was urgent to show that this promised “rest” is still available.
Most of the wilderness generation died before reaching the Promised Land. Their death did not nullify the promise of God’s rest. The children of this generation later entered the land. This entrance did not completely fulfill the promise of rest. The writer of Hebrews feared that their readers might stumble and falter just as those who left Egypt. They needed to be aware of the previous failure so that they might not make the same mistake.
Verse 2: Here the writer said that the “good news” (gospel) was “preached to us” (literally, “we were evangelized” or “we were given good news”).[1] The good news of entering rest had been offered to the readers of Hebrews just as it was in Moses’ day (Heb. 4:2). It is quite obvious from Hebrews 4:6 that this entrance into rest involves the land. But this good news does not always refer to the plan of salvation from sin. In some circles the word “gospel” has acquired a sense too technical and narrow to do justice to the writer’s ideas here. What was preached to the Israelites of old was God’s offer of rest. This, of course, was “good news” for them just as it is for people now, but it is not exactly what is meant today by “good news” or “gospel.” The Greek verb used, euangelizomai, was fully capable of having a nontechnical sense in the New Testament (cf. its use in Luke 1:19; 1 Thes. 3:6), but naturally the writer here did not sharply distinguish the “good news” about rest, which the readers had heard, from the “good news” to which the term “gospel” is more usually applied (cf. 1 Cor. 15:1–4). But as the whole context shows, the author’s concern was with the good news about a future rest for God’s people (cf. Heb. 4:10), not with the fundamental facts Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15. For the refugees from Egypt, the gospel consisted of the promised rescue from Egypt and entrance into Canaan. It included also God’s promises to Israel in Exodus 19:5–6. For the readers of Hebrews, it consisted of the message of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection. God had spoken clearly to both groups.
As was already pointed out in reference to the Israelites, “the word (or message) they heard (about rest) did not profit them (meaning was of no value to them), because” of their lack of faith (cf. Heb. 3:19). That is to say, through unbelief they failed to take advantage of God’s offer of rest. So it follows that for the readers to profit from this invitation to rest, they had to exercise faith.
Here is a practical truth: We get no benefit from merely hearing the gospel. We must believe it and act on it to receive its benefit. Faith involves a wholehearted trust in God’s message. We must make a right response to the message about Jesus.
Verse 3: Exercising faith is precisely what the writer then affirmed. The words hoi pisteusantes could be rendered “we who believe” rather than “we who have believed.” The writer’s concern was not about their original faith in the past, but their perseverance in it (cf. 3:6, 14). The present tense of 4:3 must be taken as a futuristic present, which is not a completely unusual construction. In this manner, the verse could be translated, “For we who have believed will enter that rest…” Faith remains the prerequisite for entrance into rest, since it was to those who failed to exercise faith that God declared by oath they would not enter into His rest. This exclusion was definitive despite the fact that this rest had been established as far back as Creation itself.
Hebrews 4:4 explains verse three, particularly “My rest.” To the last part of verse three, you can see that the promised rest, the Canaan rest, and the seventh day rest are all joined together in that little cluster of verses.
Verses 4–5: The author goes on to say “For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day,” which is again the word “somewhere” and I am sure the author knew where it was. With considerable enrichment of thought, the author then linked God’s Sabbath-rest at the time of Creation with the rest that the Israelites missed in the desert. “God rested” when He finished His creative activity and this kind of experience has, ever since, lain open to people who also finish the work that is set before them (cf. v. 10). When, as with the nation in the wilderness, a task is left unfinished, of such it must be said, “THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.”
In Hebrews 4:4 the writer explains verse three, particularly “my rest” and the last part of verse three. It is obvious from this passage that the promised rest is related to God’s rest in Genesis 2:2. The promised rest is, in fact, an outgrowth of the Lord’s Sabbath rest. Furthermore, the close connection of verses four and five implies God’s seventh-day rest was intended for humanity from the beginning (cf. 4:3b, Matt. 25:34). It should be noted that in the creation account of Genesis one and two each day has an ending except the seventh. The sabbath is thus a picture of the millennial rest which introduces God’s eternal day. Since Genesis makes no mention of the evening of the seventh day of creation provides a basis for some Jewish commentators to conclude that the rest of God lasts through all of history.
An interesting thought to consider:
With verses four and five implying that God’s seventh day rest was intended for humanity from the beginning. When God created Adam and Eve, one could argue this was God’s goal for humanity. One of my favorite professors from DTS, Stanley Toussaint, was quite convinced that the overriding theme of the Scriptures is not salvation. Arguing that the overriding theme of the Scriptures is the kingdom. As salvation is a means to the kingdom. Others in this camp argue that God intended for Adam and Eve to enter that kingdom from the beginning while they were in the garden. That’s why we have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice it’s not the knowledge of evil; it is the knowledge of good and evil. Why did God put that tree there? Just to taunt Adam and Eve? No, of course not. By obedience, Adam and Eve would learn about good. And by learning about good, we also really learn what evil is. Then the question is, “Who has a clear perception of evil? One that’s living in sin? Or the one living in righteousness?” The one living in righteousness has by far the clearer perception of what sin is. So God put that tree in there so that they would grow in the knowledge of good and evil by obedience, or if they followed Satan’s advice, they would learn by disobedience. So the argument goes that they would grow, and grow, and grow so that they would have this wonderful kingdom that God had promised, and they would enter into God’s rest. That would be part of God’s rest. One could argue that they were there already, but it’s just a matter of entering into it more and more. So for how this relates to this section of Hebrews is what those in this camp believe the author is truly getting at.
[1] Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 788.