Entering into God's Rest

OPEN: Limited time sale, act now! Don’t delay or they might get gone!!

Transition: We act fast to get a deal, but we often delay when dealing with the spiritual. We presume upon the goodness of God instead of responding when He speaks.

The Promise of God’s Rest is available (4:1a, 4, 9)

Explanation: The warning passage that began in 3:7 continues through 4:11. The focus of the first section of the warning passage was “do not harden your heart! “ While the writer repeats the warning against hardening of heart in this 2nd section, the focus has a different thrust. The writer introduces the concept of God’s Rest. In verse 1 of Chapter 4, he tells his listeners that the promise of God’s rest is still available, and in 4:9 he states that “there remains a rest to the people of God.”

Definition: What is meant by God’s Rest? In our text, in verses 3b & 4, the writer ties the concept of Rest to the Creation account when he quotes from Genesis 2:2 about how God rested on the 7th Day. In the Creation account, the 7th day is the conclusion, it is the goal of God’s creative work. God did not rest because He was tired or worn out; God rested in Contentment - His goal was achieved, He was satisfied with His accomplishments: “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)

Argument: The idea of rest as it applies to those living in the Church Age will be unpacked further as we go through the text. The important point for the original audience, and for us today, is to realize that God’s rest is still available. Another very important point is that while it is available, it is possible for us to miss out. That leads to the next point:

The Wilderness Generation, failed to enter God’s rest due to unbelief (4:2,3b, 5, 8)

Explanation: The writer continues to use the example of the Wilderness Generation and their failure to receive what God had prepared for them. The WG lost their opportunity to enter the Promised land due to their hardness of heart. Even though they heard (and saw) the Good News (Heb 4:6), they were not allowed to enter due to their settled and rebellious distrust of God’s provision. They disobeyed God because they did NOT Trust God!

Argument: The example of the WG in this warning passage is repeated over and over. The writer addresses their failure from different angles and describes God’s anger toward them in various ways. According to Thom Schreiner, this is “so that the readers grasp what he is saying and impressed with the gravity of the situation.” (EBTC Hebrews, by Thom Schreiner, p. 141)

Application: We are slow to learn. God knows this about humans, so He emphasizes the dangers! His desire is for us to get it, to realize this is serious and to pay attention!

Addendum: In verse 8, the writer informs his listeners that even the following generation, the ones that entered the Promised Land under Joshua did not fully obtain God’s Rest. They did obtain rest at a physical level because the OT affirms this in Joshua 21:43-44, but this was primarily a rest from their physical enemies.

NOTE: The KJV has Jesus in v. 8, but it should read Joshua. The spelling is the same, and the context supports Joshua in reference to the Conquest.

This information is presented so that the readers (and we as well) will understand that the rest being described is spiritual, not physical. Drawing upon Schreiner once again we are informed that Joshua was a type. He states, “The typological nature of the rest given by Joshua is evident here. Joshua anticipated Jesus Christ. Indeed, the name ‘Joshua’ in Greek is spelled exactly as ‘Jesus’ in spelled in the NT. Jesus is the new and final and better ‘Joshua.’” (ETBC Hebrews, Schreiner, p. 143)

Those in the present day need to hear & heed the warning (4:1b, 7)

Explanation: The writer warns his listeners against the dangers of unbelief. He does this in the beginning of this section (v. 1b) and toward the end of the section (v. 7). He wanted his audience to take their faith in Christ seriously - he wanted them to experience the rest that was available to them!

Application: Are you heeding the warnings that you are hearing through this exposition of Hebrews? The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart through the Word. Remember: hearing and knowing God’s Word is insufficient (cf. Heb 4:2b). Our hearing of the Word has to be united with trust in Jesus!

There are, however, believers who have entered God’s Rest (4:3a, 10)

Explanation: In the midst of the warnings against hardening of heart and the repeated example of the WG and their failure to enter God’s rest, the writer does offer encouragement. He also reminds them that those who have surrendered to Christ through faith have entered God’s rest. He declares “we which have believed do enter into rest” (Heb 4:3a)

Argument: So what does it mean for us to “enter into rest?” The present aspect of God’s rest means that we have been brought to the place where we realize we cannot control our own destiny. We come to understand that we are helpless in and of ourselves and that we need a Savior. To enter into rest is to respond in faith to the invitation of Jesus when He says “Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

It is to realize our sin debt against a Holy God is immense & unpayable and it is crushing us and will continue to crush us into Eternity without the help that only Jesus provides.

Application: The sinner who yields to Jesus does enter into Rest, but there is also a future aspect to God’s rest. The writer of Hebrews connected the rest of the believer with the Rest of God on the 7th Day. God finished His work of creation and was joyous and content in His rest. God, however, is not static - He did not cease all activity, He simply finished His creative work. We know that God is still at work in His creation because Jesus told the Jewish leaders “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17)

Argument: Believers are called to be about Kingdom business. We who are IN Christ are to be working while we have the opportunity. The work we do in the Name of Jesus does NOT put us in God’s rest, but the works reveal that we are in Christ!

The rest we now experience in Christ has a dimension of the “already - not yet” that is found throughout the NT.

Example: The Kingdom of God is present today - it is already here, but there remains a future dimension of the Kingdom that is coming at Christ’s Return, so it is not yet.

God’s rest is similar in that it has an “already - not yet” dimension. When we trust Christ we enter into His rest (Heb 4:3). The Spirit of God informs us that there is also a future dimension of rest that believers will experience after our physical death.

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)

The opportunity still exists to enter His rest (4:6), so let us strive to enter it (4:11)

Explanation: The writer finishes this warning section with an exhortation. He includes himself in the group by using the pronoun “us” and he gives a command to “let us labour . . . to enter into that rest” (Heb 4:11). According to the Logos word reference the word for labour means to “be diligent, zealous, to hasten or hurry.” In other words, we are to be actively pursuing His rest.

Once again, the importance of perseverance is brought to the front in this letter. The goal is to finish well, to be like Abraham who “was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10)

Application: Where is your focus? Is it on this world or the next? As a believer, what works will follow you into glory?

For the one still in Adam: Why will you continue to strive and grasp for the things you cannot keep and will not satisfy? Will you not accept Christ’s invitation to Come to Him and enter into His rest?