Hebrews 3:14-4:10

Recap of Hebrews 3:1-13

Last Week (3:1-6), We Saw How the Audience (Holy Siblings and Partners in a Heavenly Invitation and Responsibility)…

Were Told to Consider (Think Carefully About) Jesus, Our Apostle and High Priest

Jesus was an Apostle Sent From God to Humans to Represent God and Deliver His Message

And He Went Back to God to Represent Humans and Make Atonement for Us

Moses Held a Similar Position as a Mediator Between God and Israel

He Played the Role of an Apostle and the Role of a High Priest

And He was Faithful in That Role, Just Like Jesus

But Jesus Deserves More Honor Than Moses

Moses was a Part of the House of God (Israel)

But Jesus is the Builder of the House of God (Church)

We Can Remain a Part of that House if We Hold On Dearly to Our Confession of Faith and Hope in Jesus

Then the Author Tells Us What the Holy Spirit Still Says to Us

Then He Quotes From Psalm 95, Where the Psalmist Reminds His Audience…

That the Children of Israel Hardened Their Hearts in Faithlessness…

And So God Would Not Allow Them to Enter His Rest in the Promised Land

The Holy Spirit Still Speaks that Message to the Hebrew’s Audience and Us Today

Instead of Having an Unbelieving Heart that Leads Us to Abandon Faith in Jesus…

We Should Encourage Each Other Every Day So That We Won’t Be Hardened or Deceived

Now We Will Finish Chapter 3, Beginning With Verse 14

Then We Will Move On to Chapter 4

Hebrews 3:14–19 (NASB95)

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:14 (NASB95)

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

The Author Uses the Same Word that He Used in Verse 1

We are Partakers/Partners/Sharers of Christ

But This Time He Adds an “If”

We are Sharers of Christ if We Hold Firmly to Our “Assurance”

This Word is Used 2 Other Times in Hebrews

Hebrews 1:3 (NASB95)

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB95)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

The Word Means the Basic Structure or Nature of Something

Jesus is a Perfect Representation of What/Who God is

Faith is the Basic Structure of Our Hopes

This Word Can Allude to the Determination that Produces the Endurance of a Soldier or Martyr

Not the Endurance Itself, But the Determination to Endure

So What Does That Tell Us About Hebrews 3:14?

Hebrews 3:14 (NASB95)

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

It’s a Firm Underlying Resolve/Belief in the Truth/Reality

We are Sharers of Christ if We Hold On Tight to the Deep-Seated Belief that We Had at the Beginning of Our Faith

These Hebrew Christians’ Faith Used to Be Firm, Strong, and Confident

But it was Starting to Fade Away

If They Wanted to Remain Sharers of Christ, They Would Need to Hold On Tight to it Until the End

Hebrews 3:15–16 (NASB95)

while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

The Author Again Shifts Our Focus to the Israelites in the Wilderness

Then He Asks a Series of Rhetorical Questions Intended to Be a Lesson to His Audience

Who Provoked God? - The Israelites

And Were They Not Led By Moses Out of Egyptian Slavery?

The Point the Author is Making is:

Those Israelites Were Delivered By God Through His Apostle, Moses

These Israelites Who Benefited From God and Moses Had No Excuse to Disbelieve and Rebel Against Them

These Hebrew Christians Who Have Been Saved By the Sacrifice of God’s Apostle, Jesus…

Have No Excuse to Disbelieve and Rebel Against Them

Hebrews 3:17–18 (NASB95)

And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

God was Angry With This Generation of Israelites Because of Their Rebellion and Faithlessness

And Because of His Anger Against Their Faithlessness, They Died

If These Hebrew Christians Walk the Same Path of Faithlessness and Rebellion as the Israelites…

They Will Receive the Same Reward, Death

They Will Not Be Permitted to Enter into God’s Eternal Rest

Hebrews 3:19 (NASB95)

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

What was it Ultimately that Lead the Israelites to Not Enter into God’s Rest?

Unbelief

They Didn’t Trust in God’s Promises or His Apostle

The Same Will Be True for These Hebrew Christians if They Continue Down the Road of Unbelief/Faithlessness in God’s Promises

Hebrews 4:1-10

Hebrews 4:1–10 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”

Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Hebrews 4:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

“Therefore” = “Since the Israelites Were Not Able to Enter into God’s Rest Because of Their Unbelief…”

Hebrews 4:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

“Let Us Fear”

The Author is Connecting His Audience to OT Israel

Their Unbelief Led Them Not Being Able to Enter God’s Rest

That Ought to Strike Fear into Us

A Healthy Fear that Motivates Us to Faithful Action

Hebrews 4:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

We Ought to Fear if Any of Us Come Short of Entering God’s Rest

The Author Says the Promise Still Remains to Enter God’s Rest

To the Wandering Israelites, God’s Rest Meant Entering the Promised Land…

And Inheriting All of the Promises that God Had Made to Abraham

But They Fell Short of Entering that Rest and Inheriting Those Promises

The Offer to Enter God’s Rest Still Stands for Us:

To Enter the True Promised Land and Inherit the Promises Made to Abraham

We Should Learn From the Mistakes of the Israelites

We Should Fear God So That We Don’t Come Short of Entering His Rest

Hebrews 4:2 (NASB95)

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

The Israelites Had Heard the Gospel Just as We Have

They Had Been Told the Good News of How God was Going to Deliver/Rescue Them From Slavery…

And Cause Them to Inherit a New Paradise Land Flowing With Milk and Honey…

Where They Would Experience the Rest that God Provides

We Were Told the Good News of How God is Delivering/Rescuing Us From Slavery…

And Preparing for Us a New Paradise Land

Where We Will Experience the Rest that God Provides

But the Message Didn’t Profit Them Because They Didn’t Believe it

They Didn’t Place Their Faith in God and His Promises, So They Missed Out On God’s Rest

The Gospel Does No Good to Those Who Don’t Believe it

Hebrews 4:3–5 (NASB95)

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”

These Verses Can Be a Little Bit Difficult to Interpret

But I Believe the Main Point the Author is Trying to Make is:

God’s Rest is Still Available for Us to Enter into Today

Those Who Believe Enter (Present Tense) His Rest

Entering God’s Rest Isn’t Just Something that Will Take Place in the Future

It’s Something We Can Enter into By Faith Right Now

This May Be Referring to the Spiritual Rest We Receive…

When We Give Our Lives Over to Jesus

When Becoming a Christian, We Already Begin Experiencing the Rest of God

But We Will Experience the Fullness of His Rest When Jesus Returns

The Rest of God Has Been Available Since the Foundation of the World

God Rested On the 7th Day and He Has Been “Resting” Ever Since

That Doesn’t Mean God Has Been Inactive

But that He Ceased From His Work in Creating the World

Ever Since God Rested On the 7th Day, He Has Opened Up that Rest to Humanity

But, Like the Israelites, So Many Have Failed to Enter it Due to Unbelief

Hebrews 4:6–7 (NASB95)

Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

Entering into God’s Rest Has Been Available By Faith Since Creation

The Israelites in the Wilderness Missed Out On Entering God’s Rest

The People of David’s Day (Psalm 95) Were Encouraged Not to Miss Out On Entering God’s Rest

And the Hebrew’s Author Tells His Audience that the Offer Still Stands

Even Today You Can Enter God’s Rest if You Will Place Your Faith in Him

Hebrews 4:8–10 (NASB95)

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

The Hebrew’s Author Seems to Indicate that Joshua Didn’t Actually Lead the Children of Israel to God’s Rest

But the Book of Joshua Seems to Indicate Otherwise

Joshua 1:13 (NASB95)

“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’

Joshua 23:1 (NASB95)

Now it came about after many days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,

Hebrews 4:8–10 (NASB95)

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

We Know that Israel Experienced a Temporary Rest

But We are Looking for the Perpetual, Eternal, Sabbath Rest of God

A Rest that Begins When a Person Places Their Faith in Christ…

And Comes to its Ultimate Fruition When Jesus Returns

The Sabbath Rest that God Began On the 7th Day…

Was Not a Cessation of Work, But a Completion of His Work

When a Person Enters into the Rest of God, We Enter into the Completion of His Work Through Jesus

We Become a New Creation in Jesus

There is No More Working and Striving to Inherit Salvation

There is Only Faith/Trusting in Jesus

This Teaching Should Have Been Comforting to the Hebrew Christian Audience

The Working, Striving, Sacrificing, and Law-Keeping of the Old Law…

Has Been Replaced By Faith in Jesus

To Enter into God’s Rest Through Faith in Jesus…

Is So Much Greater Than Returning to the Old Covenant