יּקנרק'ד

Hebrews Chapter 4  Verses 3-11 

:3 “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest:”  The phrase, “As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest…” is a reference to Psalms 95:8 “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”  When the children of Israel provoked the Lord with their unbelief and turning back in their hearts to go back to Egypt, the Lord sentenced them to die in the wilderness that were 20 years of age or older at the time.  They were not allowed to enter into the land of rest (Canaan land).  In contrast, those who believed (Caleb and Joshua) were allowed to enter into that rest and partake of the blessings of that land.  

“For we which have believed do enter into rest…”  Paul brings his argument into the present time.  Here we ask ourselves, “We which have believed what?”  The answer is the gospel.  The word, “gospel,” means “good news.”  The children of Israel in Egypt and then in the wilderness had a gospel preached unto them and that was the promise of the land of Canaan as a land of rest.  Because of their unbelief many were not allowed to enter into that land.  The good news we have today is that Christ died to redeem us from our sins by the grace of God.  We who believe that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness have ceased from our works of trying to get right with God and rest in the finished work of Christ.  Those who still hold that they must do something to get right with God have not ceased from their own works and consequently do not enter into the rest that God has provided for them.   

“Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”  This is a reference to the work of creation when God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day.  God rested after the work was finished: “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.”  Paul is setting the stage to show the nature of the rest that is available to the children of God.  It is a rest in a finished work.  God worked in creation for six days and rested on the seventh.  In the scriptures, the number seven indicates completion.  The word Sabbath has a double meaning: it means completion, and it means rest, thus we are to rest in Christ’s completed work. 

“And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:” Paul is setting forth to us a principle that though the children of Israel had not entered into the provided rest that there still is a rest for God’s children to enter into.  It is entered into through belief and not in unbelief. 

“Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” 

Paul references us back to the 95^th Psalm.  The rest to the people of God was not fulfilled with Joshua and the children of Israel possessing the land of Canaan.  This was only a type of a greater rest.  The true rest for the people of God was to come later.  Paul was pointing out that the promise in Psalms 95 was much later in time than what took place with Joshua and the children of Israel coming to possess the land of Canaan.  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  This rest or Sabbath is as we previously pointed out a rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ who through his sufferings and death delivered us from the wrath of God because of our sins.  This is the rest that we possess today.   

“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”  God rested after he had finished the work of creation.  Today, we should cease from our own works of trying to get right with God and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ through which we have been made righteous before God.   

“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”  This labour is a labor in our understanding of what Christ has accomplished for us.  So long as a person believes that he is saved by grace but must do something in order to make it effective for him, he has not entered into the rest that God has provided for him.  Only when he comes to understand that salvation from sin is by grace alone and not by anything that he has done will he rest in the finished work of Christ.