Hebrews 3:7-4:13, Part 2: The Rest of God
Moses' work is compared with Jesus' work. Jesus is greater because he actually brings us into our rest, whereas Moses was unable to do so. This passage reinforces the last section of Chapter 3, again stating that our benefit in Christ is dependent on our faith and obedience to the word of God. The Bible is lauded as the decided factor in our entrance into God's rest. My notes follow the video of our teaching.
A. Rest: cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. Two senses: Mental/Spiritual and Physical.
B. The original plan: Creation rest with God Both!
1. Gen 2:2-3.
2. Unlike other creation days, the Seventh-day rest is not bounded by an evening and morning. It was meant to be eternal.
3. Man shared in the rest of God (Ge 3:8)
4. Work was apart of the plan, but not toil
a. Gen 1:26-18 vs Gen 3:17-19
b. The dominion of the garden could still be considered “restful” because it was not “toilsome.”
5. Man’s sin ruined the creation rest.
a. Man now works and toils (3:17-19)
b. God had to “get back to work” in saving mankind (John 5:17)
C. The Sabbath rest was instituted as a reminder to mankind that there was an original plan, and that God would again bring a rest to his people (Physical rest only)
1. Exodus 20:8-11
2. In fact, the H. word “Sabbath” actually means “rest.” Translated that way 17 times in the OT.
3. That’s why it is such a huge deal not to violate the Sabbath. You are ruining the picture of the promise of God’s salvation yet to come. Treating his covenant as unholy.
D. The Second rest: Rest of Canaan (Physical rest only).
1. God promised to bring his people into a land in which they could have rest. Ex3:7-9; Deut 12:9
2. Because of sin, both of the people and of Moses, only two who left Egypt were allowed into the “rest” of Canaan. ( Psalm 95:11; More on this next week)
3. There was some realization of the rest of God under Solomon’s reign ( 1 Chr 22:9; 1 Kings 8:56)
4. This rest is incomplete, once again because of the people’s sin, and was cut off by deportation.
1. Prophesied in Isaiah: Isaiah 11:10. His rest shall be glorious
2. Resting in Messiah provides more strength than our efforts: Isa 30:15-17
3. Jesus completed the work of redemption on the cross (Jn 19:30)
4. Jesus enters into a new season of rest, having finished the work (Eph 2:6; Col 3:1)
5. Jesus declared his rest to us and invites us to join him in it: Matt 11:25-30
6. Realized fully in heaven: Rev 6:11; 14:12-13
F. Tied to Obedience of the Word of God:
1. Isa 30:8-18:
a. Rebellious children who do not want to hear the word of the Lord.
b. Speak to us smooth things (2Tim4:3)
c. Turn aside
d. Hear no more of God
e. Destruction comes.
f. Rest is restored as part of repentance and obedience (vs 15)
g. God will bring destruction because they won’t rest and obey (vs 15-17)
h. But He wants to save! (vs 18)
i. Rest and obey his word.
2. Jer 6:13-21
a. Corruption characterizes the people (vs 1-15) and destruction has been decreed.
b. Obedience and rest go together (vs 16)
c. They will not obey and rest, so God will judge (vs 17-21)
3. Rev 14:9-13
a. Vs 9-11: Judgment for those who do not obey the word of God.
b. Those who obey have rest (vs 12-13)
G. Our Text: Heb 4:1-13
1. “Rest” or a pronoun referring to it occurs 12 times in this passage.
2. Two words used for “rest”:
1. κατάπαυσις katapausis: “Bring down” and “Pause” or “Cease” The idea here is that the cessation is brought upon something that was previously in motion or action. The thing moving doesn’t necessarily stop on its own. A cessation is brought down upon it. “To give rest” is positive. “To restrain” negative.
2. σαββατισμός sabbatismos: Which combines the normal word for Sabbath (Sabbaton) with a unique suffix that is believed by most to lend a sense of “keeping the Sabbath.” Used only once in the NT and never (that we can find) outside of scripture in Koine Greek literature of the period.
3. Start in 3:16.
a. Following Jesus from a distance is not the same as obedience
b. Those who left Egypt followed the cloud, which is Christ, but they did not “know his ways”.
c. Disobedience and unbelief preclude rest:
1. Gen 3:23-24
2. Psalm 78:22; 106:19-27
4. Vs 1
a. The rest still stands open. Rest of creation is no longer unavailable. In fact, it has been made even greater with the promise of eternity with God.
b. “Seem to have failed to reach it.”
1. Promise unattained.
2. The saved will reach the rest. Don’t live like those who will not. We are the people who will rest. Live like it.
5. Vs 2-3
a. Those who heard were not “mixed with faith by listening”
b. Good news was preached to them through Moses, but they did not believe. They did not have saving faith.
c. We who believe will achieve the rest.
6. Vs 4-5: Recap of what we know about the Sabbath. It was a weekly picture of the promise to come.
7. Vs 6-7
a. The rest of God in Messiah is a restored creation rest. It is open to all, but don’t delay!
b. Today is the day of Salvation. Don’t let it pass you by.
c. Numbers 14:39-45. Day late.
a. “If JOSHUA” not “If Jesus” (KJV). Same name.
b. Joshua’s rest was not the full rest of God. Only a rest in the land, not for their souls.
c. Sabbath rest again reinforced as the picture or type of Messiah’s restoration of the rest of God and man.
d. “The promise of entering now into this rest means ceasing from the spiritual strivings that reflect uncertainty about one’s final destiny; it means enjoyment of being established in the presence of God, to share in the everlasting joy that god entered when he rested on the seventh day” --ESV Notes
9. Vs 10:
a. When God saves us truly, and we enter His rest, there are no more works needed to achieve that rest.
b. Our works of striving to attain rest stop when we are saved. We are in His rest.
c. Eph 2:8-9,
d. Gal 2:16
e. Rom 3:20, 28
10. Verse 11:
a. Strive to enter rest.
1. σπουδάζω spoudazō: To do quickly, to do one’s best, to be eager, diligent.
a. Occurs 11 times, usually having to do with the quality of work performed, not the travail in doing it.
b. Aorist Subjunctive: A conditional sense of a completed action. You will ______l, if this has happened.
2. Examples:
a. Fight a war before you enjoy peace.
b. Work out before the relaxing shower
c. Pay the bills before buying the fun things.
d. “We will have peace, even if we must kill for it.”
3. In this case, our good effort, our best work, is belief and obedience, in the context of this passage. Having believed (punctiliar aorist), we will be able to enter the rest of God (Subjunctive).
b. Second half of the verse clarifies the meaning of the first. The striving is to believe, not to perform good works.
11. Verse 12-13:
a. Faith is only as good as the object in which it is invested.
b. Believe what the word of God says.
c. The Bible is:
1. Not dead or in the past, living and active.
a. 1 Pet 1:22-23
b. 1 Thes 2:13
2. Two-edged sword (Eph 6:17; Rev 1:16; 2:12; 19:21)
a. Divides between closely allied substances.
b. It is the belief in the word of God which will separate those who are following without belief from those who are (Matt 25:31-46)
d. The word of God is a personification of God himself (vs 13). God is manifested in his word (Jn 1:1ff).
e. You cannot hide your unbelief from God. You will be laid bare on judgment day.
1. Jer 23:29
2. 2Chr 16:9
f. “God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.” --C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
