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God will give us rest

I don’t want to fall short. I have received the good news. I have received a promise from Jesus that I will enter His rest. I have to opt in for the rest benefit. It is mine today. Today is the day. Now that is some very good news.

Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short. For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith. For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said,

      So I swore in my anger,

      “They will not enter my rest,”

even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works. Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest. Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, he again specifies a certain day—today. He specified this speaking through David after such a long time:

      Today, if you hear his voice,

      do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. | Hebrews 4:1-8

Believers today may enter and enjoy their spiritual inheritance in Jesus the Messiah. We must be careful lest we fail to believe God’s Word, for it is only as the Word is “mixed with faith” that it can accomplish its purposes.

The argument in this section is given in several propositions:

  • God finished His work and rested, so that His rest has been available since Creation.
  • The Jews failed to enter into their rest.
  • Many years later, God said that a rest was still available.

That “today” is still here! This means that Joshua did not lead Israel into the true rest, because a rest still remains.

The Canaan rest for Israel is a picture of the spiritual rest we find in Jesus when we surrender to Him. When we come to the Messiah by faith, we find salvation rest. When we yield and learn of Him and obey Him by faith, we enjoy submission rest.

The first is “peace with God”. How cool is that. I have peace with God and I can rest. The second is the “peace of God”. I don’t understand it but I get it nonetheless.

It is by believing that we enter into rest; it is by obeying God by faith and surrendering to His will that the rest enters into us.

Sources:

Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Heb 4:1–16). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 289). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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