Our society wants more: Much of our society is focused on doing more – getting more – fast food chains and becoming more – Join the Army be all you can be, there is nothing wrong with any of this but are we losing sight of something important?
A study in the 70’s based on the evolution of computers and technology said, that based on that, the average work week would be shortened and there would be more time for family.
But 30 years later new studies shows that the amount of free time has shrunk, the work week has actually increased, we seem to have lost something very important – perhaps we need to put rest back into our lives
In Heb 4:1-8 God promised rest to the people of Israel, but they failed to enter that rest because of disobedience stemming from unbelief.
God has promised a rest for His people today—peace amid the trials of life, and peace in the face of seeming impossible problems.
In Heb. 6:1 we’re told that his “life of rest” is experienced by “going on to maturity” and by knowing “the full assurance of hope” in 6:11; and by “inheriting the promises” in 6:12.
Let’s keep in mind that the readers were Jewish Believers of the first Century who were going through a time of testing (10:32-39; 12:3-14; 13:13) and were tempted, just as Israel was when they came out of Egypt in the wilderness, to “go back” to the old life. God promised them rest and peace if they would walk where He led, yet they were in danger of falling short of it. God had given them His Word, but they would not “mix it with faith” as Heb 4:2 tells us.
They failed to apply faith and obedience to His Word in their lives. Having the Promises but not believing the Word is a problem we all face today.
The writer’s argument runs like this: God has promised a rest to His people (v. 1), but Israel failed to enter that rest (4:6). His promise still stands because Joshua (v. 8) did not give them this spiritual rest when they came to the Promised Land.
Josh. 23:1-13 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their leaders, judges, and officers; and they presented themselves before God.
Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.
To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. But when they cried out to the LORD, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time. Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land when I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand. You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus I gave them into your hand. Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
Joshua reminded them that God did it all. He gave them the land of rest but staying in that rest requires faith and obedience.
If Joshua had brought rest in the land, then David would never have spoken about the rest that the writer of Hebrews is speaking of when he quotes David’s words in Ps. 95:“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” v. 9.
The author here relates this rest to God’s Sabbath rest (vv. 4, 10); that is, it is a rest of satisfaction, not a rest after exhaustion.
God was not tired after creating the worlds; the “rest” of Gen. 2 speaks of completion and satisfaction. What is being described is a “Sabbath of the soul.” This is the “rest of faith” that Jesus promises in Matt. 11:28-30.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The “rest” of Matt. 11:28 is a rest that can be ours if we will come to Yeshua and His Word. It is experienced when we believe and obey His Word, by faith.
This rest that Yeshua was speaking of is what we find day by day if we take His yoke and surrender our will to do His.
God’s warning, “Let us therefore fear” (v. 1) is for those who have failed to enter this life of rest. Ironically, this rest involves work
II. Let Us Therefore Labor (4:9-12)
“Labor” here means “to be diligent”—let us be disciplined to enter into this rest. To “give diligence” is just the opposite of “drifting” that the writer of Hebrews spoke of in (2:1-3).
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. {2} For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, {3} how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
Nobody ever matured in their spiritual life by being careless or lazy. We read this in 2 Peter 1:4-12
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
Here we are exhorted to be diligent. If we’re not diligent, we’ll repeat the failure of Israel and not enter the promised rest and inheritance, which is the joy of the abundant life of faith.
What is the secret of entering into this rest? It’s The Word of God. (Hebrews 4:12) For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 is the answer to every spiritual condition; if we allow the Word to judge us and expose our hearts, then we will not fail to inherit the blessings of God’s peace and rest.
Israel rebelled at God’s Word and His commands and so could not “hear His voice” (Ps. 95); therefore, they wandered in defeat for forty years.
God’s Word is a sword (Rev. 1:16; 2:12-16; 19:13; Eph. 6:17). It pierces the heart. When we are unwilling to study and obey God’s Word we will fail to experience the rest that God has for us.
Let Us Hold Fast Our Profession (4:14)
Verse 14 doesn’t say, “Let us hold fast our salvation.” but rather “confession”. “Confession” has to do with the believer’s testimony of faith in Messiah, and faithfulness to live for Messiah.
Our fathers who were led by the Lord in the wilderness lost their confession even though they were still under the cloud and redeemed from Egypt.
They were a poor testimony of the power of God to deliver and care for His people. God brought them out, but they would not trust Him to bring them in! Their unbelief and rebellion robbed them of God’s blessing.
This explains why these Jewish readers are reminded of the great “giants of faith” named in chapter 11. All these people faced difficulties and trials, yet they overcame them and maintained a good confession.
Hebrews 11:13 states that all these people “confessed” (same word as 4:14) that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Before he was taken to heaven, Enoch had a good testimony (11:5). At the end of the chapter 11, the writer sums it all up by saying, “And these all, having obtained a good report [witness]” (11:39).
Where there is faith, there is a good testimony/fruit (11:2); where there is unbelief, there is no testimony and little or no fruit.
Where does faith come from? “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17, NKJV). Israel in the OT would not hear the Word, and therefore these people had little or no faith.
“Today, when you hear His voice…‘‘ is the warning repeated in 3:7, 15, and 4:7. Believers who hear and heed the Word of God will maintain good confessions and thus not lose their testimony before the world.
It’s been said the hardest place to score a touchdown is from the goal line. You’re almost there. But there is something about crossing over that makes those last few yards the most difficult.
Israel failed at the goal line, and it prevented them from entering God’s rest. Verse 1: “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.”
The key problem: God had openly offered rest for Israel, but they rejected it, because they would not enter into the rest of God, abiding in and obeying Messiah and God’s Word.
The writer is stating that all believers need this rest but far too many don’t enter God’s rest. This failure comes when we don’t accept God’s promises and lack God’s fruit in our lives.
To experience God’s rest takes:
a. A willing spirit
b. An open mind
c. A courageous heart
How can we have rest with God? Rest is available: God still gives rest to those who want it. He wants us to find that which is a benefit to our souls, all that is needed is to is hear, obey and abide.
Rest is crucial: We are raised and daily told to be our own person, But we learn here we see that God’s rest flows from a deep relationship with Him, to lean on God for strength and support
Three keys to resting in God:
Personal faith: We must believe in God before we can receive His rest, Immediate action: responding to God’s Word when He calls.
And finally Courage to do as God wants us to do.
Asking God that His will be done in your life, on earth as it is in heaven.
