Let us read from Hebrews 4:9-11, “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. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Notice the phrase ‘Sabbath rest’ here. This rest was mentioned first in Genesis 2:2,3: “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” As we look through the Bible and see where the word ‘rest’ is used, we see that the word is not used in the context of a relaxation rather it is used to have the meaning of stopping or ending something. In this reference we see that God has stopped the work that He was doing for the past 6 days and came into a place of rest. God is encouraging us also to come into that place of rest.
In Hebrews, the author speaks about the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. In chapter 3:15 we read “while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”” And in verse 19 we read, “So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” God had promised them the Promised Land but because of unbelief, that generation could not enter the Promised Land. In chapter 4:11 we read that we must be diligent to enter the rest. so that we will not fall through disobedience. Notice how unbelief changed to disobedience. We can miss this rest that God has promised us through disobedience. In chapter 4:1 we read, “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.” There is a promise of rest for us, but there is also a chance for us to miss it. There is a warning in this book of Hebrews that we have to be diligent about.
Let us look at some more verses in the book of Hebrews that are a warning to us. Hebrews is a book that talks about better things of the new Covenant, but this book also holds many warnings for us. Let us look at these warnings as exhortations; that if we miss it, it will be a great loss for us.
In Hebrews 2:1-3 we read, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” The Jews previously heard the word of God through prophets and angels, but now they got the privilege to listen from Jesus. The author of the book of Hebrews emphasizes here how important it is thus, to pay much closer attention to what they had heard.
In Hebrews 10:29 we read another warning, “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” In verse 31 we read, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
In the book of Isaiah we read the New Testament meaning of Sabbath. In Verse 56:13,14 we read, ““If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Sabbath is a stop from doing our own things and seeking our own. It is that kind of rest. Just like the Israelites had a life of complaining and murmuring, God was asking them to put a stop to that and come into a place of rest. In the book of Hebrews we read that the Israelites did not come into a place of rest. So the place of rest didn’t mean the Promised Land; rather it meant that they put a stop to their complaining and murmuring.
Hebrews 12 initially talks about entering into the rest. And then in verse 12 we read about how the word of God is sharper than a 2-edged sword. And then in verse 14,15 we read, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” It seems as though the topics that the author is speaking are different in these verses. But the author is trying to tell us that we need to enter the rest and be careful that we don’t miss it. We also need to be careful because the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a 2-edged sword. Even though it looks very serious and very dangerous to take this path, we have a high-priest who is there to take us there. In Hebrews 10 we read of the new and living way. In verse 22 we read, “let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” In chapter 9:14 we read, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” In the new covenant, God cleanses our conscience so that we can do works of faith. As we enter rest, God will cleanse our conscience so that we can do good works.
In Hebrews 12 we see how the book ends. Let us read these verses as a commandment to our spiritual body. In verse 12,13 we read, “Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” These verses talk about strengthening and encouraging each other. God is calling us to this place of rest and have our hearts and conscience cleansed. And then God is asking us to step out in faith and do good works that please God.
As we end, let us look at Hebrews 5:11-14 as an encouragement for us. “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” We need to practice this listening to the word of righteousness. Let us make every effort to listen to God’s word by reading the Bible and messages by Godly men. If we don’t practice what we hear, there is a danger of being dull of hearing. In Hebrews 6:6 we read, “and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” Let us make every effort that this is not the case for us. Let us practice listening to God attentively every day and to practice it also.
May God bless us all!
