The Jewish Sabbath serves as a type of the ultimate rest available to the Christian. This truth is made evident by the Hebrew writer in the fourth chapter of that letter. In verse 4, the reference is to Genesis 2:2, “For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.’”
That “rest”, and the fact that the disobedience of God’s people led them to lose out on the promise of rest in the promised land (cf. vs. 6), leads to an object lesson for Christians today.
Consider the expressed reason why God said to them, “They shall not enter My rest” (cf. Psalm 95:11). The text states, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (vs. 2). Also, note verse 6, “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.”
The two statements remind us of James’ words about the interaction between faith and obedience. “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).
Consider the parallels upon which the Hebrew writer offers his admonition to the Christians which make up his readers. The Israelites were the chosen people of God. Today, the Christian is “chosen”, called by the gospel. The Israelites were given a promise of rest, in a land to be given them by God. Our text refers to a rest, yet future, to be realized by God’s people. “For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (vs. 8-9).
Finally, and of the greatest practical importance, a generation of Israelites missed out on that rest because of disobedience. In comparison, note verse 11, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
Theologically, Hebrews 4 invalidates two prevalent views held by religious people today. The first is identified by the phrase “once saved always saved.” Hebrews was written to Christians, people who had been saved. However, verse 11 indicates that a Christian can fall (forfeit his standing with God), because of disobedience.
The second is the idea that God leaves us to our own devices, to serve Him in any way that personally suits us. The Israelites were disobedient to God’s command to enter the land. God had expressed His will to them, and they did not obey His will. As a result, an entire generation fell in the wilderness (cf. Numbers 14:22-23).
In the same way, we are bound to do the will of God, expressed by Him in His holy scriptures. It requires diligence on our part, “lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (vs. 11). “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (vs. 12-13).
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