Hebrews 3 and 4
We now come to the good news of this study on the Sabbath: the “rest” that remains for the believer. There is real gold, so to speak, in these two chapters of Hebrews. These are not easy chapters to read or understand. Therefore to extract the precious “gold” will require concentrated effort on our part. Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who had undergone some persecution and who would be faced with more in the future. It was intended to show the superiority of Christianity over Judaism. Or, to put it in other words, these chapters show how much better the new covenant is than the old. Notice how this theme of “betterness” is central to this book.
- Jesus is a better revelation of truth (Heb. 1:1–3)
- Jesus is better than the angels (Heb. 1:3–14)
- Jesus is better than Moses (Heb. 3:1–6)
- Jesus is better than Aaron (Heb. 5)
- Jesus is a better high priest (Heb. 6, 7)
- The new covenant has a better law (Heb. 7:12)
- The new covenant is a better covenant (Heb. 8:6)
- The new covenant has better promises (Heb. 8:6)
- The new covenant has a greater temple (Heb. 9:11)
- The new covenant has better sacrifices (Heb. 9:23)
- The new covenant has a better possession (Heb. 10:34)
- The new covenant has a better country (Heb. 11:16)
- The new covenant has a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35)
- The new covenant has something better (Heb. 11:40)
- The new covenant has better blood (Heb. 12:24)
- The new covenant has better atonement (Heb. 10:1–5)
In this list from Hebrews we have left out the last part of Chapter 3 and all of Chapter 4. Here our author argues that the new covenant has a better Sabbath. We will study one or two verses at a time, extract the facts from these verses and summarize what is taught. We will consider the concept of rest within the context of the whole book of Hebrews. Then we will simply review the summaries, and the meaning will become clear.
In the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews the writer shows how Jesus is greater than Moses. He demonstrates this by showing that Moses, as a servant, did not give his household (Israel) “God’s rest.” Then he proves that Christ, as a faithful Son over His household (the church), does give “God’s rest.” It is important to note that the author of Hebrews is drawing upon Psalm 95 for his support. Follow closely as he works out this truth.
Now Moses was faithful in all His house [Israel] as a servant (Heb. 3:5).
Christ was faithful as a Son over His house [the church] whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end (Heb. 3:6).
Israel, the household of Moses, lost faith because the people hardened their hearts (Heb. 3:8). Here we know that our author is referring to the experience recorded in Exodus 17:7 where Israel put the Lord to the test. We know this because the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95, which in turn mentions “Meribath and Massah” by name. Because of the unbelief demonstrated at Meribath and Massah, Israel was left to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Heb. 3:9). “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest” (Heb. 3:11). Then our author brings a timely warning to his readers,
But take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end (Heb. 3:12–14). Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Heb. 3:15). And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief (Heb. 3:18,19).
So far we can extract five important facts from these words. (1) As Israel lost faith on the very borders of the promised land, so the Church needs to be certain that it not lose faith. (2) Israel (those who tested God as recorded in Ex. 17:7) did not enter God’s rest. (3) They did not enter God’s rest because of unbelief. (4) Emphasis is placed on “today” as the day of decision. (5) “Today” is an extended period of time: “as long as it is called today.”
Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it (Heb. 4:1).
The author clearly states that there remains a promise of entering God’s rest. Notice carefully in the next few verses how one enters God’s rest!
For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest; just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world (Heb. 4:2,3).
Here we find three more facts which need to be underlined in our thinking. (1) The rest of God has to do with the “good news.” (2) We enter the rest of God by believing. (3) This “rest” is in some way related to the finished work of creation.
For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest” (Heb. 4:4, 5).
Here, as if to add emphasis, our author repeats two important points: (1) The “rest” is related to the seventh-day creation rest. (2) This “rest” Israel did not experience.
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before. “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 4:7).
Here the author of Hebrews shows that Israel, in the time of David, had not yet entered God’s rest. Then he quotes Psalm 95:7, stressing the idea that “Today” we are not to harden our hearts. He drives this point home.
For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that (Heb. 4:8).
While it is obvious that if Israel had not yet entered God’s rest by the time of David, certainly they could not have entered it in the days of Joshua, as Joshua lived long before David. Nevertheless it is of interest to note what is said about Joshua and rest. Our author states forthrightly that Joshua did not give Israel “rest.” But did he? Notice carefully these verses taken from the book of Joshua.
And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; for the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass (Josh. 21:43–45).
Here, on one hand, the writer of Hebrews states forth-rightly that Joshua did not give Israel rest and Israel had not yet even entered God’s rest in the time of David, yet on the other hand, Joshua states that the Lord did give Israel rest. We will see that this is not a contradiction because they are speaking of two different types of rest.
First, our author states that the Israelites who rebelled and lost faith did not enter God’s rest (Heb. 3:11). But these were the very people to whom God gave the seventh-day Sabbath. These people were present at the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai. These were the very people who participated in the wilderness tabernacle services. Without question we know that they were given the seventh-day Sabbath rest of Sinai. But notice that Hebrews states these Sabbath-keeping Israelites did not enter “God’s rest.” Here we see that our author is definitely referring to a type of “rest” other than the seventh-day Sabbath rest of Sinai.
Second, the author says that Joshua did not give the people “rest.” Here he is referring to a different group of people—not the ones who rebelled at Massah and Meribath, because they died in the wilderness. The people Joshua brought into the land of Canaan were the children of those who died in the wilderness.
For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. And their children whom He raised up in their place…(Josh. 5:6,7).
In this quotation from Joshua we see that the oath of God regarding the Israelites who did not listen to the voice of God had to do with their entering the promised land. And Joshua, in the quotation listed above, states that God did give them (the children of those who rebelled) “rest on every side” and “all the promises of God came to pass.” In other words, the “rest” which Joshua gave Israel was rest from their enemies.
Therefore, the “rest of God” mentioned in Hebrews cannot be rest from enemies. This is why David, many years later, could say, “Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts” (Ps. 95:7).
Summarizing the above evidence leads to three more facts. (1) Israel, at the time of Joshua, did not enter “God’s rest.” (2) The “rest” the author is encouraging his readers to enter into is not the “rest” from their enemies. (3) Israel had not yet entered into God’s rest in the time of David.
Now that we have seen what the author of Hebrews is not referring to when he speaks of “God’s rest,” we now turn our attention to what he does mean by “God’s rest.”
There remains therefore 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. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience (Heb. 4:9 –11).
Here we have several more facts. (1) This rest is called a “Sabbath rest.” The Greek word used here for “Sabbath rest” is σαββατισμὸς This is the only place in Scripture where this word is used and it is the first known use of this word anywhere. Therefore, I believe the writer of Hebrews coined this word because he wanted to convey a unique meaning. (2) We are told this promise of “Sabbath rest” remains for the people of God. (3) The one who has entered this rest has also rested (ceased) from his works. (4) “Has rested” in Greek is in the aorist tense, which means that this action happened in an instant and took place at some point of time in the past. (5) This “rest” from “works” is to be of the same nature as God’s seventh-day creation rest when he ceased from the work of creation. (6) We are to be diligent to enter “that rest.” Now let us simply line up all these scriptural facts and see what conclusions we find.
- The church is encouraged not to lose faith.
- The Israelites who were alive in the experience recorded in Exodus 17:7 did not enter into the “rest of God” but they did receive and keep the seventh-day Sabbath of Sinai.
- Israel did not enter into “rest” because of unbelief.
- The author places much stress on “today” as the day of decision.
- “Today” is an ongoing period of time: “as long as it is called today.”
- The “rest of God” is associated with the “good news.”
- We enter the “rest of God” by believing.
- This “rest of God” is associated with God’s finished, seventh-day creation rest when God ceased his work of creation.
- Israel, at the time of Joshua, did not enter “God’s rest” but they did enter the promised land and experience “rest” from their enemies and had the seventh-day Sabbath rest of Sinai.
- Israel, at the time of David, had not yet entered “God’s rest.”
- This “rest of God” is called a “Sabbath rest”—a unique rendering of the word.
- The promise of entering “God’s rest” remains.
- Those who enter “God’s rest” have rested (ceased) from their works as God did from His.
- Those who have rested from their work did so in a point of time in the past.
Conclusions:
“God’s Rest” is not the Seventh day Sabbath
This “rest” cannot be the seventh-day Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment for five reasons:
First, the Israelites who disbelieved, as mentioned in Exodus 17:7, were the same people to whom God gave the Sabbath as recorded in Exodus 16 (the giving of the manna). They were the same people to whom God gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai (Ex. 20). They were the same people who kept the seventh-day Sabbath, and the other sabbaths included in the “appointed times of the Lord” (Lev. 23). The author of Hebrews states three times that these people did not enter the rest of God to which he is referring (Heb. 3:11,18,19).
Second, the next generation of Israelites who were not included in the oath of God which stated “They shall not enter My rest” (Heb. 3:11) according to the author of Hebrews, also did not enter into the rest of God to which he was referring. Nor had Israel entered God’s rest in the time of David (Heb. 4:7,8), but all of these groups had the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.
Third, the concept of “believing” is never associated with keeping the seventh-day Sabbath in the old covenant. Rather, the way an Israelite entered into the Sabbath rest of the Fourth Commandment was by complete physical rest, not doing any work, not carrying a load, not building a fire, not going out of one’s place, not buying or selling, and not cooking. However, the writer of Hebrews states “For we who have believed enter that rest” (Heb. 4:3).
Fourth, those who rested from their works on the seventh-day Sabbath were required to repeat their Sabbath rest every seven days. The writer of Hebrews, however, by using the Greek aorist tense in connection with “has rested,” shows that the believer who rests from his works did so at one point of time in the past.
Fifth, the author of Hebrews states that the promise of entering God’s rest is good “today” and shows that “today” is an extended period of time: “as long as it is called today.” This “today” is not every seventh day.
“God’s Rest” is the “rest of grace”
The “rest of God,” referred to in Hebrews 3 and 4, must refer to the “rest of grace” which is characterized by a renewed relation- ship between man and God because of the following ten important reasons.
First, this rest of God is associated with the “good news”—the gospel of Christ. (Heb. 4:2,6).
Second, one enters this “rest” by believing (Heb. 4:3).
Third, the one who “has himself also rested from his works” did that resting at a point in past time. This must refer to the point of salvation when a person believes in Christ and quits trying to be acceptable to God on the basis of his own “works” and “rests” in God’s grace!
Fourth, this “rest” is associated, not with the rest of Sinai, but with the seventh-day rest of creation. The creation rest of God was a cessation of activity. This is the true “Sabbath rest” which the blind beggar experienced in John 9. He had been called, healed, washed, forgiven and found by the Creator and was worshipping in His very presence while the Pharisees who were keeping the Sabbath rest of the Fourth Commandment rejected the Messiah.
Fifth, the writer of Hebrews characterizes this rest as a “Sabbath rest” by using a word which is unique to Scripture. I believe he did this to give it special meaning just as we do when we put quotation marks around a word as I have done with the term “God’s rest.” As pointed out above, the author is showing how much better the new covenant is than the old. I believe the truth he is conveying is that the “Sabbath” (σαββατισμὸς) of the new covenant is better than the Sabbath (σαββάτων) of the old covenant.
Sixth, the writer of Hebrews is showing that this “Sabbath” rest of the new covenant is even better than the “rest” God gave Israel when they conquered Canaan and it is also better than the rest Israel experienced under their hero, King David.
Seventh, Hebrews was written for the purpose of encouraging Hebrew Christians to remain faithful and not fall back under old covenant law and worship. Near the end of this book it is written:
For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to them. [This is a graphic description of the giving of the Ten Commandments. See Ex. 19:16–25; 20:18.] But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 12:18–24).
Eighth, in the old covenant the “rest” was experienced once each seventh day. The writer of Hebrews stresses the word “today” on several occasions. In the new covenant, one can enter into God’s rest “today.” He does not have to wait until the end of the week. In Hebrews 13 we have a beautiful definition of new covenant worship:
Through Him [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb. 13: 15,16).
The new covenant believer is to rejoice in God’s rest continually.
Ninth, both the promise of rest and the rest itself remain. This rest does not end. Just as the phrase, “and there was evening and there was morning, a seventh day,” was omitted in the record of that Eden rest, the new covenant rest remains for the people of God. I praise God for the better “Sabbath rest”—the rest of God’s gracious, intimate fellowship which remains for the one who has believed and has ceased trying to be righteous by his own works!
Tenth, we see the larger picture of “God’s rest” in the context of the whole book of Hebrews when we consider the author’s stress on the finished work of God at creation (Heb. 4:3) and Christ’s finished work of redemption.
Considering the context of this whole book, one must conclude that the Christian is not to look to Sinai for law or leadership. Jesus is better than Moses. The Christian is not to look to Sinai for priesthood. The priesthood of Jesus is far superior to that of Aaron. The believer is not to look to Sinai for forgiveness of sin. Jesus forgives our sin, which the blood of animals could not do. And the Christian is not to look to Sinai for God’s rest. Jesus brings a better “Sabbath rest”—the rest of His grace, which has its foundation in the finished atonement of Christ and resembles the rest of God when He finished creation.
Matthew 11:28–30
Come unto Me, all you 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 shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.
These words are found just before the incident of Jesus walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath. They are, by context and theme, closely associated with the topic of Sabbath. Jesus and His disciples are living in the reality of Jubilee. Like Adam and Eve in Eden, they are gathering their food direct from nature.
Jesus is inviting the weary and heavy laden to come to Him for true rest. Jesus is the center of rest for Christians. It is only “in Him” that we can be free from the burden of sin and the weary impossibility of trying by our own works to be acceptable to God. The rest that Jesus offers is not the rest of the Fourth Command- ment of Sinai, rather it is rest for the soul. It is restored fellowship with the Creator of the universe! His invitation is not limited to the people who were to keep the Sinai Sabbath—the sons of Israel—but to “all you who are weary and heavy laden.” The new covenant gospel trumpet sounds to all nations: “Whoever believes in Him” will not perish (Jn. 3:16). Whoever comes will not be disappointed. All who receive Him receive the right to sonship in the restored family of God (Jn. 1:12).
What is the “yoke” Jesus asks us to take? First, we note it is His yoke. It is not the yoke of Moses, but the yoke of Jesus. Second, we see that Scripture often uses the word “yoke” for the old covenant law. In the Jerusalem Council there were those gathered who wanted to require Gentile Christians to keep the “Law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). Peter, in responding to these legalistic believers said,
Now therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:10).
Here, without question, “yoke” refers to the old covenant. Further, this yoke is implied to be a heavy yoke, which neither the Jews of New Testament times nor their ancestors were able to bear.
In Galatians 4, Paul gives the allegory of the two women which ends with “cast out the bondwoman.” As we studied before, this can, in context, mean nothing else than cast out the old covenant and those who try to get Christians to keep it. In Galatians 5:1 we read,
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
With this usage of yoke in mind, let us return to Christ’s words: “Take my yoke upon you.” Here He is saying, “Take my law of love upon you.” Note how the context supports this interpretation, “and learn from Me.” Jesus, as we saw before, is the new covenant. He is the way, the truth and the life. In the new covenant we are not pointed back to Sinai, but, like Mary, we are to sit at His feet and learn from Him. As the experience on the mount of trans- figuration teaches, we are to see no one but Jesus only. While Sinai was associated with violent shaking, darkness, gloom, and fear, the new covenant, Jesus Himself, is “gentle and humble in heart.” While old covenant Israel experienced only the rest of the fourth commandmentphysical restthose who come to Jesus find true rest of soul. While the old covenant, according to Peter, was so heavy that no one in the Jewish nation, fathers or sons, was able to bear it, the new covenant law of Jesus is “easy.” His commandment is light.
So in the context of the Jews desperately trying to keep the letter of the Sinaitic Sabbath laws, condemning the very people who were following the One who was restoring Eden’s rest, we find Jesus offering the true “Sabbath rest.”
We now are able to summarize the various facets of biblical “rest.” First, there is the rest of Eden’s seventh day; a day when all was in perfect harmony when man and His God held face to face communion.
Second, there is the Sabbath rest of the Fourth Commandment. Israel was commanded to rest and behave very much like Adam and Eve did living in Eden’s garden. It served to help Israel to remember from where they had fallen and also pointed them forward through the other sabbatical rests to the coming Jubilee which was fulfilled in Christ.
Third, God, through the leadership of Joshua, for a short time gave the people of Israel rest from their enemies.
Fourth, Christ gives the believer true rest of soul. The believer is now justified, at peace with God, filled with the Holy Spirit and is a new creation. This is the better “Sabbath rest” for the Christian. The writer of Hebrews shows that this “rest of God” is of the same nature as the rest of Eden’s seventh day.
Fifth, in the age to come, we will be delivered from the presence of sin and then we will fully enjoy the perfect Eden rest again.
Jesus is the true rest—the rest which remains for the one who believes! Accept Him as your rest today!
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