WHAT IS GOD'S REST OF HEBREWS 3 and HEBREWS 4?
HEBREWS 4:1-11
[1], LET US
THEREFORE FEAR, LEST, A PROMISE BEING LEFT US OF ENTERING INTO
HIS REST, ANY OF YOU SHOULD SEEM TO COME SHORT OF IT.
[2], FOR TO US WAS THE GOSPEL PREACHED, AS WELL AS TO THEM: BUT THE WORD PREACHED DID NOT PROFIT THEM, NOT BEING MIXED WITH FAITH IN THEM THAT HEARD IT.
[3], For
WE WHICH HAVE BELIEVED DO ENTER INTO REST, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into
MY REST: ALTHOUGH THE WORKS WERE FINISHED FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.
[4], For he spoke in a certain place of the
SEVENTH DAY on this wise, And God did rest the
SEVENTH DAY from all his works.
5, And in this place again, If they shall enter into
MY REST.
KEY POINTS FROM THE SCRIPTURES OF HEBREWS 4:1-5
- Hebrews 4:6 Some must enter into Gods seventh day Sabbath rest but those who did not believe did not enter into Gods' rest
- Hebrews 4:2 Because unto us was the gospel preached as well us unto them but they did not believe
- Hebrews 4:3 We who believe (present tense) enter into God's rest from the foundation of the world
- Hebrews 4:4 Reference of Hebrews 4:3 is to the Gods' Sabbath rest of the "seventh day" (Genesis 2:1-3)
- Hebrews 4:4-5 God's rest is the seventh day Sabbath of creation that we enter into by faith (Genesis 2:1-3)
NOTE: The context in
Hebrews 4:1-5 is God's Rest from the seventh day Sabbath from the foundation of the world (v4-5) and those who enter Gods rest by and believing and following Gods Word [the gospel] who enter into God's Sabbath rest as God did on the seventh day of the week. The context here defining God’s rest/My rest/His rest is to God’s seventh day Sabbath rest created at the foundation of the world that those who believe or do not believe God's WORD do or do not enter into. The new testament writer of Hebrews is warning us that if we do not believe and follow God's Word (the gospel) and continue in sin and unbelief (
Hebrews 3:10-13; 18-19) we will never enter into God's rest (His Rest/My Rest) which is defined as the "seventh day" Sabbath rest in
Hebrews 4:1-5. There are two rests here. One is to the rest we enter into by believing and following Gods Word which is our rest and the rest we enter into by believing and following God’s Word to God’s rest which is the seventh day Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:3-5 defines God's rest by saying [3], For we which have believed do enter into rest (our rest from or the gospel rest of believing and following God's Word), as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest (God's rest): although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. [4], For he spoke in a certain place of the "
seventh day" on this wise, And God did rest the "
seventh day" from all his works. [5], And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest ("
seventh day").
[6], SEEING THEREFORE IT REMAINS THAT SOME MUST ENTER THEREIN, AND THEY TO WHOM IT WAS FIRST PREACHED ENTERED NOT IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF: [7], AGAIN, HE LIMITS A
CERTAIN DAY, SAYING IN DAVID, TO DAY, AFTER SO LONG A TIME; AS IT IS SAID, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. [8], FOR IF JOSHUA HAD GIVEN THEM REST, THEN WOULD HE NOT AFTERWARD HAVE SPOKEN OF
ANOTHER DAY.
Reference back to what David is saying in reference to “
another day”
Psalms 95:2-11 [2], Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. [3], For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. [4], In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. [5], The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. [6], O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. [7], For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
To day if you will hear his voice, [8],
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: [9],
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. [10],
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
[11],
To whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Note the link back to what Hebrews 3-4 is quoting....
- Psalms 95:2-7 is worshiping the only true creator God of heaven and earth. To day if you hear His voice…. (“This is the another day” in Hebrews 4:7-8 spoken of by David ….. for if Joshua had given them rest – (promised land) David would not have spoken of “another day” saying “To day if you hear His voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the wilderness. Gods’ people were still hardening their hearts in sin and unbelief)
- Psalms 95:8 "Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the wilderness (see Hebrews 3:8)
- Psalms 95:9 "When your fathers tempted me 40 years" (see Hebrews 3:9)
- Psalms 95:10 40 years Gods' people did not know God's ways (Hebrews 3:10)
- Psalms 95:11 Because God's people did not know God's ways they did not enter His rest (Hebrews 3:11)
[9]
SO THEN, IT REMAINS FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO KEEP THE SABBATH. [10], For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his. [11], Let us labor therefore to enter that rest, [God’s REST the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH] lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief [rejecting God’s WORD and sin;
Hebrews 3].
KEY POINTS OF HEBREWS 4:9
Now notice
Hebrews 4, verse 9: “SO THEN, IT REMAINS FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO KEEP THE SABBATH.” In verses 1, 3, 4 and 8, the Greek word for “rest” is katapausin. It means “rest.” But in verse 9, the Greek word for “rest” is sabbatismos, which is a Hebrew word—Sabbat, which means “the Sabbath”—combined with a Greek suffix—ismos, which means “a keeping of” or “a doing of.” Put together, sabbatismo means “a keeping of the Sabbath.” When correctly translated,
Hebrews 4:9 should read, “There remains therefore a keeping of the Sabbath to the people of God.” According to the Greek and scripture contexts of
Hebrews 3:7-19 and
Hebrews 4:1-9,
Hebrews 4:9 is in regards to God’s seventh day Sabbath of the 4th commandment which in the context of
Hebrews 4:1-5 which defines God’s rest/My rest/His rest (
Hebrews 3:11; 18-19;
Hebrews 4:1; 3; 5; 10) as the “seventh day” from the foundation of the world *
Hebrews 4:3-4.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Hebrews 4:9 So then, it remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath.
Lamsa Bible
Hebrews 4:9 It is therefore the duty of the people of God to keep the Sabbath.
For your interest, the Greek word used here for Sabbath is Sabbatismos and means a Sabbath keeping or keeping of the Sabbath or how the Sabbath is kept by resting.
GREEK INTERLINEAR
HEBREWS 4:9 άρα (Then) απολείπεται (there is left) σαββατισμός (
a Sabbath keeping) τω (to the) λαώ (people) του θεού (of God)
Receive Gods correction and be blessed.
Take Care.
