@fatherforgivethem
The discussion where we find the Sabbath text in Hebrews 4 begins back in chapter 3. He is explaining the superiority of Christ, and indicates that He is superior to Moses.
3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Jesus is over the whole household and built the house. He created all and He rules all. Moses is a servant in the house who was faithful. Christ is the Son over the household. And if we Hold on to Him we are a part of God's household.
He then makes an extended appeal to respond to Christ and hold fast to Him. He quotes from Psalm 95, which he is going to use to build his appeal. So we can take a look at what the psalm says.
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
The first part of the Psalm acknowledges God as ruler, Creator, and the Shepherd who cares for His sheep. Then in the middle of verse 7 it makes an appeal to not harden your heart, which is a message the his listeners needed to hear.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 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:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
He recalls the experience in the wilderness when the Children of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt. God brought them through the wilderness to the land prepared for them. However, they frequently doubted, grumbled, turned away from Him, turned to idolatry, etc. They did not hold fast.
The people "err in their heart".
The Psalmist is saying "Today", don't be like those who rebelled back then. Rarther respond with sincere hearts, in faith.
He swore they would not enter His rest. In the book of Numbers we read that God told Moses to send spies into the land that He promised to give them, to see what the land was like. Then they gave a report:
Num 13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 13:2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
Num 13:25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
Num 13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Num 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Num 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
Num 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
They reported the land was a good land. But the people were strong. The people doubted, even though they had seen God deliver them miraculously from the Egyptians. But Caleb, one of the spies, called them to be faithful, and trust the Lord. The people refused.
Num 14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Num 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
Num 14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Num 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Num 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Num 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
Num 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Joshua and Caleb tried to appeal to them to not rebel, that the Lord was able to do all He promised. But they would not listen.
After their repeated rebellion God declared judgment upon that generation.
Num 14:21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
Num 14:22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,
Num 14:23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
Num 14:25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”
Num 14:26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Num 14:27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
Num 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you:
Num 14:29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,
Num 14:30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
Num 14:31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.
Num 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
Num 14:33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.
Num 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’
Num 14:35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”
The entire generation, 20 years or older, who came out of Egypt, and saw the wonders there, who continually rebelled, died in the wilderness over the 40 year span. Only Joshua and Caleb went in to see the land. They did not enter the rest of the promised land, because of doubt and unbelief.
It is with this background in mind that in Hebrews 3:7 the author begins an appeal to those Christians who are in danger of doubting and losing heart:
Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
He is saying that God has a rest for them, if they are faithful and do not turn away. We are to exhort, encourage, each other daily, while it is called "today" so that we do not harden our heart as they did in the wilderness, and fail to receive the rest God has for us. We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the same confidence to the end.
15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Here he summarizes the history of how all those 20 and older who went out, started the journey, but failed to finish, because of rebellion. And the cause of their rebellion was unbelief. They did not hold fast their confidence they started with.
Chapter four continues the argument:
4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
Here he takes the wording of Psalm 95, "today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart" to indicate there is an ongoing rest that we can enter. "Today" God is still calling us to enter His rest, to not harden our hearts through doubt.
2 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. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”
They had an opportunity to trust God. He says the gospel was preached to them, because they had an opportunity to rest totally in Him for salvation, not just physical rest, but ultimate rest.
Even though that generation failed, there is still that rest in the time of Psalm 95. And there is still that rest in the time of the the author of Hebrews.
He says we who have believed DO enter that rest. The rest is in trusting God. They failed due to lack of faith. But we believe and enter in.
Then in the middle of that verse 3 He begins referring to another text, that we looked at earlier, Genesis 2.
Although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 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”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”
So the author points out that God ceased His creative work on the seventh day. God is resting from His creative work, and invites us to that rest.
Now this is where the disagreements usually come about. Is the rest He is inviting the believer to the literal Sabbath rest, or something else?
Well the context has already clarified. But let's look at what else is said.
6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
He is still referring to those who did not enter in back in the wilderness. They did not enter in because of disobedience.
But the possibility of entering the rest still remained in the time of David.
Joshua did not give them rest. Now he did lead them into the promised land, but something more is involved that goes beyond the physical promised land. There is still the spiritual rest of trusting in God and not depending on your own power. Under Joshua they went into the promised land, but then when Joshua died they again doubted and never totally removed the inhabitants they were supposed to.
The "Today" rest continues on, even though the generation with Joshua was now in the past.
God speaks of another day after Joshua. It is the "Today" already mentioned throughout. Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your heart.
And then we come to the contested verse:
9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
The whole context leading up to this makes clear what this rest is. We enter into the "today" rest with God through faith. We do not harden our hearts through lack of faith like those in the wilderness. We start the journey with God, and trust Him to the end. We enter into His rest.
Now it says there "remains" a sabbath rest for the people of God. In a book about fulfillments of the Old Testament types the author explains a Sabbath rest that remains.
Now while I mention the other argument, and have tried to give both sides in some of the other passages, I think the meaning here is clear. The context makes plain this is not the observance of the Sabbath day. Because even the people in the wilderness started doing that after a few false starts. But they did not enter the rest spoken of. Rather, verse 10 tells us the rest:
Heb 4:10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Heb 4:11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
We rest in faith. We don't worry about the giants in the promised land, and fall back. We continue the journey. We rest from our works, as God rested from His.
The purpose of the Sabbath was a sign with Israel. It recalled their Creator, as the command states. It recalled their redemption from Egypt as Deuteronomy 5 states. And it was a sign that God is the one who sanctifies them.
But in Hebrews there is a sabbath rest that remains to enter, TODAY, that you not harden your heart, and that you continue to hold on to faith. That you not turn away as those in the wilderness did, but rest from your own works to trust in the One who started you on the journey.
Php 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
So do not lose heart brother. You are in Christ.
