The writer to the Hebrews compares the statement "God rested on the seventh day from all his work" with the passage where God says of the unfaithful, "I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest". The Hebrew writer makes the point that the promise of entering God’s rest still remains to be fulfilled, and the faithful have the assurance of entering into that rest.
2. A Rest for God’s People . After God created the world, he rested, indicating that beyond our life in this world we can look forward to a rest with God in heaven. One people rejected that rest, and God swore in his wrath that they would not enter it. Yet he had made it clear that some people would enter it. So a rest remains for the people of God. It is our Sabbath, and the Day of entering it is coming. We have this hope as an anchor of the soul.
Heb 3:7-19, Heb 4:1-13, Heb 6:13-19, see Heb 11:13-16, Heb 13:14
The Earthly Rest
Heb 3:7-19, 4:1-13
The Hebrew writer places side by side, three passages of scripture to do with God’s rest.
Gen 2:2 ~ The symbolic rest of God after he created the earth. "God rested on the seventh day from all his work" . This occurred right back at the beginning of creation. God created the world in six days. His rest on the seventh day was not because he was weary, but rather to indicate that this world is not all there is to life. There’s a rest, a peaceful and abundant land, beyond life in this world. God invites all to enter his rest if they will hear his voice and not harden their hearts in rebellion against him.
Jsh 22:1-5, 23:1-6 ~ The symbolic promised land of Canaan. Further down the ages, we come to the story of "the promised land". The people entered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. The record says that by the time of Joshua’s death "the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side". This rest, however, was very short-lived. After generations of slavery in Egypt, God’s people hoped to enter the land of Canaan, and have rest. They hoped to settle in peace and prosperity in their sabbath land. However a whole generation was denied this, they wandered and died in the wilderness because of their disobedience. When the next generation entered into Canaan, they did not achieve satisfaction, nor did they retain their land. The Hebrew writer points out that Joshua did not really lead the people into any true and lasting rest. So he concludes, "There remains therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb 4:8-9)..
Psa 95:6-11 ~ Another day beyond these rests. After another long time, God spoke of another day, "Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts". In this "today" the Hebrew writer finds great hope and assurance, because he sees in it the promise remaining of a rest for the people of God. It’s as though God were saying, "They did not enter into my rest, but you can some day, if you will hear my voice today, and you do not provoke me as they did".
The Heavenly Rest
Heb 11:13-16, 13:14
This rest that "remains" is a heavenly one, according to the Hebrew writer. He points out that even the faithful of old, from Abraham onward, were looking for a sabbath rest beyond this world. He says, "They desire a better country, that is a heavenly one" . These faithful men and women embraced the promises of God as pilgrims on the earth. They were not thinking of the promised land on earth when they believed the promises, but of a homeland and a city in heaven. Even those Israelites who entered the promised land had "no continuing city" as the history of Jerusalem testifies. The Hebrew writer says that here on earth we have no continuing place of rest either, but only in heaven. That is where our sabbath will be. There is an echo here of Isaiah’s words, "and his resting place shall be glorious"(Heb 13:14, Isa 11:10).
An Anchor for the Soul
Heb 6:13-19
The Hebrew writer is basing his hope of heaven on three oaths which God made. He could hardly find a stronger foundation, could he?
God’s oath to his Son. In a coming lesson, we will notice God’s oath to his Son, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Heb 7:18-22). Only through this One can anybody enter into God’s heavenly rest.
God’s oath to Abraham. The Hebrew writer points out that God swore an oath when he made his promise to Abraham that in his seed all nations would be blessed (Gen 22:15-18). This shows the unchangeable purpose of God, and we can look foward to its fulfillment with strong encouragement, for it is impossible for God to lie in two unchangeable things, his promise and his oath. "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul".
God’s oath to the Israelites who came out of Egypt. As we have seen in this lesson, God swore in his wrath "They shall not enter my rest"(Heb 3:11).. The Hebrew writer turns that bad news into good news. Since the promise of entering into God’s rest was denied them, it remains to be fulfilled. And it will be fulfilled for any who will listen to God’s voice and soften their hearts to his will.