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Reading Hebrews 4:4-10 and seeing how from the seventh day at the end of creation through the Old Testament and all the way to Christ, He is our Sabbath rest. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
All of the laws of the Sabbath, about the day of rest, that we read about in the Old Testament, all of that was pointing to something greater. Our greater rest is Jesus Christ, when we understand the text.
This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.
Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in Hebrews. This week in chapter 4, and I'm going to pick up where I left off yesterday, so I'll begin reading here in verse 4 and go through verse 10 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.
This is the Word of the Lord. For he has spoken somewhere in this way 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.
Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news proclaimed to them failed to enter because of disobedience, he again determines a certain 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.
For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains 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.
So again in verse 4, remember that we are looking at an exposition of Psalm 95 here. Psalm 95, which was quoted in chapter 3, and then the preacher is quoting bits and pieces of it, and doing expository preaching.
This isn't something that we do today, like somebody wrote the Bible long ago, and then we pick the verses apart in these passages and stuff like that, and expository preaching is therefore what we do as a discipline, but the Bible writers didn't actually do it in their time.
No, they did it in their time as well. I've referenced many times Nehemiah 8 .8, when the teachers would read the law to the people, and it says there that they explained it to them and gave the sense.
So they read the law, explained it, and helped them know how to apply it, how to live according to these things as well. And then we see this discipline in the New Testament also, particularly here in Hebrews, as we think of the book of Hebrews as being a sermon Paul would have preached, written down by Luke.
And so Paul is referencing Psalm 95, and then he's doing an exposition of Psalm 95. This is a biblical discipline. It's something that we see in the Bible, and so it is something that is practiced, or at least should be practiced, in every pulpit today.
It is practiced in many pulpits, just not in every pulpit. But this is the good way to preach. We call it expository preaching because it exposes the meaning of the text, the true meaning of the text.
And that's what the preacher is doing here. He is exposing to the hearers the meaning of Psalm 95, and doing this so that they would learn of the errors that Israel committed, therefore they would not commit the same ones.
Just because that was Old Testament and that was Israel doesn't mean that we can't commit the same errors that they were doing. Paul said to the Corinthians, these things were written down so that you wouldn't fall into their same mistakes.
And we read in Romans chapter 15, what was written long ago was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we may have hope. So even these things that we're reading about in the Old Testament, New Testament, they were written long ago for our instruction.
And here we are learning about the errors that Israel committed in their disobedience against God, so that we would not fall into the same disobedience. Yes, we live in a different dispensation, if you will, the first dispensation being the Old Testament, the second being the New Testament period.
So as we are in the New Testament period, we're in a different dispensation, but the same lessons still apply. The people of Israel heard the word of God. They heard good news proclaimed to them, but many of them did not believe, and so they perished in the wilderness.
And so the warning that's being given here by the preacher is, don't you do the same thing. You've had the good news proclaimed to you, so continue to believe it and hold fast to it, and don't waver from this hope, this faith that you have been given.
This is the lesson consistent through the book of Hebrews. It's why the book of Hebrews was written, to encourage the Jews. You have heard that Christ is the fulfillment of all of this that had come before him, the law and the prophets.
Christ fulfills all of these things. There's nothing greater than Christ. And so continue to hold fast to him. Don't return back to your former ways of disobedience or being enslaved to the law. Doing those things will result in your destruction.
But if you hold fast to Christ, to the gospel message that was proclaimed to us at first, you will be saved. You will enter into his rest. That's the argument that's being presented here as an exposition of Psalm 95 here in Hebrews 4.
So once again, verse 4, for he has spoken somewhere in this way. The he there is capitalized, or the H is capitalized. So we're talking about God has spoken somewhere in this way concerning the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day from all of his works.
Now, where did we read that God said that? That's in Genesis chapter 2. Right at the start of chapter 2, at the conclusion of the six-day creation, on the seventh day, God rested from his works. Verse 5, and again in this passage, they shall not enter my rest.
Now, that phrase at the start of verse 5 and again in this passage, it could be God is saying in this passage, because remember the statement in verse 4 is, he has spoken somewhere in this way, and then verse 5, and again in this passage.
So it could be saying God spoke here like this and here like this. He said here, God rested on the seventh day from all of his works, and he said here, but they shall not enter into my rest. So that's one possible explanation for the way that that's worded.
A second explanation is that the preacher is simply saying that he's repeating a phrase again that he used earlier. So once again in verse 4, he has spoken somewhere in this way concerning the seventh day, and God rested on the seventh day from all of his works, and then verse 5, and again in this passage, they shall not enter into my rest, which is repeating verse 11, or chapter 3, verse 11.
So because the preacher is repeating it, he's saying, and again, this passage, as though to bring the two together. Anyway, I prefer the first explanation. I think that the Lord is saying in Genesis 2 this, but he says in Psalm 95 this.
So there is rest that has been given for us. As God rested from his works, so we should rest from ours. He has given rest to us. Remember that Jesus said in Matthew 12 that man was not made for the Sabbath day, but the Sabbath was made for man.
And so it is a blessing of God that has been given to us that we would work six days and be able to rest on a seventh. But when it comes to the rest that God was promising Israel, that rest that was the Sabbath land, if you want to consider it that way, the promised land, that rest that he was giving to Israel so that they could rest from slavery, all the works that they had to do under the oppression of Egypt.
They've been delivered out of that. They're going to be given a promised land so that they may rest there. But since the people disobeyed, God had them perish in the wilderness. And thus it was said of them, they shall not enter into my rest.
So there is a day of rest. Remember I said yesterday that the day on which God rested from his works is not the only day of rest. It wasn't he just rested and that was it. That seventh day after creation, that was the day of rest and no more.
No, God intended for that to be a continued pattern for us all the way through the rest of time. As long as we're on this side of heaven, there is meant to be a day upon which we rest. And so even in Israel, when the law was given, one of the ten commandments, the fourth command, is that you shall honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Remember the Lord's day. Today we consider that day Sunday. And that transition happened in the New Testament period. That the day of rest went from Saturday to Sunday because that's the day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead.
He fulfilled all the laws of the Sabbath. He was crucified and died on a Friday, buried in a tomb, and was resting in that tomb through Saturday, through the Sabbath day. Fulfilling all the types and shadows of the Sabbath that were pointing to Christ.
He fulfilled that by resting, literally resting in a grave, on the Sabbath, and then rose again on Sunday. So because he rose from the dead on Sunday, and our resurrection is given to us when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, also awaiting our final resurrected state when we'll join him in glory.
But nonetheless, we have been brought to life when we come to faith in Christ. So we've been given a resurrection. For that reason, we celebrate Christ's resurrection every time we gather as a church.
In anticipation for that final resurrection, when we gather as a church on Sunday. So we read about where we've come from, what we've been promised, what we have now in the present, and what we are hoping for in the future.
Christ fulfilled all of the types and shadows that were pointing to him. All of that was in the law and the prophets. He fulfilled all that with his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, and his being seated at the right hand of God.
So having fulfilled all of those requirements of the Sabbath, we read the following in Colossians 2, verses 14 to 17. Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, he has also taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in him. Therefore, no one is to judge you in food and drink, or in respect to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath day.
Things which are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. And so these things that we read about that were in the law, the festivals, the new moons, the Sabbaths, all of that was types and shadows.
And that's terminology, that's language that's going to, it's going to come up here in Hebrews 2 as we continue on with this. We see it also in Colossians. In Colossians 2 that these things that we read about in the law, in the Old Testament, they were a shadow of what was to come, but the substance of all of this has been fulfilled in Christ.
So Christ says in Matthew chapter 12 that he is the Lord of the Sabbath. So he is our Sabbath rest. I'll come back to that again here in just a moment. So in verse 6, back to Hebrews 4 verse 6, therefore since it remains for some to enter it, some to enter into God's rest, and those who formerly had good news proclaimed to them failed to enter because of disobedience, he again determines a certain 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.
So that was verses 6 and 7 that I read together. So again verse 6, therefore since it remains for some to enter it. So there are some that can enter into God's rest. Just because Israel failed to attain it doesn't mean that nobody can attain it.
There are those who will enter into God's rest, and we do that by faith in Jesus Christ. The preacher here is even going to expound on that as we continue on in the book of Hebrews. So it remains for some to enter it.
And those who formerly had good news proclaimed to them failed to enter because of disobedience. They had good news. Now the good news for them was the literal promised land. They would be able to enter that land that had been promised to the descendants of Abraham, the land that was flowing with milk and honey.
That was good news to them, but that was even a type and a shadow of the gospel that was to come. The gospel that is proclaimed to us now is that we have an even greater land promised to us than that promised land or that area of the world today that we still know as Israel.
We have something better than that. It is the promise of heaven, a heavenly kingdom, which again the preacher will say in chapter 10, or chapter 11 rather, will lay that out plainly. We'll get to that a little bit later on.
So those who had the good news that was proclaimed to them, they didn't get to enter into God's rest because of disobedience. This continues the warning here. So we're being warned that we would not fall into disobedience and therefore fail to enter into God's rest.
So verse 7, he again determines a certain 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. That's the beginning of the section of Psalm 95 that's quoted in Hebrews 3.
So you go back to verse 7, Hebrews 3, 7, therefore just as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.
So what is the day that we get to enter into God's rest? We get to enter into his rest today. Now that's not the final rest, like entering into his kingdom and actually dwelling there, but we do become members of the kingdom of God on the day that we believe.
We enter into his rest today. As Paul says elsewhere, today is the day of salvation. So today is the day to turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the day to rely upon him for the wisdom that you need, the power to be able to get through today, the strength to be obedient to God and live in a holy and righteous way, fleeing from temptation and doing that which God calls us to do.
The strength to be able to do that comes from the Lord. Today is the day to lean on him. It is the day to cling to Christ. It is the day to rejoice in him for the promise of our hope of everlasting life, that eternal rest that we will enter into with Christ in glory.
Verse 8,. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. Now notice here that it's not saying that the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, that's not the day of rest.
It would have been easy for the preacher to just say that. Well, they all have a day of rest. It's Saturday. Just go rest on that day. No, the rest they were looking toward was the promised land. But even the promised land was not rest.
It was a type or a shadow of rest. So there was certainly a reward of rest there, but it wasn't our ultimate rest. It wasn't the promise of heavenly eternal rest. If Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that.
When did David speak of the day of rest? It would have been hundreds of years after Joshua and the Israelites had received the promised land that David wrote in Psalm 95, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
If there was not going to be another day upon which we could enter into God's rest, then why would David have used that word today? Everything he would have written about in Psalm 95 would have been past tense.
Now that day's already come and gone. Everybody who missed the boat didn't get the chance to enter into the promised land. But David gives present application. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
If Joshua had truly given the people of Israel rest, then David would not have spoken of another day after that. Or rather, the he there in verse 8 is capitalized again. It's capital H-E, so that's God.
God said in Genesis that he rested on the seventh day from all of his works. He said in Psalm 95, they shall not enter into my rest. And then also in Psalm 95, he speaks of another day after the day of rest that was the promised land.
So that's what we have. It is the voice of God. David had said this. He wrote this down. But of course, ultimately, it is the Holy Spirit that leads David to write these words. So this is the voice of God.
In verse 9, so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from all of his works as God did from his. So the rest was not the promised land.
And by the way, the rest right now is not the promised land. There is a certain eschatology, right? A study of the end times that is looking forward to us being able to enter into that land again where God is going to dwell or Jesus is going to dwell there on David's throne and we'll enter into that land and we'll be in his rest.
And they're talking about an actual geographical location on planet Earth. That's not our anticipation. Entering into God's rest is entering into Christ. When we have Christ, we have everything. It's not a geographic location anymore.
It is Christ. He is our rest. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. What is that Sabbath rest? It's Jesus. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his.
How do we rest from our works? We recognize that our salvation cannot be attained by our works. It has been attained by Christ. We acknowledge that he accomplished all of that work. When we put our faith and trust in him, it's not in our works but in his.
And so thus we understand what Jesus said in Matthew 11, 28. Come to me all 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 will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest. So we have rest from our works now but it's also in Christ that we have the promise of ultimate rest and that is when we dwell with him in his eternal kingdom. That is the promised land that we should be looking forward to.
That heavenly kingdom when we dwell with God forever. Let me finish there with prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have been learning about here. We thank you for all that Christ has accomplished for us.
So it is not by our works that we attain righteousness. It is by the work of Christ and then by our faith and our trust in him, all of the wonderful blessings of that grace are bestowed upon us. That it is not by our works.
It is by grace through faith that we have been saved as it says in Ephesians 2 .8. So let us trust in him and let us remain obedient to him. The warning that is being given here. Don't fall into disobedience and then you fail to enter into God's rest but keep us obedient today and once again, give us the strength that we may get through today in obedience to you, living righteously, treating one another kindly, showing love to others and giving thanks to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It's in his name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text.
With Gabriel Hughes. Pastor Gabe is the author of 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, examining some of our most common Christmas beliefs and traditions and bringing them back to the truth of scripture.
You can find this and other books at our website www .utt .com. Join us again tomorrow for more Bible study when we understand the text.