Hebrews-Enter That Rest

 

[1] Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. [2] For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. [3] For we who have believed enter that rest, 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. [4] For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” [5] And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

[6] Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, [7] again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

[8] For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. [9] So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  Hebrews 4:1-9

So looking back, I probably didn’t make a wise decision.  Last June we celebrated my youngest’s graduation and in August of that year, she packed up and moved out to start her life as a young adult.  My husband and I embarked on a year of travel which we have coined “Empty Nest Travel Fest,” taking a series of vacations together to celebrate this new season of life where it’s the two of us again.  We’ve gone to some amazing places, trips with friends to Mexico and Arizona, a road trip in the midwest where we got to visit family and spend time in Kentucky and Tennessee, and most recently returning from a tour of Scotland.  

So why was this a bad decision?  We may have overdone it a bit.  Through traveling has been so fun, we’ve been pretty busy.  We have a pretty active life.  When home, we love to spend time with friends, stay active, as well as playing music and being active in ministry at our local church.  Add in full time jobs and there is not a lot of time left for travel.  So packing in so many trips in a six month period was a bit insane.  I don’t regret the time we spent and the memories we made but I am a bit tired.  The vacations we took weren’t restful (anyone who has ever been to Disneyland knows I’m right) the sheer number of them in a small amount to time made the weeks in between trips too much. 

Rest is something many people crave because we are all living very busy lives.  Though I have written about the importance of sabbath in different blogs, todays passage describes the ultimate rest of God.  The practice of sabbath, the third commandment, was a life rhyme God instituted for Israel  where they would rest from their labors, as God ceased after He created the earth. Like many things in the Old Testament, they are a shadow and a copy of a spiritual reality God will provide to His people through Christ.  

Chapter 4 begins with a therefore, so it’s important to pause and connect the ideas in the first verses to what came before.  In chapter 3, God was explaining how because of disbelieve in God’s ability to lead them to the promise land, so of the generation of Israelites did not enter the land of Canaan after being in the desert 40 years after their rescue from Egypt.  

This physical journey in the desert, is used is a metaphor for the people of God of all ages as well. We need rest.  Sometimes it is clear that we are too busy, like my decision to over schedule this summer.  Sometimes we are physically exhausted or miss sleep.  The rest this passage describes is a spiritual exhaustion.  The Israelites and believers today ultimately face the same challenges.  Though we may notice physical need for renewal, our spirit is weary.  We long to cease from the trials and sufferings in this life, for fighting our sin nature and the enemies of our faith.  We are exiles, in the desert, wanting to arrive in the land of blessing and abundance—heaven.  

The good news is, the rest of God is still open because Jesus hasn’t retuned yet.  It is a chance to turn to Jesus to “rescue us from Egypt” if we are still enslaved by sin.  But for those who hear the good news and combine it with faith, a destiny awaits to enter the rest of God.  Our journey to the promised land begins.  If you hear His voice, calling you to believe, do not harden your hearts.  Do not shut out the voice of God who is offering this true rest.  

This passage also highlights another truth about rest, the work is done—but not because we’ve completed it.  God finished from His work in creation on the 7th day.  Christ has finished His work of salvation from the foundation of the world.  God’s plan of redemption started before the world was made  and Christ is now sitting a the right hand of the Majesty on high.   He is sitting because His sacrifice was enough.  There is now no payment left for sin as His offering was superior to the blood of goats and calves.  They were animals, He God Himself, sinless and holy.  The rest of Christ is the opportunity to stop trying to pay for sin we could never atone for and enjoy His work.