Hebrews Chapter 4
Keep in mind that the original audience was a Jewish nation who had been used to having to keep a Levitical law. They are finding it difficult to understand that Jesus was their High Priest who had taken care of all their sin, and that He was superior to all the sacrificial system that they had been accustomed to.
Rest means to have peace with God. It also means that we are delivered from the burden of Mosaic observance of the law. We are free to worship according to the gospel. It means that we have been given the same rest that God Himself enjoys, and one day we will be with Him in glory to experience rest with Him.
We can conclude that to enter God’s rest means that, we have accepted the work that was done on the cross by Jesus. That we have declared Jesus to be the one who paid the penalty for our sin. And we have trusted Jesus to be our Savior.
Let's Reflect
1. The opposite of accepting Jesus is to harden your heart against Him. What happens to those who harden their heart? See Hebrews 3:11, 4: 3,5.
2. In verse 9 rest is called a Sabbath rest, but it is not referring to resting one day out of the seven days of the week. It is described as a rest that is the same kind of rest as what? See verse 4 and verse 10.
3. Only God can give this type of rest, and only God knows if a person has entered this type of rest, because only God knows the thoughts and intentions of what?
4. In verse 12 we find a very important truth that we need to understand about the Bible. The Bible, and the very words that God speaks, are one and the same. Those words are described as what?
5. In the last few verses of the chapter, we find the key to the whole chapter, in fact I think it is the key theme of the book of Hebrews. Because we have such a great High Priest who came from heaven, who lived here on earth and was exposed to temptations of sin yet never sinned, and because He understands our weaknesses, we can do what?
The Jewish people of that time knew that approaching God required a representative who would offer sacrifices and intercede for them. Only the High Priest had access to the Holy of Holies. In fact, most all religions of our world today do not teach a direct access to God without having to go to an intercessor or having to do great deeds. This access to God was made possible through Jesus who is our High Priest. We can come near to the God of the universe without fear of judgment. The New Testament is all about that plea – to come near to God and to stay near.
Religion would teach us to put our confidence in our self, to be good enough to please a god. What the writer of Hebrews is teaching us is that when we place our faith in the work of Jesus we enter into His rest, because the work was done for us, it is finished. Therefore, we can come boldly and with confidence, not a confidence in ourselves, but a confidence in Jesus who has caused us to pass from death unto life, in Him. We are at rest in Him.
