David, God’s invitation to His people including the NT believers, has persisted. The generations of those ages failed to enter God’s “rest” because of unbelief. It is quite obvious that even in this NT times, most believers have still not entered into God’s “rest” ‘Most’, because under the present era of the dispensation of grace and the Holy Ghost administration of the Church; salvation is a “personal race”. Nevertheless, God’s invitation with the promises has not elapsed by default, for when God determines upon a certain objective, He will ultimately achieve it, despite human failure (Heb. 4:3).
In Heb. 4:9 God assures Christians that “There remaineth a “rest” to the people of God”. The promise of entering into God’s “rest” remains valid for today’s Christian, even after it was withdrawn from ancient literal Israel. This is to ensure the eventual success of God’s original plan for this earth to be inhabited by a race of righteous, happy beings. However those who are to enjoy this, must first enter by faith into His spiritual “rest” of the soul to which reference is made in Matt. 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.
This offer of God’s “rest” is reinforced by reference to the Word of God, that is, reference both to Christ as The Living Word, and, to the revelation or written Word. Five assertions are made concerning the Word of God (logos tou theo the word was God) as follows: (1) it is living; (2) it is the word of power or creative energy; (3) it severs, separating even the closest relationships; (4) it is a judge of the innermost thought; and (5) it is the agency by which God deals directly with His created order.
Thus the Word of God reveals the whole man, particularly in relation to his heart’s attitudes, and his believing faith, that which will enable him to enter into God’s “rest”. The Word of God examines, judges, and admonishes the believer to holy living and to believing faith.
If Christians will “come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16) where Christ ministers as “the Apostle and High Priest of our profession” (Heb. 3:1), they will find One who can “be touched with the feeling of” their “infirmities” (Heb. 4:15) and will “obtain mercy and find grace to help in times of need” (Heb. 4:16). In so doing they will enter into God’s spiritual “rest” the “rest of the soul He has provided for repentant sinners”. Thus the experience into which literal ancient Israel had failed to enter into in centuries past, becomes the privilege of the sincere Christians of today (Heb. 3:13,15), for at the point of conversion, the believer, made a choice which breaks him away from all dependence on legalistic self-righteousness or religious merit-works, and brings him to the One who is the solitary but all-sufficient saviour, and the finality of Divine Revelation.
Faith remains the key to entering into God’s “rest” (Heb. 4:2; see also Heb. 4:18, 19; 4:6; 11). The believer must therefore labour to enter into that spiritual “rest”, lest he falls after the same example of unbelief (Heb. 4:11) And in Heb. 4:1, he is warned: “Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left of entering into his “rest”, any of you should seem to come short of it”. The same warning was sounded in I Cor. 10:1-12. Seeming oblivious of their own danger, Christians look critically at the obtuseness of the generation of Jews that failed to enter Canaan, and of later generations that failed to enter into the spiritual “rest” God had planned for Israel as a nation, and perceive that they of today, are also in the same predicament, and therefore are in need of the same admonition to faithfulness, since the promise is still valid and is repeated to successive generations.
The faith spoken of in this discourse is not faith with dynamic concept, or faith that accepts and rests on God’s provision of salvation only, but includes faith that ensures perseverance against the temptation to succumb to virulent persecution. The reference here is to faith as absolute trust in God and the completed work of Christ on the cross; faith that holds out and endures to the end in spite of all manner of persecution, to such faith that enables the believer to receive divine approval and to understand spiritual truth, such faith that expresses itself in gracious godly living, in a stable testimony, in a clear cut separation from legalism, and, in spiritual worship and obedience. (see Heb. 12:18-29; 123: 1-9, 15-17).
Under the Levitical priesthood, men were required to perform certain “works” designed to help them understand and appreciate God’s plan of salvation. But under the ministration of Christ as the High Priest, men are to approach Christ directly without the mediation of any human priest. They are to find “rest” in Christ, without the “works” required by the ceremonial system or any other system. The Christians of today must cease from profitless “works” and enter into the “rest” by simple faith in the atoning merits and ministry of our great High Priest in Heaven Jesus Christ (compare Isa. 30:15; Jer. 6:16; Matt. 11:29). All Christians are to give the most earnest heed to the experience of ancient literal Israel in order to avoid making the same mistakes.
Today’s nominal Christians are beset with the difficulty of evil hearts of unbelief. This prevents such from entering into the experience of “rest” that is available to them on conditions of genuine faith in Christ Jesus. In Heb. 3:12 Christians are admonished to beware of apostatizing (i.e. falling away or departing. Greek “aphistemi” from which our English “Apostasy” is derived) in their hearts from the Living God while they maintain their claim to Christianity. The experience through which ancient literal Israel passed “happened unto them for ensample” or “as lessons” (1 Cor. 10:11) and “were written down for our instruction” (RSV). Christians who upon reviewing the obduracy of ancient literal Israel and consider themselves superior, will do well to heed the admonition of 1 Cor. 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall” (cf 1 Cor. 10:1-10).
The “rest” into which the Christian is called to enter into, is the “spiritual rest” of the soul that comes with full surrender unto Christ and with the integration of life into the eternal purpose of God for this earth the “rest” or abode of righteous and happy beings, which was an integral part of the work of the creation week.
The entrance of sin into the world did not nollify that beneficent purpose, in as much as the plan of salvation provided a means by which the original objective could yet be achieved in spite of sin. This being so, the fact that the gospel did not profit ancient literal Israel, and that God, had as a result, revoked His promise to them, could not possibly alter His fundamental purpose that today’s believers can enter His rest (Heb. 4:6).
