Hebrew 4:1-10

The peace of God is there for all who by faith believe! 

We must choose to enter in to His rest.

Peace resides within a person who believes Jesus is everything they need.

Jesus came as the promised Person of Peace, and He departed promising to leave the same peace here on earth. In John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." While peace can feel compromised by our circumstances, Jesus promises real peace is possible through faith in Him alone, independent of what is happening around us. (Isaiah 26:3;  Philippians 4:6-7;  John 16:33;  2 Thessalonians 3:16;  Romans 15:13)

If you're anything like me, you have days, weeks and months when you deeply need more peace in your life. When we realize Jesus' presence is enough to bring peace to the chaos, we begin to see things differently. Our perspective is key. Peace resides within a person who believes Jesus is everything they need. First5 

Hebrew 4:1-10

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. The New King James Version

The tragic unbelief of the desert generation of Israelites serves as a warning for believers today to enter into God’s rest, which is still offered to the faithful. The gospel was preached is the translation of a single Greek word meaning “the good news was announced.” The good news of God’s rest had been proclaimed to the Israelites. The generation led by Moses had failed to enter their rest, which was the Promised Land, because of their lack of faith. In the same way, the gospel of Christ that had been proclaimed to the author’s audience was calling them into God’s rest, but their unbelief would hinder them from entering into it.  The theme of rest has its beginning in God’s own rest after creation. The fact that Genesis makes no mention of the evening of the seventh day of creation provides a basis for some Jewish commentators to conclude that the rest of God lasts throughout all of history. By merely entering the Promised Land, the Israelites had not entered God’s rest, for David (years after Joshua had led the Israelites into the land) had warned his generation to not harden their hearts, so that they could enter God’s rest. Like David, the author of Hebrews called the present generation to respond to God today, which is the day of repentance. The Greek word for rest in this verse is different. This word means “Sabbath rest” and is found only here in the New Testament. Jews commonly taught that the Sabbath foreshadowed the world to come, and they spoke of “a day which shall be all Sabbath.” This may refer to the rest believers will enter in when they finish their work for God’s kingdom on this earth (see Revelation 14:13). The NKJV Study Bible

The promise is rest and wholeness with God. God promises Abraham land, a nation, and a great name. He also promises that Abraham will be a blessing to others. Abraham obtains these promises by persevering and offering up his son, Isaac. Likewise, his wife, Sarah, conceived because she trusted in God. In contrast, the wilderness generation did not receive the promise of inheriting the land because they did not act faithfully and trust God. 

As the author of Hebrews reflects on his own generation, he urges them to strive toward the inheritance of the new covenant—God’s “rest”—enacted by trusting Him with their very lives. For the wilderness generation, rest was more than just a theological metaphor. It represented an end to the wandering that characterized their life after the exodus—finding peace. The wilderness generation experienced miracles, but most of them still chose to be unfaithful to God and the leadership He had appointed. 

The author of Hebrews is worried that Christians will make the same mistakes—turning away from God despite His previous work in their lives—and consequently not experience the grace He offers. The Greek word used here, pistis, entails believing in the promises of God. People who do not trust God’s promises, who reject that which they have not yet experienced, are excluded from the benefits of those promises. Faithlife Study Bible

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Psalm 95:7 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.Today, if you will hear His voice:

Psalm 95:8  “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness,

Psalm 95:11 So I swore in My wrath,‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”