Leave the rest to Christ
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Christ Gives Greater rest
Christ Gives Greater rest
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
In this exhortation, he explains the danger of doubting and disbelieving the Word because of hardness of heart.
It is important that we understand the background of this section, which is the Exodus of Israel from Egypt and their experiences of unbelief in the wilderness.
In Egypt
In Egypt
To begin with, we must understand that there are spiritual lessons in the geography of Israel’s experiences.
The nation’s bondage in Egypt is an illustration of a sinner’s bondage in this world. Much as Israel was delivered from Egypt by the blood of lambs and the power of God, so a sinner who believes on Christ is delivered from the bondage of sin
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Jesus Christ is “the Lamb of God” whose death and resurrection have made our deliverance from sin a reality.
In the Wilderness
In the Wilderness
It was not God’s will that Israel remain either in Egypt or in the wilderness. His desire was that the people enter their glorious inheritance in the land of Canaan.
But when Israel got to the border of their inheritance, they delayed because they doubted the promise of God (Num. 13–14).
“We are not able” wept the ten spies and the people.
“We are able with God’s help!” said Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.
Because the people went backward in unbelief instead of forward by faith, they missed their inheritance and died in the wilderness.
It was the new generation that possessed the land and entered into their rest
In Canaan
In Canaan
What does Canaan represent to us as Christians today?
It represents our spiritual inheritance in Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Israel had to cross the river by faith (a picture of the believer as he dies to self and the world, Rom. 6) and claim the inheritance by faith.
They had to “step out by faith” (Josh. 1:3) and claim the land for themselves, just as believers today must do.
Now we can understand what the wilderness wanderings represent:
The experiences of believers who will not claim their spiritual inheritance in Christ, who doubt God’s Word and live in restless unbelief.
To be sure, God is with them, as He was with Israel; but they do not enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing.
They are “out of Egypt” but they are not yet “in Canaan.”
With this background, we can now better understand one of the key words in this section—rest.
Rest
Rest
1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
The writer mentioned two different “rests” found in Old Testament history:
God’s Sabbath rest, when He ceased from His Creation activities (Gen. 2:2; Heb. 4:4);
Israel’s rest in Canaan (Deut. 12:9; Josh. 21:43–45; Heb. 3:11).
But he saw in these “rests” illustrations of the spiritual experiences of believers today.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The Sabbath rest is a picture of our rest in Christ through salvation
The Canaan rest is a picture of our present rest as we claim our inheritance in Christ (Heb. 4:11–13; note the emphasis on the Word of God).
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
The first is the rest of salvation; the second is the rest of submission.
But there is a third rest that enters into the discussion, that future rest that all believers will enjoy with God.
9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
When the saints enter heaven, it will be like sharing God’s great Sabbath rest, with all labors and battles ended (Rev. 14:13).
With this background of Israel’s history and the “rests” involved, we may now examine the passage itself.
Beware!
Beware!
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Take heed to what?
To the sad history of the nation of Israel and the important lesson it teaches.
God had delivered His people from Egypt and had cared for them, revealing His power in many signs and wonders.
Israel saw all of this and benefited from it, but the experience did not bring them closer to God or make them trust Him more.
All that God did for them did not benefit them spiritually. In fact, just the opposite took place: they hardened their hearts against God! They put God to the test and He did not fail them; yet they failed Him.
The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart.
The people of Israel (except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb) erred in their hearts (Heb. 3:10), which means that their hearts wandered from God and His Word.
They also had evil hearts of unbelief (Heb. 3:12); they did not believe that God would give them victory in Canaan. They had seen God perform great signs in Egypt. Yet they doubted He was adequate for the challenge of Canaan.
When a person has an erring heart and a disbelieving heart, the result will also be a hard heart.
This is a heart that is insensitive to the Word and work of God.
So hard was the heart of Israel that the people even wanted to return to Egypt!
Imagine wanting to exchange their freedom under God for slavery in Egypt!
I see that happen all the time: Christians who face challanges fall away and say, it was better under the world than under God.
This is especially true during times of persecution and suffering.
The fires of persecution have always purified the church because suffering separates true believers from the counterfeit.
True believers are willing to suffer for Christ and they hold firmly to their convictions and their confession of faith.
6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
We are not saved by holding to our confession. The fact that we hold to our confession is proof that we are God’s true children.