Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 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. (Hebrews 4:1-2, NKJV)
Chapter 4 reverts to the theme of Chapter 3, the Promise of entering a Coming Rest. Paul writes, v1, ‘Let us fear therefore lest, a promise being left us of entering into His Rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.’ In v4, you see that Paul is linking this Rest to the Seventh Day of Creation. For six days God created – and on the seventh day, He rested from His Work. This is a picture of the 1000-year Rest, the Millennial reign of Christ on earth which still to come!
Paul warns us, we should be afraid, lest we fail to enter into this promise! For, v2, ‘unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them’ – Paul means, the Jewish forefathers heard the promise, but failed to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief. Paul says, ‘The Word which was preached to them did not profit them, because it was not received with faith by those that heard it. But we, who have believed, can enter this Rest.’ But it’s a question, v3&5, ‘IF they shall enter into My Rest…’ It’s conditional. To enter, you must have faith that God’s Works were made complete from the very foundation of the world, v4. God is working to a Plan.
That Plan was made and revealed right from the beginning; from Genesis to Revelation there is no change in God’s plans, directions and purposes. What we are seeing is how it manifests in history, how it takes place, and our part in it. The Rest that Paul is writing about here, the Millennium reign of Christ, was prepared and made perfect from the very foundation of the world! Scripture tells us, Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; this demonstrates that before sin came, salvation came! Before men appeared on the earth, the preparation was made for the Coming Kingdom, the Millenium! This is a constant. It doesn’t change.
In God’s calendar, v4, there are six ‘working days’ and the seventh is a day of rest. But v5 makes it clear, for us it’s conditional: ‘IF they shall enter…’ Not all will enter God’s Rest! Scripture tells us, the children of Israel who did not believe, never did see the fulfilment of God’s promise to enter the earthly Promised Land… We, in the Church, haven’t yet seen the fulfilment of God’s Promise – the Seventh Day Rest, the Millennial reign of Christ; our salvation is still only in part, it’s not actually complete. My father used to teach me that, in effect, there’s more than one salvation! Yes, we are delivered from sin, praise God. But we are not yet delivered from the presence of sin. By the Power of the Blood of the Lamb, by the Power of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are delivered from the power of the devil. But we haven’t yet been delivered from the presence of sin, we’re surrounded by it! We’re living in a sinful world – BUT THERE IS A DAY COMING WHEN WE SHALL BE DELIVERED EVEN FROM THIS!
This is what Paul is referring to when he writes, God rested on the Seventh Day. We are looking forward to the Millennial reign of Christ! But there is a question… ‘IF’… There’s an uncertainty. In v6 Paul goes on, ‘Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter, and those to whom it was first preached DID NOT enter because of unbelief…’
This promise of the Millenium, this Rest, was preached from the beginning, but at the time Paul was writing, the Jewish people, as a whole, had not found that fulfilment, they didn’t find it because of unbelief. This was a typified by the 40 years the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, even though they reached the border of the Promised Land. At the border, Moses sent 12 men in to spy out the land. You know the story – they all saw the plenty and the fruitfulness, just as God had promised. But ten said, “The land is full of armies, evil people. How can we go in?” Only two said, “Yes, we see the difficulties, but by faith we can overcome!” And because the people of Israel listened to the ten, a whole generation died in the desert…
It can happen to us, as we saw in v2 where Paul writes, ‘Unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them.’ The word that was preached to ‘them’, the children of Israel, by Moses, wasn’t accepted by faith. They were offered the Promised Land, but didn’t have the faith to go in and possess it! It was too hard. There is a danger for us in the Church, that we hear and know the Promise, but don’t have the faith to leave behind the old! It’s not easy being a Christian. My life has been hard. Twice I’ve had cancers, I’ve had other sicknesses and ailments – but God healed me every time. I’ve been in a communist prison – but God delivered me. I was a sinner – God saved me. I’m going into God’s Kingdom – the hard way!