This Week's Study

Join us here weekly for a fresh deep dive into scripture as we dissect and digest the Word of God together.

 

SUMMARY

(Week 2 Reading: Hebrews 3:1–4:13)

 

We are likely history’s busiest society. Technological advancements and the accumulation of knowledge have led us to have the capacity to constantly be doing something. In this week’s reading, the author of Hebrews is both warning and inviting us into something deeply needed by every human being God created: rest. If God rests, yet never gets tired, there must be something more to rest than we have bargained for.

 

This rest is far deeper than physical rest or a mental break. It is a deep rest that can only come from God himself. To enter this rest, the author highlights the value of today. God beckons us each day to hear his voice and obey. He reminds his readers of the danger of overconfidence. It was their very ancestors, those led by Moses and who had experienced God’s amazing miracles, that rebelled. If they could, we shouldn’t think we are any better. He then emphasizes the need to believe. Israel did not believe God would take care of their physical needs at Massah and Meribah, so when it came time to believe he could defeat their enemies, they failed to trust him. Lastly, through the power of God’s Word, the writer gives us the secret of rest: spiritual nakedness that comes from being utterly searched by God’s Word and having nothing to prove.

COMMENTARY

3:1 The writer of Hebrews, after giving an extensive argument for Jesus’ superiority to angels, now asks his readers to consider Jesus further. Addressing them as holy brothers who have a heavenly calling, he begins to describe Jesus. Jesus is the apostle and high priest of their confession, making him the ultimate authority for their faith. One title is a picture of New Testament authority (apostle), while the other is of Old Testament authority (high priest).

 

3:2–6 To support this exhortation, the author compares Jesus to Moses. Moses was an earthly pillar of their faith. He was an example, used by God and respected by the Jews. While angels were the heavenly deliverers of the law, Moses was the earthly vessel. Just as Moses was faithful, Jesus was also faithful to God’s house. What makes Jesus different is that he was not just faithful in God’s house but the builder of it. Moses was not the builder of the house—he was simply faithful in it. This makes Jesus’ glory far higher. Everything that is built is built by someone, but God is the builder of all things. This means that any good thing that is built is ultimately built by God—he supplies the resources, the mindset, the skill, and the motivation for anything that we build. The second difference he points to is that Moses was faithful as a servant, but Jesus was faithful as a son. Jesus served as a son. Moses served as a servant. Moses testified of what Jesus would one day speak. Just as he expressed previously, the title of son is far higher than that of servant. His faithfulness is to us—God’s house.

 

3:7–11 The author now reveals why he compares Jesus to Moses. One of the most consequential experiences that Moses had was dealing with unfaithful people, and we, as believers in Jesus, can face the same consequences they did. Speaking for the Holy Spirit, the author reminds us of the rebellion of God’s people under Moses—described here as hearing and hardening. They tested God despite the fact that they had seen his works for forty years. They did not trust God to do what he had proved all along. Led astray by their hearts, they did not know God’s ways. Their dreaded punishment is what the author is warning us of: the inability to enter God’s rest.

 

3:12–14 Using the children of Israel as an example, the author now warns brothers to take care. This scripture was written for us, both to warn and to invite. What the author warns of is an unbelieving heart. This is evil. The living God must be believed for who he is and what he can do. God’s oath not to allow them to enter his rest came when his people did not believe Joshua and Caleb and were afraid to enter because of their enemies, but Psalm 95 highlights where it really began—at Massah and Meribah. Israel did not trust God enough to take care of them with water, and this lack of faith was the same one that caused them not to believe God could defeat their enemies after spying out the land.

 

Believers must therefore understand the value of today. One of the antidotes to the danger of rebellion is being connected to an obedient community that understands the importance of today. We are to exhort one another every day. Every day is today. This highlights the daily temptation of every believer to stop believing God and the need for one another on a regular basis. The call of God is to believe his voice today. Sin at its core is deceptive, and to stand against it requires the exhortation of fellow believers.

 

4:1–2 There is still a promise to hope for—God’s rest. Believers must fear, lest, like the Israelites, they fail to reach it. In the same way good news came to the children of Israel, it also came to those who have heard the gospel. This message only benefits those who listen to it with faith. This means that good news, no matter how good it is, is not effective for unbelieving hearts. Hearing is not enough—believing must occur.

 

4:3–5 The key to understanding the next few passages is remembering the timing of Psalm 95 (the text the author is quoting). This was spoken by David long after the children of Israel entered Canaan—the promised land. This means that it was not just those who died in the wilderness who did not enter God’s rest, but also those who were enjoying the promised land at the time Psalm 95 was written. Belief leads us into entering God’s rest. This rest is a divine rest that God is experiencing right now. God rested on the seventh day, and he wants us to join him. This rest is from works.

 

4:6–7 Disobedience that stems from disbelief keeps us from entering the rest of God. God creates a sense of urgency by using the word “Today.” We are to believe and obey God today, not merely wait for tomorrow. The promise is for tomorrow, but the obedience is for today.

 

4:8–10 Joshua, the person who ultimately led the children of Israel into the promised land, could not give them rest. This is because God spoke of another rest later on that they had yet to experience. The author describes this as a Sabbath. God is leading and culminating everything toward rest. Just as God rested from his works, we are to rest from ours. This is a place of enjoyment and trust.

 

4:11–13 Interestingly, this coming rest should lead us to strive and be eager for, or make every effort to enter, that rest. We don’t just casually wait for God’s rest; we work at what God calls us to work. God has rested from creation but is still active in it—he upholds it day by day. He works from a place of rest. Without striving, we end up falling into the same disobedience the Israelites did. They had a pessimistic, slothful attitude about obeying God—one we should avoid.

The call to make every effort to enter his rest is in direct connection to the searching light of God’s word. God’s word is living and active; it does not sit idly by. God’s word is sharp and able to discern and cut through what man has no way of discerning. The author uses three pictures to show this: first, soul and spirit; second, joints and marrow; third, thoughts and intentions. This points to rest being far more than something physical and outward—God is trying to get at the heart. The ultimate rest can’t be achieved through a vacation; it can only come from God. God’s word searches us and interrogates us so that one day we can enter his rest. Rest is ultimately connected with the nakedness and exposure these aspects of God’s word create. This is the secret to rest: to allow God’s word to search us deeply and intensely until we are bare before God, with nothing to prove to him or the world. Then we can be as Adam and Eve were before God—naked and unashamed.

MEMORY VERSE

ggj

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.

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV)

APPLICATION

  • Do something today that you’ve been waiting to do for weeks or months.

  • Ask God to forgive you for taking his word for granted.

  • Show your belief in something God has told you by obeying the direction that belief gives you.

  • Take time to read the Bible and write down the things it challenges you to change.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

  1. Do you tend to take each day lightly?

  2. Are you constantly tired, even after physical rest?

  3. How might your attitude reflect that of the children of Israel?

  4. What areas do you tend to hide from others and even from God?

OTHER SCRIPTURES TO CONSIDER

(All references from ESV)

Psalm 95:7–8 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.

 

Exodus 17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Numbers 14:22–23 None of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.

 

Matthew 11:28–29 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

1 Corinthians 10:11–12 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

 

John 15:3–4 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

 

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

Psalm 139:23–24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT GOD

God cares for us; he desires for us to rest.

God is a judge; he will judge those who reject him.

God is a teacher; he uses the past to warn us.

God is a discerner; he sees what’s impossible to see.

A PICTURE OF JESUS

In our society, our ultimate worth comes from what we can achieve. When we meet someone, often the first thing they ask us is, “What do you do?” Our résumés are filled with accomplishments but contain little to no information about our family or enjoyments. More and more, our society has drifted toward the idea of endless work. Sundays are no longer honored as a day of rest. Things have gotten so out of hand that now work-life balance is a topic of interest for many because people are tired. We are looking to rest from work. While physical rest is of use, the true rest we need is the kind of rest that God enjoys. If God can never get tired, why does he rest? Adam and Eve’s first experience of God was not seeing him create but seeing him rest. In fact, the first day they experienced was a day of rest. God did not need to prove to them how great of a creator he was. Creation’s purpose is to bless what God loves. God gave Adam and Eve a job but, like himself, it was not to prove anything but to be a blessing to this earth. We work to prove; God works to bless. Jesus did many works, yet not all of them were written. If works were his ultimate goal, he would have never rested or slept. Jesus wept with Mary over her dead brother, knowing he would raise him from the dead. Weeping is about love and relationship. It didn’t accomplish the impressive, but it cemented relationship. Our greatest hindrance in reaching God is thinking we can reach him. Our works are never enough because they were never meant to be. Our works are a reflection of deep relationship with him. It is he who births us into his love. We can’t even love him unless he first loves us. We need only to listen and believe. When we rest, we can work as God does—not merely resting from work but working from rest.

PRAYER

God, thank you for searching me. Use your word to illuminate every false belief that robs me of rest. Forgive me, Lord, for not trusting you—for stepping in when you told me to wait and taking matters into my own hands, for not obeying and moving out of fear that you would not come through. God, you care for me. You will provide for me and defeat my enemies. Help me, like you, to be living and active. Help me to be purified in my heart so that I may rest like you do. May I find a new pleasure in my work. Help me to work with joy and peace, knowing that I am already approved by you. Thank you, Lord, for your rest. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. I take on your rest. In Jesus’ name, amen.

JULY BIBLE STUDY PLAN

The Book of Hebrews

Selected Weekly Readings

Week 1

Hebrews 1:1-2:18

Hebrews 3:1-4:13

Hebrews 4:14-6:12

Hebrews 6:13-20 & 7:1-19

Hebrews 7:20-28, 8:1-13 & 9:1-12

What to Look For:

  • Notice the purpose of Jesus becoming like man. What was the Father developing in Jesus?

  • Who does the author compare Jesus to, and how does he use these comparisons to exalt him?

  • What is the danger that the book warns about if one goes back to their former life after having followed Jesus?

  • What limitations does Hebrews point out in the Levitical law and priesthood, and how does Christ surpass them?

  • Note the previous covenant and temple compared to the new one and what this means for God’s people today.