This Week's Study

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.