“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.  For we who have believed do enter that rest…the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  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’” (Hebrews 4:1-4 NKJV).

Hebrews 3:12-19 was written to the Jewish Christians at that time (but also applies to us as believers in Christ) as a warning of the peril of unbelief, while Chapter 4 encourages us to enter the believer’s rest.  The Israelites who doubted God when He told them they could take possession of the promised land were not allowed to enter it because of their unbelief.  “It is clear that they could not enter into their inheritance because they wrapped their hearts in unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19 TPT).  Only the two men (Joshua and Caleb) who said, “we can take the land for God is with us!” were able to go in and possess the land.  But they had to wait for the entire generation of Israel who doubted God to die before they could take the next generation in.  In the same way that they (the unbelieving) were not allowed to enter the inheritance of the promised land, God swore an oath that they (the unbelieving) would not enter the inheritance of His rest.

As I was reading the above passage the latter part of verse 3 about finished works really caught my attention.  The Amplified translation puts it this way: “although His works were completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe].”  Then it goes on to quote from Genesis 2:2, “And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”  I know that God has already seen the completion of time.  The Word says He sees the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) and that He goes before us (Deuteronomy 31:8).  But this scripture says that His works have been completed from the foundation of the world.  I always just assumed that when it says in Genesis 2:2 that God rested on the seventh day from all His work that it was referring to His work of creation and setting everything in place in the Garden of Eden; the creation of animals and man, the land and the sea, the sun, moon and stars…etc.  It had never occurred to me that this was the day He rested from all of His works through the end of time.  Just think about that for a moment.  Provision for your entire life was already planned out and prepared by God by that seventh day. 

In the Old Testament, God gave strict instructions to the Israelites about the Sabbath day (Exodus 16:29, Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 35:2-3, Numbers 15:32-36).  This was to be a day of rest.  They were not to work, they were not to gather food, they were not to go out of their homes or travel.  If you think about it, back in that day it required work if you wanted to do pretty much anything.  Every day they had to gather food to eat.  Every day they had to gather wood for cooking and for heat.  They had livestock to tend to and care for.  Every day they traveled and every night they set up their tents and made a camp.  And this was not like a camp of 50 people.  This was a nation of people; it easily could have been over a million Israelites plus a “mixed multitude” which would have included some Egyptians and Kushites (Exodus 12:37-38).  But on the seventh day, the Sabbath day, they were to do nothing but rest.  Defying this commandment was punishable by death.  But I don’t really think that this was about physical rest, it was about trust.  Everything in the Old Testament (old covenant) was a type and a shadow of what would come in the New Testament (new covenant).  In Hebrews the Sabbath rest is something for believers to enter into, and something unbelievers are forbidden to enter into.  So, what is the connection here? 

When the Israelites were to practice rest in the Old Testament it was so they could practice trust in God.  They had to trust that He would provide the extra mana on the sixth day so they would have enough on the seventh day without having to gather.  They had to trust that God would sustain them and their livestock through the day and night without them putting forth any effort to make it happen.  They had to trust that there was provision from the Lord that would be there for them that wasn’t dependent on their labor.  And if they disobeyed, their unbelief resulted in death.  In the same way, God wants us to have that same trust.  To know that He has set aside provision for us ahead of time, that He has seen every need we would have before we were ever even on the earth, and He has prepared for us an abundant supply to be made available at just the right time.  He wants us to take time to set aside our own labor of works to make things happen in our lives and step into a place of trust in His works that are already done.  Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art] created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above – spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]” (AMP). 

It isn’t really about a day that we rest, it’s about a realm of rest that we can enter at any time that is free from worry, doubt, or fear.  Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (NKJV).  God’s Sabbath rest is about us acknowledging His riches in glory, His endless resources, His limitless power, His abundance in all things, and His reigning authority over us.  Taking time to acknowledge that His abilities are so far above our own.  Taking time to meditate on His Word and let it mingle with our faith and become a solid foundation of trust in us.  And when we live from this rest, we are living from our faith in Him and therefore able to appropriate His promises in our life.  But unbelief will cause us to miss out on what He has made available to us just like the Israelites that missed out on entering the promised land.  “As we enter into God’s faith-rest life we cease from our own works, just as God celebrates his finished works and rests in them.  So then we must be eager to experience this faith-rest life so that no one falls short by following the same pattern of doubt and unbelief.” (Hebrews 4:10-11 TPT). 

There is something so powerful in taking time to just recognize that God has prepared all that we will ever need to fulfill every purpose He has planned for us from the beginning of our lives all the way to the end.  He has already provided all that is necessary to sustain us through every circumstance that we face and to overcome every obstacle.  He has already set every path and ordered every step for us to take to live the good life that He has prearranged for us.  If we trust His finished work and believe, we can enter His rest and experience not only an inner peace and confidence, but we can celebrate in Him knowing He has already provided what was promised.  I think this rest is so important to God because it is only in this place of complete trust and surrender that we can be freely led by Him into all that He has prepared for us.

“Now the promise of entering into God’s rest is still for us today.  So we must be extremely careful to ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and not fail to experience it.  For those of us who believe, faith activates the promise and we experience the realm of confident rest!” (Hebrews 4:1, 3 TPT).