So there is a special [sabbath] reststill waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. Hebrews 4:9-11 NLT
What kind of rest is the writer to the Hebrews talking about in 3:7 – 4:13? I suggest that he is talking about a spiritual condition that is the result of believing Jesus’ promises. He begins by arguing that since Jesus is a better messenger and High Priest than Moses ever was (3:1-6, resumed in 4:14ff.), there is all the more reason that we should not react to Jesus as the first generation of Hebrews to leave Egypt reacted to Moses. How did they react? They refused to believe that God could actually give them rest in Canaan. So, in contrast, we should have confidence that Jesus can give us rest. But what rest? That is the question.
One possibility is to continue the analogy: Canaan is analogous to life after death. If we continue our faith in Jesus through death, we will enter into eternal rest. That is certainly possible. The most serious objection to that position is the reference to “today” in the quotation of Psalm 95 (3:15; 4:7). Apparently, we do not need to wait for death, but can experience that rest now. This suggests that he is talking about a spiritual condition that can be experienced in the present. That impression is strengthened when we read that the entry into Canaan did not exhaust the meaning of the promise (4:8), but that God continues it into the present.
So what rest are we talking about? I think the passage above (4:9-11) explains it. We are called to enter a rest from our need to save ourselves, to be good enough for God, to somehow defeat sin in our lives. By giving ourselves away completely to Him in confidence and hope we will find His power fully able. Resting in Him we can know victory, serenity, and wholeness (shalom). The author refers to it as a “sabbath” or “stopping” rest, one like God’s. Today, you can rest in Christ’s finished work for you. Do you believe that? Do!
Called To Be Transformed 