The Rest of God

As Christians, we understand there is no rest for the soul apart from Christ. Perhaps no one ever said this so eloquently as St. Augustine in the fourth century when he wrote " ... for Thou has formed us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee." Blaise Pascal added to this when he wrote, "What is it, then, that this desire and this inability proclaim to us, but that there was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings ... But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself." How our souls affirm the words of Augustine and Pascal! There is no rest for the heart apart from Christ.

However, if we are honest, we must admit that the initial rest we first experienced when we came to Christ has not always been our lot, because there is a difference between the primary experience of rest and living a life of rest on life's uneven seas. And it is this experience of so many believers over the centuries that the writer of Hebrews addresses in Hebrews 4:1-11. This theme has always been contemporary and will find a responsive chord in every believer's heart -- especially those who are sailing into the contrary winds of the world.

Chapter 4 opens with a warning based on Israel's tragic failure in the wilderness: "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith [vv. 1, 2]. Israel had heard "the gospel preached" [i.e. the good news brought to them by Caleb and Joshua that the land was theirs for the taking, the giants notwithstanding]. So confident were Caleb and Joshua in heralding the good news that they said, "We will swallow them up" [Numbers 14:9]. But Israel's response to this news was tragically deficient: "the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard it did not combine it with faith." Literally, "they did not mix it with faith." This is amazing because they had had constant witness of God's character and provision. They had just been witness to the terrible plaques on their captors in Egypt and had experienced the parting of the Red Sea. And then there were also the constant pillars of fire and cloud as well as the daily provisions of manna. But now, faced with a new challenge, they simply did not trust God and so failed to enter their rest. Many, perhaps thousands, were believers, but only two really trusted God and found rest.

We must keep this subtle distinction between belief and trust clear if we are to understand what kind of faith is necessary to have rest in this life. Faith as described here in Hebrews 4:2 is an "attitude of trusting God wholeheartedly" [Leon Morris]. So we must understand that v. 3 which says, "Now we who have believed enter that rest," specifically means, "we who have wholeheartedly trusted enter that rest." Thus, it is spelled out in no uncertain terms that the faith that pleases God is belief plus trust. Belief, the mental acceptance of a fact as true, will simply not bring rest to any soul. Acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior of the world will not give us rest. Trust in him is what gives rest to our souls. Just as a child sleeps so well in the arms of his parents, so we rest in God. The more trust, the more rest. And it is our belief or our unbelief that makes all the difference.

We should also note that the writer twice quotes Psalm 95:11 -- "They shall never enter my rest." His purpose here is not to imply that we will not enter this rest, but rather to show us that God calls the rest being offered "my rest" because it is the very same rest He, Himself, enjoys. This is in itself a stupendous revelation. It means that when we are given rest by Him, it is not simply a relaxation of tensions, but a rest that is qualitatively the same rest that God enjoys. Can you imagine that?!? It is mind-boggling really. The only thing I can relate it to is the comparison of the kinds of vacations I take to those taken by royalty ... or this week by Michelle Obama and "forty of her closest girlfriends" to the Mediterranean Sea in the South of Spain. There really is no comparison.

And even more amazing, this rest is available right now! The verb "enter" is in the present tense, which means that as believers we are in the process of entering. Yet, there is both a now and then to our rest. Now in Christ, we have entered and are entering our rest. Our experience of rest is proportionate to our trusting in Him. But there is also a future rest in Heaven -- the repose of the soul in God's rest, which is forever joyous, satisfied and working [just as our present rest is].

Twice in Chapter 3 [vv. 7, 15] the writer has quoted Psalm 95:7, 8 to draw attention to the promise of rest, and then again here in Chapter 4 verse 7 he does it again; "Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.'" Today meant "now" in their time, as it does in ours. The only way this rest will be missed is through a hardened heart, a disbelieving heart that shows contempt for God in disobedience. The tone here is one of urgency. Now is the day of salvation!

Lastly, there is the subtle comparison of the two great Joshuas in history ... Yeshua in Hebrew. The Old Testament Jesus [Greek for Joshua] led his followers to the land of Canaan. But that was not a real rest but only a type. This Jesus, the son of Nun, ultimately failed to lead his people to a true rest. But now there is another Jesus, the Son of God, who can. He is the pioneer and captain of our salvation -- the ultimate Joshua [Hebrews 2:10].

When God finished the cosmos, He rested in the Sabbath-rest [but He never stopped working as Jesus alluded to in John 5:17 "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working"]. God's repose is full of active toil. When Christ cried, "It is finished," He forever rested from His atoning work. But the resting Christ works, even as the working God rests. Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath! When we believed, we gave up on building a righteousness based on works and entered God's rest. Yet still we long to serve Christ.

This will all eventuate in the eternal Sabbath-rest and the beatitude of the Holy Spirit. "'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them'" [Revelation 14:3]. If we can learn anything from this passage of Scripture, we must understand that there is a rest for us if we want it. "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" [v. 9]. It us up to us to seize it, and it all comes down to trust.