Hebrews 4:1–13

Original Meaning

Transition: From the Problem of the Wanderers to the Promise of Rest “Today” (4:1–2)

THE AUTHOR OF Hebrews was a master of effective transitions. He begins chapter 4 by weaving his concern that the hearers not “fall short” (the emphasis in his commentary on Ps. 95 in Heb. 3) with an introduction to the promised rest that still exists for God’s people. Hebrews 4:1 offers an exhortation to spiritual caution, and 4:2 provides a basis for this exhortation: Hearing God’s word is not enough; it must be combined with faith. These two verses, therefore, serve as a transition and summarize the content of both 3:7–19 and 4:3–13, by which they are sandwiched. Further, 4:1–2 exhorts the hearers to take action on the basis of the author’s discussion.

The old interpretation adage goes, “When you see a ‘therefore,’ ask what it is there for.” The grammar may be poor, but the hermeneutical reminder remains appropriate. The author of Hebrews frequently uses the Greek word oun (“therefore”) to introduce a given action that has been or should be undertaken, and it is especially prevalent in chapter 4 (vv. 1, 6, 11, 14, 16). The previous negative example of the desert wanderers gives rise to an exhortation to “be careful” (phobeomai). The NIV at this point fails to communicate the seriousness of the situation and would have been more true to the context by staying with a more common rendering of this Greek verb—“let us fear.” In the New Testament this word often expresses an appropriate reverence and awe that stem from mighty acts of God and accompany faith.3 More than mere caution, it communicates an emotional state in which one reflects upon the awesome dimensions of God’s power. Therefore, the preacher here exhorts his hearers to adjust their attitude concerning their present spiritual situation and to bring it in line with a reverent reflection on the gravity of being out of step with God’s will.

In the Greek text, the clause translated by the NIV “since the promise of entering his rest still stands” follows this exhortation to “fear.” The word “since” interprets the participle kataleipomenes as causal, that is, “because the promise still stands.” However, the entire section from 3:7 to 4:11 is temporally charged, as can be seen from the author’s emphasis on the word “Today.” It would be better, therefore, to understand the participle as temporal, communicating duration: “while the promise of entering his rest still stands.” This clause anticipates a fuller argument in 4:6–10 concerning the present opportunity indicated by the word “Today.”

What gives rise to fear is the possibility that any of the community’s number should appear to have fallen short of or should lack the promised rest. The word translated “be found” means “to seem” when used with an impersonal subject (as it is here). It suggests the ambiguity attached to an assessment of individual members’ spiritual states. The author does not say unequivocally that any particular person has fallen short, but that appropriate caution is in order since that possibility exists. The perfect infinitive “to have fallen short” suggests that this spiritual state consists of one never truly having entered the rest of God.

Our author is intent on demonstrating the possibility, with the hope that in doing so he will prevent its becoming a reality, that within the community of faith there may be hypocrites or defectors whose position is one of unbelief rather than faith. Any such, of course, do not truly belong to the church, except in a formal and external sense, and the rest that is promised does not pertain to them.4

This supposition finds further support in verse 2, which capitalizes on the negative example of the Old Testament fallen. Both the old covenant community and those of the new era have had God’s word preached to them. For the author’s audience the “gospel” means the word of salvation proclaimed first through the Lord (2:3–4); for the community in the desert the good news was the promise of entrance into the land of Canaan. The difference between the “hearers” of the desert and of the true Christian community lies not in the word preached, which for both was a word of promise, but in the type of listening performed by each group. The Israelite community physically may have heard the words but their hearing was “faith-less”—true spiritual hearing involves active faith as a component. The caution in 4:1–2 pertains to those of the community whose response to the gospel parallels the faith-vacant response of those who fell in the desert when offered entrance into the land of Canaan.

Bridging Contexts

THE TASK OF interpretation can resemble engaging in a game, with only a partial understanding of the rules, or attempting to read a foreign language armed only with an elementary vocabulary. In both situations the participant feels awkward and strains to “fill in the gaps” so as not to play the fool. Hebrews 4:1–13, with its discussion of God’s rest into which believers enter, confronts the interpreter with such a challenge especially because of the ambiguity of the “rest” motif.

We have noted the author’s definition of “rest” as “ceasing from one’s own works.” Further, we have suggested that entering the rest probably constitutes both a present reality and a future, yet-to-be consummated event. Nevertheless, as we approach the task of application, we must ask what exactly the author wanted his hearers to do. How were they (and how are we) to respond to this exhortation in concrete terms? The author calls for action. What specific actions carried out in our contemporary contexts will fulfill his call? Here lies our focal challenge as we move to consider the contemporary significance of this text.

How should we proceed? As we move toward application of Hebrews 4:1–13, a reminder illustrated well by the passage under consideration may prove helpful. Sound application of a text must take into consideration a complex of factors, especially when dealing with a text that seems ambiguous. Some of the avenues that we turn down may prove to be dead ends. Nevertheless, part of the processes of interpretation and application involves thinking through numerous possibilities, embracing some (or aspects of some), and jettisoning others.

Let me suggest that we take a three-step approach to clarifying where we need to turn in our applications of this section. (1) We need to move toward the big picture of the author’s message in this passage by understanding his interpretive processes. These processes provide a framework for what he wishes to say. If we as interpreters fail to analyze the structure of the writer’s logic, we have yet to grasp key aspects of meaning in the passage.

(2) We need to pull together the various strands of meaning gathered in our microstudy of the text and make sure we are interpreting the “rest” and other concepts in the passage in light of the context. This step involves analyzing different interpretations in light of how they fit the bigger theological framework of this passage. What interpretations pull the various strands together into a cogent understanding of the passage? If we approach the study and teaching of a text like Hebrews 4:1–13 atomistically, focusing only on a word or phrase at a time and never assessing the roles these play in the author’s larger purpose of the section, we run the danger of presenting a fragmented application based on fragmented thinking. We become like a woodland traveler whose view of a particular tree or trees obscures the forest.

Words like “rest,” “faith,” or “works” lend themselves to eisegetical interpretations (i.e., reading information into our interpretation from sources other than the text), based more on our theological preunderstanding than on an investigation of these words in context. Thus, we must work from the specifics of the text to the whole and back to a consideration of the specifics. We must be able to answer the question, “What conceptual role does this word or phrase play in the unit as a whole?” If we cannot answer that question reasonably, we have yet to arrive at a starting point for application. We may not leave our study of the text only having analyzed words and phrases; we must continue the process until we have a basic understanding of the author’s message as a whole.

(3) We must draw possible parallels to modern cultures, remaining sensitive to both genuine correspondences and inappropriate applications. Just as we move from the details to the larger unit and then back to the details of the text, we must move back and forth between the world of the text and our modern contexts, reflecting on the possible implications of the former for the latter. This movement, which has a dual look at the text and our contexts, has been described as a “spiral” of interpretation. Grant R. Osborne comments:

A “spiral” … is not a closed circle but rather an open-ended movement from the horizon of the text to the horizon of the reader. I am not going round and round a closed circle that can never detect the true meaning but am spiralling nearer and nearer to the text’s intended meaning as I refine my hypotheses and allow the text to continue to challenge and correct those alternative interpretations, then to guide my delineation of its significance for my situation today. The sacred author’s intended meaning is the critical starting-point but not an end in itself. The task of hermeneutics must begin with exegesis but is not complete until one notes the contextualization of that meaning for today.18

Therefore, our application, which we present in the “Contemporary Significance” section, must be grounded in a sound and emerging understanding of the text as a whole and in reflection on the implications of the text for today.

The author’s interpretive processes. In the past some scholars accused Hebrews of a reckless and fantastic method of interpretation, in which insights were pulled from thin air. More recently, however, students of Hebrews have pointed out the care with which the author approaches his treatment of the Old Testament text.19 This care manifests itself starkly in Hebrews 4 by the author’s use of two rabbinic approaches to interpretation: verbal analogy and an emphasis on the plain meaning of specific words.

We have already encountered the author’s use of verbal analogy in 1:5–14.20 The basic presupposition behind this technique holds the existence of a consistency and continuity in God’s revelation of truth. Various passages having “verbal analogy” (i.e., words in common) may be considered in light of one another because God has used specific terminology to communicate specific truths to his people.

In the case of Hebrews 4 the author understands Genesis 2, because of its reference to “rest,” to make a contribution to the interpretation of Psalm 95. The pentateuchal passage helps to “fill in the gaps” for this first-century exegete, providing a basic definition of rest lacking in the psalm. That Genesis 2 speaks of God’s rest on the seventh day suggests to our author that this rest into which the desert generation did not enter was the same as that of the Genesis passage since in the psalm God calls it “my rest.” The nature of this rest, then, consists of ceasing from one’s own works as God did from his (Heb. 4:10). The entering of the rest by God’s people, therefore, involves obedience (4:11) and faith (4:1–3), two concepts closely aligned in the author’s thought (cf. 3:18–19), which constitute the ceasing from one’s own efforts or counsels and the embracing of God’s will.

The author of Hebrews also approaches the Old Testament with a “literalist” interpretation, based on the plain meaning of specific words. “Literal” interpretations are referred to rather negatively in modern culture, but the principle as adhered to in ancient biblical study signified a deep respect for the text. On this aspect of early Jewish hermeneutics Richard Longenecker comments:

It need not be argued at any length that Judaism often took the words of the Old Testament quite literally. Rabbinic literature contains a number of examples of where the Scriptures were understood in a straightforward fashion, resulting in the plain, simple and natural meaning of the text being applied to the lives of people—particularly in the application of deuteronomic legislation. Frequently, in fact, the interpretation is woodenly literal as, for example, the teaching of the School of Shammai that “in the evening all should recline when they recite [the Shema], but in the morning they should stand up, for it is written, ‘And when thou liest down and when thou risest up.’” The School of Hillel is recorded as countering this by insisting, “they may recite it every one in his own way, for it is written, ‘And when thou walkest by the way.’”21

This literalist care with which our author handles the Old Testament may be seen in the logic of 4:6–9. For him the “Today” of Psalm 95 speaks of a time of opportunity, which, spoken as it was through David, existed for the people of God who lived long after entrance into the land of Canaan had been accomplished. Psalm 95, as a word of warning, includes an implication for those who fail to heed it: They, like the disobedient Israelites in the desert, will not be allowed to enter God’s rest. This implication further means that the rest still exists and may be attained by God’s people. As found in Genesis 2:2 this rest has to do with ceasing from one’s own works. Thus, the author arrives at these conclusions by carrying out specific interpretive processes common to his day.

What does insight into these processes offer us as we move toward application? An understanding of each of these methods of argumentation brings into sharper focus the author’s own interpretation of various concepts in the passage. These concepts are utilized within a framework established by the processes described above. Therefore, as the interpreter understands the role of each in that framework, the meaning of each concept as it supports the author’s purposes becomes more clear. Apart from an understanding of his reasoning, the specific meanings he wishes to communicate may be obscured.

Interpreting the “rest” in light of the context. To grasp what the author intends to communicate concerning God’s promised rest is fundamental to interpreting and applying this passage. As mentioned in the “Original Meaning,” the exact nature of the “rest” as a present or future reality remains somewhat veiled. Thus application of this text offers a rigorous challenge.

Perhaps we should begin with three cautions concerning interpretation and application of these verses. (1) One may be tempted to avoid an application of this text since a passage that is this “theologically oriented” does not lend itself as easily to application as, for example, 1 Corinthians 13 or a teaching from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7). Yet, notice that this passage concludes a major section of exhortation! It may take more effort to work through to an application, but God’s people should be challenged to respond to this text.

(2) One might mistakenly preach the text as offering mere physical rest. One can imagine the passage being used to proclaim God’s concern for our physical well-being. Certainly we must not make a strict demarcation between physical, emotional, and spiritual fatigue when considering the promise of rest here. The first hearers may have experienced great physical and emotional tiredness as a result of the persecution they were facing. However, the promise of Hebrews 4 offers so much more than mere physical and emotional renewal. The land of rest to which the author calls the hearers has more to do with a spiritual state of right relationship with and blessing from God. This promise does have vast implications for physical and emotional well-being, but the beginning place must be with one’s spiritual condition. An appropriate application, therefore, might start with the issue of physical fatigue, but only as a launching point to address the root problem of spiritual dysfunctionality.

(3) Hebrews 4:1–13 should not be used to preach a literal “Sabbath observance,” in which one ceases from one’s own physical labor on a given day of the week. The preacher who uses Hebrews 4 to promote the cessation of work on Sunday, for example, is misinterpreting and misapplying the text. Although the author does emphasize the gathering together of Christians as vital (e.g., 10:25), the imagery in Hebrews 4 relates more broadly to a spiritual state in which one draws near to God. Speaking of the spiritual principle of the Sabbath Augustine writes:

It is also for this reason, that of all the ten commandments, that which related to the Sabbath was the only one in which the thing commanded was typical [i.e., figurative]; the bodily rest enjoined being a type which we have received as a means of our instruction, but not as a duty binding also upon us. For while in the Sabbath a figure is presented of the spiritual rest, of which it is said in the Psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God,” and unto which men are invited by the Lord Himself in the words, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: so shall ye find rest unto your souls”; as to all the things enjoined in the other commandments, we are to yield to them an obedience in which there is nothing typical. For we have been taught literally not to worship idols; and the precepts enjoining us not to take God’s name in vain, to honour our father and mother, not to commit adultery, or kill, or steal, or bear false witness, or covet our neighbour’s wife, or covet anything that is our neighbour’s, are all devoid of typical or mystical meaning, and are to be literally observed. But we are not commanded to observe the day of the Sabbath literally, in resting from bodily labour, as it is observed by the Jews.… From this we may reasonably conclude, that all those things which are figuratively set forth in Scripture, are powerful in stimulating that love by which we tend towards rest; since the only figurative or typical precept in the Decalogue is the one in which that rest is commended to us, which is desired everywhere, but is found sure and sacred in God alone.22

With these cautions in mind, we must now ask what the text reveals about this promised rest and how these points might lead to appropriate application of this passage. (1) It is a rest that the hearers must fear missing. Those in the community who treat the word of salvation lightly have something to fear. The author confronts them with the possibility of missing out on God’s promised rest. Fear of this prospect constitutes far more than a simple caution against missing out on a potentially gratifying experience (as in “Oh, I am afraid I might miss the party”). Rather, a healthy respect for the power and judgment of God, detailed in 3:7–19, underlies the exhortation to “fear” (NIV , “be careful”) in 4:1. In other words, it is due to their lack of fear (i.e., respect) toward God that people need to fear negative consequences of their spiritual condition.

Many readers of this commentary are familiar with the broader biblical concept of the fear of God.23 A danger of drifting off a sound theological path exists when dealing with this motif, and this danger applies to one side of the road as well as the other. On the one hand, some church traditions may emphasize the “fear of God” in a way that obscures the grace, love, and promises of God. In the present context the fear of missing the promised rest might be used to spiritually bludgeon a group of hearers. The red-faced preacher, who week after week reminds his church members that God—appalled and angry at human shortcomings—sits enthroned in judgment above the heavens, yet never moves decisively to a thorough explication of grace and promise, fails to preach a balanced gospel.

On the other hand, in many corners of the church today a too-familiar approach to God has obscured the awesomeness and otherness of his character, exalting the concept of promise to the point of obscuring spiritual accountability. As witnessed in Hebrews 4, God’s word of promise comes in the context of accountability. In both Old and New Testaments, to be addressed by God’s voice caused the hearer to tremble. This holy awe of God may be seen, for example, in Jonathan Edwards’ works, the most famous of which is his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God.” An application faithful to the passage under consideration must take seriously the interrelationship of the warnings and promises inherent in the author’s message.

The gospel challenges us to embrace the grace and love of God in light of the holiness and justice of God. In fact, the latter characteristics enhance our understanding of the former. We must reflect on our preaching and teaching to ascertain whether we hold these aspects in a proper and balanced perspective. Thus, application of 4:1–13 must build on the passage’s emphases on God’s word as both warning and promise to those who have yet to enter his rest.

(2) It is a rest that some in the community are in danger of rejecting because they have not combined faith with obedience to God’s word. The implications of this caution must be highlighted in our application as we consider who in our contemporary contexts should be objects of the concern expressed in Hebrews 4. Those of the ancient faith community with whom the preacher is most concerned seem to have fallen short of a true faith response to the message of the good news; they have not truly believed (4:1–3). They are active, but their activity suggests they may not have engaged faith to this point. The author has in mind those who are falling away from the Christian movement and, thus, are not taking advantage of the work of God in Christ. In so doing they manifest that they have not ceased truly from their own works, taken the true path of faith, and entered into the Sabbath rest found in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.

Thus the first line of application of the passage may be for those who are aligned with the community of faith but whose lives call into question whether the life of faith truly has been embarked upon. This brings us to a third point.

(3) It is a rest that consists of ceasing from one’s own works. This proposition in 4:10 parallels the concept of joining faith to the hearing of the good news (4:2). In the context this would seem to point to a life of faith and obedience, in which one has turned from trust in one’s own desert ways and counsels and turned to embrace the good news and will of God. It is a rest, therefore, that involves action in the form of active obedience to God. In our application of the passage we must not think this rest involves a spiritual passivity that sits around waiting for God to act. God has acted, and we must act in response to his actions.

The relationship between faith and works has constituted a focal discussion for Christian theology from the earliest decades of the church. One emphasis in Paul concerns those who wanted to add deeds of righteousness to the grace of God, suggesting that faith must be accompanied by works in order for salvation to be accessed (e.g., Rom. 4:1–5:12; Gal. 2:16–19; Eph. 2:8–10). Paul stresses that faith alone, apart from works, brings salvation.24

James, on the other hand, deals with those who called themselves believers but had no works that manifested that reality (James 2:14–26). For James works do not earn salvation but are an expression of genuine faith. Thus Abraham offered his son Isaac as an expression of faith and was justified (2:21–23). Hebrews parallels James somewhat in this concern, since for its author a lack of obedience shows a lack of true faith (Heb. 3:12, 18–19; 4:2, 11). Yet, Hebrews also contains an element of Pauline conceptions of faith as trust in God, expressed in the ceasing from one’s own works (4:10).25 Thus Hebrews represents somewhat a cross-section of early Christian concerns related to the relationship between faith and works.

In Hebrews one finds neither “faith” in the modern sense of a “leap in the dark,” nor the health-and-wealth emphasis on “pinning God down” to a certain response by use of the Scriptures. (a) As to the former, faith relates to the unseen (e.g., Heb. 11:1), yet consists of an obedient response to God’s revelation. Instead of a leap into the dark, there is a step into the light. We know where to move because God has revealed truth to us. Nevertheless, he and our future remain unseen, and thus our steps must be steps of trust in the unseen Revealer. (b) As to the latter, Hebrews’ reverence for God does not allow the presumption often evidenced in the health-and-wealth doctrine of faith. Hebrews emphasizes faith as important to obtaining the promises of God, yet these promises relate to greater realities of Christian existence rather than material possessions or physical health.

(4) The rest may be entered now and will be consummated at the end of the age. The author’s challenge to the community stems from his understanding of salvation, which involves both events of inauguration and consummation, as well as a process in between. Some in the community “seem” to have fallen short of the rest (4:1) because they have ceased participation in the process of being aligned with the community of confession and faith. This position of faithlessness demonstrates that, as with the desert generation, hearing of the gospel has not truly been joined to faith. True believers live out faith, resting in God until the final rest is reached. In other words, true believers have already entered into God’s rest through belief, but they will experience the consummation of that rest only as they endure to the end.

Contemporary Significance

THE NEED FOR a land of rest. Modern cultures are often characterized by frenetic activity. The fast-paced, problem-prone, project-oriented existence many of us live resists the spiritual life, pushing away recognition of God’s voice with its invitation to rest. We face endless “To Do” lists for work, home, family, and other organizations, and these add a weight to our souls, from which we find little respite even in a good night’s sleep. It seems all we can do to keep up the pace. In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass the author comments on this aspect of modern society through the character of the Red Queen, who says to Alice, “Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

As a result, in the crush and rush of weeks that flash before our eyes we sacrifice the important for the urgent, the personal for the professional, the private for the public image needed to keep our opportunities to do more and more. Such frenzied activity perhaps manifests a deeper spiritual emptiness, which prompts us to be ever striving for something of eternal value to fill the void, a “promised land” of inner milk and honey. In other words, we long for true rest that goes deeper than skin, muscle, and bone.

At the same time, there are those of another life orientation who find fatigue a daily companion. These are those out of work, the poor, or the sick who know only a life of monotony and boredom. You can see the lethargy in their pace, mirroring the weight hanging on their inner lives. They witness to the fact that true rest—the kind that reaches down to the depths of a person—cannot simply be found in being dismissed from constant labor. These, too, long for rest, a rest from a life of inactivity and meaninglessness, and they desperately need the replenishment brought only by the Spirit of God.

Although physical or emotional fatigue may be a problem—certainly these are universal companions for humanity—the promise of Hebrews 4 confronts the reader with a spiritual condition of being “out of place” in God’s order. To lack God’s promised rest means to be spiritually stranded, stuck in the desert between the slavery of Egypt and the promise of Canaan. The rest of Hebrews 4 speaks of a promised position in which one is rightly related to God and partaking of his blessings.

Spiritual wandering and its resulting fatigue are not new problems. Jesus, the new Joshua who leads God’s people successfully into the land of promised rest (4:8), once said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30). As he looks out on a desert-wandering humanity, his solution is “Come to me.” Not, “Come to a set of teachings” (although Jesus does call us to that as well); not, “Come to church” (although Jesus does call us to a community of faith); not, “Come to your psychologist” (although God can use gifted counselors); not, “Come to a vacation” (although an evaluation of our tendencies to be workaholics and a reassessment of our life priorities may be in order). No. Rather, he says, “Come to me.”

Jesus offers the ultimate source for true rest, for true rest is found only in a right relationship with the person of God. The rest is his rest, for his people, found by obeying his Word. In the wake of a culture leaving the fragmented, fragile, and fatigued in its wake, the church has the phenomenal opportunity of pointing people to the ultimate land of promise and spiritual well-being.

In her article “Keeping Sabbath: Reviving a Christian Practice,”26 Dorothy C. Bass points out that Sabbath commandments in the Old Testament are grounded in two activities of God: creation and exodus. In the book of Exodus God’s people are given the gift of joining him in the rest established as a creation ordinance. By their pattern of work and rest they exhibit the image of God. Thus to find God’s rest means to fulfill our place as human beings in the created order.

If we wander in the desert and lack the promised rest, the problem is a dysfunctional relationship to God; all who are not in right relationship with God need the promised rest found in Christ’s “Day of Atonement” sacrifice. This need, therefore, extends to many who may not seem fatigued physically or emotionally. They may even seem energetic and purposeful in their wanderings. Nevertheless, as Augustine noted long ago, rest comes to realization only as wanderers find rest in God. True rest, which involves ceasing from one’s own work as God did at creation and entering God’s promised blessing of forgiveness, cannot be had by slaves or desert wanderers. Rather, true rest is found in rightly relating to God through faith and obedience to his Word. Only by joining him in his creation rest and humbling ourselves in light of his Day of Atonement sacrifice can we experience the Sabbath celebration reserved for God’s people.

Therefore, as a first-level application of Hebrews 4 we must reflect on our spiritual condition. I must ask myself whether my lack of attention to the needs of my spirit has led to a condition of perpetual spiritual fatigue, a falling short of the promises of God. What is the state of my relationship with God? Have I entered into relationship with him, and am I living out obedience to his voice? The failure to participate in God’s promised rest in Hebrews 4 most prominently relates to disobedience. Therefore, Hebrews 4 invites us first of all to spiritual reflection concerning our relationship to God.

Challenging the churched. In his book Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary, Lee Strobel tells of a thirty-one-year-old mother of two, who after attending two services where the gospel was presented said, “I’ve just realized I’ve been playing religion all my life. I’m active at church, I’m on committees, I’ve heard about the Crucifixion so much since I was a child that I’ve been numb to it. And I realized today that I don’t have a relationship with Christ.”27 Similarly, in the church I attend is a young lady who has been with the church since its founding four years ago. She and her family have participated in worship events, joined in small group activities, and carried out a variety of ministries to others. Yet, this fall Becky realized she had yet to make a faith commitment to Christ. Her decision, neither impromptu nor emotional, was prompted by a slowly growing awareness of her spiritual condition. She was baptized as a profession of her new covenant commitment to Christ.

There are certainly many others who connect with the church but never seem to get beyond the association and activities to a real faith relationship with God. In their case the gospel is heard without being heard with spiritual ears; it is acknowledged without being assimilated; it remains a matter of the head never making it to the heart.

The churched need to be reminded of the nature of real faith, for some of them may have never experienced it. The author of Hebrews states that those he is concerned about have failed to combine hearing of the gospel with real faith (4:2). In his Christian Theology Alister McGrath discusses three main points concerning faith that flow from Martin Luther’s doctrine of justification.28 (1) Rather than being purely historical, faith has a personal reference. Simply to give cognitive assent to the historical facts surrounding the gospel cannot put a person into right relationship with God. Faith must be understood as having relevance for us personally.

(2) Faith has to do with trust in the promises of God. This trust, much more than merely believing (as in “I trust you are telling me the truth”), consists of an active reliance on the object of faith. Luther used the image of a ship. It is one thing to believe a ship can make it across a storm-tossed sea and quite another to entrust oneself to the ship by stepping into it for the voyage. Faith is an active commitment. Hebrews speaks of this commitment in terms of obedient response to the Word of God.

(3) Faith unites the believer to Christ in a covenant relationship. The essence of Christianity focuses not on an abstract collection of church doctrines or a list of activities, but rather in a personal relationship with Christ. To know Christ is to be a Christian of true faith.

A number of years ago Mother Teresa was approached by a brother in the order who complained that the rules of his superior were getting in the way of his ministry to lepers. He lamented, “My vocation is to work for lepers.” To this Mother Teresa replied gently, “Brother your vocation is not to work for lepers, your vocation is to belong to Jesus.”29 This is the essence of real Christianity. All else relates to and flows from this relationship.

Cultivating a reverence for God and a respect for his discerning Word. Those who have yet to come to real faith in Christ, who may be associated with the church in some way but continue to treat the gospel lightly, need to come to grips with what it means to have awe for God and the power of his Word. Thus, our communities of faith need to be places of real worship, reverence, and radical openness to that Word. When those who are “playing church,” stranded between Egypt and Canaan, truly enter into his presence and are confronted with his holiness, they will have their flippant, shallow “churchianity” stripped away and, like Isaiah in the shadow of King Uzziah’s death (Isa. 6:1–13), will find themselves naked before his striking presence, crying out that they are indeed ruined and dirty.

Donald W. McCullough, in his book The Trivialization of God, writes of a vapid Christianity approached without due reverence for God:

Visit a church on Sunday morning—almost any will do—and you will likely find a congregation comfortably relating to a deity who fits nicely within precise doctrinal positions, or who lends almighty support to social crusades, or who conforms to individual spiritual experiences. But you will not likely find much awe or sense of mystery. The only sweaty palms will be those of the preacher unsure whether the sermon will go over; the only shaking knees will be those of the soloist about to sing the offertory.

… reverence and awe have often been replaced by a yawn of familiarity. The consuming fire has been domesticated into a candle flame, adding a bit of religious atmosphere, perhaps, but no heat, no blinding light, no power for purification.

When the true story gets told, whether in the partial light of historical perspective or in the perfect light of eternity, it may well be revealed that the worst sin of the church at the end of the twentieth century has been the trivialization of God.30

How then do we come to grips with the awesomeness of God? One way is by living lives consistently open to the hearing and practice of his Word. This openness stands as the antithesis of a hardened heart (3:8), the way we know God’s ways (3:10), the entrance to and experience of God’s promised rest (3:18, 4: 6, 11), and the path of true faith (4:2). This “living and active” Word reaches to the depths of our existence and lays bare who we really are before the all-seeing God. This does not mean that God needs our interaction with his Word to see our innermost thoughts and the conditions of our souls. No. Our confrontation by the Word brings us in touch with the truth of God’s perceptiveness. God sees us inside-out. The question is whether we realize it and, by his grace, join him in investigating our true spiritual conditions.

We tend to think of great faith in terms of following God in the accomplishing of great deeds in the world or of overcoming great obstacles. Yet, true faith must begin with a face-to-face experience with God, by which we journey to the inner recesses of our own hearts.

The forging of a real-world faith means not only that one follows Christ into the Heavenlies to meet God, but that one follows Christ into the corridors of one’s inner space in order to develop the spirit of Christlikeness. And Christlikeness in the inner life means an advancing knowledge of one’s inner self and a growing ability to master it.31

The great sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, serves as our guide in following Christ through the inner corridors of the heart. This confrontation by God’s living, piercing Word begins and must be a trademark of the true life of faith.

How then might we live our lives open to the Word of God? The father of German Pietism, Philip Jakob Spener, wrote Pia Desideria (“Pious Longings”) in 1675. In this work Spener vied for greater attention to be given to the “hearing” of Scripture by those in the churches of his day. His words fit well a great need in the contemporary church:

Thought should be given to the more extensive use of the Word of God among us. We know that by nature we have no good in us. If there is to be any good in us, it must be brought about by God. To this end the Word of God is the powerful means, since faith must be enkindled through the gospel, and the law provides the rules for good works and many wonderful impulses to attain them. The more at home the Word of God is among us, the more we shall bring about faith and its fruits.

It may appear that the Word of God has sufficiently free course among us inasmuch as at various places (as in this city [Frankfurt am Main]) there is daily or frequent preaching from the pulpit. When we reflect further on the matter, however, we shall find that with respect to this first proposal, more is needed.32

Having acknowledged the important place of preaching in the life of the congregation, Spener goes on to encourage the public and private readings of the Scriptures, as well as the gathering together of believers in what would be the precursor to modern home, Bible-discussion groups.

Modern Christians have a number of “advantages” over those of Spener’s Germany. In the latter half of the twentieth century, evangelical Christianity experienced a boom in the publishing of materials related to Bible study. Lexical aids, background tools, concordances, a host of excellent commentaries, and even computer programs have proliferated. Yet many congregations (and even their pastors!) could be considered resource rich and Bible poor. We trumpet the need for detailed consideration of the Scriptures but find little time in the crush of our over-extended schedules.

I have found personally that my ongoing spiritual well-being relates to a number of factors, none more basic than consistent, meaningful time in prayer and interaction with God’s Word. We will consider prayer further in a later section, but I would like to mention several ways we should be opening our lives to the Word.

(1) With Spener I suggest that exegetical preaching and the reading of Scripture are foundational for the community of faith. I must challenge myself on a regular basis to think through application of what I am hearing preached or read, writing down notes and meditating on how I might assimilate the truths expressed in the coming days. My family and I are beginning a process in which we discuss one or two central truths from our weekend worship experience and meditate on those truths for the first half of the week. In the last half of the week we begin preparing our hearts for worship on the coming weekend. In seeking to apply Hebrews 4:12–13 I must ask myself whether I am truly hearing the Word preached in such a way that I am opening myself to obedient action and, therefore, life change.

(2) With Spener I affirm the need for private reading as well as small-group reading and discussion of the Bible. As I read the Scriptures on a daily basis and participate with others in biblically based discussion, I begin to get a better grasp on the broad sweep of Scripture. Spener suggested that for individual Christians to depend on preaching alone would be to neglect large portions of Scripture and fall out of touch with an overview of God’s counsel. Therefore, great encouragement in the faith comes by setting aside a few minutes at some point in the day to read several chapters of the Bible systematically.

(3) Many modern Christians need to evaluate their time management and commit to consistent, personal Bible study. The Word of God is a gift that should be cherished with detailed attention. Personal study educates, stimulates right thinking, challenges to holy living, and encourages needy hearts. Thinking about the Word of God is (and should be) a community-conditioned activity. As individuals grow in biblical literacy the community is strengthened. Without personal Bible study, both the spiritual life of the individual and the community suffer.

(4) Flowing from hearing, reading, and studying the Scriptures should be a process of memorization and meditation. Most Christians are familiar with the psalmist’s confession, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11). Jesus clearly modeled these practices in his own life and ministry (e.g., Matt. 4:1–11). Memorization and meditation were vital in the biblical world since the cost of manuscripts was exorbitant. Yet, the practice is no less needed in modern culture even though many families have multiple copies of the Bible in a wide variety of translations. A Bible at hand does not necessarily mean an incorporation of biblical truth into one’s life. Memorization of and meditation on passages that have been studied in their original contexts can be great aids in spiritual growth and vitality.33

These modes of interacting with God’s Word take time and discipline. If you are out of the habit of engaging the Bible meaningfully, you might begin by setting aside forty-five minutes or an hour a day to do basic study and memorization. Treat that time as nonnegotiable and choose a time during which you are least likely to be interrupted (e.g., early in the morning). Work at consistency rather than great volume. For example, you might start by memorizing one verse per week. Also, such a commitment to Bible study and memorization is bolstered if you have a friend that will encourage you and with whom you can share insights from your study. Such interaction with Scripture is costly, but you can be assured that the investment of consistently opening your life to God’s Word will pay great dividends.

Further, when we reflect on those who are struggling with Christian commitment, as were those addressed by the author in Hebrews 4, we could do them no better service than living lives before them that are consistently transformed by the Word. As we engage them through authentic living, exegetical preaching, and discussion of the Bible, the spiritually border-lined come into contact with the active, powerful Word, which can penetrate the hardest of hearts and open the darkest of souls to the gaze of God. Then perhaps God’s Word will become to them a word of promised rest by which they will find an eternal place of belonging.

Original Meaning

Identification of the “Rest” (4:3–5)

IT IS, THEREFORE, those who “have believed” who are in the process of entering God’s rest. What then is this “rest” of which the preacher speaks and which should be an object of concern for the community? Although in verse 10 the author defines the “rest” minimally as ceasing from one’s own works, he offers no specific points of reference as to where or when this takes place. Is the “rest” a present spiritual state or an eschatological destination (i.e., heaven)?

Scholars have spilled much ink over this question, with mixed results. One of the most significant works on the subject is by O. Hofius, who, based on his study of Jewish apocalyptic, argues that “rest” must be understood as oriented to the end of the Christian’s journey—the entrance into the heavenly Most Holy Place at the end of the age. This interpretation of the “rest” as having a future orientation has also been adopted, for example, by P. E. Hughes and finds support in the pilgrimage motif of the book, with its emphasis on persevering to the end.

G. Theissen, on the other hand, has responded to Hofius by pointing out the association of “rest” with God’s rest on the seventh day. Commentators have noted that in Genesis 1–2 the first six days of creation have an end, or evening; the seventh day, however, is an “open-ended day,” which has no end. This, for Theissen, suggests that the rest must not be limited to a location and a point in time.5 God’s “rest” must be seen as a present reality. The present context, with its emphasis on “Today” as a present time of opportunity, seems to support this position.

Furthermore, how could those of the community seem to have fallen short now if the rest lies entirely in the future? If the concept of rest as discussed in Hebrews 4 has an entirely future orientation, all of the members of the community are short of achieving it at present. Although elements in Hebrews point to attainment of God’s promises in the future, the present appropriation of God’s “rest” must be considered an aspect of our author’s concern.

The problem lies in the ambiguity of the discussion at this juncture in Hebrews and may be stated simply:

The promise of rest may be accepted today; but whether entry into that rest is accomplished now through faith, at death (12:23, “the spirits of just men made perfect”—i.e., “at rest”?), or at the final consummation (i.e., “rest” = “the city to come” of 13:14?) is nearly impossible to say. It probably includes all three.6

This final assertion fits well the author’s theological orientation evidenced elsewhere in Hebrews—that Christian realities have been inaugurated but have yet to be consummated. Therefore, the “rest” is something a believer enters (and thus experiences) now, but this rest in its fullness remains a promised destination for the future.7 Harold Attridge articulates this position well:

Thus the imagery of rest is best understood as a complex symbol for the whole soteriological process that Hebrews never fully articulates, but which involves both personal and corporate dimensions. It is the process of entry into God’s presence, the heavenly homeland (11:16), the unshakeable kingdom (12:28), begun at baptism (10:22) and consummated as a whole eschatologically.8

The author associates the “rest” into which the desert wanderers failed to enter with the “rest” of God in Genesis 2:2. Psalm 95 and Genesis 2 are brought together by the rabbinic technique of “verbal analogy”: the association of two passages on the basis of a word or words used in common. Psalm 95:11 states, “They shall never enter my rest [katapausin],” and Genesis 2:2 reads, “And on the seventh day God rested [katepausen] from all his work.” The author of Hebrews wishes to emphasize two things by this association: The “rest” of God is not something of the past (4:6–9), and by its nature it involves the cessation of work (4:10). The author hints at the first of these propositions in verse 3 when he states, “And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.” He offers this statement as a comment on his reiteration of Psalm 95:11, which shows that the “rest” of God, mentioned in Genesis 2, was an ongoing reality when the psalmist wrote. This understanding is developed in verses 6–11.