Hebrews 4:1-7

¹ “Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united with those who listened with faith. ³ For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,

‘As I swore in My anger,
They certainly shall not enter My rest,’

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; ⁵ and again in this passage, ‘They certainly shall not enter My rest.’ ⁶ Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ He again sets a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

‘Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.’”

Verse 1: The author is speaking a warning to those Jewish readers who had yet to receive the gospel. The possibility of a rest remains for them, a rest from works of the law. This rest is in Christ and is entered through faith in him. When we believe we are able to cease from any works or striving to earn God’s righteousness and favor. When we believe we enter into God’s rest.

Verse 2: Here, the author acknowledges that the Israelites in the wilderness also heard the good news, but it did not benefit them because they lacked faith. The message of the gospel is only effective when received with faith. It is not about mere intellectual knowledge, but about trusting in Jesus and His finished work. Notice also that obedience and faith are synonymous here. Faith in Christ is obeying Christ. There is not a works-based obedience that is somehow divorced from faith. When we believe we become obedient.

Verse 3: This verse emphasizes that those who have believed in Jesus have entered God’s spiritual rest. This rest is not something we earn or achieve through our own efforts, but it is received by faith in the finished work of Christ. Salvation by grace through faith has been God’s plan since the beginning. The Old Covenant law only existed to reveal the depth of humanity’s sinfulness for them to find salvation in Christ.

Verse 4: The author refers to the account of God resting on the seventh day after completing His work of creation. Rest is part of God’s innate nature. When we believe in Jesus we enter into his rest.

Verse 5: This verse refers to God’s declaration that those who disobeyed would not enter His rest. It serves as a warning to the unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem. They will not enter rest through works of the law. Only through faith in Christ will we find rest.

Verse 6: Here, the author acknowledges that there are still some who have not entered into God’s rest in the Jerusalem church. Those who did not enter in the past did so because of their disobedience, not because the rest was unavailable to them. When we believe we become obedient according to God’s idea of obedience. But there is not rest divorced from Christ.

Verse 7: The author is highlighting the urgency of believing in Jesus as well as a present opportunity. The unbelieving Jews needed to believe in Christ “today” and not delay. The author quotes from Psalm 95 to emphasize the importance of responding to God’s invitation without hardening hearts against him. It is a call to trust in him and receive the rest that He offers through faith in Jesus Christ.