This article is adapted from the sermon pastor Matt preached from Hebrews 4:1-10 on May 17th, 2026.
The Bible famously begins with God creating the heavens and the earth in six days. We hear the refrain: “And there was evening and there was morning”—the first day, the second day, the third day, and so on. On the sixth day, after the creation of mankind in his image, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). But then, on the seventh day, we find that God rested: “He rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done (Gen. 2:2). Of course, God did not rest because he was tired and worn-out, for the everlasting God does not faint or grow weary (Isa. 40:28). His rest meant that his work of creation was finished.
But that is not all it means. Yes, the heavens and earth were finished. Yes, he was satisfied with his work. But God’s Sabbath rest was also his enthronement. With the heavens as his throne and the earth as his footstool (Isa. 66:1), with the universe now serving as a theater for his majesty, “God assumed his rightful royal place” to rule over his creation.1Meredith G. Kline in Richard C. Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ (Cape Coral, FL; Founders Press, 2017), 162. God’s reign is one of rest and uncontestable sovereignty; he exerts his rule from the position of rest, with all things arranged and subdued according to his plan.2Richard D. Phillips, Hebrews, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006), 119–120. And his desire is to dwell in his cosmic temple with us, with men and women made in his image to know him, love him, and enjoy his reign. In this way, the seventh day is not simply an add-on to the creation week; it is more like an “exclamation point” to the creation week.3Barcellos, Getting the Garden Right, 162. In fact, it is the one day in seven that God blessed and made holy. It is a day intended for humanity.
This understanding of God’s rest is crucial for understanding what the author of Hebrews argues in chapter 4. In Hebrews 3:7–4:13, the author is giving a second major warning to a church that was tempted to quit following Jesus. To do this, he has been teaching them a history lesson. He reminds them that there was an entire generation of Israelites who were unable to enter the promised land of Canaan because of their unbelief. Despite God’s promise, his presence, and his power, Israel rebelled against him. They disobeyed him and refused to enter the land. As a result, God swore in his wrath: “They shall not enter my rest.” (Heb. 3:11). Their bodies fell in the wilderness after forty years of wandering. Yet this oath moves the author of Hebrews to focus on the topic of God’s rest. And in this word of warning, he also finds a word of promise: God’s rest remains open to all who believe the gospel.
A Rest Entered by Faith
“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it” (Heb. 4:1)
The author sums up his argument thus far, pointing out that the possibility of entering God’s rest is a promise that still stands. It’s an offer that remains on the table. It’s an open invitation. But before he explains why this is so, and how this can be true for us, he exhorts his hearers once more again to take care lest they fall short of this rest.
What does Hebrews mean by this idea of “rest”? What exactly is God’s rest? When we consider how this word is used in Psalm 95 (the text our author is unpacking) and Numbers 14 (the story behind the psalm), it refers simply to entering the land of promise. This suggests a couple of things. First, God’s rest is a place. It’s a place of rest. If Israel ever made it over the Jordan to dwell in the land of Canaan, Moses said that thenthey would have come to the rest and the inheritance that Yahweh was giving to them (Deut. 12:9-10). Second, God’s rest is also a condition. It’s a state of rest. It’s the experience of peace and security, of refreshment and satisfaction not just in a place but in God’s presence. It’s a way to describe the blessing of fellowship with the God who gives, and is himself, our rest.
However, when you consider where this exhortation, to enter “his rest,” comes in the flow of the book of Hebrews (and how the argument continues not only in this chapter but onwards), it becomes clear that our author means something much more than just the rest of Canaan. As it turns out, God’s rest is another way of referring to the hope of the gospel. It’s what Hebrews has already called the “great salvation” that we are to inherit (1:14; 2;3). It’s “the world to come” (2:5); It’s where God is bringing his many sons: to “glory” (2:10). God’s rest is what Hebrews will later call our “promised eternal inheritance” (9:15). It’s the “better country” and the city to come that God has prepared for us (11:16; 13:14). It’s our great “reward” (11:26). It’s the “kingdom that cannot be shaken” (12:28).
In other words, God’s rest is both a future place and a present state. It is ultimately rest in the new heavens and new earth to come, but it’s also rest in a relationship with God now.4Dana M. Harris, Hebrews, ed. Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2019), 95. It is this rest that Hebrews is urging us to enter by faith, and to fear lest we fall short of reaching it.
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest’” (Heb. 4:2-3)
Here, the author continues to he continues to make a connection between Israel then and the church now. The good news that Israel heard was the good news of the exodus. It was God’s promise to deliver them from their life of slavery and to bring them to the land he was giving them to flourish under his life-giving rule. In other words, it was the promise of entering God’s rest. Yet “the good news they heard didn’t benefit them.”Why? “Because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God” (NLT). They had heard God’s voice, yet they hardened their hearts against him in unbelief. The wilderness generation didn’t share the faith of Joshua and Caleb.
So, in v. 3 the author repeats the warning of Psalm 95, but does so to point out that it contains a promise: Those who do hear God’s voice, and respond with the obedience of faith, will enter his rest.5John Owen, Hebrews, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 85. It’s important to note that the verb “enter” here is a present-tense verb. The idea is that by faith we are on our way to enter God’s rest, as long as we take care and hold fast to the end. As we’ll see, there’s a sense in which Christians can truly say they’ve entered into his rest. But there’s another sense in which we have not yet entered his rest, because we’re all still running the race of faith. God’s rest is the finish line, and we will only fully enter it if we endure.
A Rest Intended Since Creation
Immediately after quoting Psalm 95:11, the author makes a puzzling comment about God’s works being completed: “and yet his works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. 4:3). All this talk of God’s “rest” in Psalm 95:11 compels him to jump to another place in Scripture where we read about God resting. Apparently, he sees a connection between the rest that God promised to give Israel in the land, and the rest that God himself has enjoyed since he made the world. And just because Israel failed to enter it, that doesn’t mean his rest is no longer available. So, he quotes Genesis 2:2, and confirms this connection by quoting Psalm 95:11 once more.
For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest’ (Heb. 4:4-5)
What’s fascinating about the seventh day is that Genesis doesn’t repeat the refrain found at the end of the other days: “And there was evening, and there was morning, the seventh day.” As many rabbis, church fathers, and theologians have pointed out, this would suggest that the seventh day, the day of God’s rest, is ongoing. Yes, God continues to sustain his creation and be at work in his world, but his Sabbath rest, the “day” of his enthronement, is an ongoing day.
This matters because God’s sabbath rest has always been, as David Peterson writes, “a sign of his gracious intention for humanity. God called Israel to experience something of that rest by living under his rule in the land he promised to them.”6David G. Peterson, Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, vol. 15, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (London; Downers Grove, IL: IVP; IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2020), 126. The promise of God’s rest has always been about “sharing a sharing in the eternal rest of God himself,” a rest that began when the creation was finished and a rest that will never end.7R. T. France, “Hebrews,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 13 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 66. This is a reality which can be experienced in part today, and a reality to be enjoyed forever.
A Rest Offered Still Today
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Heb. 4:6-7)
All of this brings the author to provides another summary about God’s promised rest: “It remains for some to enter it.” It has been available ever since creation. Israel’s failure to enter his rest did not mean that the promise no longer held true. The fact that David, in Psalm 95, was calling a generation centuries later to not miss out on it proves that it is still being offered today. This is because God continues to appoint this day of salvation. It is our merciful God who continues to give the opportunity for his people to respond to his gracious invitation. He still speaks; he still sends forth his gospel word; he still holds out the promise of entering his rest
But in verse 8, the author drops a bomb on his hearers, providing another reason why God’s rest remains: “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on” (Heb. 4:8). Of course, Joshua did bring a generation into the land. Joshua 21:43-45 says that God gave them rest just as he had promised. But David makes it sound like God’s true and better rest was a reality yet to be experienced. How? Because Israel was in the land when King David wrote Psalm 95! Under Joshua, Israel had yet to possess the whole land. Under the judges, Israel was always in need of deliverance. Under the prophets and kings, Israel struggled to keep their hold on the land. In the end, they were exiled out of the land because they failed to trust and obey God. So, Hebrews is making a profound point: Rest in the land was not all God had in store for his people. The Promised Land was a prototype of the the greater rest still ahead. Joshua did not bring them into the fullness of God’s Sabbath rest when he brought them into the Promised Land.
The story of creation and God’s intention for humanity, the story of Israel and God’s purpose for the world, reveal that God’s rest is one that is still being offered today. The question, however, is this: how can we ever enter God’s rest? Who can bring us into the place of God’s rest? Left to ourselves, we would always fail to reach it, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We need someone who can do for us what we could never do for ourselves on our own. We need a better Joshua who can fulfill God’s purpose for his people and give us a better rest.
A Rest Secured by Jesus
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his (Heb. 4:9-10)
The promised rest that remains for us to enter is here called a Sabbath rest (more on this word in a minute). The author is tying everything together and telling the Hebrews: “God’s rest—the rest that he gives and the eternal rest that he enjoys—is available for us all today.”
Verse 10 is crucial to understand this. Some English versions take this verse to refer to believers in general, translating the first phrase as “for whoever.” They say whoever enters into God’s rest will one day rest from their works just as God rested from his works. This is why v. 11 will go on to call the church one last time to “strive to enter that rest.” However, this is not the best way to translate this verse. One reason is because “whoever has entered” is more literally: “the one who entered” (ὁ εἰσελθὼν). Believers are those who are entering God’s rest (v. 3). But here, it refers to one who has entered. Another reason is that the author will refer to the believer in the next verse. Here, however, the word “for” reveals that he is more likely providing the reason for what he has just said in v. 9. There remains a Sabbath rest for us today because of the one who has entered that rest for us.
As it turns out, this is the gospel we proclaim: Jesus Christ is “the one who has entered God’s rest.” He is the one who has gone before us to secure our place in the Sabbath rest of God. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the one who has entered into the presence of God on our behalf for our redemption (Heb. 6:19–20; 9:12, 24). After finishing his work of creation, God entered into his rest on the seventh day, enthroned over his creation. After finishing his work of new creation, Jesus entered into his rest when he sat down at God’s right hand.He lived a perfect life of faithfulness to God. He fulfilled the righteous demands of the law. He made purification for sins when he died on the cross. He blazed a trail through death into resurrection life. And now he has rested from his works just as God did from his works.
Now his reign is one of rest. The Son reigns as God, in absolute supremacy and unassailable sovereignty. He exerts his saving rule from the position of rest, enthroned in victory for us.8Phillips, Hebrews, 119–120. And because he is there, we can be there. One day, we will rest from our works like our God did from his.Because Jesus is the last Adam, who obeyed where the first Adam failed; and because he is the true Israel, who was faithful where the Israel according to the flesh had fall short, we can one day enter into God’s Sabbath rest, as long as we hold fast to Christ and keep faith to the end.
Yet at the same time, because all those who through baptism have come to be united to Christ, Christians can “live in the good of [God’s rest] here and now.”9F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Rev. ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 110. We are seated with Christ right now. We have his Spirit right now as a down-payment of our place in God’s eternal rest.
“Sabbath-Keeping” Today
There is a crucial implication that follows from all of this. In verse 9 the author called this rest a “Sabbath rest.” This is a unique word, σαββατισμός (possibly coined by the author), different from the word for “rest” used in this chapter that means something like “sabbath-keeping.” It comes from the verb used in the OT for keeping the Sabbath. This word is getting at the way we “participate in God’s own rest” today. It carries with it the sense of joy and rejoicing that comes from experiencing a taste of God’s rest. It “implies worship and anticipates the worship” of the world to come, when all creation enters rest.10Harris, Hebrews, 100.
So, how do we get in on this “sabbath-keeping” that remains for the people of God today? I would suggest that we do so by observing the Lord’s Day. Sunday is the one day out of seven we now set aside to remember God’s act of new creation through the finished work of Christ. From the creation of the world to the coming of Christ, the day God appointed as a special day of rest and worship was the last day of the week. This “Sabbath” looked back to Creation and the Exodus, and it pointed ahead to the true rest God’s people would one day enter. But when Christ came to establish his kingdom, he fulfilled and transformed the Sabbath. In light of his resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week, the church began to gather for worship on Sunday, which the New Testament tells us became known as the “Lord’s Day.”
Now every time we assemble for worship on the Lord’s Day, we are declaring that Jesus is the King of the world and that a new age has dawned. Our week now begins with the reminder of the rest he has won for us, a foretaste of the eternal rest we will enjoy in the new creation. And as we regularly hear his word, sing his praise, receive assurance of our pardon, and renew the covenant at his table, we will be enabled by grace to one day enter into God’s eternal rest.
Recommended Resources
- Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ, Richard C. Barcellos
- The Sabbath as Rest and Hope for the People of God, Guy Prentiss Waters
- There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God: A Biblical, Theological, & Historical Defense of Sabbath Rest as a Creation Ordinance, Jon English Lee
