I want to continue this study so we can all come to
agreement with the scriptures. This subject is a bit
emotional and some Christians get upset because
they know they are right but, as Christians, we must
speak the "Truth In Love". Hebrews 4:2,
2 For indeed we have had good news [the Gospel]
preached to us, just as they also; but the word they
heard did not profit them, because it was not united
by faith in those who heard.
The first thing to note is that the Gospel, “good news,” did
not begin with the New Testament. It was preached to the
Israelites as well. Any word from God is the Gospel,
whether veiled or openly preached with understanding.
The gospel of the cross was preached to Israel by means
of the Passover Lamb and its specific ceremonies. Though
the people did not understand the prophetic significance of
their actions, it still required a certain amount of faith to be
obedient.
To summarize Hebrews 4:2, Israel refused to hear God
(Ex. 20:18-21). Since faith comes by hearing, the result of
their refusal was insufficient faith to enter the Promised
Land the following year. Having Moses tell them what God
said was no substitute for hearing God directly or indirectly.
So they fell short of the promise (vs. 1) because the word
was not united by faith in those who heard at the base of
Mount Sinai.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has
said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of
the world.
It is assumed everywhere in the New Testament that believers
would be able to hear God's voice and follow the leading of the
Spirit. This is the essence of the Christian life once he or she
has been justified by faith. Whereas Israel had refused to hear
at that Sinai Pentecost, the disciples had gone up to the upper
room to hear His voice in Acts 2. The disciples succeeded
where Israel had failed.
So it was assumed that everyone would be a true Pentecostal
in those days. It was assumed that everyone would at least
strive to follow the example of Caleb and Joshua. It was
assumed that everyone had gotten past Mount Sinai and was
on the way toward the Promised Land to fulfill the feast of
Tabernacles.
The last part of verse 3 connects with verses 4 and 5. In fact,
verses 4 and 5 explain the last part of verse 3:
3... although His works were finished from the foundation
of the world. 4 For He has thus said somewhere concerning
the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from
all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They shall not
enter My rest.”
It is obvious that entering God's rest is the equivalent of
entering the Promised Land. How was this God's rest?
The idea of resting comes from the law of the Sabbaths,
which in turn were based upon the pattern of God's rest
on the seventh day of creation (Gen. 2:2, 3). But the law
expounds further upon this idea, for it sets forth three
levels of rest, each based upon a different type of Sabbath,
as was explained in my earlier post.
The fulfillment of this “rest” or Sabbath is explained in
Hebrews 4:10 and 11,
10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself
also rested from his works, as God did from His.
This verse summarizes Isaiah's teaching on the Day of
Atonement and the Jubilee. Isaiah 58 speaks of “the fast
which I have chosen ” (the fast on the Day of Atonement),
showing the intent of God in this. It is not that God is
interested in eating no food on that day, nor does God
delight in people dressing in sackcloth and ashes. He
tells us in Isaiah 58:6 that God intended the Day of
Atonement to be the Jubilee:
6 Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds
of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let
the oppressed go free, and break every yoke?
In verses 13 and 14, the prophet goes on to tell us the
higher purpose and meaning of a Sabbath:
13 If because of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing
your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a
delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall
honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your
own pleasure, and speaking your own word, 14 Then you
will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the
heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of
Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
John 8:28, 29 says,
28... I do nothing on My own initiative, but I SPEAK these
things as the Father taught Me. 29 And He who sent Me
is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always DO the
things that are pleasing to Him.
Again, in John 12:49 and 50 Jesus says,
49 For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father
Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what
to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that His
commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak,
I speak just as the Father has told Me.
In John 14:10, Jesus says again,
10... The words that I say to you I do not speak on My
own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His
works.
Again, Jesus said in John 9:4, “We must work the
works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day.”
As I said in my last post,
All that Jesus did or said was not of Himself. He had
entered into that “rest” which yet remained for the
people of God. The Sabbath that He kept was the
highest form of Sabbath that God intended for man
from the beginning. It is to cease from one's OWN
works, and desist from speaking one's OWN words.
It is to do only what the Father does and to speak only
the Father's words.
That is the Jubilee rest of Hebrews 4:10.
Revelation 1:16 says of Christ, “out of His mouth
came a sharp two-edged sword.”
What is this “sword”? How does it differ from a carnal
sword? The answer is given in Hosea 6:5, 6 in the NASB,
5 Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the
judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. 6 For
I delight in loyalty [chesed, “mercy, kindness, or
compassion”] rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge
of God rather than burnt offerings.
Jesus referred to this in Matthew 9:13, saying,
13 But go and learn what this means: “I desire compassion,
and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners.
The meaning is this: Men thought that God desired sinners
to be cut apart by a physical sword (or knife) as a sacrifice to
God. And so we see throughout history all the religious wars
where each side is convinced that God desires them to “kill
His enemies.” But if they had understood the mind of God,
they would have seen that God “kills” men not with a physical
sword, but with “the words of my mouth.” That is the sharp
sword that God uses. It is the Sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).
God uses this sword because He delights in mercy, kindness,
and compassion, not in sacrifice. For this reason, He gave
Israel the Word of the Lord through the prophets, who hewed
them in pieces—not by a physical sword, but by the sharp
sword that is the tongue speaking the Word of God.
And so when the feast of Pentecost was fulfilled in Acts 2,
the disciples in the upper room accepted the Sword of the
Spirit. They went out into the street and “killed” 3,000 people
with the Sword of Mercy. This was in direct contrast to the
3,000 who were killed at the base of Mount Sinai by the
Levites in Exodus 32:28. In each case, a sword was used,
but with different results. Under Moses 3,000 men were
subtracted from the church in the wilderness; in the New
Testament 3,000 were added to the Church (Acts 2:41).
And so, in the hands of Spirit-filled Christians, the Word
of God is the most powerful sword in the world. Instead
of killing Canaanites with a physical sword, Christians
are called to “kill the flesh” by means of baptism. The
Great Commission in Mark 16:15-18 is based upon this
Sword of the Spirit and is to be seen as the contrasting
parallel to the command in Joshua's day to kill the
Canaanites.
When all people have been killed by this Sword...then will
they be truly a rest for the people of God.
Logabe