If you’d love to learn Greek so you can study your Bible better, but you can’t spare two years for college or seminary courses, then Greek for the Rest of Us is for you. If not, I urge you to do so “today” by acknowledging your sin and your inability to please God. Concerning this verse, John Owen writes that the circumstances surrounding our entry into God’s rest are similar to those of the first generation that left Egypt. Fix that problem! Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward about another day. Speaking of beds, have you noticed how often mattresses are advertised on T.V.? We have seen indications of more than one “rest” in chapter 3. Sixth, God was angry with this generation, and this resulted in their death in the wilderness (which is exactly what they asked for – Numbers 14:2), and thus their failure to enter into rest. Based on articles from Christianity Today magazine, these Bible studies … It is a topical Bible Study method that will guide you through a powerful … From Christianity Today, ChristianBibleStudies.com provides over 1,000 unique, downloadable Bible Studies for personal, small group, and Sunday School use. The second is to understand how the psalmist connected the dots – how he understood and applied Israel’s failure to enter into rest to his own day. We got this from Hebrews 3:1213: Take care, brethren, lest there should … The second is the superiority of the rest which Jesus has achieved to the “rest” which Israel, under the leadership of Moses, did not attain (indeed, a rest to which Moses himself did not attain). Do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7, referring once again to Psalm 95:7b). One could thus read it with two slightly different meanings. Trials necessitate that we strive in faith (4:11) so that the authenticity of our faith may be proven. There are two keys to understanding the argument of chapters 3 and 4. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Israel’s unbelief and disobedience was in spite of God’s Word revealed to and through Moses, which was confirmed by the many miracles associated with the exodus from Egypt (3:7-19). Christ offers us inner rest: He will be our righteousness, identity, security, and priority, if we simply believe in His gospel. This kind of diligence is the opposite of the attitude that characterized the first generation of Israelites. WomensMinistryTools.com is dedicated to serving women’s ministry leaders with women’s Bible studies and teaching content to help build effective ministries for women. 28 Why do you worry about clothing? The Next 500 Years: 2017 National Conference, Show Me Your Glory: Understanding the Majestic Splendor of God, Naming Ligonier the Beneficiary of a Bank or Investment Account, Gifts That Provide Income and Tax Benefits. 4:11). My Christian friend, are you resting in what Christ has done for you? But when 99.9999% of that generation failed, then the danger must be great indeed. There are several “keys” to understanding our text. It is these repeated words and phrases which provide us with the key to understanding the author’s meaning of “rest.” Chapter 4 will conclude with an exhortation to strive to enter “God’s rest,” with an emphasis on the Word of God (verses 12-13) and on the high priestly ministry of our Savior (verses 14-16). The fullness of God’s rest includes, but will be greater than, the rest we experience now on earth. How could one ever please God by the works of the law? A few observations of these verses will prove helpful when we come to our text in chapter 4. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. He created rest, and He created His image-bearers to desire times of rest and enjoyment. Donate Now. Each lesson follows a similar pattern using a passage from Scripture. If so, this is a strong argument against doing so. His humiliation and exaltation is God’s provision for man’s redemption and restoration. In chapter 4, the author will cite fragments of his quotation from Psalm 95 in chapter 3. Fifth, the Israelites failed under Moses’ leadership, after hearing God speak to (and through) Moses, and after seeing many miracles in confirmation of Moses’ authority. 16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. “Rest” is anapauo which means “to refresh, rest up,” but also “to cease from labor.” But how could Christ give rest? The Son is characterized by a seven-fold description (verses 1-4), which is then buttressed by citations from Old Testament texts (verses 5-14). They identified themselves with the old by clinging to it, while rejecting the new. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. I believe that we see this in Romans 7 and 8. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. The concept of rest is such a beautiful thing to one who is weary of striving to please God in his (or her) own strength. Let the readers take note of what it means to identify with the rebels of the past, rather than with the Redeemer. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The “rest” we are talking about is not the kind that you find a couple of weeks in the summer, in a hammock, or in bed. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. The church must not follow the example of old covenant Israel and disobey the Word of God. First, there is an urgency regarding the offer of rest. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. Chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews are filled with warnings about coming into God’s rest. The remainder of the chapter deals with the results of the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity. Chapter 2 begins with an exhortation to pay even more careful attention to the revelation which has come through the Son. 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 (ESV, emphasis mine). These Bible studies provide a biblical perspective on current issues and hot topics that Christians are encountering in the world today. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! Because we assume that they are few and far between. For the Christian, there is not only the rest of salvation, but the day-to-day rest of dependence upon God for living the Christian life. In addition to being called “the Word of God,” (4:12), it is sometimes referred to as “what God has spoken” (1:1-3), “what we have heard” (2:1), or “good news” (4:2). Consider these verses: 34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matthew 23:34-35, emphasis mine). Praise God the answer immediately follows: 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! And that rest was God’s “Sabbath rest,” a rest still available, a rest of ceasing from futile works in an effort to earn God’s favor. Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. No! When the author of Psalm 95 said, “today,” he was somehow keeping the offer made to the first generation current. This is the key to fruitfulness. After urging us to ask our doctor about the usefulness of a certain medication, they go on to list all of the possible side effects. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in with those who heard it in faith4 (Hebrews 4:2, NET Bible; emphasis mine). 30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? And then simply trust in the only provision God has made for sinners to be forgiven and to enter into His rest. I am thinking here of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Numbers 16:1-35. We will also enjoy God and His work when we enter His rest. With this background, verse 11 tells us to strive to enter God’s rest lest we fall away like earlier generations of God’s people did. 13 “You are the salt of the earth. Third,we should note that the entire first generation3 of Israelites failed to enter their rest (verse 16). 53 You received the law by decrees given by angels, but you did not obey it” (Acts 7:51-53, emphasis mine). 36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. Persecution is on the rise, not only in distant places, but in our own country. The warning was against failing to enter God’s rest, due to unbelief, hardness of heart, and disobedience. This superior rest is the focus of verses 7-19. And there is the “rest” which was available to those whom the author of Hebrews was writing in his day: Therefore we must be wary that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it (Hebrews 4:1, emphasis mine). So, having reviewed the argument of Hebrews 1-4, and having noted the terms and concepts foundational to this argument, let us briefly trace the author’s argument in the first ten verses of chapter 4. Trust in Jesus. God’s Word is a key ingredient in the Book of Hebrews (as we will point out in our next lesson), although it is referred to by means of several different expressions. One final question remains: Does Hebrews 4:11, in commanding us to strive to enter God’s rest, contradict Hebrews 4:3, which says that “we who have believed enter that rest”? And then there are the sleeping pills that we “can ask our doctor about to see if they are right for us.”. Diligent faith and obedience are necessary in order to withstand such difficulties and enter God’s rest. This Bible Study uses our signature REST Bible Study Method. That is the goal of this lesson. 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Bob was born and raised in a Christian home i... More, And God rested on the seventh day from all his works, that today you would listen as he speaks! For we also have received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith (CSB, emphasis mine). And so as we come to chapter 4, we find that it is tightly related to chapter 3. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. We will then return to last week’s lesson and the text of Hebrews 3:1-19, which is the basis for our text. Or are you striving in the power of your own flesh to please God, just as Paul describes in Romans 7: 15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? But there must also be what we might call a “sanctification rest,” a rest from striving as Christians in the power of the flesh, in a futile effort to attain godliness. Fourth, this generation failed for forty years.
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