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“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” ( Hebrews 4:9-11 ).

We are called into a Sabbath rest as people of God. Many assume this means resting on Sunday. However it is much more than this. We enter into this rest when we accept Jesus by faith. He is the literal fulfillment of the Sabbath Day. Just as God rested after creation was finished because there was nothing left to create. Jesus rested after He redeemed mankind from the power of darkness ( Hebrews 1:3 ). We enter into this rest when we look to Jesus to save us because it is done and complete. It is finished! Nothing else needs to be done in order to secure our salvation. Jesus is the guarantee of this promise. Since He is resting at the right hand of God because His work is complete, we too can rest securely in Him.

Israel did not enter this rest on the basis of unbelief, Hebrews makes this clear, “so we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” ( Hebrews 3:18-19 ). God did not shut them out of the Promise Land, unbelief did. The next chapter gives insight, “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest...” ( Hebrews 4:2-3a ). So it is fair to say the only way to enter in is by faith. Faith placed in what Jesus did to secure your salvation. Jesus is our Sabbath Rest and remaining in Him is what brings rest to the people of God.

Jesus told His disciples, "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" ( Matthew 11:28-30 ).

Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 3:12-13; Finding Encouragement in One Another

One of the major problems the Israelites experienced was that their preconceived notions overruled their experience. God wanted them to trust Him. He proved Himself faithful year after year and yet the people were oblivious to it. They saw the works He did and instead of engaging in an intimate relationship with Him they ungratefully turned against God.

However, had they recognized even the smallest of things God did for them, their hearts would have become more sensitive to Him. They would have experienced Him as Moses did. Exodus reveals, “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” ( Exodus 33:11 ). God willingly offered friendship to Moses and in return Moses walked and talked, face to face with the Lord. This is why Hebrews tells us that Moses was a faithful servant over the house of God ( Hebrews 3:5 ). When Moses first saw the burning bush, he did not know who God was. But at the end of His life he walked and talked with Him as a friend.

It is important for us to move on in our relationship with the Lord. We need to be sensitive and open to His direction for our lives. We need to attentively listen and understand His will for us and then walk in it. We should not be like the Israelites; hard and insensitive to His mighty works, but we should be like Moses who grew in familiarity and understanding every day of his life.

This of course, is a process, but it has to start somewhere. The only place to start is Jesus. Paul told of this process when speaking about his encounter with Jesus in Acts. Christ sent him to the gentiles to “To open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” ( Acts 26:18 ). The first step is having our eyes opened. We cannot progressively move on with the Lord unless we have realized who He is as both God and Savior. Secondly, when we see this, we must repent, which means to turn and go the opposite way. It means leaving the sin nature behind and being born again by the Spirit of God. Next we are translated into God’s kingdom. Colossians says “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” ( Colossians 1:13 ). He brings us out from under the authority and control of Satan’s Kingdom and places us into Jesus’ kingdom.

The next step is receiving the forgiveness of sins. Sadly this is where many people get hung up in this process. They either do not know they are forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Jesus or they cannot forgive themselves for their past. Like the Israelites, having this viewpoint will taint your perception of God and His loving acceptance of you. It will keep you immobile in life failing to move forward in intimacy with the Lord. Instead of being accepted on the basis of Jesus, you will keep yourself at a distance, never walking in the relationship that God desires to have with you.

However, once you understand that you are totally accepted and forgiven by God you can progress into the next stage which is a place among the sanctified. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy. Paul said the Holy Spirit is what sanctifies us, “God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” ( II Thessalonians 2:13b ). God looks at us as holy and righteous the moment we place our faith in Jesus to save us. But aligning our hearts and minds to God comes in stages. It happens as the Holy Spirit reveals God’s truth to us. Jesus told us “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” ( John 14:26 ). It is His job to speak God’s truths into our lives and bring understanding to our minds. But we have a part in this, it comes by relationship. It comes by walking and talking with the Lord just as Moses did. It comes by the Word of God. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” ( John 17:17 ).

The last step, thankfully, takes a lifetime; it is a journey not a destination. But to start we must understand certain truths about God. We must remain sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and we must participate in the relationship. God’s major charge against the Israelites was “they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them. Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.” ( Hebrews 3:10-11 Amp ). He was broken hearted that they never wanted to know Him. From the Israelites example we understand that we are called into intimacy with God. They were not able to enter into His rest, which means there still remains a rest for the people of God.

Tomorrow we look at Part 4: Entering into His Rest

From this lesson we can draw certain conclusions. First, we must let the truth of God rewrite any misconceptions we have about Him. As we search through scripture, we must pay close attention to the words of Jesus as he was sent to reveal God to us ( John 1:17-18, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:1-3 ).

Secondly, we must pay attention to what the Holy Spirit reveals to our spirits. Jesus said in John that one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to remind us of everything Jesus told us. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ( John 14:26 ). He will point out the thoughts that hinder us and confirm the truth to us rewriting the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. He will enlighten our minds and bring understanding of God and His ways.

Third, we must understand that God wants to bring us into a deep and intimate relationship with Himself and reveal His fullness to us. Unlike the Israelites who were 100% flesh and blood and not born again with the Spirit of God, we must understand that we have the Holy Spirit living inside us to reveal God’s will to us. Paul told us in Corinthians, “However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” ( I Corinthians 2:9-10a ). At the time of salvation God puts His Spirit into us so that we can fellowship with Him on a different level, a spiritual level. Part of this is to rewrite misconceptions we have about God. Paul went on to say, “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” ( I Corinthians 2:10b-12 ). When we listen to the Holy Spirit and understand God’s true nature we will not be like the Israelites whose hard heart shut them out of the promise land, we will walk in the abundant life Jesus offered to his followers ( John 10:10 ).

Tomorrow we look at Part 3: Sanctification is a Process

“That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' “(Hebrews 3:10-11).

Do you long for rest? Are you tired? weary? Does life seem more than you can bear most days? As believers, we have a promise of entering into the Sabbath rest of God but many times we miss this plan for our lives because we do not know it is available. We continue on with our lives and certain things hinder us from entering into the rest God has promised His children. We can look at the example from Israel’s past to understand how to enter into this rest.

As the Israelites wandered through the desert they became increasingly hard of heart. They saw God’s provision for many generations and yet in their defiance they refused to acknowledge Him choosing rather to grumble and complain about Him. The problem was not in their circumstances. It was not because they were wandering through the desert for all those years lacking in provision. The problem was in their hearts. The true attitude and intentions of their hearts were the cause of all their problems. Proverbs says, “For as he [man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7a KJV). Their hearts were sick. They could not recognize the wonderful works of God because this blinded them to it. He provided them with food, water and protection. Miraculously their clothing and shoes never wore out the entire time they were in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 29:5). And yet the attitude of their hearts tainted their perception of God, continually.

The reason is because they never progressed into a true revelation of who God was. They never became acquainted with His ways. They did not strive to understand His character and they misinterpreted His actions concerning them. The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them. Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.” (Hebrews 3:10-11 Amp). They never entered, not because God kept them out, they kept themselves out because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). They believed the wrong things about God. They saw His work and instead of progressively coming into further understanding of His nature and becoming more intimately acquainted with Him, they held fast to their unbelieving viewpoints. These ideas drove them around the wilderness for forty years.

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: Lessons from Israelites