Tag: Hebrews

Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:10-11

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“For the person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his. Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

My family is in a season of life when we’re tired just almost all the time. Nearly all of our time these days is occupied by school activities, sports or other extra-curricular activities, or church activities. I’d add work activities to that list, but one of us works at school and the other works at church, so I didn’t feel the need to repeat myself. There aren’t very many days when we just get to rest. We long for them, but that’s just not the season we are in. I wonder sometimes, though, if it’s really our season or merely the choices we make and the priorities we set. Either way, we yearn for rest. The author of Hebrews has been talking about rest, but it’s not the same kind of rest we want. It’s better. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 4:3-9

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“For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said, ‘So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest,”‘ even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his works.’ Again, in that passage he says, ‘They will never enter my rest.’ Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, he again specifies a certain day – today. He specified this speaking through David after such a long time: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Let me state the obvious right out of the gate here: This is a much bigger block of text than I normally put at the beginning of a post. I had to do it like this. I’ve honestly been sitting with this text for over a week now, trying to find a way I could break it down into smaller sections without losing the argument entirely, and there’s just not a way I could have done it. Maybe you can think of one, and please share it if you do, but every part of this section is all feeding into where the author lands in v. 9. And that point was to completely reorient his audience’s understanding of Sabbath. His words here should probably change yours too. Let’s break this down together.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 4:1-2

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“Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short. 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 – Read the chapter)

Have you ever missed out on something because you didn’t believe it was going to happen? Sometimes things seem just too good to be true. And often they are. But occasionally, too good is exactly how they turn out, and if we aren’t willing to grant at least a little belief (or at least slightly suspend our disbelief), we will miss out. As we move into chapter 4 today, we are going to see the author of Hebrews continuing to encourage us to not miss out on something really special because of unbelief. Check this out with me.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 3:16-19

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“For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The idea of Hell bothers us. It bothers us a lot. And…it should. The notion that anyone is going to suffer for eternity is an uncomfortable one. Sure, there have been some particularly egregious moral monsters throughout history who we expect to be there, but for most folks (especially including ourselves) we try to justify why they shouldn’t. We look to excuse all manner of sin and bad behavior so that it does not exclude us from whatever version of Heaven we imagine. The author of Hebrews here is talking about a whole generation of Israelites who were separated from God. That’s an uncomfortable enough thought by itself. The reason he gives for their exclusion is even more so. Let’s talk a bit today about the sin of unbelief.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 3:14

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“For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s amazing how the kind of debates you have depends on the kind of community you’re a part of. This doesn’t mean that some debates are necessarily more important than others (some debates are more important than others, but this isn’t a reason for it), rather that different communities have different concerns. One debate I haven’t had for some time but which I used to participate in fairly frequently is whether salvation can be lost once it has been gained. As far as the Scriptures go, Hebrews contributes more to the back and forth of this debate than just about anything else you’ll find in them, mostly because of verses like this one. Let’s talk about it.

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