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Is
the "sabbath rest" of Heb. 4:9 the extension into the
Christian age of the Mosaic Sabbath, or the perfect eternal and
final rest to be enjoyed by all people of God-- is it Heaven?
The
general context of Hebrews is that of Superiority of Christ and
the New Covenant, to Judaistic messengers, Lawgiver, and
Priesthood; by which Jewish Christians are exhorted to be
faithful — don't give up the complete and perfect for the
types and shadows of the first covenant. Heb. 3: warns that
their ancestors could not enter "rest" because of
disobedience, and uses this to urge them to be faithful.
David
(Psalms 95) is cited to show that Joshua did not lead Israel
into the true "rest" of God (4:4-9), and identifies
TODAY as the time for so entering. "Today" refers to
the Christian age, Paul's "Now" or "the accepted
time," in which believers are saved. God's rest can be
entered only after labor (4:4, 10-11).
"There
remaineth" defines a conclusion from previous words (Westcott);
"is used as a technical term in wills" (Vine); Vincent
says, "it still remains." The idea is not that which
we had remains, but that which remains to be had. Sabbatismos
appears in no other place, and may have been coined by the
author (M&M). It is taken from the verb — differing from
the noun form that would indicate the day or time. It refers to rest,
or Sabbath-like rest; and both Westcott and Delitzsch say Jews
recognized eternity as a "rest." Reread above,
carefully!
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The
rest which remains for the people of God is a promise left to
us, Heb. 4:1; not an ordinance leftover on us. It is to be
entered, 4:1, 10; not observed. It is a retirement, 4:10; not a
coffee break. It is a rest that can be denied us if we are not
found pleasing to God, 3:19; 4:1. It is entered by believers,
4:3, who are to fear, 4:1, and give diligence to possess it,
4:11. It is erroneous to suppose that the writer, whose purpose
in writing the epistle was to illustrate the superiority of the
perfect over the temporal, would throw in an out-of-context
binding of the Old Testament Sabbath, which was an imperfect
type of the real thing.
Recall
Colossians 2:16-17, "Let no man therefore judge you in
meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or
a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come."
Hebrews argues the end of the Mosaic law in the same words,
10:1, "For the law having a shadow of the good things to
come, not the very image of the things… can never ... make
perfect them that draw nigh." The rest of Hebrews 4:9 is
clearly that good thing to come, or Heaven.
We
summarize with the words of Vincent: "Man's portion in the
divine rest inaugurated at creation has never been really
appropriated: but it still remaineth. This statement is
justified by the new word for rest... The sabbath rest points
back to God's original rest, and marks the ideal... This falls
in with the ground thought of the epistle, the restoration of
all things to God's archetype."
—Digest of article by Scott Smelser.
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