To understand Hebrews 4:1-11, you have to get the WHOLE CONTEXT of what the Bible says about it. The first three verses warn us to NOT be like the unbelievers who WON’T enter into His rest. It’s amazing that many people either don’t see that warning or discard it. Then Heb 4:4 talks about the seventh day and referencing WHEN THE “REST” BEGAN — from when God rested “from all his works” when “the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb 4:3). Paul is pointing us back to the seventh day at the end of the Creation week in Genesis 2:1-3. So here we see that this is “the seventh day” Paul was SPECIFICALLY talking about — the seventh day of Creation.
Then Heb 4:6 tells us that there are people that this seventh-day rest are preached to, but they did not enter into His rest because of what? UNBELIEF.
In Heb 4:7, Paul said that God LIMITED a CERTAIN day. Certain means SPECIFIC. Not just any day, but a CERTAIN SPECIFIC day. It’s interesting to note that Paul here mentioned God “saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Do you know where else in the Bible God said those words? The verse tells us “in David.” David wrote what book of the Bible? Psalms. Let’s go there.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 97:7-8 (KJV)
** So now we’re seeing more of what Paul is saying in Hebrews 4. He now is taking us to what happened in the wilderness with the Israelites when they provoked God with the hardness of their hearts because of unbelief. Now, where in the Bible do we find that?
Exodus 16. The children of Israel were murmuring. They were hungry. They want the fleshpots of Egypt. They would rather go back in bondage than to live in liberty.
“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, THAT I MAY PROVE THEM, WHETHER THEY WILL WALK IN MY LAW, OR NO.”
Exodus 16:4
** Now, this is getting exciting. Here we see that God is going to test His people, WHO WILL OBEY HIS LAW AND WHO WILL NOT?
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
Exo 16:14-15
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
** This is the Manna, the bread that God rains from heaven to the children of Israel. He then gave instructions on what to do with them.
16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
Exo 16:16-21
** So, they had to gather an omer for each person each day, and they are to consume it within the day. Now, there are stubborn people who did not listen and saved some manna, and what happened to it the next morning, they found that it bred worms and stunk. It’s important to note that when God says something, we are to obey Him, no matter how good we believe our intention is for not doing so. We may plan for ourselves, but ultimately it is what God said and not what you said that has bearing.
22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Exo 16:22-26
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
** Now, why is it that on the sixth day they were instructed to gather a double portion of manna? Because God wanted to REVEAL to them what day the next day is — that the seventh day is the Sabbath day…the day that God ordained at His creation as the day of REST. You see, in all those years of slavery in Egypt where they were forced to work every single day, the Jews had lost sight of the Sabbath. And so God wanted to bring the Sabbath back to the memory of His people. He said, “This is the day of rest for My people. You shall not find manna in the field.”
Now, why did it not breed worms and stink on the Sabbath day when they did on other days? Because God wanted to show His people that the seventh day is NOT just an ordinary day, that the seventh-day Sabbath is a SPECIAL AND HOLY day unto the Lord. Through this miracle, God REVEALED to His people His Sabbath day and the distinction between the seventh-day Sabbath from the other six days of the week.
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
Exo 16:27-28
28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
** That’s the question! That’s the voice of God speaking! You see, God has given us the seventh-day Sabbath for rest. But there are people who keep on refusing to obey Him and keep His commandments. I often hear Christians quote Jesus in Matthew 4:4, saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But do they? Do you know where Jesus got that from? 86% of the words of Jesus in the New Testament is quoted right from the Old Testament, did you know that? He quoted it right from the miracle of the manna…
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Deu 8:3
And now that same VOICE of God in the wilderness is reverberating to us right to our present-day TODAY. “HOW LONG REFUSE YE TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS?”
Paul says in Hebrews 4:7, “TODAY, AFTER SO LONG A TIME; TODAY IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE,”
What voice is Paul talking about???
THAT VOICE in the wilderness asking “HOW LONG REFUSE YE TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS?”! That’s the voice Paul is talking about!!!
He says, “Today if ye hear that voice, “HOW LONG REFUSE YE TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS?” “HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS”!
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:8
** This is NOT saying that Jesus gave another day of rest. What this verse is actually saying is that IF JESUS GAVE ANOTHER DAY OF REST, WHY DIDN’T HE TALK ABOUT IT??
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:9
** I don’t know about you, but the word “remaineth” to me means that it has been there BEFORE. How can something that hasn’t existed remain?? And also, the word “rest” in this verse is from the Greek word “sabbatismos,” which means “Sabbathkeeping.”
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:10-11
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
** Here’s that WARNING again repeated here. Why labor to enter into the seventh day Sabbath rest? Because people today, when they are preached about the seventh-day Sabbath, they are UNBELIEVING. “The word preached did not profit them, NOT BEING MIXED WITH FAITH IN THEM THAT HEARD IT” (Heb 4:2). Many people think that when they say “I
believe,” they think they have “faith” already. No, not at all. WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH, YOU DO. FAITH IS ACTING ON WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN. And so, since they do not have genuine faith in God, they “fall after the same example,” What example? The manna in the wilderness example, “of UNBELIEF.”
God’s voice is speaking, “HOW LONG REFUSE YE TO KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS?”
“Today if ye will hear His voice saying, ‘How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?’, harden not your hearts.”
Did it hurt you to hear that God is asking you that question?
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:12
You see, the TRUTH of the Word of God may hurt you. It will shake you to the core and will confront your pride and ego. He knows that when His Truth reaches you, you’re gonna face a lot of decisions. And you will have to decide whether to obey Him and enter His seventh-day Sabbath rest or fall even deeper into unbelief. And remember, He did not fall short of giving you a warning.