2 Corinthians 4:4 (AMP) 4 For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers' minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.
Ephesians 6:10 (AMP) 10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Numbers 13 and 14 both make it very clear that fear and doubt are sins against the Lord.
Numbers 13:30-32 (KJV) 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
Numbers 14:1-11 (HCSB) 1 Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces ⌊to the ground⌋ in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. 9 Only don’t rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!” 10 While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. 11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them?
Hebrews 3:15-19 (HCSB) 15 As it is said: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. 16 For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses? 17 And who was He provoked with for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
This verse is again quoting Psalms 95:7-8, just as was done in Hebrews 3:7-8.
Hebrews 3:16
Note on Hebrews 3:16
Only two people in the whole congregation of Israel who came out of Egypt lived to enter the Promised Land: Joshua and Caleb. Although Moses didn’t join in the unbelief about entering the land of Canaan recorded in Numbers 13-14, he later didn’t believe the Lord concerning speaking to the rock instead of striking it (Numbers 20:7-12). That cost him his trip into the Promised Land just like the others.
Hebrews 3:17
Note on Hebrews 3:17
The Lord dealt with the Israelites as individuals. He didn’t punish the innocent with the guilty. He spared Caleb and Joshua because they operated in faith.
Hebrews 3:18
Note on Hebrews 3:18
Even Joshua and Caleb sinned (Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned”). It wasn’t sin that cause the people to not enter into the Promised Land. It was unbelief (Hebrews 3:19).
Hebrews 3:19
Note on Hebrews 3:19
We often place the importance on actions that we call sin. But all sin is the result of unbelief in our hearts. God looks on the heart, and it’s the unbelief He sees. That unbelief will grow into sin, but Joshua and Caleb weren’t sinless (Romans 3:23). There was sin in their lives, but they believed God. Faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). It’s always unbelief, not sin, that keeps us from receiving (Hebrews 4:2).
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Hebrews 4:1-13 (HCSB) 1 Therefore, while the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it. 2 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 3 (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. And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world, 4 for somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all His works. 5 Again, in that passage ⌊He says⌋, They will never enter My rest. 6 Since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again, He specifies a certain day—today—speaking through David after such a long time, as previously stated: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 10 For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His. 11 Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.
Entering into the rest of God isn’t automatic. Even after being born again, we have a place of rest in the Lord that we have to labor to enter into (Hebrews 4:11). We have to believe, just as it was with the Israelites who came out of Egypt. God intended not only to bring them out of Egypt but also to bring them into the land of promise, but it didn’t happen, because of their unbelief. See my note at John 5:16.
Hebrews 4:2
Note on Hebrews 4:2
The Israelites who came out of Egypt didn’t have the Gospel preached to them in the sense that they were told about Jesus by name and that He died for our sins. But they had that preached to them in a picture and type through the Passover lamb. They weren’t delivered because of any holiness of their own. They were saved from the death angel and from Egyptian bondage because of their partaking of the sacrifice. It’s the same with us, only now we have the real sacrifice of which the Passover lamb was only a type and shadow (1 Corinthians 5:7).
God’s Word never fails. It is eternal, and not one promise will fall to the ground. But for it to work for us, we have to believe it. God’s Word has all power, but all that power will not be released until we believe it.
Many people know God’s Word is true and pray for its power to be released in their lives. But it won’t happen through desire alone. We have to believe it. Many people are afraid to believe, because they know true faith demands actions. It’s easier to just pray and then, if nothing happens in the physical, say, “We are waiting on God.” But God is waiting on us to believe.
Hebrews 4:3
Note on Hebrews 4:3
This is a quote from Psalms 95:11, which says, “Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” Then the writer of Hebrews spoke of God resting on the seventh day from His labors of creation. This sheds more light on what this rest of the Lord is. It is the same rest that the Sabbath illustrated.
When God rested on the seventh day of creation, it wasn’t because He was tired. He could have created twice as much as He did. Isaiah 40:28says, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”
God rested not because of exhaustion but because everything was complete. There was nothing else to do. It was done perfectly. Anything more would have made it imperfect. It was a rest like a painter who finishes a painting and then rests from his painting. It’s not because he’s tired from holding the brush. It’s because the painting is a masterpiece just the way it is. One more brushstroke would ruin it.
Likewise, God created everything so perfectly that there was nothing else to do. He created the animals and all plants and grass with the ability to procreate. Therefore, He doesn’t have to create more animals or plants each day to replace the ones that died. He built the ability to reproduce into every living thing. He has never done more creating in the natural realm. He’s resting in what has already been done.
Adam and Eve were created at the very end of the six days of creation. That’s because everything wasn’t ready for them before that time. If they had been created first, they would have had to tread water for two days until the dry land appeared. There wouldn’t have been sunshine, and therefore the earth would have been cold. There wouldn’t have been any food to eat.
But they were created last, at the very end of creation, and then moved immediately into the Lord’s rest. They didn’t have to plant the trees and wait seven years for them to bear fruit. The trees were already there with fruit on them. The climate was just right. Everything was perfect for them. They just rested in what was already done.
That’s the way it is in the new birth. Jesus has already purchased salvation and all its benefits for us. It’s already done. We don’t have to pray and ask God to heal us or prosper us. It’s already a done deal. We just need to rest in what has already been provided. There is a place we can reach where we aren’t striving to get God to bless us but are resting by faith in what has already been done. That is the Sabbath rest that is being spoken of in this chapter. See my note at John 5:16.
Hebrews 4:4
Note on Hebrews 4:4
This is a quote from Genesis 2:2, which says, “And on the seventh day God ended the work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made.” So, the rest spoken of in this chapter is being compared to the Sabbath rest the Lord took after creation. The Old Testament Sabbath was primarily a picture of this New Testament rest in Christ. See my notes at Colossians 2:17and Hebrews 4:10.
The Sabbath pictured our rest in the Lord in the sense that just like God created everything that Adam and Eve would need before they were created, likewise everything we would ever need was purchased for us before we were born again. Now we don’t have to ask the Lord to come and die for us. It’s already been done. We just receive our salvation. And we don’t have to ask the Lord to heal us. It’s already been done (1 Peter 2:24). We just rest in the fact that it has been done and receive our healing. It’s the same with prosperity, joy, deliverance, and everything else we could ever need. The supply was made before we ever had the need.
Hebrews 4:5
Note on Hebrews 4:5
The author had just quoted from Genesis 2:2, which spoke of the Lord resting on the Sabbath from His work of creation. Now he quotes Psalms 95:11 again about entering into the Lord’s rest. This shows that this wasn’t a one-time rest that was completed at Creation. But David was still encouraging people to enter the Lord’s rest in his days. The author later says in Hebrews 4:9, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.”
Hebrews 4:6
Note on Hebrews 4:6
Since David spoke in Psalms 95:11about entering into a rest, it is evident that the rest the Lord took after Creation (Genesis 2:2) wasn’t the first and last rest. There was still a rest to be entered into in the days of David. And this was after the children of Israel had entered into the Promised Land. So, the occupation of the Promised Land wasn’t the fulfillment of God’s Sabbath rest either. The author is revealing that our trust and reliance on Christ’s completed work is the rest that was prophesied and is available to all believers today.
Hebrews 4:7
Note on Hebrews 4:7
David’s statement about entering into the rest of the Lord (Psalms 95:7-11) was made over 400 years after the children of Israel had occupied the Promised Land. Therefore, the occupation of the land of Canaan could not have been the fulfillment of entering into the Lord’s rest. That was and is only fulfilled as we rest in what the Lord Jesus has accomplished for us through His atonement.
Hebrews 4:8
Note on Hebrews 4:8
This is not speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this is a reference to Joshua. Jesus is the Greek word for Joshua. The writer is saying that if Joshua bringing the children of Israel into the Promised Land had been the fulfillment of entering into the Lord’s rest, then David wouldn’t have spoken of entering into the Lord’s rest (Psalms 95:11) 400 years later. The Jews’ occupation of the Promised Land was not the rest that David spoke of.
Hebrews 4:9
Note on Hebrews 4:9
The conclusion of the arguments made in the previous verses is that the O.T. prophecies and the picture that the O.T. Sabbath was painting were all about a rest that is now available to us in the N.T. through faith in Christ.
Hebrews 4:10
Note on Hebrews 4:10
This verse reveals what this “rest” is that the writer had been speaking of. It is ceasing from our works the way God did from His work after creation. See my note at John 5:16.
When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, He did it in a unique way that many people have not understood. He didn’t just create trees, plants, and animals. But He created them in a way that they could procreate. That means He doesn’t make new trees, plants, and animals today. His original act of creation was done in such a way that He has been resting ever since. He did it perfectly and so completely that He hasn’t had to create since.
This is what the Old Testament Sabbath was painting a picture of. It was only a type and shadow of this New Testament rest (see my notes at John 5:16and Colossians 2:17). It was not the reality itself. The Jews were commanded to take one day out of seven off and devote it to worshiping the Lord as an act of faith that God was their source. In the natural, this didn’t make sense. If they didn’t work every day, they wouldn’t prosper as much as those who did. But that’s not the way it worked. Because of their faith in the Lord, which was expressed through their obedience to take the Sabbath off, they prospered more than those who worked seven days a week. God was teaching them to rest in the Lord as their source and not their own works.
Just in case anybody missed the obvious lesson of the weekly Sabbath, the Lord told the Israelites to take one year out of seven off (Leviticus 25). During the seventh year, the Israelites couldn’t sow or reap any crops. That which came up naturally they had to leave in the fields for the poor and the wild beasts.
Some would say, “What shall we eat the seventh year?” (Leviticus 25:20). The Lord blessed their crops supernaturally in the sixth year so that their fields brought forth three times a normal harvest (Leviticus 25:21). They would eat the harvest of the sixth year during the sixth, seventh, and eighth years while their crops were growing (Leviticus 25:22).
All of this pictured that God is our source. We may work and sow our crops, but it is God who gives the increase. Likewise, in the NT, Jesus has done everything for us. He isn’t still saving people and healing them. That has already been done. All we are doing is entering into what has already been provided.
Those who think that they have to act a certain way to gain God’s acceptance and approval are not resting in the finished work of Christ. Sure, we need to live holy, but it should be a fruit and not a root of our relationship with the Lord. This is what the OT Sabbath was a picture of.
Those who legalistically observe the Sabbath today with the belief that the Lord is angry with those who don’t are missing the true meaning of the Sabbath. They are really Sabbath breakers. True Sabbath keepers in the NT are those who don’t try to relate to the Lord by their holiness but totally rely on what Jesus did for them to make them acceptable to the Lord. That is a relationship to be enjoyed every day of our lives and not a single day per week.
This was understood by the early NT church and is one of the specific reasons they chose to meet on the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of the seventh day (Saturday), which was the Jewish Sabbath. They knew they were free from the observance of a day and were living in the true Sabbath that the seventh day observance pictured.
Hebrews 4:11
Note on Hebrews 4:11
This sounds like an oxymoron. Why labor to rest? If you understand clearly what the rest of the Lord is (see my note at Hebrews 4:10), then it takes effort to rest in the finished work of the Lord. Our human natures want to do something to be worthy of the Lord’s blessings. But the truth is that we can never deserve the goodness of the Lord. We have to cease from trusting in our own works and rest in what Jesus has freely provided by grace. That takes effort. It will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done to quit relating to God on the basis of your own works and start trusting totally in what Jesus did for you. You have to labor to rest.
Hebrews 4:12
Note on Hebrews 4:12
Hebrews 4:11 speaks of laboring to enter into this rest. Here, the writer spoke about the Word, because laboring in the Word is one of the greatest things we can do to enter into that rest (1 Timothy 5:17).
The word “quick” means alive or living. The Greek word “ENERGES,” from which “powerful” was translated, means “active, operative” (Strong’s Concordance). The New International Version translated this as “For the word of God is living and active.”
The Strong’s Concordance definition for “TOMOTEROS,” from which “sharper” was translated, says “comparative of a derivative of the primary temno (to cut; more comprehensive or decisive than 2875, as if by a single stroke; whereas that implies repeated blows, like hacking); more keen.” This word is stressing the ability of God’s Word to cut through the hardest heart in a single stroke.
Only the extreme sharpness of God’s Word can separate between soul and spirit. The soul and spirit comprise the heart, and they function as one. Only under the intense scrutiny of the Word of God can we distinguish between them.
The relationship between soul and spirit is like the relationship between joints and marrow. The marrow of the bone is where blood (the life-giving force) is produced. But all the bones of the body are joined together by joints. Without joints, the body would not be able to function the way it does.
Likewise, our born-again spirits are the life-giving part of us. But our spirits are connected to our bodies by our souls. The life that is in our born-again spirits cannot reach our bodies except through our souls. Therefore, the renewing of our minds is essential to release the life that is in our spirits (Romans 12:2).
Hebrews 4:13
Note on Hebrews 4:13
No thought of any creature escapes the scrutiny of God. That includes man.
Hebrews 4:12 speaks of God’s Word as discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. Here, the writer continued by saying that all creatures are manifest, naked, and open to the Lord. He was using the Lord and the Word interchangeably (John 1:1).
Hebrews 4:14
Note on Hebrews 4:14
The whole subject of this chapter has been the rest of God. As stated in Hebrews 4:2, the way we enter into God’s rest is through faith in Jesus. So, the writer now summarizes by bringing us back to the faith we professed when we received Christ. Since Jesus has overcome all opposition and is now enthroned on high, we need to not waiver in our faith.
Hebrews 4:15
Note on Hebrews 4:15
Jesus is and always has been God (John 1:1), but He has also been a man (John 1:14). He knows what we feel and can therefore relate to us and understand what we are going through. Jesus is a God-man.
How was Jesus tempted in all points the way we are? Was He tempted with cocaine or the choice of divorce? No. But the root of all sin is selfishness and unbelief toward God. He was tempted in exactly the same way we are in those areas. See my notes at Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
Satan may wrap temptation in a million different packages with many different bows, but the contents are always the same. According to 1 John 2:16, it all boils down to three things: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” See my note at 1 John 2:16.
Andrew Wommack's Living Commentary.
Ephesians 6:12-13 (HCSB) 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.
Mark 3:24-25 (HCSB) 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Matthew 12:24-33 (HCSB) 24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 29 How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30 Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come. 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
From Mark’s account of the same event, it seems to me that Jesus was instructing us to be patient with each other as we grow up in Christ and the workings of the Holy Spirit. . .
Mark 9:38-42 (HCSB) 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.” 39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name who can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of My name, since you belong to the Messiah—I assure you: He will never lose his reward. 42 “But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
How can two walk together except they agree? When we begin to “submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee,” step out in faith and be doers of the Word, there is a “growing in the Lord, growing in the Spirit,” that will begin to take place. Paul talks of Christians going from being fed milk to meat, this is much the same lesson, Jesus said that to make a newly believing believer go backward in their faith, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck. . .
We are to encourage one another in the Lord, in growing up in our faith and belief, in resisting the devil, in exerting our God given dominion. . . Gently correcting believers, leading by example rather than bashing them over the head, in the instruction of how to pray, how to stand in faith, how to testify. . . Last week we talked of going to the “elders” for prayer, understand that “in Christ” when we speak of “elders” that word doesn’t necessarily depict real age, it depicts more of close relationship with the Lord, through studying to show thyself approved, and through stepping out in faith and belief of the Word of God to be a doer. There are times that we may even find it to be easier to believe through the eyes of a child that is in our midst, remember that Jesus told us to come to Him with a child-like faith. We are to “rest in the Lord.”
