Under the Law of Moses the Jews observed many rules concerning food, drink, festivals, and Sabbath days. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church urging them not to let anyone judge them on whether they observed such traditions because they were only shadows of the realities found in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17). The answer to why Christians don’t keep the sabbath day is because we have a better rest that the Old Testament sabbath day foreshadowed but could not fulfill. The Hebrews writer warns us not to miss this rest.
7He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.” 8For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:7-11 NAS)
In verse 11, we are warned not to follow the unfaithfulness of the slaves Moses led out of Egypt. They had an eleven-day journey to the promised land, a land identified as where they could enter God’s rest. The fearful adults of that group refused to enter, so they died in the desert after forty years of wandering. In verse 8, the Hebrews writer mentions Joshua who at the end of the forty-year wandering, led the children of the faithless Hebrew slaves into the promised land. Yet, even entering Canaan under Joshua did not provide the rest God intended for his people. Christians are offered a sabbath rest that is only available through faith in Jesus Christ. Will we enter this sabbath rest or will we miss it?
Those Moses led fell due to an “evil, unbelieving heart” and were “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13 NAS). We are warned not to fall into the same trap. How can we avoid this snare and enter the sabbath rest God promised? We rest by accepting Jesus’s invitation found in Matthew.
“Come to Me, all 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 comfortable, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NAS)
The goal is to avoid being fooled by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin hardens us against trusting Christ and makes us rely on our own works rather than on the grace of God. Self-reliance shows disbelief in God’s promises and results in creating our own standards and methodologies for salvation. Working for salvation is destined for disaster just as the bodies of the former Hebrews slaves perished in the desert.
Hebrews 4:10 compares the Christian’s rest to God’s rest after six days of his creation work in Genesis. We know God did not rest due to fatigue; he rested because his work was complete, likewise Christians are called into a spiritual rest in the completed work of Christ.
Our faith better be for real and not pretend. God knows the difference. Unbelief cannot be hidden because “The word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NAS).
The lesson for me is to relax and trust God. The good we do must be done out of the love we have for Christ and not to earn acceptance from God or people. Are you resting in what Christ finished, or still striving to prove yourself? Let’s truly enter the sabbath rest promised us.
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