“God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.” So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”
Hebrews 4:1-13 NLT
The author of Hebrews takes the time to juxtapose God’s rest, as promised in the scriptures, with God’s judgement, equally promised. In the one sense, we can have one or the other. In a very sober sense, we cannot have neither. God’s promises will always come to pass. The question is which promise will we choose. It is in this context that one of the great power verses of scripture is framed. Speaking to its own veracity, the author of Hebrews highlights the very nature of Scripture as intelligent. It is capable and willing to carry out the task of creating divining our hearts. It knows things about us and exposes them, despite our best intent to hide from it. This is true of the scriptures as much as it’s true of the living word in Jesus. This verse is a warning to take hold of the blessings rather than the judgement, because one of the two will find each and every person. It is a warning that it is not enough to simply acknowledge God. We must follow him as well because not into the promised land. Too many Christians do not understand the purpose of this verse as that warning. They do not understand that they are being admonished to give in to the word because you cannot hide from it. It is a necessary facet of Christian life.
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