> Download these notes in PDF here: https://www.studyyourbible.org/new-testament/hebrews/2026/handouts/session-09-a-rest-to-the-people-of-god/ # Session 9 Let Us Therefore Fear ## The Promise Of Entering His Rest (Hebrews 4:1-7) Hebrews 4 continues the warning of chapter 3. The wilderness generation heard God’s promise but failed to enter because of unbelief. Their failure did not cancel God’s promise, and David’s later word **“To day”** proved that an opportunity to enter His rest still remained. The argument moves through three periods: - **Creation** - God finished His works and rested the seventh day. - **The wilderness** - An unbelieving generation was barred from entering the promised rest. - **David’s later day** - Long after the wilderness generation, God spoke through David and appointed another opportunity called **“To day.”** The chapter is not changing subjects from chapter 3. It develops the meaning of God’s **rest** and applies the wilderness warning to the Hebrews’ own opportunity. ## Hebrews 4:1-2 - Let Us Therefore Fear > Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. > > For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. ### Exegesis - **“Therefore”** carries forward the conclusion of Hebrews 3:19: Israel could not enter because of unbelief. - **“Let us fear”** commands sober vigilance. God’s promise gives reason for faith, but the wilderness example forbids presumption. - **“A promise being left us”** means the promise still stands. One generation’s exclusion did not exhaust or cancel God’s rest. - **“Any of you”** gives the warning individual force within the addressed Hebrew company. - **“Come short of it”** means fail to reach the promised goal, as the wilderness generation died short of Canaan. - **“The gospel preached”** refers broadly to good news. The fathers heard good news concerning the promised land; the Hebrews had received good news concerning the rest then set before them. - The message did not profit the wilderness hearers because it was not joined with believing response. ### Closely Relevant Cross-References - **Hebrews 3:16-19** - The preceding conclusion identifies unbelief as the reason Israel could not enter. - **Numbers 13:30–14:4** - Israel heard the promise of the land but believed the evil report and refused to go forward. - **Numbers 14:39-45** - After the opportunity closed, Israel tried to enter presumptuously and was defeated. - **Deuteronomy 1:29-35** - Moses connects Israel’s refusal with unbelief and God’s oath of exclusion. ### Text And Translation Notes - **“Seem to come short”** does not reduce the danger to mere appearance. It means be judged or found to have fallen short. - The word **“gospel”** does not always identify the same message in every context. Here the comparison must be governed by the promised rest and the wilderness generation. - **“Mixed with faith”** pictures the spoken word being joined with faith in the hearers so that it becomes profitable. ### What The Passage Does Not Say - It does **not** say the wilderness generation heard Paul’s gospel of the grace of God. - It does **not** teach that hearing truth automatically produces its promised benefit. - It does **not** permit national privilege to replace personal believing response. ## Hebrews 4:3-5 - God Finished His Works And Rested > For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. > > For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. > > And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. ### Exegesis - Believers enter the rest God provides; unbelief is the dividing issue established by the wilderness example. - **“My rest”** belongs to God. The argument begins before Canaan because God’s own rest dates from the completion of creation. - God rested because His works were **finished**, not because He was weary. - Genesis 2 establishes the principle of completed work and divine rest. Psalm 95 shows that entrance into that rest could still be offered or refused much later. - Verse 5 repeats the oath to hold creation rest and the wilderness exclusion together in the argument. ### Closely Relevant Cross-References - **Genesis 2:1-3** - God finishes creation and rests on the seventh day. - **Psalm 95:7-11** - The direct source of God’s oath concerning entrance into His rest. - **Numbers 14:21-23** - The historical generation that despised God’s word was excluded from the promised land. - **Hebrews 3:11** - The full Psalm quotation has already introduced God’s wrath, oath, and rest. ### Text And Translation Notes - **“If they shall enter”** reproduces the oath wording of Psalm 95:11. The KJV renders the same Hebrew construction in the Psalm as **“that they should not enter.”** - No separate word for **“not”** appears in the Hebrew expression. The emphatic negative is inherent in the abbreviated oath: they certainly shall not enter. - The wording therefore agrees more closely with Psalm 95 than an English comparison between the KJV passages may initially suggest. ### What The Passage Does Not Say - It does **not** identify God’s rest merely with inactivity. - It does **not** make Canaan the beginning or the full extent of the rest under discussion. - It does **not** present **“if they shall enter”** as an uncertain possibility; it is the wording of God’s oath of exclusion. ## Hebrews 4:6-7 - He Limiteth A Certain Day > Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: > > Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. ### Exegesis - **“It remaineth”** means God’s purpose for His rest still awaits fulfillment. Human unbelief does not defeat His promise. - **“Some must enter”** expresses the certainty of God’s purpose, not the automatic entrance of every hearer. - Those first addressed by the land promise failed to enter because of unbelief, but God later appointed another opportunity. - **“He limiteth”** means God designates or appoints a particular day; it does not mean He shortens an ordinary calendar day. - **“Saying in David”** treats God as the speaker working through David’s words in Psalm 95. - **“After so long a time”** is essential. Centuries after Joshua, God still called a generation to respond **“To day.”** - Hearing God’s voice requires a responsive heart; hardening repeats the wilderness rebellion. ### Closely Relevant Cross-References - **Psalm 95:7-11** - David calls a later generation to hear God’s voice while recalling the fathers who were excluded. - **Hebrews 3:7-8, 15** - The Holy Ghost has already applied the same **Today** warning to the Hebrews. - **Joshua 21:43-45** - Israel truly received land and rest under Joshua, making David’s later appeal especially significant. ### What The Passage Does Not Say - It does **not** make **Today** a guarantee that every offered opportunity remains open indefinitely. - It does **not** treat Psalm 95 as antiquarian history; God speaks through it to a later generation. - It does **not** teach that the unbelief of one generation cancels God’s covenanted purpose. ## Teaching Summary - Hebrews 4:1-7 continues the wilderness warning of chapter 3 and urges the Hebrews not to come short through unbelief. - The wilderness generation heard good news about the promised land, but the message did not profit those who refused to believe it. - God’s rest begins with His finished creation work, while the wilderness generation shows that unbelief can exclude a generation from its offered participation. - Psalm 95 proves that God appointed another **Today** long after the wilderness generation and continued to call His people to hear His voice. - God’s purpose that some enter His rest is certain, but each addressed hearer must respond in faith rather than repeat the fathers’ hardening.