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BNW / Lucifer en de misleiding van het zevende dags adventisme dl2
[ Bericht 35% gewijzigd door Lavenderr op 26-02-2013 18:26:20 ]
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BNW / Lucifer en de misleiding van het zevende dags adventisme dl2
[ Bericht 35% gewijzigd door Lavenderr op 26-02-2013 18:26:20 ]
Maar wat ik nu al een aantal posts aan je verstand wil peuteren maar je schijnbaar negeert is dat de sabbat in deze niet het centrale punt van de boodschap is, maar een openbare manifestatie van de rechtvaardiging door geloof als resultaat van het ontvangen van het ware evangelie.quote:Op dinsdag 26 februari 2013 18:14 schreef wiseguy-23 het volgende:
Ali bedankt voor je brede uiteenzetting
Ik ben het met je oneens dat het in de eindtijd op zondag/sabbat aankomt, maar ik denk wel dat er sprake is van een rust-controverse. Namelijk diegenen die in Christus alleen rusten en daarmee automatisch een bedreiging vormen voor de NWO zullen wellicht vervolgd worden. Het prediken van redding door geloof in Jezus alleen zorgt namelijk voor ontzettend veel weerstand. Zelfs in deze tijd, als je het met katholieken zou bespreken kunnen ze giftig worden van woede. Wat zou er dan gebeuren als de NWO er eenmaal is en de religies van deze wereld hun handen inelkaar slaan in lijn van de traditie van Johannes Paulus de tweede die leerde dat alle religies dezelfde God aanbidden? Wat denk je dat er gebeurt als het tweede beest (de RK sinds 1929 toen het een kerk-staat werd) allerlei wonderen doet ten aanzien van de mensen en de wereld enthousiast maakt voor een NWO? Het lijkt me logisch dat diegenen die zich uitspreken tegen de NWO dan ook zwaar vervolgd zullen worden. Maar het gaat hier dan niet om zoiets stoms als een sabbat/zondag, maar om het feit of je gelooft in Jezus alleen voor je redding.
Ieder willekeurig persoon kan vandaag besluiten om de sabbat te houden. Zal hem dat redden? Nee natuurlijk niet.
Ieder willekeurig persoon die zich christen noemt kan vandaag besluiten om de sabbat te houden. Zal dat hem redden? Nee natuurlijk niet.
Het is niet het sabbat houden wat redt, of het sabbat houden dat je rechtvaardig maakt, of het sabbat houden dat de kern van het evangelie is. De kern van het evangelie is rechtvaardiging door geloof in Jezus Christus en de spirituele regeneratie door het ontvangen van de Heilige Geest waardoor je godvruchtig wordt.
God in Zijn liefde heeft ons 6 dagen werk en 1 dag rust gegeven. Die rustdag heeft allelei diepere betekenis, maar het simpele feit dat we stoppen met onze dagelijkse bezigheden is al een zegening op zich in plaats van dat we non stop moeten werken en God vergeten door onze drukke bezigheden. God heeft een specifieke dag gekozen die te maken heeft met de schepping.
De antichrist doet hetzelfde, maar heeft een andere dag gekozen. Uitendelijk is het een kwestie van autoriteit: wie gehoorzaam je?
Het punt is dat aan het einde der tijden geen mens die niet compleet in God is in staat zal zijn de sabbat te houden. Vervolging, economische uitsluiting zal ieder persoon die zwak is door het vlees doen vallen en opgeven.
Het is alleen dankzij de kracht van Gods geest dat iemand vol zal kunnen houden. Daarmee wordt het houden van die sabbat ondanks de oppositie een teken dat iemand gerechtvaardigd is door geloof, Gods geest ontvangen heeft, geheiligd is, en verzegeld.
Het is dan dus een signaal, een teken, een verschijnsel, een gevolg, van rechtvaardiging door geloof in Jezus. Het is niet de manier om gerechtvaardigd te worden, want je eigen werken kunnen je niet rechtvaardigen.
Jakobus zegt dat een geloof zonder werken dood is. Maar hij heeft het hier over de werken die volgen uit geloof. Alleen iemand met geloof zal de werken produceren die God van ons verlangt, omdat het Gods geest is die de werken produceert. Daarom kun je aan de hand van iemands werken afleiden of iemands geloof levend of dood is, aldus Jakobus.
Aan het einde zal men aan de sabbat af kunnen leiden of iemands geloof levend of dood is, omdat het laat zien waar iemand werkelijk staat: onder de volledige autoriteit van God, of onder de autoriteit van antichrist.
Dit is dan opnieuw geen manier om punten te verdienen, maar om de wereld op te roepen tot bekering! God wil een onderscheid maken tussen Zijn volk en de wereld. De mensheid zal iets nodig hebben om te kunnen zien waar zich naar toe te keren. De sabbat wordt als het ware de vlag waaronder Gods leger zich schaart, de banier waaraan herkenbaar zal zijn dat die groep Gods volk is die niet zal gestraft worden met de plagen maar de erfenis van het eeuwige leven zal ontvangen. Het is de sabbat die een zichtbaar onderscheid zal maken tussen Gods volk en de rest van de wereld.
11 Want het zal geschieden te dien dage, dat de Heere ten anderen male Zijn hand aanleggen zal om weder te verwerven het overblijfsel Zijns volks, hetwelk overgebleven zal zijn van Assyrië, en van Egypte, en van Pathros, en van Morenland, en van Elam, en van Sinear, en van Hamath, en van de eilanden der zee.
12 En Hij zal een banier oprichten onder de heidenen, en Hij zal de verdrevenen van Israël verzamelen, en de verstrooiden uit Juda vergaderen, van de vier einden des aardrijks. jesaja 11
15 En wat samenstemming heeft Christus met Belial, of wat deel heeft de gelovige met den ongelovige?
16 Of wat samenvoeging heeft de tempel Gods met de afgoden? Want gij zijt de tempel des levenden Gods; gelijkerwijs God gezegd heeft: Ik zal in hen wonen, en Ik zal onder hen wandelen; en Ik zal hun God zijn, en zij zullen Mij een Volk zijn.
17 Daarom gaat uit het midden van hen, en scheidt u af, zegt de Heere, en raakt niet aan hetgeen onrein is, en Ik zal ulieden aannemen.
18 En Ik zal u tot een Vader zijn, en gij zult Mij tot zonen en dochteren zijn, zegt de Heere, de Almachtige. 2 Korinthers 6
5 Zo wordt gij ook zelven, als levende stenen, gebouwd tot een geestelijk huis, tot een heilig priesterdom, om geestelijke offeranden op te offeren, die Gode aangenaam zijn door Jezus Christus.
6 Daarom is ook vervat in de Schrift: Ziet, Ik leg in Sion een uitersten Hoeksteen, Die uitverkoren en dierbaar is; en: Die in Hem gelooft, zal niet beschaamd worden.
7 U dan, die gelooft, is Hij dierbaar; maar den ongehoorzamen wordt gezegd: De Steen, Dien de bouwlieden verworpen hebben, Deze is geworden tot een hoofd des hoeks, en een steen des aanstoots, en een rots der ergernis;
8 Dengenen namelijk, die zich aan het Woord stoten, ongehoorzaam zijnde, waartoe zij ook gezet zijn.
9 Maar gij zijt een uitverkoren geslacht, een koninklijk priesterdom, een heilig volk, een verkregen volk; opdat gij zoudt verkondigen de deugden Desgenen, Die u uit de duisternis geroepen heeft tot Zijn wonderbaar licht;
10 Gij, die eertijds geen volk waart, maar nu Gods volk zijt; die eertijds niet ontfermd waart, maar nu ontfermd zijt geworden. 1 Petrus 2
Voor de zevende dags adventist sluit de tijd van genade bij de zondagswet, we worden dan ofwel verzegeld of niet.
De rest van de wereld zal dan nog de mogelijkheid hebben zich te bekeren, en de sabbat zal het zichtbare teken zijn waar zich toe te keren.
De sabbat is dan dus niet zozeer voor de adventist zelf die verzegeld is, maar voor degenen die God oproept uit Babylon te komen.
[ Bericht 2% gewijzigd door Ali_Kannibali op 26-02-2013 18:41:11 ]
Maar de hele opzet van de bijbel, het vertrouwen in die ene bron en de onduidelijkheid over de echte betekenis heeft toch helemaal niets met rationaliteit te maken. Het is je geloof erin dat het voor jouw acceptabel maakt.quote:
[..]
Als mijn geloof en ratio met elkaar in tegenspraak zouden zijn zou ik niet geloven denk ik. De oorsprong van mijn geloof zit juist wel in de teksten, al geeft het wel een bevredigend gevoel als ratio en geloof elkaar wederzijds interdependent versterken.
Question authorities, fuck religion, educate yourself, Viva el individualismo!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
Ik begrijp je insteek maar de sabbat als uiterlijk kenmerk van iemands redding is niet bijbels. Het is gebasseerd op non-bijbelse aannames. De bijbel leert daarentegen dat mensen die verzegeld zijn door de Heilige Geest gekenmerkt worden door deze eigenschappen:quote:
[..]
Maar wat ik nu al een aantal posts aan je verstand wil peuteren maar je schijnbaar negeert is dat de sabbat in deze niet het centrale punt van de boodschap is, maar een openbare manifestatie van de rechtvaardiging door geloof als resultaat van het ontvangen van het ware evangelie.
Ieder willekeurig persoon kan vandaag besluiten om de sabbat te houden. Zal hem dat redden? Nee natuurlijk niet.
Ieder willekeurig persoon die zich christen noemt kan vandaag besluiten om de sabbat te houden. Zal dat hem redden? Nee natuurlijk niet.
Het is niet het sabbat houden wat redt, of het sabbat houden dat je rechtvaardig maakt, of het sabbat houden dat de kern van het evangelie is. De kern van het evangelie is rechtvaardiging door geloof in Jezus Christus en de spirituele regeneratie door het ontvangen van de Heilige Geest waardoor je godvruchtig wordt.
God in Zijn liefde heeft ons 6 dagen werk en 1 dag rust gegeven. Die rustdag heeft allelei diepere betekenis, maar het simpele feit dat we stoppen met onze dagelijkse bezigheden is al een zegening op zich in plaats van dat we non stop moeten werken en God vergeten door onze drukke bezigheden. God heeft een specifieke dag gekozen die te maken heeft met de schepping.
De antichrist doet hetzelfde, maar heeft een andere dag gekozen. Uitendelijk is het een kwestie van autoriteit: wie gehoorzaam je?
Het punt is dat aan het einde der tijden geen mens die niet compleet in God is in staat zal zijn de sabbat te houden. Vervolging, economische uitsluiting zal ieder persoon die zwak is door het vlees doen vallen en opgeven.
Het is alleen dankzij de kracht van Gods geest dat iemand vol zal kunnen houden. Daarmee wordt het houden van die sabbat ondanks de oppositie een teken dat iemand gerechtvaardigd is door geloof, Gods geest ontvangen heeft, geheiligd is, en verzegeld.
Het is dan dus een signaal, een teken, een verschijnsel, een gevolg, van rechtvaardiging door geloof in Jezus. Het is niet de manier om gerechtvaardigd te worden, want je eigen werken kunnen je niet rechtvaardigen.
Jakobus zegt dat een geloof zonder werken dood is. Maar hij heeft het hier over de werken die volgen uit geloof. Alleen iemand met geloof zal de werken produceren die God van ons verlangt, omdat het Gods geest is die de werken produceert. Daarom kun je aan de hand van iemands werken afleiden of iemands geloof levend of dood is, aldus Jakobus.
Aan het einde zal men aan de sabbat af kunnen leiden of iemands geloof levend of dood is, omdat het laat zien waar iemand werkelijk staat: onder de volledige autoriteit van God, of onder de autoriteit van antichrist.
Dit is dan opnieuw geen manier om punten te verdienen, maar om de wereld op te roepen tot bekering! God wil een onderscheid maken tussen Zijn volk en de wereld. De mensheid zal iets nodig hebben om te kunnen zien waar zich naar toe te keren. De sabbat wordt als het ware de vlag waaronder Gods leger zich schaart, de banier waaraan herkenbaar zal zijn dat die groep Gods volk is die niet zal gestraft worden met de plagen maar de erfenis van het eeuwige leven zal ontvangen. Het is de sabbat die een zichtbaar onderscheid zal maken tussen Gods volk en de rest van de wereld.
11 Want het zal geschieden te dien dage, dat de Heere ten anderen male Zijn hand aanleggen zal om weder te verwerven het overblijfsel Zijns volks, hetwelk overgebleven zal zijn van Assyrië, en van Egypte, en van Pathros, en van Morenland, en van Elam, en van Sinear, en van Hamath, en van de eilanden der zee.
12 En Hij zal een banier oprichten onder de heidenen, en Hij zal de verdrevenen van Israël verzamelen, en de verstrooiden uit Juda vergaderen, van de vier einden des aardrijks. jesaja 11
15 En wat samenstemming heeft Christus met Belial, of wat deel heeft de gelovige met den ongelovige?
16 Of wat samenvoeging heeft de tempel Gods met de afgoden? Want gij zijt de tempel des levenden Gods; gelijkerwijs God gezegd heeft: Ik zal in hen wonen, en Ik zal onder hen wandelen; en Ik zal hun God zijn, en zij zullen Mij een Volk zijn.
17 Daarom gaat uit het midden van hen, en scheidt u af, zegt de Heere, en raakt niet aan hetgeen onrein is, en Ik zal ulieden aannemen.
18 En Ik zal u tot een Vader zijn, en gij zult Mij tot zonen en dochteren zijn, zegt de Heere, de Almachtige. 2 Korinthers 6
5 Zo wordt gij ook zelven, als levende stenen, gebouwd tot een geestelijk huis, tot een heilig priesterdom, om geestelijke offeranden op te offeren, die Gode aangenaam zijn door Jezus Christus.
6 Daarom is ook vervat in de Schrift: Ziet, Ik leg in Sion een uitersten Hoeksteen, Die uitverkoren en dierbaar is; en: Die in Hem gelooft, zal niet beschaamd worden.
7 U dan, die gelooft, is Hij dierbaar; maar den ongehoorzamen wordt gezegd: De Steen, Dien de bouwlieden verworpen hebben, Deze is geworden tot een hoofd des hoeks, en een steen des aanstoots, en een rots der ergernis;
8 Dengenen namelijk, die zich aan het Woord stoten, ongehoorzaam zijnde, waartoe zij ook gezet zijn.
9 Maar gij zijt een uitverkoren geslacht, een koninklijk priesterdom, een heilig volk, een verkregen volk; opdat gij zoudt verkondigen de deugden Desgenen, Die u uit de duisternis geroepen heeft tot Zijn wonderbaar licht;
10 Gij, die eertijds geen volk waart, maar nu Gods volk zijt; die eertijds niet ontfermd waart, maar nu ontfermd zijt geworden. 1 Petrus 2
Voor de zevende dags adventist sluit de tijd van genade bij de zondagswet, we worden dan ofwel verzegeld of niet.
De rest van de wereld zal dan nog de mogelijkheid hebben zich te bekeren, en de sabbat zal het zichtbare teken zijn waar zich toe te keren.
De sabbat is dan dus niet zozeer voor de adventist zelf die verzegeld is, maar voor degenen die God oproept uit Babylon te komen.
Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperence
De bijbel noemt de sabbat een schaduw in die zin dat het voor christenen irrelevant is om de sabbat wel of niet te houden.
Ik weet dat je het goed bedoelt, maar de sabbat de kern van het evangelie noemen is hetzelfde als besnijdenis de kern van het evangelie noemen. En wat zegt de bijbel daarover?
11U ziet het aan de grote letters: ik schrijf u nu eigenhandig. 12Degenen die er zo op aandringen dat u zich laat besnijden, willen alleen een goede indruk maken en voorkomen dat ze worden vervolgd omwille van het kruis van Christus. 13Ze zijn voor de besnijdenis maar leven zelf niet volgens de wet; ze willen dat u zich laat besnijden om zich daarop te kunnen laten voorstaan. 14Maar ik – ik wil me op niets anders laten voorstaan dan het kruis van Jezus Christus, onze Heer, waardoor de wereld voor mij is gekruisigd en ik voor de wereld. 15Het is volkomen onbelangrijk of men wel of niet besneden is, belangrijk is dat men een nieuwe schepping is. 16Laat er vrede en barmhartigheid zijn voor allen die bij deze maatstaf blijven, en voor het Israël van God. 17En laat voortaan niemand mij meer tegenwerken, want ik draag de littekens van Jezus in mijn lichaam.
1Galaten, u hebt uw verstand verloren! Wie heeft u in zijn ban gekregen? Ik heb u Jezus Christus toch openlijk en duidelijk als de gekruisigde bekendgemaakt? 2Ik wil maar één ding van u weten: hebt u de Geest ontvangen door de wet na te leven of door te luisteren en te geloven? 3Bent u werkelijk zo dwaas weer op uw eigen kracht te vertrouwen, en niet langer op de Geest? 4Is alles wat u hebt meegemaakt dan voor niets geweest? Dat kan toch niet! 5Geeft God u de Geest en goddelijke krachten omdat u de wet naleeft? Of geeft hij ze omdat u naar hem luistert en op hem vertrouwt?
Babylon representeert de wereld die probeert via eigen werken de hemel te berijken. Het gaat hier niet om zoiets stoms als zondag/sabbat, dat is vanuit bijbels oogpunt ondenkbaar. Genade staat open voor iedereen tot Jezus' wederkomst.
Het is niet 1 bron, in feite zijn het 66 boeken die over een periode van duizenden jaren zijn geschreven. Persoonlijk hecht ik er dan veel waarde aan aan het feit dat deze boeken een geintegreerde consistente eenheid vormen. Het is dan ook niet voor niets het meest verkochte boek van de wereld en nooit heeft iemand zoveel invloed gehad op de wereld als Jezus van Nazareth. Ik heb dan ook niet het gevoel alsof ik mij bevind in het veld van pseudowetenschap als ik daadwerkelijk geloof dat de bijbel Gods woord is voor de mensen.quote:
Maar de hele opzet van de bijbel, het vertrouwen in die ene bron en de onduidelijkheid over de echte betekenis heeft toch helemaal niets met rationaliteit te maken. Het is je geloof erin dat het voor jouw acceptabel maakt.
Je hebt gelijk dat indien je echt wilt geloven dat Gods woord waar is, je veel onderzoek moet doen naar de oorsprong van de bijbel, de manusscripten, de vertalingen, de canonisering van de boeken, archeologie etc. etc. Ik ga ervanuit dat als ik iets niet snap in de bijbel dat er dan een logische bijbelse verklaring voor is. In dat opzicht is het ook heel erg dom van de ZDA kerk dat de kerk weigert gebruik te maken van de kennis die theologen voorhanden hebben om de ware betekenis van de bijbel te doorgronden.
Er is werkelijk geen andere reden om aan te nemen dat god bestaat anders dan die verzameling werken. En die verzameling werken noemen we de bijbel, 1 bron. Het was niet Jesus die zoveel invloed heeft, maar die verzameling werken, die ene bron. Het heeft niets met wetenschap te maken, dat de oorsprong van een tekst bekend is, maakt de inhoud van die tekst niet de waarheid. Een logische bijbelse verklaring is een verklaring van zichzelf, die ene bron. Er is niets rationeels aan om die inhoud te geloven.quote:
[..]
Het is niet 1 bron, in feite zijn het 66 boeken die over een periode van duizenden jaren zijn geschreven. Persoonlijk hecht ik er dan veel waarde aan aan het feit dat deze boeken een geintegreerde consistente eenheid vormen. Het is dan ook niet voor niets het meest verkochte boek van de wereld en nooit heeft iemand zoveel invloed gehad op de wereld als Jezus van Nazareth. Ik heb dan ook niet het gevoel alsof ik mij bevind in het veld van pseudowetenschap als ik daadwerkelijk geloof dat de bijbel Gods woord is voor de mensen.
Je hebt gelijk dat indien je echt wilt geloven dat Gods woord waar is, je veel onderzoek moet doen naar de oorsprong van de bijbel, de manusscripten, de vertalingen, de canonisering van de boeken, archeologie etc. etc. Ik ga ervanuit dat als ik iets niet snap in de bijbel dat er dan een logische bijbelse verklaring voor is. In dat opzicht is het ook heel erg dom van de ZDA kerk dat de kerk weigert gebruik te maken van de kennis die theologen voorhanden hebben om de ware betekenis van de bijbel te doorgronden.
Question authorities, fuck religion, educate yourself, Viva el individualismo!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
Het is rationeel in zoverre dat als er een God bestaat hij ook in staat is om ons een handleiding achter te laten die ons antwoord geeft op de vragen die wij als mensen onszelf stellen.quote:
[..]
Er is werkelijk geen andere reden om aan te nemen dat god bestaat anders dan die verzameling werken. En die verzameling werken noemen we de bijbel, 1 bron. Het was niet Jesus die zoveel invloed heeft, maar die verzameling werken, die ene bron. Het heeft niets met wetenschap te maken, dat de oorsprong van een tekst bekend is, maakt de inhoud van die tekst niet de waarheid. Een logische bijbelse verklaring is een verklaring van zichzelf, die ene bron. Er is niets rationeels aan om die inhoud te geloven.
In het verleden is de sabbat al eerder het teken geweest van het feit dat het de God van de Hemel is, en niet een ander, die de persoon heeft geheiligd.quote:
[..]
Ik begrijp je insteek maar de sabbat als uiterlijk kenmerk van iemands redding is niet bijbels. Het is gebasseerd op non-bijbelse aannames. De bijbel leert daarentegen dat mensen die verzegeld zijn door de Heilige Geest gekenmerkt worden door deze eigenschappen:
Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperence
De bijbel noemt de sabbat een schaduw in die zin dat het voor christenen irrelevant is om de sabbat wel of niet te houden.
Ik weet dat je het goed bedoelt, maar de sabbat de kern van het evangelie noemen is hetzelfde als besnijdenis de kern van het evangelie noemen. En wat zegt de bijbel daarover?
11U ziet het aan de grote letters: ik schrijf u nu eigenhandig. 12Degenen die er zo op aandringen dat u zich laat besnijden, willen alleen een goede indruk maken en voorkomen dat ze worden vervolgd omwille van het kruis van Christus. 13Ze zijn voor de besnijdenis maar leven zelf niet volgens de wet; ze willen dat u zich laat besnijden om zich daarop te kunnen laten voorstaan. 14Maar ik – ik wil me op niets anders laten voorstaan dan het kruis van Jezus Christus, onze Heer, waardoor de wereld voor mij is gekruisigd en ik voor de wereld. 15Het is volkomen onbelangrijk of men wel of niet besneden is, belangrijk is dat men een nieuwe schepping is. 16Laat er vrede en barmhartigheid zijn voor allen die bij deze maatstaf blijven, en voor het Israël van God. 17En laat voortaan niemand mij meer tegenwerken, want ik draag de littekens van Jezus in mijn lichaam.
1Galaten, u hebt uw verstand verloren! Wie heeft u in zijn ban gekregen? Ik heb u Jezus Christus toch openlijk en duidelijk als de gekruisigde bekendgemaakt? 2Ik wil maar één ding van u weten: hebt u de Geest ontvangen door de wet na te leven of door te luisteren en te geloven? 3Bent u werkelijk zo dwaas weer op uw eigen kracht te vertrouwen, en niet langer op de Geest? 4Is alles wat u hebt meegemaakt dan voor niets geweest? Dat kan toch niet! 5Geeft God u de Geest en goddelijke krachten omdat u de wet naleeft? Of geeft hij ze omdat u naar hem luistert en op hem vertrouwt?
Babylon representeert de wereld die probeert via eigen werken de hemel te berijken. Het gaat hier niet om zoiets stoms als zondag/sabbat, dat is vanuit bijbels oogpunt ondenkbaar. Genade staat open voor iedereen tot Jezus' wederkomst.
13 Gij nu, spreek tot de kinderen Israëls, zeggende: Gij zult evenwel mijn sabbatten onderhouden; want dit is een teken tussen Mij en tussen ulieden, bij uw geslachten; opdat men wete, dat Ik de HEERE ben, Die u heilige. Exodus 31
19 Ik ben de HEERE, uw God, wandelt in Mijn inzettingen, en onderhoudt Mijn rechten, en doet dezelve.
20 En heiligt Mijn sabbatten, en zij zullen tot een teken zijn tussen Mij en tussen ulieden, opdat gij weet, dat Ik, de HEERE, uw God ben.
Alle andere vruchten van de geest zijn eveneens kenmerken, resultaten van Gods heiliging, maar de sabbat is hierin een geval apart. Zij zijn geen teken, de sabbat is dat wel.
De geschiedenis zal zich herhalen, zoals Salomo zegt:
9 Hetgeen er geweest is, hetzelve zal er zijn, en hetgeen er gedaan is, hetzelve zal er gedaan worden; zodat er niets nieuws is onder de zon.
10 Is er enig ding, waarvan men zou kunnen zeggen: Ziet dat, het is nieuw? Het is alreeds geweest in de eeuwen, die voor ons geweest zijn. prediker 1
Het was een teken tussen God en het Joodse volk, dit was HET teken van het oude verbond. In het nieuwe verbond is de sabbat geen teken meer.
150AD JUSTIN: Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [after mentioning Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses... And you [fleshly Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, "That you may know that I am God who redeemed you." (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 204)
200AD TERTULLIAN: Let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day because of threat of death, teach us that in earliest times righteous men kept Sabbath or practiced circumcision, and so were made friends of God. .. ...Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was by Him commended... Noah also, uncircumcised - yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath - God freed from the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world... Melchizedek also, "the priest of most high God," uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was chosen to the priesthood of God. (An Answer to the Jews 2:10; 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 153)
150AD JUSTIN: Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [after mentioning Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses... And you [fleshly Jews] were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, "That you may know that I am God who redeemed you." (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, 150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 204)
200AD TERTULLIAN: Let him who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed a balm of salvation, and circumcision on the eighth day because of threat of death, teach us that in earliest times righteous men kept Sabbath or practiced circumcision, and so were made friends of God. .. ...Therefore, since God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was by Him commended... Noah also, uncircumcised - yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath - God freed from the deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this world... Melchizedek also, "the priest of most high God," uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was chosen to the priesthood of God. (An Answer to the Jews 2:10; 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 153)
Nou nee, als die zou bestaan had die wel heel veel dingen compleet anders kunnen doen. Bijvoorbeeld een wat duidelijker handleiding, een openbaring aan alle volken op dit bolletje en dan houd ik mijzelf nog in over wat die rationeel gezien anders had kunnen doen. En daarbij ik heb ik het niet over de rationaliteit van die god, maar over diegene die de bijbel als waarheid zien.quote:
[..]
Het is rationeel in zoverre dat als er een God bestaat hij ook in staat is om ons een handleiding achter te laten die ons antwoord geeft op de vragen die wij als mensen onszelf stellen.
Question authorities, fuck religion, educate yourself, Viva el individualismo!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
Ik begrijp je frustratie, de werkelijkheid ligt nou eenmaal gewikkelder inelkaar dan we vaak zouden wensen. De handleiding is echter duidelijk voor iedereen die zich er in wil verdiepen. Alhoewel ik het er natuurlijk mee eens ben dat er veel dingen instaan die we nog niet helemaal kunnen doorgronden.quote:Op dinsdag 26 februari 2013 20:20 schreef truthortruth het volgende:
[..]
Nou nee, als die zou bestaan had die wel heel veel dingen compleet anders kunnen doen. Bijvoorbeeld een wat duidelijker handleiding, een openbaring aan alle volken op dit bolletje en dan houd ik mijzelf nog in over wat die rationeel gezien anders had kunnen doen. En daarbij ik heb ik het niet over de rationaliteit van die god, maar over diegene die de bijbel als waarheid zien.
In het nieuwe verbond is het teken alsvolgt:
35Aan jullie liefde voor elkaar zal iedereen zien dat jullie mijn leerlingen zijn.’
35Aan jullie liefde voor elkaar zal iedereen zien dat jullie mijn leerlingen zijn.’
Ik ben niet zo gefrustreerd en ik vind de werkelijkheid vaak een stuk logischer dan dat wat die bijbel beschrijft. En die handleiding is zeker niet duidelijk voor wie zich daarin wil verdiepen, ik dacht dat we daar wel over uit waren. Dus nee, dit verklaart helemaal niets van waarom een rationeel mens die bijbel zou accepteren als antwoord op die essentiële vragen. Dus even terug naar je bewering;quote:
[..]
Ik begrijp je frustratie, de werkelijkheid ligt nou eenmaal gewikkelder inelkaar dan we vaak zouden wensen. De handleiding is echter duidelijk voor iedereen die zich er in wil verdiepen. Alhoewel ik het er natuurlijk mee eens ben dat er veel dingen instaan die we nog niet helemaal kunnen doorgronden.
Ik heb je nog geen verklaring zien geven voor dat die bijbel rationeel is als antwoord op die vragen, dat kan ook helemaal niet.quote:Als mijn geloof en ratio met elkaar in tegenspraak zouden zijn zou ik niet geloven denk ik.
Question authorities, fuck religion, educate yourself, Viva el individualismo!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
There's only one way of life, and that's your own!
Laat ik het zo stellen, vanuit mijn optiek geeft de bijbel de meest logische antwoorden op alle levensvragen. Iedereen moet dat natuurlijk voor zichzelf uitzoeken of hij of zij ook zo denkt.quote:
[..]
Ik ben niet zo gefrustreerd en ik vind de werkelijkheid vaak een stuk logischer dan dat wat die bijbel beschrijft. En die handleiding is zeker niet duidelijk voor wie zich daarin wil verdiepen, ik dacht dat we daar wel over uit waren. Dus nee, dit verklaart helemaal niets van waarom een rationeel mens die bijbel zou accepteren als antwoord op die essentiële vragen. Dus even terug naar je bewering;
[..]
Ik heb je nog geen verklaring zien geven voor dat die bijbel rationeel is als antwoord op die vragen, dat kan ook helemaal niet.
Als ik zou moeten uitleggen op welke wijze de bijbel de meest logische antwoorden geeft op levensvragen dan heb ik 1000 van deze fora nodig, dat kan ik hier helaas niet doen.
Ali ik heb een verhelderend artikel gevonden over de sabbat in Genesis 2 en de sabbatismos van Hebreeers 4:
Genesis 2:2-3 -- God's "Rest" and the Sabbath
One of the proof texts used in an attempt to prove that Christians must keep the seventh-day Sabbath is Genesis 2:2-3. For this reason, it is important that we understand what this verse does and doesn’t say about the physical Sabbath rest before we arrive at our conclusions. Further, we must ask what this verse tells us about the Sabbath when viewed against the essential message of Scripture about our salvation in Christ.
After the creation account in Genesis 1, we read the following in chapter 2, verses 2-3: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
In chapter 1, the writer of Genesis had used the seven-day weekly cycle as an organizing outline to make an important theological point: The one God of Israel is the true God—the Creator of all that exists in the heavens and on earth, including the human race. This was his answer to the myths of the nations that had spun fantastic stories of how their national god or gods and goddesses were responsible for the creation. Genesis 1:1-2:3 sets the record straight about creation. The God of Israel, Yahweh, is Creator.
Yet, the writer of Genesis ends his creation outline by adding the statement that the God of Israel "rested" after creation was complete. What further theological point was he trying to make about God and his purpose in the creation? We shall see the answer unfold in this paper. The concept of the "rest" will prove to be a monumental part of God’s purpose, one the New Testament explains for us in a final sense.
Sabbath rest in Genesis
Before we undertake to solve this mystery, we should consider the idea that Genesis 2:2-3 tells us God made the weekly Sabbath "holy time" at creation, and that this day has been and continues to be a sacred day for all peoples. We notice immediately that the verse in question does not say a physical Sabbath-day rest was to be observed by human beings. This is a most striking fact of Genesis 2:2-3. This verse contains no command for human beings to rest from their labor or to otherwise keep the seventh day as "holy time." God is the one said to be "resting," and by his act he creates something holy about the seventh day. But at this point in the story we haven’t been told what that is.
If the writer of Genesis wanted to make the point that God commanded the Sabbath to be a day of rest for humans since the creation, then he failed to follow up his thesis in further chapters. He provided no evidence that any of the great patriarchs, Abraham included, kept the seventh day as "holy time." Neither did he make any comments to the effect that humanity was breaking the Sabbath-day rest and thereby sinning against God between Adam and Sinai. Not until the old covenant is instituted with only a single nation—Israel—does the Sabbath rest become a command (and only for Israel).
If the Sabbath was commanded since the creation, then it is quite surprising that none of God’s faithful people kept it until Sinai. Conversely, we would also have to ask why evil people are not chastised for Sabbath-breaking during the ages before the giving of the Law of Moses.
However, Genesis 2:2-3 does tell us that God made the seventh day of creation week "holy." What does this mean? For God to make something "holy" is for him to set it apart in some way for his special use, or to use that which is set apart to explain something important in terms of his purpose. For example, the temple had a Most Holy Place whose environs only the High Priest could enter, and that only once a year. The book of Hebrews explains that the "holiness" that God ascribed to this location was to show that a true entry into his presence was not yet available.
But Genesis 2:2-3 does not tell us what lesson we are to learn from the seventh day of creation being made "holy" or set apart through God "resting" from his work. We understand that God does not become tired. Nor is he affected by an earthbound reality in which the motions of planetary bodies create time. This would lead us to believe the writer of Genesis again used a literary device when speaking about the "rest" of God. That is, the "rest" of God had a symbolic meaning for him. But what was that meaning?
Author’s point
The writer had already used the seven-day week as an outline on which he hung various creation events and by which he made his theological point. It’s not surprising, then, that he would use the metaphor of God’s "rest" to make another theological assertion about who this God of Israel was, and his purpose. We should remember that the writer lived under the old covenant. This would lead us to believe that his experience of God taught him something about his purpose with Israel, something that was explained by the "rest" concept.
"Rest" is certainly a key idea here in Genesis 2:2-3. Why did the writer use the concept? What did it mean to the writer, and what should it mean to us as Christians? We have already seen that the seventh day rest follows all the creative acts of God that are summarized in Genesis 1. More than this, the rest of God follows the creation of humanity—male and female—in God’s own image (1:27-31).
The fact that this is mentioned in the context of the creation account implies that the writer understood that humanity has a special purpose beyond the other parts of the creation. First, all of creation is pronounced as being "very good" (1:31). Humanity is to "fill the earth and subdue it"—to be God’s representatives on this planet and caretakers of the creation (1:28). But, in a sense, all is not completely revealed to this point in Genesis about God’s aim in creating humanity. Is there no further purpose for the human race (and, from the writer’s point of view, of his choosing Israel to be his people) than to fill and subdue the earth? And, so the writer refers to God’s "rest," and tells us that it is holy—set apart for some purpose. But for what purpose? And, how does this relate to humanity and Israel?
That the creation of man and woman was announced just before the making of the holy rest could imply that this "rest" has something to do with the creation in general and humanity in particular. God, as it were, "sits back" after setting his creative purpose in motion and pronounces everything as being good. Since God doesn’t literally get tired, we can understand his "rest" as figurative, and as part of his creative purpose. We could see the "rest" in question as extending to humans (and Israel) in some way since they seem to be the end object of God’s creative process.
Humanity’s loss
But whatever this rest is to signify, the ensuing Genesis story tells us it is not something that humans enjoy in a physical sense except, perhaps, for a brief interlude in the Garden of Eden. Almost immediately after creation, we read about the tragic circumstances that befall Adam and Eve in the Garden. They sin and are punished for it by increased labor rather than rest. The notion of labor, of the opposite of rest, becomes a major motif of the Genesis account.
Eve must labor in childbearing. The Lord tells her, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." (3:16). For mother Eve, childbearing becomes a painful work. Adam will be forced to labor to fill his mouth. The Lord tells him, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" (3:17, emphasis ours throughout).
Their son, Cain, murders Abel. The latter’s blood, figuratively finds no rest, as it "cries out" from the ground (4:10). For his sin, Cain will be forced to engage in backbreaking labor. The Lord tells him, "When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" (4:12). More than that, Cain was to be a "restless wanderer on the earth" (4:12). He would have neither rest in his labor nor rest from enemies seeking to kill him because of his murder of Abel.
The "anti-rest" motif continues in Genesis. When Noah was born, a great hope was attached to his future. It was said of him, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed" (5:29). But humanity found no rest because "the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence" (6:11). The only "rest" humanity could achieve was to rest in peace in death. And God caused the flood to destroy human civilization and end humanity’s suffering.
In Noah, God restated and broadened the covenant made with Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28-30. He reissued his promise to neither curse the ground nor to destroy humanity despite the fact that he knew "every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood" (8:21; 9:8-17). Despite this covenant of promise, many generations passed during which humans became increasingly alienated from God. The story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel indicate the condition of the human race. Then God made a covenant with Abraham. This is first found in Genesis 12:2-3:
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Israel in toil and slavery
We know the rest of the story from Genesis. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and he had a son named Jacob. (Jacob himself had to be saved by the Lord from 20 years of servitude at Laban’s hand—Genesis 31:38-42.) As Jacob said to Laban: "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hand"(verse 42).
Jacob had 12 sons. The oldest ten sold their young brother, Joseph, into Egyptian slavery. During a famine, they all moved to Egypt, where the family of Jacob grew into a great nation. But the Egyptians placed the Israelites into slavery and hard bondage. They, too, failed to find the "rest" of God. The first chapter of Exodus, verses 11-14, shows how Israel subsequently suffered as a slave people:
So they [the Egyptians] put slave masters over them [the Israelites] to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. . . .The Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
Israel rescued
The writer of Exodus was trying to make a point, again about the notion of "rest." The Israelites were oppressed with hard and forced labor—and they had no rest for their souls. But help was on the way after many generations. We read in Exodus 2:23-24:
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
The savior of Israel would be Moses, who as a young man had seen his own people in slavery and "watched them at their hard labor" (2:11). Now, after his own exile of 40 years in the desert, the Lord appeared to him and said in Exodus 3:7-8:
I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And, again, Moses was to tell the Israelites about their impending freedom and physical rest:
Say to the Israelites: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God" [Exodus 6:6-7].
A covenant of "rest"
Here is the first intimation of a covenant between God and Israel. It is a covenant based on God providing freedom from slavery, and hence rest from interminable labor. Thus, the "rest" of God mentioned in Genesis 2:2, which was not attained by humans because of sin, was now promised in a kind of second Garden of Eden—the Promised Land. The old covenant, then, was a covenantal promise of peace, prosperity and security for Israel in the Promised Land (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14). It contained all the elements that give human beings a feeling of well-being and "rest."
In short, the old covenant was a promise of physical rest to God’s people, which (as shown in Genesis 2) was part of God’s creative purpose at the beginning. We will see how this purpose of "rest" unfolds, but we are getting somewhat ahead of our story. Let’s backtrack a moment to God’s promise through Moses that he would provide freedom and rest to the people of Israel.
We know from the Exodus story that the Egyptian Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go free. He ordered that they should work even harder for their captors (Exodus 5). But God did rescue the Israelites and brought them into the Wilderness in preparation for their entering the Promised Land of freedom and rest. However, that generation failed to trust the Lord, and they were not allowed to enter. They died without coming into their rest.
The next generation of Israelites did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. They were told to obey the covenant that had been made between the people and the Lord. All the tribes were told to help each other take possession of the land "until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you" (Joshua 1:15). We read that this promise was fulfilled. In a summary statement before Joshua’s farewell to the nation, it was said that "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1).
Despite Israel’s lapses from faith and obedience, the Lord fulfilled his promise to give the nation prosperity and rest. The high point of this physical rest and well-being occurred during the days of king Solomon. The writer said of this time: "During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25). The nation of Israel had experienced the physical "rest" of God in great fullness.
One of the hallmarks of the Law of Moses was an emphasis on the "rest" that God provided Israel. This included a bounty of unimagined physical blessings (Deuteronomy 7:10-12). God’s merciful grace in saving the nation from extreme toil and servitude in Egypt—and his giving the people bountiful physical blessings in the Promised Land—was to be memorialized in the religious practices of the nation. A weekly Sabbath of rest from work was a main feature of this rest memorial.
A good comparison for Christians is the Lord’s Supper. The bread and wine remind Christians that God has saved them through the redemptive work of Christ. On the other hand, the Israelites rested each week to remind them that God had saved them from Egyptian bondage and had blessed them abundantly.
Exodus 20:11 explains why God gave Israel the Sabbath day. Here, we read: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (These are the same words the writer of Genesis wrote for the creation account.) In a restatement of the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 a related reason was given for the Sabbath "rest" command. "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day" (5:15).
What had the writer seen here? Possibly, he saw that what God had done with Israel was the beginning of a restoration of God’s purpose through Israel. His purpose, dimly seen in the Garden of Eden story, was that human beings should live in a relationship with him, through which they would be blessed. If they were one with God, then they would enter his rest because he would bless them physically. That was certainly God’s intent, as the Garden of Eden story tells us. But human beings sinned and were cursed. Humans were cut off from the presence of God and the relationship with him was broken.
Reminder of blessings
With Israel, as the Exodus and old covenant show us, God had again moved to begin to bring the human race back into a relationship with himself. Israel would be the starting place. The nations would look at Israel, living in blessedness and loving obedience to Yahweh, and perhaps other nations might also someday come to love the Lord and find blessing as well (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). That was the ideal—just as the Garden of Eden had been an ideal. But as we know from the rest of the story of the Old Testament, the ideal was not achieved.
The reason Israel was to keep the seventh day as a rest period was because of a physical "rest" that was available to the nation. As slaves in Egypt, they had no rest for themselves, but toiled in harsh labor daily, at the whim of their taskmasters. God had freed them from this slavish labor and had given them freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land. Israel was supposed to remember the gracious freedom and rest they had been given—and they were to do this each week
The weekly rest was but one memorial of how God had saved the nation from Egyptian slavery and mindless toil. There were seven yearly "rest" days within three yearly festival seasons that also were celebrated by cessation from labor (Leviticus 23:7-8, 21, 25, 32, 35-36). These were harvest festivals when Israel could give thanks for the bountiful crops they had reaped—and when they could rest from their labor. By contrast, in Egypt the Israelites had toiled ceaselessly for uncaring taskmasters.
Beyond that, the land was to lie idle and not be tilled every seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-7). This means that while the land rested, the people could also rest because they did not need to seed or till. Whatever the land produced on its own could be eaten.
Also, each 50th year was a land rest (Leviticus 25:8-12). More than that, the year was a year of release, as we read in verse 10: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan." In Egypt, the Israelites had neither land nor inheritance. Now, God had given the nation the Promised Land, and each family was to enjoy its own parcel of ground.
While the Promised Land was not a place of idleness and ease, there was rest from backbreaking and meaningless toil on someone else’s land. On the other hand, the Promised Land would yield abundant produce because of the blessing of the Lord. The nation would rest from war and the fear of famine and disease. The inhabitants could breathe a sigh of relief—and they could "rest" both physically and psychologically in the sure knowledge that God was watching over them.
The meaning
Now we can understand why the writer of Genesis may have been so keen to divide the physical creation into a six day format and then make the seventh day a day of God’s "rest." It must have been driven home to him through his experience with the saving acts of the God of Israel, that his purpose was to rescue humanity from the curse that they had brought upon themselves. This curse had required backbreaking toil in unyielding soil to grow enough to eat. The curse had also brought famine and disease, fighting and war. Life was anything but restful.
The writer of Genesis must have seen the problem of the "curse" and the restless sorrow it had brought as having been solved specifically in the promises to the nation of Israel. Israel had once been in captivity and the people had been forced to toil incessantly under taskmasters. Life was neither prosperous nor restful. But God had purposed to fulfill his covenant with Abraham whereby he would rescue his descendants from terrible toil in slavery. The nation would find true prosperity, peace and rest under the protection and blessing of the Creator, the one true God. The nation’s religious practices including various "rest" days and times reminded the people that they had been saved from toil and slavery in Egypt and now rested in peace and prosperity under the loving hand of their God.
Genesis was written for Israelites who lived in the Promised Land, who were to commemorate each week the rest they had been given by the Creator. Their weekly experience of rest was then associated with the creation by the words of Genesis 2:2-3. The writer of Genesis was informed by and influenced by the weekly Sabbath as he wrote about the "rest" of God. He was writing from the point of view of an Israelite who had been saved from slavery and who enjoyed the "rest" God provided the nation. The writer understood that the various rest days commanded for Israel—the weekly Sabbath, annual festivals, and years of agricultural rest and release—reflected what God had done for the nation. Thus, God’s actions of providing "rest" signaled to the writer that in God’s creative purpose his creatures should find rest in him. In the world there was cursing and trouble, but in God’s kingdom—the Promised Land—there was prosperity, peace and rest.
Genesis 2:2-3, then, is not an early command for all people to keep the seventh day as holy time. It is a reflection of the writer’s understanding that humans should find their rest in God. For the nation of Israel, the old covenant specified that this was to be commemorated by a weekly physical rest on the seventh day. There is no command for other peoples to do the same. Other peoples did not have the physical "rest" of the Promised Land nor the command for physical rest on the seventh day. What the Israelites had was a physical image of a spiritual reality; other nations did not have this.
Future promise
The Old Testament shows that the restful state of affairs did not last very long for Israel. The nation sinned and the people suffered invasion, curses on their land and captivity. The old covenant between God and Israel failed because the nation did not live up to its promises to be faithful to God (Hebrews 4:2).
Later in Israel’s history, the prophets spoke of the need for a new covenant, based on better promises. Isaiah prophesied of a time when God would renew his covenant with Israel and give them a final rest. In chapter 11, Isaiah spoke of a Branch to come, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest. The Spirit of the Lord would be upon him and he would bring justice, mercy and peace. The Branch would usher in God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace.
In soaring metaphorical language, Isaiah said of this new era: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat. . .the cow will feed with the bear. . .The lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra" (verses 6-8). He summarized this future hope by painting the arrival of an idyllic worldwide kingdom of God: "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full for the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (verse 9). "In that day," when this future kingdom would be established, the Lord would bring his people Israel out from all the nations (verse 11). And what would he give his people? He would give them "rest." Isaiah explains: "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious" (verse 10).
Jeremiah also spoke of the rest that the Lord would bring. "‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’ This is what the Lord says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel ’" (Jeremiah 31:1-2).
It’s no wonder the Jews looked for a Messiah that would save them from their enemies and gather the Jews to Israel. It was a beautiful vision of peace and prosperity. The Messiah would make the regathered clans of Israel in the Promised Land the people of the kingdom of God in which righteousness, justice and prosperity would know no bounds. The enemies of the Jews, whoever they might be, would be defeated and destroyed.
Jesus is our "rest"
The Branch, the Root of Jesse, the Redeemer Messiah, came as promised, in the person of Jesus. He offered the greatest "rest" the world would ever know, but it was not a physical rest of power and prosperity given to a single nation within certain geographic borders. Jesus brought the offer of "rest" of freedom from sin and death to peoples of all nations—and a future life in the eternal kingdom of God.
The notion of "God’s rest" found in Genesis 2:2-3 and the Old Testament was still alive and well. Yes, God would send the Deliverer, and his rest would be glorious. That rest, though, would be the result of the redemptive work of Jesus, and it would be commemorated not through the seventh day, but through Jesus. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus told his hearers: "Come to me, all of you 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." What a glorious promise to a hurting humanity. But we understand that Jesus was not necessarily promising physical rest and peace, but an eternal and spiritual rest.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27). Jesus did not promise his disciples a Promised Land of peace, plenty and security. In fact, in his last talk with the disciples before his arrest, Jesus told them they would have anything but physical rest. "I have told you these things," Jesus warned, "so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
The promise to Israel had been peace, prosperity and rest in the Promised Land in exchange for obedience to the old covenant and Law of Moses. The New Testament "rest" is a rest in Christ. It is the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit and a spiritual rebirth that leads to eternal life in the kingdom of God. This is the ultimate "rest" of God. God’s purpose in Genesis 2:2-3, not completely understood under the old covenant, is now revealed and fulfilled in its final sense through Christ.
Part 2: The book of Hebrews
This is explained in Hebrews 3:1-4:11, which speaks of something vital Christians share—the "heavenly calling" we have in Christ (3:1). It is in these verses that we learn what the "rest" of Genesis 2:2-3 pictures to Christians. The subject at hand in these verses begins to be addressed under the word "today" in Hebrews 3:7, when the writer quotes Psalm 95:7-11:
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, "Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways." So I declared an oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest."
Psalm 95 refers to the wilderness story as told in Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13. There are several things we should notice about this passage in Hebrews. The author focuses on the introductory word of the quotation, "today," and the phrase in which it is found. He repeats the word "today" five times (3:7, 13, 15; twice in 4:7) and the phrase, "Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts" three times (3:7, 15; 4:7). The phrase with its opening word "today" is significant for the writer in that it allows him to apply the promise of "rest" found in the Scripture to his readers. William Lane discusses this point in the Word Biblical Commentary on Hebrews:
"Today" provided the writer with a catchword for bringing the biblical statement before his hearers sharply. "Today" is no longer the today of the past, surveyed by the psalmist in his situation, but the today of the present, which continues to be conditioned by the voice of God that speaks day after day through the Scriptures and in the gospel tradition [page 87].
Lane makes the point that Psalm 95 "was a prophetic announcement that God was determining a future date for making his rest available" (page 100). The writer of Hebrews insists that the prophecy is being fulfilled in his day, in the church—and his readers need to heed its call. He wants his readers to make a connection between themselves and the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness. The author emphasizes a key concept: The Old Testament promise that God’s people would enter into "rest" is being fulfilled in the church and through Christ.
He begins by discussing God’s "rest" in terms of the promise of God to bring the rescued Israelites into the Promised Land. But as we know, and as the Scripture points out, the first generation of freed Israelites did not enter God’s "rest," but they died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35). The Israelites Moses led out of Egypt did not enter into God’s "rest." The author wants his Christian readers to focus on the meaning of this tragedy. They are not to turn away from the living God (3:12) or be "hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (3:13). Rather, they are to "hold firmly till the end" their first confidence (3:14) so that they may enter into God’s "rest."
The writer summarizes his admonition by saying, "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it" (4:1). The readers of Hebrews are encouraged to keep up their faith and hope in Christ. Otherwise, as the unbelieving Israelites in Moses’ day lost their opportunity to enter the rest in Canaan, the believers may forfeit the greater blessings of the new age "rest."
From the beginning
The author of Hebrews then turns to a discussion of God’s "rest" from another point of view. He says that this "rest"—whatever it is—has been available to humanity since the beginning: "His [God’s] work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work’" (4:3-4).
The "somewhere" is Genesis 2:2. In the days when Hebrews was written, the Scriptures were written on scrolls. It was much more difficult to look up specific passages, so writers often quoted passages from memory. But here is our familiar Scripture, and the one we sought to understand in terms of its meaning for Christians. We can understand the "rest" described in Genesis 2:2-3 as the archetype of all later experiences of rest—including the various rest commands given at Sinai, the actual physical rest Israel received from its enemies under Joshua (a type of Christ), and the promised future rest of the kingdom of God.
From a Christian perspective, the Genesis "rest" of God, applied to God’s creative purpose in Genesis 2:2, can be seen to typify the spiritual salvation of the people of God. That means the weekly Sabbath rest (along with the other rest commands in the Law of Moses) is a lesser expression—a shadow, as it were—of the true "rest" symbolically inaugurated at the seventh day of creation. This makes the weekly Sabbath a metaphor of the Genesis "rest" of God, as was the Canaan rest.
The idea of the Genesis rest is that, beginning with the seventh day of creation, God ceased creating. He continues in a state of nonwork so far as further creating things physical is concerned. However, this doesn’t mean God has been idle. Leon Morris points this out in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Hebrews:
It is worth noticing that in the creation story each of the first six days is marked by the refrain "And there was evening, and there was morning." However, this is lacking in the account of the seventh day. There we simply read that God rested from all his work. This does not mean that God entered a state of idleness, for there is a sense in which he is continually at work (John 5:17). But the completion of creation marks the end of a magnificent whole.... So we should think of the rest as something like the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment, from the completion of a task, from the exercise of creativity [page 41].
F.F. Bruce also explained what this means in the volume on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
When we read that God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done" (Gen. 2:2), we are to understand that hebegan to rest then; the fact that he is never said to have completed his rest and resumed his work of creation implies that his rest continues still, and may be shared by those who respond to his overtures with faith and obedience [page 106].
Thus, God’s "rest" has been available from the time the creation was finished—from the foundation of the world. Even though it has been available, very few people entered into it before Jesus’ death and resurrection. The offer of entering this "rest" still stands. The writer of Hebrews makes this point by saying: "It still remains that some will enter that rest" (4:6). Whatever this "rest" is, the writer is emphasizing that it is—at the time of writing—a promise his readers can take advantage of. In fact, they must take advantage of it, and not fail to achieve the "rest" because of disobedience (4:11).
Joshua’s "rest"
The author of Hebrews must have realized as he wrote that, on the surface, there had been an apparent large-scale exception to his claim that no people had ever entered a "rest" of God. After all, the second generation of Israelites who were saved from Egypt did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. We read that under Joshua "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1). But the writer of Hebrews quickly points out that this is not the kind of "rest" he has in mind, or one that constituted God’s ultimate objective—the "rest" promised to Christians. Hundreds of years after Joshua led the Israelites into the rest of the Promised Land, the Psalmist urged people to enter a divine rest, and later still, the author of Hebrews was insisting that there is a "rest" its readers must yet enter into. Clearly, there is more to the "rest" in question than mere entry into Canaan. Hebrews tells us: "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" (4:8-9).
As it turns out, Israel had not secured the true "rest" after all. Thus, the writer can exhort his readers to seek, obtain and hold on to this superior "rest" in Christ. This is the true "rest" to which Genesis 2:2-3, the literal Sabbath, the other festival rests, the Wilderness experience, the Joshua rest, and the prophecy of Psalm 95 all looked forward to. He is interested in the redemptive and eternal rest in the kingdom of God, of which the weekly Sabbath and Canaan rests were but symbols.
William Lane, in the Hebrews commentary in the Word Biblical Commentary, explains why the Joshua rest was but a type of the true "rest":
The settlement of Canaan did not mark the fulfillment of the divine promise but pointed to another, more fundamental reality. If in fact Joshua had achieved the promised rest, there would have been no need for the renewal of the promise in Ps 95. Accordingly, the experience of rest in Canaan was only a type or symbol of the complete rest that God intended for his people, which was prefigured in the Sabbath rest of God [page 101].
We have now come from Genesis 2:2-3 to Hebrews 4:9-11, and we see something interesting. The author is not telling his readers to keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath holy by resting on it. He is not talking about the weekly Sabbath at all. Rather, he is making the point that there is a spiritual "rest" that God’s people should be entering into. It is the heavenly counterpart of the earthly Canaan, and this is the goal of the people of God today—to achieve this present and eternal rest. The epistle of Hebrews has made this point by creating an analogy between the Israelites entering the Promised Land and Christians entering the better promise of a new-covenant spiritual "rest."
A present "rest"?
The Promised Land was a physical type or foreshadowing of a spiritual "rest" that the Israelites had not yet entered. And the weekly Sabbath was a temporal foreshadowing of the spiritual "rest" that God wants his people to enjoy. Christians have entered God’s "rest" by their faith in Jesus Christ. "Now we who have believed enter [or, "are entering"] that rest," the writer insists (4:3). Christians have the real rest, the spiritual rest, and do not need to observe shadows of it, neither geographically nor temporally. Jesus himself during his ministry had promised a rest for the spirit:
Come to me, all you 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 (Matthew 11:28-29).
Leon Morris points out in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary that the word for "enter" in Hebrews 4:3 is in the present tense. This would mean the author of Hebrews was suggesting that his readers were already in the process of entering the "rest" of salvation that Jesus had promised. Some commentators agree that the Hebrews 4:3 "rest" into which Christians have entered begins now, in this life. Leon Morris quotes Hugh Montefiore on this point:
Contrary to some commentators, the Greek means neither that they are certain to enter, nor that they will enter, but that they are already in process of entering [page 40].
In fairness, Morris points out that some other commentators feel that the "rest" is something that occurs in the future. The present tense used here, they insist, is meant to be applied only in a generalizing sense. Morris concludes by saying:
Either view is defensible and probably much depends on our idea of the "rest." If it lies beyond death, then obviously "rest" must be understood in terms of the future. But if it is a present reality, then believers are entering it now [page 40].
We enter now
The view of this paper is that Christians have begun to enter their spiritual "rest" now. We are receiving some of the blessings of salvation, even though we do not yet enjoy them in their fullness. Peter says that Christ "has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). Paul says God "has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). The author of Hebrews says that we are "the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven" (12:23).
It is in part a question of how we understand when the kingdom of God comes—now or in the future? The answer is both. The kingdom is already, but not yet. There is a sense that the kingdom is both present and yet obviously only future in its full reality. Christians can be said to live in the tension between promise and fulfillment, between the already and the not yet, between the glimmer and the reality. But they have nevertheless entered the "rest," even if only in an imperfect and qualified way. The spiritual realities we already enjoy, although incomplete, are enough that we do not need to observe the physical symbols and rituals of the old covenant.
We have already been invited to enter God’s end-of-creation, the Genesis 2:2-3 "rest," by believing in the Son of God. By faith, we have joined with him in his "rest." By faith, we have become new creations—created anew. Our re-creation is not yet complete, but we already have been given entrance, through Christ, into God’s kingdom "rest."
The writer of Hebrews does not state how he views the time in which the "rest" takes place. His concern is with the spiritual reality, not the physical shadow. But as we’ve seen, his concern seems to be with the present time—with today. He no doubt understands that the fullness of rest comes only with a future resurrection (10:37-38; 12:26). But his point of view in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the present time, the time for which he is writing. The writer is thinking of the salvation "rest" as beginning in the present. Otherwise, one can be misled about which "rest" he is interested in—the spiritual one or a physical one such as the weekly Sabbath day.
One traditional commentary, the Critical, Experimental and Practical Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, became confused on this issue and came (this paper concludes) to a wrong conclusion:
It is Jesus, the antitype of Joshua, who leads us into the heavenly rest. This verse [4:9] indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath; for the type continues until the antitype supersedes it: so legal sacrifices continued till the great antitypical sacrifice superseded it. As then the antitypical Sabbath rest will not be till Christ comes to usher us into it, the typical earthly Sabbath must continue till then [page 537].
The authors, we believe, have erred. Influenced by the Puritans, they were thinking of a Sunday Sabbath, and reading their own opinions into the text. The principle they enunciate is erroneous. The type does not continue until the antitype supersedes it. Various Old Testament rituals pictured purity and holiness, and even though we do not yet see complete purity and holiness in the church, the rituals are obsolete. More correctly, types continue only as long as God says they do, and God has declared the old covenant obsolete. It has served its purpose, even though God’s plan is not yet complete. Moreover, true spiritual rest is found through faith in Christ, and Christ has already come. The antitype has arrived. Christ has already led us into the heavenly rest just as he is already our sacrifice for sin. We have come to Christ and he has given us rest—seated us in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). This argues against the commentary’s claim that the literal Sabbath is in force. The antitypical salvation rest has already been ushered in, albeit incompletely. Thus, the shadow (the literal Sabbath) is no longer required.
No matter how the writer of Hebrews conceives of the future "rest" in the post-resurrection kingdom of God, he is not concerned to discuss it in chapters 3 and 4. He is interested in his readers who are alive when he writes—and who need to take hold of the promise of spiritual "rest" in this age. F.F. Bruce agreed that the future rest is not in view here. He stated the following in his commentary on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
The identification of the rest of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews with a coming millennium on earth has, indeed, been ably defended; but it involves the importation into the epistle of a concept which in fact is alien to it [pages 106-107].
The writer of Hebrews is not so much concerned with the future as with the present spiritual state of his readers. "Tomorrow," so to speak, is not in his view in the passage we are studying. That’s why he stresses the word "today." It was the privilege of the readers to enter God’s "rest" then—and it is our privilege to do so now. For us, today is "today," not some future time. The promise of entering God’s "rest" remains valid for each generation—and is repeated to each successive generation—in the church age.
Rest and work
Hebrews 4:9-11 is telling us we have entered into God’s promised "rest," the one he prophetically inaugurated on the seventh day of creation. This is the writer’s main theme. The epistle has already noted that God’s "work has been finished since the creation of the world" (4:3). That is, the "rest" of salvation has been offered and promised to humanity since the foundation of the world. It was, in a manner of speaking, a work of creation, inaugurated with humanity and for humanity. Donald Guthrie writes the following on this point:
What believers can now enter is none other than the same kind of rest which the Creator enjoyed when he had completed his works, which means that the rest idea is of completion and not of inactivity. . . .It is important to note that the "rest" is not something new that has not been known in experience until Christ came. It has been available throughout the whole of man’s history. This reference back to the creation places the idea on the broadest possible basis and would seem to suggest that it was part of God’s intention for man. "Rest" is a quality that has eluded man’s quest, and in fact cannot be attained except through Christ [Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, "Hebrews," page 113].
As long as we have faith in Christ—the main point of Hebrews—no matter what day of the week it is, we have entered God’s "rest" and we are resting from our own works. "We who have believed enter that rest. . . .Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:3, 10). What does the author mean by "work"? He is not discussing the question of employment on the weekly Sabbath day. That is not his interest. (He has been encouraging his readers to enter the spiritual "rest" of salvation throughout Hebrews 3 and 4.) The writer of Hebrews wants his readers to stop putting their faith in the things that humans do, such as the works of the old covenant—and to place their faith in Christ as Savior. He wants them to look to the work of Christ, which gives forgiveness and empowerment through the Holy Spirit, allowing us to enter the true spiritual "rest."
In comparison to Christ, the writer has a low view of the "works" of the Law of Moses. He says of the Law in general and the Levitical priesthood as a whole:
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God (7:18-19).
The author of Hebrews seems to be suggesting that the people to whom he wrote should rest from the ceremonial "work" they needed to do under the Mosaic Law. Their "work" in such things as offering sacrifices could not save nor endear them to God. They were saved by grace through faith in Christ, and were endeared to God by that same grace.
The weekly Sabbath?
The Jewish Christians or Gentile believers to whom Hebrews was written were already attracted to Judaistic practices. This is clear from reading the book. It was written to show the church why Judaistic practices were not necessary for Christians to perform. The individuals to whom the book was written would have already been observing the Sabbath day and would not need any admonishment to rest on this day. Even the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary understands this point. We find this explanation given for Hebrews 4:9 on page 423:
Certainly, in writing to Jews, the author of Hebrews would not consider it necessary to prove to them that Sabbathkeeping "remaineth." If the conclusion of the extended argument beginning with ch. 3:7 is that Sabbathkeeping remains for the people of God, it would seem that the writer of Hebrews is guilty of a non sequitur, for the conclusion does not follow logically from the argument. There would have been no point in so labored an effort to persuade the Jews to do what they were already doing—observing the seventh-day Sabbath. . . .What relationship a protracted argument designed to prove that Sabbath observance remains an obligation to the Christian church might have to the declared theme of chs. 3 and 4—the ministry of Christ as our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary—is obscure indeed.
The writer of Hebrews is interested in the spiritual or heavenly meaning of such things as the Sabbath and animal sacrifices, not their literal observances, which are shadows of the true "rest" and sacrifice for sin. In fact, the very Israelites who had been given the Sabbath (the generation that left Egypt) failed to enter God’s "rest." So did the Jews who strictly kept the Sabbath day when Hebrews was written. Keeping the Sabbath does not automatically bring someone to God. Why, then, would the writer of Hebrews insist on it? The fact is, the literal seventh-day Sabbath is not in his view at all.
The book of Hebrews, considered as a whole, tells us that the practices of the Mosaic Law are obsolete (7:11-12, 18-19). This would refer to the works or observances of the Law (of which the Sabbath is one example), as opposed to its great moral principles. These are eternal principles that define our relationship with God and fellow human beings. They precede the old covenant, were imbedded into that covenant, and remain as fundamental principles of the new covenant, which made the old passé.
The new covenant theme of Hebrews suggests—though it doesn’t directly make an issue of this—that the weekly Sabbath day as described in the old covenant has been superseded by a better promise. In particular, Hebrews 4:9-11 tells us that the various allusions of "rest" in the Old Testament, including Genesis 2:2-3 and the weekly Sabbath, picture a spiritual reality to Christians—the eternal rest of God. But that is all Hebrews tells us. It does not seem to address the issue of whether the weekly Sabbath should be kept or not. This is not the author’s interest.
In conclusion
Let us now close the circle between Genesis 2:2-3 and Hebrews 3:1-4:11. We have seen that God had given Israel physical rest in the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, just as Adam and Eve would have had physical "rest" in the Garden of Eden. But the first humans, like all others after them, sinned. Adam and Eve and their descendents were cursed and lost their "rest" until God saved Israel from slavery and the nation entered the Promised Land.
As part of its covenantal law, God gave Israel various rest days and years to commemorate their having achieved physical blessings (the "rest") in the Lord (Deuteronomy 5:15). The writer of Genesis saw this reality—which the rest days (especially the weekly Sabbath) commemorated—as a fulfillment of God’s original purpose at the creation. The writer included the statement about the symbolic meaning of the Sabbath (that is, about God’s "rest"—Exodus 20:11) in his description of the creation in Genesis 2:2-3. This was then a prophetical statement of God’s purpose of providing physical bounty to his human creatures, now fulfilled in Israel.
What the writer of Genesis did not clearly see, since he was an individual who lived under the old covenant, is that God’s real purpose was to provide humanity with another "rest"—a true eternal rest. This more fundamental purpose was fulfilled in Christ, and could be understood only after he had completed his redemptive work. Thus, Christ is the true Sabbath rest of Genesis 2:2-3—promised to us from the beginning (Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:4-6; Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 13:8). This is how the author of Hebrews (in 3:1-4:11) understands that "rest."
Thanks be to God that through his love he gave us his Son, allowing us in his mercy to begin to enter into his eternal rest.
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Two Greek Words for "Rest"
We should briefly take up the issue of the Greek words for "rest" used in Hebrews 4:9-10. We quote here the verses in question and show the two Greek words being used: "There remains…a Sabbath-rest [sabbatismos] for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest [katapausin] also rests from his own work" (4:9-10).
A Greek-English interlinear of the New Testament shows that the Greek word katapausin is used to denote "rest" throughout Hebrews 3:7-4:11. There is one exception, in 4:9, as shown above. Here, sabbatismos is used, and it is translated "Sabbath-rest" in the New International Version. The word is formed from the verb sabbatizo, which means to "keep/observe/celebrate the Sabbath."
The only time in the Bible that sabbatismos is used is here in Hebrews 4:9. The word is not found in ancient Greek literature until well after the time when Hebrews was written. Some decades later, sabbatismos is found in Plutarch as part of a list of superstitious practices. In his work, the word signifies weekly Sabbath observance. In later Christian documents, sabbatismos sometimes indicates the celebration or festivity associated with the Sabbath day.
With this in mind, William Lane translates Hebrews 4:9 as: "There remains a Sabbath celebration for the people of God." He points out that the use ofsabbatismos is meant to "define more precisely the character of the future rest promised to the people of God" (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 47A, "Hebrews," page 101). The word conveyed something about the promised spiritual rest that katapausin would not have done—"the special aspect of festivity and joy, expressed in the adoration and praise of God" for his wonderful grace (page 102).
On one level, the writer of Hebrews seems to have used the two Greek words interchangeably. In 4:9, he says that a promised Sabbath-rest (sabbatismos) remains for the people of God to enter into, and this same rest is called God’s katapausin "rest." Some scholars suggest that the writer of Hebrews coined the word. He wanted to differentiate between the ultimate spiritual "rest" and the Promised Land rest into which Israel went. If so, the author may also have been making the same difference between the true spiritual "rest" and the weekly Sabbath rest. That is to say, the Sabbath day is a metaphor of the true rest in the same way that the Israelites entering the Promised Land under Joshua was also a metaphor for spiritual rest.
Since the seventh-day Sabbath is but a symbol of the true spiritual rest, the writer would have no logical reason to stress the keeping of the weekly Sabbath. Like the Promised Land, the Sabbath day itself was a shadow that prefigured the coming reality—the spiritual "rest" of the Christian in Christ.
To summarize: The spiritual rest of salvation into which God’s people are entering is a sabbatismos—a "sabbath keeping"—in the sense that it is a participation in God’s own "rest," which we enter by faith (4:3). "Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:10). That is to say, the sabbatismos rest of God described in Hebrews 4:9 refers to the salvation "rest" into which all Christians have entered. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the culmination of this rest does not occur until the resurrection. But, upon conversion, we have begun the journey.
The weekly Old Testament Sabbath points to the blessing and joy of the spiritual "rest" Christians have in Christ. This may be why the author of Hebrews coined the word sabbatismos—making a play off the word for the Sabbath day (sabbaton). That is, sabbatismos stressed the joy, the celebration, the peace, the jubilation of the spiritual "rest" Christians enjoy. (We’ve put "rest" in quotes here because it does not really mean inactivity.)
Hebrews is not clear as to the writer’s attitude toward the weekly Sabbath day. Perhaps he wanted his readers, who were attracted to old covenant customs, to understand the Sabbath’s true meaning in the light of the Christ event , but without having to make an issue of whether it needs to be kept or not. This would certainly be in the spirit of Romans 14, in which the apostle Paul avoided making one’s view of "sacred days" a test or issue of faith or fellowship.
The Sabbath is meaningful on its own terms, just as the Festival of Tabernacles or the Passover-Exodus is. After all, the Sabbath stands as a metaphor of the whole purpose and meaning of redemption, as do the sacrifices and other old covenant, Mosaic institutions. They foreshadowed the true spiritual "rest" we have in Christ, which includes a "resting" in forgiveness of sin and "resting" from sin itself through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
But Hebrews 4:9 issues no command about keeping or not keeping the Sabbath. In fact, the book as a whole makes the point that all the old covenant institutions are obsolete now that the reality has come in Christ. The verse in question cannot be used as a proof-text to insist that Christians keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath rest. The verses in question do not exhort us to keep an old covenant Sabbath, but they do admonish us to enter the spiritual "rest" of God by having faith in Christ.
1The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, volume 3, page 219, edited by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, gives the following explanation ofsabbatismos:
1. The NT offers in Hebrews 4:9 the oldest documentation of the noun sabbatismos, which occurs several times in post-NT early Christian writings independently of Hebrews 4:9 (e.g., Justin Dial. 23:3; Origen Orat. 27:16; Epiphanius Haer. xxx.2.2; lxvi 85:9;Acts (Martyrdom) of Peter and Paul 1; Apostolic Constitutions ii.36.2; pseudo-Macarius (Symeon) Homily 12.2.4.... At present,sabbatismos has been documented in non-Christian writings only in Plutarch Superst. 3 (Moralia 166a).
The noun is derived from the verb sabbatizo, which in the LXX [Septuagint] appears as the translation of Hebrew sabbat. The vb. means: a) "celebrate/observe the sabbath" (Exod 16:30; Lev 23:32; 2 Macc 6:6; so also Ign. Magn. 9:1; Pap. Oxy. 1,1.2; Justin Dial.10:1 and passim), b) "observe (sabbath) rest" (Lev 26:34f.; 2 Chr 36:21; 1 Esdr 1:55).
Accordingly, the substantive means sabbath observance (thus in the non-NT passages mentioned) and sabbath rest (thus the understanding of sabbatismos in Heb 4:9 by Origen Cels. v.59; Selecta in Exod on 16:23 [PG XII, 289b]).
2. In Heb 4:9 sabbatismos encompasses both sabbath rest and (cultic) sabbath observance. The word is neither identical in meaning nor interchangeable with katapausis (3:11, 19; 4:1, 3, 5, 10f); it designates more closely what the people of God should expect when they enter the katapausis of God (cf. 4:9 with v.6a). Just as God rested on the seventh day of creation from all his works, so also will believers find the eternal sabbath rest on the day of the completion of salvation in God’s "place of rest" (see 4:10). Quietistic or mystic elements have nothing to do with this expectation. The statement in Heb 4:9f. remains dependent on a Jewish sabbath theology that associates the idea of sabbath rest with ideas of worship and praise of God (Jub. 2:21; 50:9; Bib. Ant. 11:8; 2 Macc 8:27; cf. also 1 Enoch 41:7). Accordingly, the author of Hebrews understands by sabbatismos the eternal sabbath celebration of salvation, i.e., the perfected community’s worship before God's throne.
Genesis 2:2-3 -- God's "Rest" and the Sabbath
One of the proof texts used in an attempt to prove that Christians must keep the seventh-day Sabbath is Genesis 2:2-3. For this reason, it is important that we understand what this verse does and doesn’t say about the physical Sabbath rest before we arrive at our conclusions. Further, we must ask what this verse tells us about the Sabbath when viewed against the essential message of Scripture about our salvation in Christ.
After the creation account in Genesis 1, we read the following in chapter 2, verses 2-3: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
In chapter 1, the writer of Genesis had used the seven-day weekly cycle as an organizing outline to make an important theological point: The one God of Israel is the true God—the Creator of all that exists in the heavens and on earth, including the human race. This was his answer to the myths of the nations that had spun fantastic stories of how their national god or gods and goddesses were responsible for the creation. Genesis 1:1-2:3 sets the record straight about creation. The God of Israel, Yahweh, is Creator.
Yet, the writer of Genesis ends his creation outline by adding the statement that the God of Israel "rested" after creation was complete. What further theological point was he trying to make about God and his purpose in the creation? We shall see the answer unfold in this paper. The concept of the "rest" will prove to be a monumental part of God’s purpose, one the New Testament explains for us in a final sense.
Sabbath rest in Genesis
Before we undertake to solve this mystery, we should consider the idea that Genesis 2:2-3 tells us God made the weekly Sabbath "holy time" at creation, and that this day has been and continues to be a sacred day for all peoples. We notice immediately that the verse in question does not say a physical Sabbath-day rest was to be observed by human beings. This is a most striking fact of Genesis 2:2-3. This verse contains no command for human beings to rest from their labor or to otherwise keep the seventh day as "holy time." God is the one said to be "resting," and by his act he creates something holy about the seventh day. But at this point in the story we haven’t been told what that is.
If the writer of Genesis wanted to make the point that God commanded the Sabbath to be a day of rest for humans since the creation, then he failed to follow up his thesis in further chapters. He provided no evidence that any of the great patriarchs, Abraham included, kept the seventh day as "holy time." Neither did he make any comments to the effect that humanity was breaking the Sabbath-day rest and thereby sinning against God between Adam and Sinai. Not until the old covenant is instituted with only a single nation—Israel—does the Sabbath rest become a command (and only for Israel).
If the Sabbath was commanded since the creation, then it is quite surprising that none of God’s faithful people kept it until Sinai. Conversely, we would also have to ask why evil people are not chastised for Sabbath-breaking during the ages before the giving of the Law of Moses.
However, Genesis 2:2-3 does tell us that God made the seventh day of creation week "holy." What does this mean? For God to make something "holy" is for him to set it apart in some way for his special use, or to use that which is set apart to explain something important in terms of his purpose. For example, the temple had a Most Holy Place whose environs only the High Priest could enter, and that only once a year. The book of Hebrews explains that the "holiness" that God ascribed to this location was to show that a true entry into his presence was not yet available.
But Genesis 2:2-3 does not tell us what lesson we are to learn from the seventh day of creation being made "holy" or set apart through God "resting" from his work. We understand that God does not become tired. Nor is he affected by an earthbound reality in which the motions of planetary bodies create time. This would lead us to believe the writer of Genesis again used a literary device when speaking about the "rest" of God. That is, the "rest" of God had a symbolic meaning for him. But what was that meaning?
Author’s point
The writer had already used the seven-day week as an outline on which he hung various creation events and by which he made his theological point. It’s not surprising, then, that he would use the metaphor of God’s "rest" to make another theological assertion about who this God of Israel was, and his purpose. We should remember that the writer lived under the old covenant. This would lead us to believe that his experience of God taught him something about his purpose with Israel, something that was explained by the "rest" concept.
"Rest" is certainly a key idea here in Genesis 2:2-3. Why did the writer use the concept? What did it mean to the writer, and what should it mean to us as Christians? We have already seen that the seventh day rest follows all the creative acts of God that are summarized in Genesis 1. More than this, the rest of God follows the creation of humanity—male and female—in God’s own image (1:27-31).
The fact that this is mentioned in the context of the creation account implies that the writer understood that humanity has a special purpose beyond the other parts of the creation. First, all of creation is pronounced as being "very good" (1:31). Humanity is to "fill the earth and subdue it"—to be God’s representatives on this planet and caretakers of the creation (1:28). But, in a sense, all is not completely revealed to this point in Genesis about God’s aim in creating humanity. Is there no further purpose for the human race (and, from the writer’s point of view, of his choosing Israel to be his people) than to fill and subdue the earth? And, so the writer refers to God’s "rest," and tells us that it is holy—set apart for some purpose. But for what purpose? And, how does this relate to humanity and Israel?
That the creation of man and woman was announced just before the making of the holy rest could imply that this "rest" has something to do with the creation in general and humanity in particular. God, as it were, "sits back" after setting his creative purpose in motion and pronounces everything as being good. Since God doesn’t literally get tired, we can understand his "rest" as figurative, and as part of his creative purpose. We could see the "rest" in question as extending to humans (and Israel) in some way since they seem to be the end object of God’s creative process.
Humanity’s loss
But whatever this rest is to signify, the ensuing Genesis story tells us it is not something that humans enjoy in a physical sense except, perhaps, for a brief interlude in the Garden of Eden. Almost immediately after creation, we read about the tragic circumstances that befall Adam and Eve in the Garden. They sin and are punished for it by increased labor rather than rest. The notion of labor, of the opposite of rest, becomes a major motif of the Genesis account.
Eve must labor in childbearing. The Lord tells her, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." (3:16). For mother Eve, childbearing becomes a painful work. Adam will be forced to labor to fill his mouth. The Lord tells him, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" (3:17, emphasis ours throughout).
Their son, Cain, murders Abel. The latter’s blood, figuratively finds no rest, as it "cries out" from the ground (4:10). For his sin, Cain will be forced to engage in backbreaking labor. The Lord tells him, "When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" (4:12). More than that, Cain was to be a "restless wanderer on the earth" (4:12). He would have neither rest in his labor nor rest from enemies seeking to kill him because of his murder of Abel.
The "anti-rest" motif continues in Genesis. When Noah was born, a great hope was attached to his future. It was said of him, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed" (5:29). But humanity found no rest because "the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence" (6:11). The only "rest" humanity could achieve was to rest in peace in death. And God caused the flood to destroy human civilization and end humanity’s suffering.
In Noah, God restated and broadened the covenant made with Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28-30. He reissued his promise to neither curse the ground nor to destroy humanity despite the fact that he knew "every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood" (8:21; 9:8-17). Despite this covenant of promise, many generations passed during which humans became increasingly alienated from God. The story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel indicate the condition of the human race. Then God made a covenant with Abraham. This is first found in Genesis 12:2-3:
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Israel in toil and slavery
We know the rest of the story from Genesis. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and he had a son named Jacob. (Jacob himself had to be saved by the Lord from 20 years of servitude at Laban’s hand—Genesis 31:38-42.) As Jacob said to Laban: "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hand"(verse 42).
Jacob had 12 sons. The oldest ten sold their young brother, Joseph, into Egyptian slavery. During a famine, they all moved to Egypt, where the family of Jacob grew into a great nation. But the Egyptians placed the Israelites into slavery and hard bondage. They, too, failed to find the "rest" of God. The first chapter of Exodus, verses 11-14, shows how Israel subsequently suffered as a slave people:
So they [the Egyptians] put slave masters over them [the Israelites] to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. . . .The Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
Israel rescued
The writer of Exodus was trying to make a point, again about the notion of "rest." The Israelites were oppressed with hard and forced labor—and they had no rest for their souls. But help was on the way after many generations. We read in Exodus 2:23-24:
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
The savior of Israel would be Moses, who as a young man had seen his own people in slavery and "watched them at their hard labor" (2:11). Now, after his own exile of 40 years in the desert, the Lord appeared to him and said in Exodus 3:7-8:
I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And, again, Moses was to tell the Israelites about their impending freedom and physical rest:
Say to the Israelites: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God" [Exodus 6:6-7].
A covenant of "rest"
Here is the first intimation of a covenant between God and Israel. It is a covenant based on God providing freedom from slavery, and hence rest from interminable labor. Thus, the "rest" of God mentioned in Genesis 2:2, which was not attained by humans because of sin, was now promised in a kind of second Garden of Eden—the Promised Land. The old covenant, then, was a covenantal promise of peace, prosperity and security for Israel in the Promised Land (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14). It contained all the elements that give human beings a feeling of well-being and "rest."
In short, the old covenant was a promise of physical rest to God’s people, which (as shown in Genesis 2) was part of God’s creative purpose at the beginning. We will see how this purpose of "rest" unfolds, but we are getting somewhat ahead of our story. Let’s backtrack a moment to God’s promise through Moses that he would provide freedom and rest to the people of Israel.
We know from the Exodus story that the Egyptian Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go free. He ordered that they should work even harder for their captors (Exodus 5). But God did rescue the Israelites and brought them into the Wilderness in preparation for their entering the Promised Land of freedom and rest. However, that generation failed to trust the Lord, and they were not allowed to enter. They died without coming into their rest.
The next generation of Israelites did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. They were told to obey the covenant that had been made between the people and the Lord. All the tribes were told to help each other take possession of the land "until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you" (Joshua 1:15). We read that this promise was fulfilled. In a summary statement before Joshua’s farewell to the nation, it was said that "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1).
Despite Israel’s lapses from faith and obedience, the Lord fulfilled his promise to give the nation prosperity and rest. The high point of this physical rest and well-being occurred during the days of king Solomon. The writer said of this time: "During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25). The nation of Israel had experienced the physical "rest" of God in great fullness.
One of the hallmarks of the Law of Moses was an emphasis on the "rest" that God provided Israel. This included a bounty of unimagined physical blessings (Deuteronomy 7:10-12). God’s merciful grace in saving the nation from extreme toil and servitude in Egypt—and his giving the people bountiful physical blessings in the Promised Land—was to be memorialized in the religious practices of the nation. A weekly Sabbath of rest from work was a main feature of this rest memorial.
A good comparison for Christians is the Lord’s Supper. The bread and wine remind Christians that God has saved them through the redemptive work of Christ. On the other hand, the Israelites rested each week to remind them that God had saved them from Egyptian bondage and had blessed them abundantly.
Exodus 20:11 explains why God gave Israel the Sabbath day. Here, we read: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (These are the same words the writer of Genesis wrote for the creation account.) In a restatement of the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 a related reason was given for the Sabbath "rest" command. "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day" (5:15).
What had the writer seen here? Possibly, he saw that what God had done with Israel was the beginning of a restoration of God’s purpose through Israel. His purpose, dimly seen in the Garden of Eden story, was that human beings should live in a relationship with him, through which they would be blessed. If they were one with God, then they would enter his rest because he would bless them physically. That was certainly God’s intent, as the Garden of Eden story tells us. But human beings sinned and were cursed. Humans were cut off from the presence of God and the relationship with him was broken.
Reminder of blessings
With Israel, as the Exodus and old covenant show us, God had again moved to begin to bring the human race back into a relationship with himself. Israel would be the starting place. The nations would look at Israel, living in blessedness and loving obedience to Yahweh, and perhaps other nations might also someday come to love the Lord and find blessing as well (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). That was the ideal—just as the Garden of Eden had been an ideal. But as we know from the rest of the story of the Old Testament, the ideal was not achieved.
The reason Israel was to keep the seventh day as a rest period was because of a physical "rest" that was available to the nation. As slaves in Egypt, they had no rest for themselves, but toiled in harsh labor daily, at the whim of their taskmasters. God had freed them from this slavish labor and had given them freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land. Israel was supposed to remember the gracious freedom and rest they had been given—and they were to do this each week
The weekly rest was but one memorial of how God had saved the nation from Egyptian slavery and mindless toil. There were seven yearly "rest" days within three yearly festival seasons that also were celebrated by cessation from labor (Leviticus 23:7-8, 21, 25, 32, 35-36). These were harvest festivals when Israel could give thanks for the bountiful crops they had reaped—and when they could rest from their labor. By contrast, in Egypt the Israelites had toiled ceaselessly for uncaring taskmasters.
Beyond that, the land was to lie idle and not be tilled every seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-7). This means that while the land rested, the people could also rest because they did not need to seed or till. Whatever the land produced on its own could be eaten.
Also, each 50th year was a land rest (Leviticus 25:8-12). More than that, the year was a year of release, as we read in verse 10: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan." In Egypt, the Israelites had neither land nor inheritance. Now, God had given the nation the Promised Land, and each family was to enjoy its own parcel of ground.
While the Promised Land was not a place of idleness and ease, there was rest from backbreaking and meaningless toil on someone else’s land. On the other hand, the Promised Land would yield abundant produce because of the blessing of the Lord. The nation would rest from war and the fear of famine and disease. The inhabitants could breathe a sigh of relief—and they could "rest" both physically and psychologically in the sure knowledge that God was watching over them.
The meaning
Now we can understand why the writer of Genesis may have been so keen to divide the physical creation into a six day format and then make the seventh day a day of God’s "rest." It must have been driven home to him through his experience with the saving acts of the God of Israel, that his purpose was to rescue humanity from the curse that they had brought upon themselves. This curse had required backbreaking toil in unyielding soil to grow enough to eat. The curse had also brought famine and disease, fighting and war. Life was anything but restful.
The writer of Genesis must have seen the problem of the "curse" and the restless sorrow it had brought as having been solved specifically in the promises to the nation of Israel. Israel had once been in captivity and the people had been forced to toil incessantly under taskmasters. Life was neither prosperous nor restful. But God had purposed to fulfill his covenant with Abraham whereby he would rescue his descendants from terrible toil in slavery. The nation would find true prosperity, peace and rest under the protection and blessing of the Creator, the one true God. The nation’s religious practices including various "rest" days and times reminded the people that they had been saved from toil and slavery in Egypt and now rested in peace and prosperity under the loving hand of their God.
Genesis was written for Israelites who lived in the Promised Land, who were to commemorate each week the rest they had been given by the Creator. Their weekly experience of rest was then associated with the creation by the words of Genesis 2:2-3. The writer of Genesis was informed by and influenced by the weekly Sabbath as he wrote about the "rest" of God. He was writing from the point of view of an Israelite who had been saved from slavery and who enjoyed the "rest" God provided the nation. The writer understood that the various rest days commanded for Israel—the weekly Sabbath, annual festivals, and years of agricultural rest and release—reflected what God had done for the nation. Thus, God’s actions of providing "rest" signaled to the writer that in God’s creative purpose his creatures should find rest in him. In the world there was cursing and trouble, but in God’s kingdom—the Promised Land—there was prosperity, peace and rest.
Genesis 2:2-3, then, is not an early command for all people to keep the seventh day as holy time. It is a reflection of the writer’s understanding that humans should find their rest in God. For the nation of Israel, the old covenant specified that this was to be commemorated by a weekly physical rest on the seventh day. There is no command for other peoples to do the same. Other peoples did not have the physical "rest" of the Promised Land nor the command for physical rest on the seventh day. What the Israelites had was a physical image of a spiritual reality; other nations did not have this.
Future promise
The Old Testament shows that the restful state of affairs did not last very long for Israel. The nation sinned and the people suffered invasion, curses on their land and captivity. The old covenant between God and Israel failed because the nation did not live up to its promises to be faithful to God (Hebrews 4:2).
Later in Israel’s history, the prophets spoke of the need for a new covenant, based on better promises. Isaiah prophesied of a time when God would renew his covenant with Israel and give them a final rest. In chapter 11, Isaiah spoke of a Branch to come, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest. The Spirit of the Lord would be upon him and he would bring justice, mercy and peace. The Branch would usher in God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace.
In soaring metaphorical language, Isaiah said of this new era: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat. . .the cow will feed with the bear. . .The lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra" (verses 6-8). He summarized this future hope by painting the arrival of an idyllic worldwide kingdom of God: "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full for the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (verse 9). "In that day," when this future kingdom would be established, the Lord would bring his people Israel out from all the nations (verse 11). And what would he give his people? He would give them "rest." Isaiah explains: "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious" (verse 10).
Jeremiah also spoke of the rest that the Lord would bring. "‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’ This is what the Lord says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel ’" (Jeremiah 31:1-2).
It’s no wonder the Jews looked for a Messiah that would save them from their enemies and gather the Jews to Israel. It was a beautiful vision of peace and prosperity. The Messiah would make the regathered clans of Israel in the Promised Land the people of the kingdom of God in which righteousness, justice and prosperity would know no bounds. The enemies of the Jews, whoever they might be, would be defeated and destroyed.
Jesus is our "rest"
The Branch, the Root of Jesse, the Redeemer Messiah, came as promised, in the person of Jesus. He offered the greatest "rest" the world would ever know, but it was not a physical rest of power and prosperity given to a single nation within certain geographic borders. Jesus brought the offer of "rest" of freedom from sin and death to peoples of all nations—and a future life in the eternal kingdom of God.
The notion of "God’s rest" found in Genesis 2:2-3 and the Old Testament was still alive and well. Yes, God would send the Deliverer, and his rest would be glorious. That rest, though, would be the result of the redemptive work of Jesus, and it would be commemorated not through the seventh day, but through Jesus. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus told his hearers: "Come to me, all of you 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." What a glorious promise to a hurting humanity. But we understand that Jesus was not necessarily promising physical rest and peace, but an eternal and spiritual rest.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27). Jesus did not promise his disciples a Promised Land of peace, plenty and security. In fact, in his last talk with the disciples before his arrest, Jesus told them they would have anything but physical rest. "I have told you these things," Jesus warned, "so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
The promise to Israel had been peace, prosperity and rest in the Promised Land in exchange for obedience to the old covenant and Law of Moses. The New Testament "rest" is a rest in Christ. It is the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit and a spiritual rebirth that leads to eternal life in the kingdom of God. This is the ultimate "rest" of God. God’s purpose in Genesis 2:2-3, not completely understood under the old covenant, is now revealed and fulfilled in its final sense through Christ.
Part 2: The book of Hebrews
This is explained in Hebrews 3:1-4:11, which speaks of something vital Christians share—the "heavenly calling" we have in Christ (3:1). It is in these verses that we learn what the "rest" of Genesis 2:2-3 pictures to Christians. The subject at hand in these verses begins to be addressed under the word "today" in Hebrews 3:7, when the writer quotes Psalm 95:7-11:
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, "Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways." So I declared an oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest."
Psalm 95 refers to the wilderness story as told in Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13. There are several things we should notice about this passage in Hebrews. The author focuses on the introductory word of the quotation, "today," and the phrase in which it is found. He repeats the word "today" five times (3:7, 13, 15; twice in 4:7) and the phrase, "Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts" three times (3:7, 15; 4:7). The phrase with its opening word "today" is significant for the writer in that it allows him to apply the promise of "rest" found in the Scripture to his readers. William Lane discusses this point in the Word Biblical Commentary on Hebrews:
"Today" provided the writer with a catchword for bringing the biblical statement before his hearers sharply. "Today" is no longer the today of the past, surveyed by the psalmist in his situation, but the today of the present, which continues to be conditioned by the voice of God that speaks day after day through the Scriptures and in the gospel tradition [page 87].
Lane makes the point that Psalm 95 "was a prophetic announcement that God was determining a future date for making his rest available" (page 100). The writer of Hebrews insists that the prophecy is being fulfilled in his day, in the church—and his readers need to heed its call. He wants his readers to make a connection between themselves and the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness. The author emphasizes a key concept: The Old Testament promise that God’s people would enter into "rest" is being fulfilled in the church and through Christ.
He begins by discussing God’s "rest" in terms of the promise of God to bring the rescued Israelites into the Promised Land. But as we know, and as the Scripture points out, the first generation of freed Israelites did not enter God’s "rest," but they died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35). The Israelites Moses led out of Egypt did not enter into God’s "rest." The author wants his Christian readers to focus on the meaning of this tragedy. They are not to turn away from the living God (3:12) or be "hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (3:13). Rather, they are to "hold firmly till the end" their first confidence (3:14) so that they may enter into God’s "rest."
The writer summarizes his admonition by saying, "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it" (4:1). The readers of Hebrews are encouraged to keep up their faith and hope in Christ. Otherwise, as the unbelieving Israelites in Moses’ day lost their opportunity to enter the rest in Canaan, the believers may forfeit the greater blessings of the new age "rest."
From the beginning
The author of Hebrews then turns to a discussion of God’s "rest" from another point of view. He says that this "rest"—whatever it is—has been available to humanity since the beginning: "His [God’s] work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work’" (4:3-4).
The "somewhere" is Genesis 2:2. In the days when Hebrews was written, the Scriptures were written on scrolls. It was much more difficult to look up specific passages, so writers often quoted passages from memory. But here is our familiar Scripture, and the one we sought to understand in terms of its meaning for Christians. We can understand the "rest" described in Genesis 2:2-3 as the archetype of all later experiences of rest—including the various rest commands given at Sinai, the actual physical rest Israel received from its enemies under Joshua (a type of Christ), and the promised future rest of the kingdom of God.
From a Christian perspective, the Genesis "rest" of God, applied to God’s creative purpose in Genesis 2:2, can be seen to typify the spiritual salvation of the people of God. That means the weekly Sabbath rest (along with the other rest commands in the Law of Moses) is a lesser expression—a shadow, as it were—of the true "rest" symbolically inaugurated at the seventh day of creation. This makes the weekly Sabbath a metaphor of the Genesis "rest" of God, as was the Canaan rest.
The idea of the Genesis rest is that, beginning with the seventh day of creation, God ceased creating. He continues in a state of nonwork so far as further creating things physical is concerned. However, this doesn’t mean God has been idle. Leon Morris points this out in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Hebrews:
It is worth noticing that in the creation story each of the first six days is marked by the refrain "And there was evening, and there was morning." However, this is lacking in the account of the seventh day. There we simply read that God rested from all his work. This does not mean that God entered a state of idleness, for there is a sense in which he is continually at work (John 5:17). But the completion of creation marks the end of a magnificent whole.... So we should think of the rest as something like the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment, from the completion of a task, from the exercise of creativity [page 41].
F.F. Bruce also explained what this means in the volume on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
When we read that God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done" (Gen. 2:2), we are to understand that hebegan to rest then; the fact that he is never said to have completed his rest and resumed his work of creation implies that his rest continues still, and may be shared by those who respond to his overtures with faith and obedience [page 106].
Thus, God’s "rest" has been available from the time the creation was finished—from the foundation of the world. Even though it has been available, very few people entered into it before Jesus’ death and resurrection. The offer of entering this "rest" still stands. The writer of Hebrews makes this point by saying: "It still remains that some will enter that rest" (4:6). Whatever this "rest" is, the writer is emphasizing that it is—at the time of writing—a promise his readers can take advantage of. In fact, they must take advantage of it, and not fail to achieve the "rest" because of disobedience (4:11).
Joshua’s "rest"
The author of Hebrews must have realized as he wrote that, on the surface, there had been an apparent large-scale exception to his claim that no people had ever entered a "rest" of God. After all, the second generation of Israelites who were saved from Egypt did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. We read that under Joshua "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1). But the writer of Hebrews quickly points out that this is not the kind of "rest" he has in mind, or one that constituted God’s ultimate objective—the "rest" promised to Christians. Hundreds of years after Joshua led the Israelites into the rest of the Promised Land, the Psalmist urged people to enter a divine rest, and later still, the author of Hebrews was insisting that there is a "rest" its readers must yet enter into. Clearly, there is more to the "rest" in question than mere entry into Canaan. Hebrews tells us: "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" (4:8-9).
As it turns out, Israel had not secured the true "rest" after all. Thus, the writer can exhort his readers to seek, obtain and hold on to this superior "rest" in Christ. This is the true "rest" to which Genesis 2:2-3, the literal Sabbath, the other festival rests, the Wilderness experience, the Joshua rest, and the prophecy of Psalm 95 all looked forward to. He is interested in the redemptive and eternal rest in the kingdom of God, of which the weekly Sabbath and Canaan rests were but symbols.
William Lane, in the Hebrews commentary in the Word Biblical Commentary, explains why the Joshua rest was but a type of the true "rest":
The settlement of Canaan did not mark the fulfillment of the divine promise but pointed to another, more fundamental reality. If in fact Joshua had achieved the promised rest, there would have been no need for the renewal of the promise in Ps 95. Accordingly, the experience of rest in Canaan was only a type or symbol of the complete rest that God intended for his people, which was prefigured in the Sabbath rest of God [page 101].
We have now come from Genesis 2:2-3 to Hebrews 4:9-11, and we see something interesting. The author is not telling his readers to keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath holy by resting on it. He is not talking about the weekly Sabbath at all. Rather, he is making the point that there is a spiritual "rest" that God’s people should be entering into. It is the heavenly counterpart of the earthly Canaan, and this is the goal of the people of God today—to achieve this present and eternal rest. The epistle of Hebrews has made this point by creating an analogy between the Israelites entering the Promised Land and Christians entering the better promise of a new-covenant spiritual "rest."
A present "rest"?
The Promised Land was a physical type or foreshadowing of a spiritual "rest" that the Israelites had not yet entered. And the weekly Sabbath was a temporal foreshadowing of the spiritual "rest" that God wants his people to enjoy. Christians have entered God’s "rest" by their faith in Jesus Christ. "Now we who have believed enter [or, "are entering"] that rest," the writer insists (4:3). Christians have the real rest, the spiritual rest, and do not need to observe shadows of it, neither geographically nor temporally. Jesus himself during his ministry had promised a rest for the spirit:
Come to me, all you 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 (Matthew 11:28-29).
Leon Morris points out in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary that the word for "enter" in Hebrews 4:3 is in the present tense. This would mean the author of Hebrews was suggesting that his readers were already in the process of entering the "rest" of salvation that Jesus had promised. Some commentators agree that the Hebrews 4:3 "rest" into which Christians have entered begins now, in this life. Leon Morris quotes Hugh Montefiore on this point:
Contrary to some commentators, the Greek means neither that they are certain to enter, nor that they will enter, but that they are already in process of entering [page 40].
In fairness, Morris points out that some other commentators feel that the "rest" is something that occurs in the future. The present tense used here, they insist, is meant to be applied only in a generalizing sense. Morris concludes by saying:
Either view is defensible and probably much depends on our idea of the "rest." If it lies beyond death, then obviously "rest" must be understood in terms of the future. But if it is a present reality, then believers are entering it now [page 40].
We enter now
The view of this paper is that Christians have begun to enter their spiritual "rest" now. We are receiving some of the blessings of salvation, even though we do not yet enjoy them in their fullness. Peter says that Christ "has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). Paul says God "has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). The author of Hebrews says that we are "the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven" (12:23).
It is in part a question of how we understand when the kingdom of God comes—now or in the future? The answer is both. The kingdom is already, but not yet. There is a sense that the kingdom is both present and yet obviously only future in its full reality. Christians can be said to live in the tension between promise and fulfillment, between the already and the not yet, between the glimmer and the reality. But they have nevertheless entered the "rest," even if only in an imperfect and qualified way. The spiritual realities we already enjoy, although incomplete, are enough that we do not need to observe the physical symbols and rituals of the old covenant.
We have already been invited to enter God’s end-of-creation, the Genesis 2:2-3 "rest," by believing in the Son of God. By faith, we have joined with him in his "rest." By faith, we have become new creations—created anew. Our re-creation is not yet complete, but we already have been given entrance, through Christ, into God’s kingdom "rest."
The writer of Hebrews does not state how he views the time in which the "rest" takes place. His concern is with the spiritual reality, not the physical shadow. But as we’ve seen, his concern seems to be with the present time—with today. He no doubt understands that the fullness of rest comes only with a future resurrection (10:37-38; 12:26). But his point of view in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the present time, the time for which he is writing. The writer is thinking of the salvation "rest" as beginning in the present. Otherwise, one can be misled about which "rest" he is interested in—the spiritual one or a physical one such as the weekly Sabbath day.
One traditional commentary, the Critical, Experimental and Practical Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, became confused on this issue and came (this paper concludes) to a wrong conclusion:
It is Jesus, the antitype of Joshua, who leads us into the heavenly rest. This verse [4:9] indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath; for the type continues until the antitype supersedes it: so legal sacrifices continued till the great antitypical sacrifice superseded it. As then the antitypical Sabbath rest will not be till Christ comes to usher us into it, the typical earthly Sabbath must continue till then [page 537].
The authors, we believe, have erred. Influenced by the Puritans, they were thinking of a Sunday Sabbath, and reading their own opinions into the text. The principle they enunciate is erroneous. The type does not continue until the antitype supersedes it. Various Old Testament rituals pictured purity and holiness, and even though we do not yet see complete purity and holiness in the church, the rituals are obsolete. More correctly, types continue only as long as God says they do, and God has declared the old covenant obsolete. It has served its purpose, even though God’s plan is not yet complete. Moreover, true spiritual rest is found through faith in Christ, and Christ has already come. The antitype has arrived. Christ has already led us into the heavenly rest just as he is already our sacrifice for sin. We have come to Christ and he has given us rest—seated us in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). This argues against the commentary’s claim that the literal Sabbath is in force. The antitypical salvation rest has already been ushered in, albeit incompletely. Thus, the shadow (the literal Sabbath) is no longer required.
No matter how the writer of Hebrews conceives of the future "rest" in the post-resurrection kingdom of God, he is not concerned to discuss it in chapters 3 and 4. He is interested in his readers who are alive when he writes—and who need to take hold of the promise of spiritual "rest" in this age. F.F. Bruce agreed that the future rest is not in view here. He stated the following in his commentary on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
The identification of the rest of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews with a coming millennium on earth has, indeed, been ably defended; but it involves the importation into the epistle of a concept which in fact is alien to it [pages 106-107].
The writer of Hebrews is not so much concerned with the future as with the present spiritual state of his readers. "Tomorrow," so to speak, is not in his view in the passage we are studying. That’s why he stresses the word "today." It was the privilege of the readers to enter God’s "rest" then—and it is our privilege to do so now. For us, today is "today," not some future time. The promise of entering God’s "rest" remains valid for each generation—and is repeated to each successive generation—in the church age.
Rest and work
Hebrews 4:9-11 is telling us we have entered into God’s promised "rest," the one he prophetically inaugurated on the seventh day of creation. This is the writer’s main theme. The epistle has already noted that God’s "work has been finished since the creation of the world" (4:3). That is, the "rest" of salvation has been offered and promised to humanity since the foundation of the world. It was, in a manner of speaking, a work of creation, inaugurated with humanity and for humanity. Donald Guthrie writes the following on this point:
What believers can now enter is none other than the same kind of rest which the Creator enjoyed when he had completed his works, which means that the rest idea is of completion and not of inactivity. . . .It is important to note that the "rest" is not something new that has not been known in experience until Christ came. It has been available throughout the whole of man’s history. This reference back to the creation places the idea on the broadest possible basis and would seem to suggest that it was part of God’s intention for man. "Rest" is a quality that has eluded man’s quest, and in fact cannot be attained except through Christ [Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, "Hebrews," page 113].
As long as we have faith in Christ—the main point of Hebrews—no matter what day of the week it is, we have entered God’s "rest" and we are resting from our own works. "We who have believed enter that rest. . . .Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:3, 10). What does the author mean by "work"? He is not discussing the question of employment on the weekly Sabbath day. That is not his interest. (He has been encouraging his readers to enter the spiritual "rest" of salvation throughout Hebrews 3 and 4.) The writer of Hebrews wants his readers to stop putting their faith in the things that humans do, such as the works of the old covenant—and to place their faith in Christ as Savior. He wants them to look to the work of Christ, which gives forgiveness and empowerment through the Holy Spirit, allowing us to enter the true spiritual "rest."
In comparison to Christ, the writer has a low view of the "works" of the Law of Moses. He says of the Law in general and the Levitical priesthood as a whole:
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God (7:18-19).
The author of Hebrews seems to be suggesting that the people to whom he wrote should rest from the ceremonial "work" they needed to do under the Mosaic Law. Their "work" in such things as offering sacrifices could not save nor endear them to God. They were saved by grace through faith in Christ, and were endeared to God by that same grace.
The weekly Sabbath?
The Jewish Christians or Gentile believers to whom Hebrews was written were already attracted to Judaistic practices. This is clear from reading the book. It was written to show the church why Judaistic practices were not necessary for Christians to perform. The individuals to whom the book was written would have already been observing the Sabbath day and would not need any admonishment to rest on this day. Even the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary understands this point. We find this explanation given for Hebrews 4:9 on page 423:
Certainly, in writing to Jews, the author of Hebrews would not consider it necessary to prove to them that Sabbathkeeping "remaineth." If the conclusion of the extended argument beginning with ch. 3:7 is that Sabbathkeeping remains for the people of God, it would seem that the writer of Hebrews is guilty of a non sequitur, for the conclusion does not follow logically from the argument. There would have been no point in so labored an effort to persuade the Jews to do what they were already doing—observing the seventh-day Sabbath. . . .What relationship a protracted argument designed to prove that Sabbath observance remains an obligation to the Christian church might have to the declared theme of chs. 3 and 4—the ministry of Christ as our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary—is obscure indeed.
The writer of Hebrews is interested in the spiritual or heavenly meaning of such things as the Sabbath and animal sacrifices, not their literal observances, which are shadows of the true "rest" and sacrifice for sin. In fact, the very Israelites who had been given the Sabbath (the generation that left Egypt) failed to enter God’s "rest." So did the Jews who strictly kept the Sabbath day when Hebrews was written. Keeping the Sabbath does not automatically bring someone to God. Why, then, would the writer of Hebrews insist on it? The fact is, the literal seventh-day Sabbath is not in his view at all.
The book of Hebrews, considered as a whole, tells us that the practices of the Mosaic Law are obsolete (7:11-12, 18-19). This would refer to the works or observances of the Law (of which the Sabbath is one example), as opposed to its great moral principles. These are eternal principles that define our relationship with God and fellow human beings. They precede the old covenant, were imbedded into that covenant, and remain as fundamental principles of the new covenant, which made the old passé.
The new covenant theme of Hebrews suggests—though it doesn’t directly make an issue of this—that the weekly Sabbath day as described in the old covenant has been superseded by a better promise. In particular, Hebrews 4:9-11 tells us that the various allusions of "rest" in the Old Testament, including Genesis 2:2-3 and the weekly Sabbath, picture a spiritual reality to Christians—the eternal rest of God. But that is all Hebrews tells us. It does not seem to address the issue of whether the weekly Sabbath should be kept or not. This is not the author’s interest.
In conclusion
Let us now close the circle between Genesis 2:2-3 and Hebrews 3:1-4:11. We have seen that God had given Israel physical rest in the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, just as Adam and Eve would have had physical "rest" in the Garden of Eden. But the first humans, like all others after them, sinned. Adam and Eve and their descendents were cursed and lost their "rest" until God saved Israel from slavery and the nation entered the Promised Land.
As part of its covenantal law, God gave Israel various rest days and years to commemorate their having achieved physical blessings (the "rest") in the Lord (Deuteronomy 5:15). The writer of Genesis saw this reality—which the rest days (especially the weekly Sabbath) commemorated—as a fulfillment of God’s original purpose at the creation. The writer included the statement about the symbolic meaning of the Sabbath (that is, about God’s "rest"—Exodus 20:11) in his description of the creation in Genesis 2:2-3. This was then a prophetical statement of God’s purpose of providing physical bounty to his human creatures, now fulfilled in Israel.
What the writer of Genesis did not clearly see, since he was an individual who lived under the old covenant, is that God’s real purpose was to provide humanity with another "rest"—a true eternal rest. This more fundamental purpose was fulfilled in Christ, and could be understood only after he had completed his redemptive work. Thus, Christ is the true Sabbath rest of Genesis 2:2-3—promised to us from the beginning (Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:4-6; Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 13:8). This is how the author of Hebrews (in 3:1-4:11) understands that "rest."
Thanks be to God that through his love he gave us his Son, allowing us in his mercy to begin to enter into his eternal rest.
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Two Greek Words for "Rest"
We should briefly take up the issue of the Greek words for "rest" used in Hebrews 4:9-10. We quote here the verses in question and show the two Greek words being used: "There remains…a Sabbath-rest [sabbatismos] for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest [katapausin] also rests from his own work" (4:9-10).
A Greek-English interlinear of the New Testament shows that the Greek word katapausin is used to denote "rest" throughout Hebrews 3:7-4:11. There is one exception, in 4:9, as shown above. Here, sabbatismos is used, and it is translated "Sabbath-rest" in the New International Version. The word is formed from the verb sabbatizo, which means to "keep/observe/celebrate the Sabbath."
The only time in the Bible that sabbatismos is used is here in Hebrews 4:9. The word is not found in ancient Greek literature until well after the time when Hebrews was written. Some decades later, sabbatismos is found in Plutarch as part of a list of superstitious practices. In his work, the word signifies weekly Sabbath observance. In later Christian documents, sabbatismos sometimes indicates the celebration or festivity associated with the Sabbath day.
With this in mind, William Lane translates Hebrews 4:9 as: "There remains a Sabbath celebration for the people of God." He points out that the use ofsabbatismos is meant to "define more precisely the character of the future rest promised to the people of God" (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 47A, "Hebrews," page 101). The word conveyed something about the promised spiritual rest that katapausin would not have done—"the special aspect of festivity and joy, expressed in the adoration and praise of God" for his wonderful grace (page 102).
On one level, the writer of Hebrews seems to have used the two Greek words interchangeably. In 4:9, he says that a promised Sabbath-rest (sabbatismos) remains for the people of God to enter into, and this same rest is called God’s katapausin "rest." Some scholars suggest that the writer of Hebrews coined the word. He wanted to differentiate between the ultimate spiritual "rest" and the Promised Land rest into which Israel went. If so, the author may also have been making the same difference between the true spiritual "rest" and the weekly Sabbath rest. That is to say, the Sabbath day is a metaphor of the true rest in the same way that the Israelites entering the Promised Land under Joshua was also a metaphor for spiritual rest.
Since the seventh-day Sabbath is but a symbol of the true spiritual rest, the writer would have no logical reason to stress the keeping of the weekly Sabbath. Like the Promised Land, the Sabbath day itself was a shadow that prefigured the coming reality—the spiritual "rest" of the Christian in Christ.
To summarize: The spiritual rest of salvation into which God’s people are entering is a sabbatismos—a "sabbath keeping"—in the sense that it is a participation in God’s own "rest," which we enter by faith (4:3). "Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:10). That is to say, the sabbatismos rest of God described in Hebrews 4:9 refers to the salvation "rest" into which all Christians have entered. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the culmination of this rest does not occur until the resurrection. But, upon conversion, we have begun the journey.
The weekly Old Testament Sabbath points to the blessing and joy of the spiritual "rest" Christians have in Christ. This may be why the author of Hebrews coined the word sabbatismos—making a play off the word for the Sabbath day (sabbaton). That is, sabbatismos stressed the joy, the celebration, the peace, the jubilation of the spiritual "rest" Christians enjoy. (We’ve put "rest" in quotes here because it does not really mean inactivity.)
Hebrews is not clear as to the writer’s attitude toward the weekly Sabbath day. Perhaps he wanted his readers, who were attracted to old covenant customs, to understand the Sabbath’s true meaning in the light of the Christ event , but without having to make an issue of whether it needs to be kept or not. This would certainly be in the spirit of Romans 14, in which the apostle Paul avoided making one’s view of "sacred days" a test or issue of faith or fellowship.
The Sabbath is meaningful on its own terms, just as the Festival of Tabernacles or the Passover-Exodus is. After all, the Sabbath stands as a metaphor of the whole purpose and meaning of redemption, as do the sacrifices and other old covenant, Mosaic institutions. They foreshadowed the true spiritual "rest" we have in Christ, which includes a "resting" in forgiveness of sin and "resting" from sin itself through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
But Hebrews 4:9 issues no command about keeping or not keeping the Sabbath. In fact, the book as a whole makes the point that all the old covenant institutions are obsolete now that the reality has come in Christ. The verse in question cannot be used as a proof-text to insist that Christians keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath rest. The verses in question do not exhort us to keep an old covenant Sabbath, but they do admonish us to enter the spiritual "rest" of God by having faith in Christ.
1The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, volume 3, page 219, edited by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, gives the following explanation ofsabbatismos:
1. The NT offers in Hebrews 4:9 the oldest documentation of the noun sabbatismos, which occurs several times in post-NT early Christian writings independently of Hebrews 4:9 (e.g., Justin Dial. 23:3; Origen Orat. 27:16; Epiphanius Haer. xxx.2.2; lxvi 85:9;Acts (Martyrdom) of Peter and Paul 1; Apostolic Constitutions ii.36.2; pseudo-Macarius (Symeon) Homily 12.2.4.... At present,sabbatismos has been documented in non-Christian writings only in Plutarch Superst. 3 (Moralia 166a).
The noun is derived from the verb sabbatizo, which in the LXX [Septuagint] appears as the translation of Hebrew sabbat. The vb. means: a) "celebrate/observe the sabbath" (Exod 16:30; Lev 23:32; 2 Macc 6:6; so also Ign. Magn. 9:1; Pap. Oxy. 1,1.2; Justin Dial.10:1 and passim), b) "observe (sabbath) rest" (Lev 26:34f.; 2 Chr 36:21; 1 Esdr 1:55).
Accordingly, the substantive means sabbath observance (thus in the non-NT passages mentioned) and sabbath rest (thus the understanding of sabbatismos in Heb 4:9 by Origen Cels. v.59; Selecta in Exod on 16:23 [PG XII, 289b]).
2. In Heb 4:9 sabbatismos encompasses both sabbath rest and (cultic) sabbath observance. The word is neither identical in meaning nor interchangeable with katapausis (3:11, 19; 4:1, 3, 5, 10f); it designates more closely what the people of God should expect when they enter the katapausis of God (cf. 4:9 with v.6a). Just as God rested on the seventh day of creation from all his works, so also will believers find the eternal sabbath rest on the day of the completion of salvation in God’s "place of rest" (see 4:10). Quietistic or mystic elements have nothing to do with this expectation. The statement in Heb 4:9f. remains dependent on a Jewish sabbath theology that associates the idea of sabbath rest with ideas of worship and praise of God (Jub. 2:21; 50:9; Bib. Ant. 11:8; 2 Macc 8:27; cf. also 1 Enoch 41:7). Accordingly, the author of Hebrews understands by sabbatismos the eternal sabbath celebration of salvation, i.e., the perfected community’s worship before God's throne.
Dit spreekt voor zich maar gaat verder niet over onze relatie met God.quote:
In het nieuwe verbond is het teken alsvolgt:
35Aan jullie liefde voor elkaar zal iedereen zien dat jullie mijn leerlingen zijn.’
Jezus zal ook niet over de sabbat gesproken hebben in deze omdat het houden daarvan een vanzelfsprekendheid was.
Hij noemt het echter na het volgende:
34 Een nieuw gebod geef Ik u, dat gij elkander liefhebt; gelijk Ik u liefgehad heb, dat ook gij elkander liefhebt.
Tot de dood aan toe. De ultieme standaard.
Dit artikel is te lang. Vat het samen ajb.quote:
Ali ik heb een verhelderend artikel gevonden over de sabbat in Genesis 2 en de sabbatismos van Hebreeers 4:
Genesis 2:2-3 -- God's "Rest" and the Sabbath
One of the proof texts used in an attempt to prove that Christians must keep the seventh-day Sabbath is Genesis 2:2-3. For this reason, it is important that we understand what this verse does and doesn’t say about the physical Sabbath rest before we arrive at our conclusions. Further, we must ask what this verse tells us about the Sabbath when viewed against the essential message of Scripture about our salvation in Christ.
After the creation account in Genesis 1, we read the following in chapter 2, verses 2-3: "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."
In chapter 1, the writer of Genesis had used the seven-day weekly cycle as an organizing outline to make an important theological point: The one God of Israel is the true God—the Creator of all that exists in the heavens and on earth, including the human race. This was his answer to the myths of the nations that had spun fantastic stories of how their national god or gods and goddesses were responsible for the creation. Genesis 1:1-2:3 sets the record straight about creation. The God of Israel, Yahweh, is Creator.
Yet, the writer of Genesis ends his creation outline by adding the statement that the God of Israel "rested" after creation was complete. What further theological point was he trying to make about God and his purpose in the creation? We shall see the answer unfold in this paper. The concept of the "rest" will prove to be a monumental part of God’s purpose, one the New Testament explains for us in a final sense.
Sabbath rest in Genesis
Before we undertake to solve this mystery, we should consider the idea that Genesis 2:2-3 tells us God made the weekly Sabbath "holy time" at creation, and that this day has been and continues to be a sacred day for all peoples. We notice immediately that the verse in question does not say a physical Sabbath-day rest was to be observed by human beings. This is a most striking fact of Genesis 2:2-3. This verse contains no command for human beings to rest from their labor or to otherwise keep the seventh day as "holy time." God is the one said to be "resting," and by his act he creates something holy about the seventh day. But at this point in the story we haven’t been told what that is.
If the writer of Genesis wanted to make the point that God commanded the Sabbath to be a day of rest for humans since the creation, then he failed to follow up his thesis in further chapters. He provided no evidence that any of the great patriarchs, Abraham included, kept the seventh day as "holy time." Neither did he make any comments to the effect that humanity was breaking the Sabbath-day rest and thereby sinning against God between Adam and Sinai. Not until the old covenant is instituted with only a single nation—Israel—does the Sabbath rest become a command (and only for Israel).
If the Sabbath was commanded since the creation, then it is quite surprising that none of God’s faithful people kept it until Sinai. Conversely, we would also have to ask why evil people are not chastised for Sabbath-breaking during the ages before the giving of the Law of Moses.
However, Genesis 2:2-3 does tell us that God made the seventh day of creation week "holy." What does this mean? For God to make something "holy" is for him to set it apart in some way for his special use, or to use that which is set apart to explain something important in terms of his purpose. For example, the temple had a Most Holy Place whose environs only the High Priest could enter, and that only once a year. The book of Hebrews explains that the "holiness" that God ascribed to this location was to show that a true entry into his presence was not yet available.
But Genesis 2:2-3 does not tell us what lesson we are to learn from the seventh day of creation being made "holy" or set apart through God "resting" from his work. We understand that God does not become tired. Nor is he affected by an earthbound reality in which the motions of planetary bodies create time. This would lead us to believe the writer of Genesis again used a literary device when speaking about the "rest" of God. That is, the "rest" of God had a symbolic meaning for him. But what was that meaning?
Author’s point
The writer had already used the seven-day week as an outline on which he hung various creation events and by which he made his theological point. It’s not surprising, then, that he would use the metaphor of God’s "rest" to make another theological assertion about who this God of Israel was, and his purpose. We should remember that the writer lived under the old covenant. This would lead us to believe that his experience of God taught him something about his purpose with Israel, something that was explained by the "rest" concept.
"Rest" is certainly a key idea here in Genesis 2:2-3. Why did the writer use the concept? What did it mean to the writer, and what should it mean to us as Christians? We have already seen that the seventh day rest follows all the creative acts of God that are summarized in Genesis 1. More than this, the rest of God follows the creation of humanity—male and female—in God’s own image (1:27-31).
The fact that this is mentioned in the context of the creation account implies that the writer understood that humanity has a special purpose beyond the other parts of the creation. First, all of creation is pronounced as being "very good" (1:31). Humanity is to "fill the earth and subdue it"—to be God’s representatives on this planet and caretakers of the creation (1:28). But, in a sense, all is not completely revealed to this point in Genesis about God’s aim in creating humanity. Is there no further purpose for the human race (and, from the writer’s point of view, of his choosing Israel to be his people) than to fill and subdue the earth? And, so the writer refers to God’s "rest," and tells us that it is holy—set apart for some purpose. But for what purpose? And, how does this relate to humanity and Israel?
That the creation of man and woman was announced just before the making of the holy rest could imply that this "rest" has something to do with the creation in general and humanity in particular. God, as it were, "sits back" after setting his creative purpose in motion and pronounces everything as being good. Since God doesn’t literally get tired, we can understand his "rest" as figurative, and as part of his creative purpose. We could see the "rest" in question as extending to humans (and Israel) in some way since they seem to be the end object of God’s creative process.
Humanity’s loss
But whatever this rest is to signify, the ensuing Genesis story tells us it is not something that humans enjoy in a physical sense except, perhaps, for a brief interlude in the Garden of Eden. Almost immediately after creation, we read about the tragic circumstances that befall Adam and Eve in the Garden. They sin and are punished for it by increased labor rather than rest. The notion of labor, of the opposite of rest, becomes a major motif of the Genesis account.
Eve must labor in childbearing. The Lord tells her, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." (3:16). For mother Eve, childbearing becomes a painful work. Adam will be forced to labor to fill his mouth. The Lord tells him, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life" (3:17, emphasis ours throughout).
Their son, Cain, murders Abel. The latter’s blood, figuratively finds no rest, as it "cries out" from the ground (4:10). For his sin, Cain will be forced to engage in backbreaking labor. The Lord tells him, "When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you" (4:12). More than that, Cain was to be a "restless wanderer on the earth" (4:12). He would have neither rest in his labor nor rest from enemies seeking to kill him because of his murder of Abel.
The "anti-rest" motif continues in Genesis. When Noah was born, a great hope was attached to his future. It was said of him, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed" (5:29). But humanity found no rest because "the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence" (6:11). The only "rest" humanity could achieve was to rest in peace in death. And God caused the flood to destroy human civilization and end humanity’s suffering.
In Noah, God restated and broadened the covenant made with Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28-30. He reissued his promise to neither curse the ground nor to destroy humanity despite the fact that he knew "every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood" (8:21; 9:8-17). Despite this covenant of promise, many generations passed during which humans became increasingly alienated from God. The story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel indicate the condition of the human race. Then God made a covenant with Abraham. This is first found in Genesis 12:2-3:
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
Israel in toil and slavery
We know the rest of the story from Genesis. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and he had a son named Jacob. (Jacob himself had to be saved by the Lord from 20 years of servitude at Laban’s hand—Genesis 31:38-42.) As Jacob said to Laban: "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hand"(verse 42).
Jacob had 12 sons. The oldest ten sold their young brother, Joseph, into Egyptian slavery. During a famine, they all moved to Egypt, where the family of Jacob grew into a great nation. But the Egyptians placed the Israelites into slavery and hard bondage. They, too, failed to find the "rest" of God. The first chapter of Exodus, verses 11-14, shows how Israel subsequently suffered as a slave people:
So they [the Egyptians] put slave masters over them [the Israelites] to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. . . .The Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
Israel rescued
The writer of Exodus was trying to make a point, again about the notion of "rest." The Israelites were oppressed with hard and forced labor—and they had no rest for their souls. But help was on the way after many generations. We read in Exodus 2:23-24:
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
The savior of Israel would be Moses, who as a young man had seen his own people in slavery and "watched them at their hard labor" (2:11). Now, after his own exile of 40 years in the desert, the Lord appeared to him and said in Exodus 3:7-8:
I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And, again, Moses was to tell the Israelites about their impending freedom and physical rest:
Say to the Israelites: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God" [Exodus 6:6-7].
A covenant of "rest"
Here is the first intimation of a covenant between God and Israel. It is a covenant based on God providing freedom from slavery, and hence rest from interminable labor. Thus, the "rest" of God mentioned in Genesis 2:2, which was not attained by humans because of sin, was now promised in a kind of second Garden of Eden—the Promised Land. The old covenant, then, was a covenantal promise of peace, prosperity and security for Israel in the Promised Land (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14). It contained all the elements that give human beings a feeling of well-being and "rest."
In short, the old covenant was a promise of physical rest to God’s people, which (as shown in Genesis 2) was part of God’s creative purpose at the beginning. We will see how this purpose of "rest" unfolds, but we are getting somewhat ahead of our story. Let’s backtrack a moment to God’s promise through Moses that he would provide freedom and rest to the people of Israel.
We know from the Exodus story that the Egyptian Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go free. He ordered that they should work even harder for their captors (Exodus 5). But God did rescue the Israelites and brought them into the Wilderness in preparation for their entering the Promised Land of freedom and rest. However, that generation failed to trust the Lord, and they were not allowed to enter. They died without coming into their rest.
The next generation of Israelites did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. They were told to obey the covenant that had been made between the people and the Lord. All the tribes were told to help each other take possession of the land "until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you" (Joshua 1:15). We read that this promise was fulfilled. In a summary statement before Joshua’s farewell to the nation, it was said that "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1).
Despite Israel’s lapses from faith and obedience, the Lord fulfilled his promise to give the nation prosperity and rest. The high point of this physical rest and well-being occurred during the days of king Solomon. The writer said of this time: "During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25). The nation of Israel had experienced the physical "rest" of God in great fullness.
One of the hallmarks of the Law of Moses was an emphasis on the "rest" that God provided Israel. This included a bounty of unimagined physical blessings (Deuteronomy 7:10-12). God’s merciful grace in saving the nation from extreme toil and servitude in Egypt—and his giving the people bountiful physical blessings in the Promised Land—was to be memorialized in the religious practices of the nation. A weekly Sabbath of rest from work was a main feature of this rest memorial.
A good comparison for Christians is the Lord’s Supper. The bread and wine remind Christians that God has saved them through the redemptive work of Christ. On the other hand, the Israelites rested each week to remind them that God had saved them from Egyptian bondage and had blessed them abundantly.
Exodus 20:11 explains why God gave Israel the Sabbath day. Here, we read: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (These are the same words the writer of Genesis wrote for the creation account.) In a restatement of the Sabbath command in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 a related reason was given for the Sabbath "rest" command. "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day" (5:15).
What had the writer seen here? Possibly, he saw that what God had done with Israel was the beginning of a restoration of God’s purpose through Israel. His purpose, dimly seen in the Garden of Eden story, was that human beings should live in a relationship with him, through which they would be blessed. If they were one with God, then they would enter his rest because he would bless them physically. That was certainly God’s intent, as the Garden of Eden story tells us. But human beings sinned and were cursed. Humans were cut off from the presence of God and the relationship with him was broken.
Reminder of blessings
With Israel, as the Exodus and old covenant show us, God had again moved to begin to bring the human race back into a relationship with himself. Israel would be the starting place. The nations would look at Israel, living in blessedness and loving obedience to Yahweh, and perhaps other nations might also someday come to love the Lord and find blessing as well (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). That was the ideal—just as the Garden of Eden had been an ideal. But as we know from the rest of the story of the Old Testament, the ideal was not achieved.
The reason Israel was to keep the seventh day as a rest period was because of a physical "rest" that was available to the nation. As slaves in Egypt, they had no rest for themselves, but toiled in harsh labor daily, at the whim of their taskmasters. God had freed them from this slavish labor and had given them freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land. Israel was supposed to remember the gracious freedom and rest they had been given—and they were to do this each week
The weekly rest was but one memorial of how God had saved the nation from Egyptian slavery and mindless toil. There were seven yearly "rest" days within three yearly festival seasons that also were celebrated by cessation from labor (Leviticus 23:7-8, 21, 25, 32, 35-36). These were harvest festivals when Israel could give thanks for the bountiful crops they had reaped—and when they could rest from their labor. By contrast, in Egypt the Israelites had toiled ceaselessly for uncaring taskmasters.
Beyond that, the land was to lie idle and not be tilled every seventh year (Leviticus 25:1-7). This means that while the land rested, the people could also rest because they did not need to seed or till. Whatever the land produced on its own could be eaten.
Also, each 50th year was a land rest (Leviticus 25:8-12). More than that, the year was a year of release, as we read in verse 10: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan." In Egypt, the Israelites had neither land nor inheritance. Now, God had given the nation the Promised Land, and each family was to enjoy its own parcel of ground.
While the Promised Land was not a place of idleness and ease, there was rest from backbreaking and meaningless toil on someone else’s land. On the other hand, the Promised Land would yield abundant produce because of the blessing of the Lord. The nation would rest from war and the fear of famine and disease. The inhabitants could breathe a sigh of relief—and they could "rest" both physically and psychologically in the sure knowledge that God was watching over them.
The meaning
Now we can understand why the writer of Genesis may have been so keen to divide the physical creation into a six day format and then make the seventh day a day of God’s "rest." It must have been driven home to him through his experience with the saving acts of the God of Israel, that his purpose was to rescue humanity from the curse that they had brought upon themselves. This curse had required backbreaking toil in unyielding soil to grow enough to eat. The curse had also brought famine and disease, fighting and war. Life was anything but restful.
The writer of Genesis must have seen the problem of the "curse" and the restless sorrow it had brought as having been solved specifically in the promises to the nation of Israel. Israel had once been in captivity and the people had been forced to toil incessantly under taskmasters. Life was neither prosperous nor restful. But God had purposed to fulfill his covenant with Abraham whereby he would rescue his descendants from terrible toil in slavery. The nation would find true prosperity, peace and rest under the protection and blessing of the Creator, the one true God. The nation’s religious practices including various "rest" days and times reminded the people that they had been saved from toil and slavery in Egypt and now rested in peace and prosperity under the loving hand of their God.
Genesis was written for Israelites who lived in the Promised Land, who were to commemorate each week the rest they had been given by the Creator. Their weekly experience of rest was then associated with the creation by the words of Genesis 2:2-3. The writer of Genesis was informed by and influenced by the weekly Sabbath as he wrote about the "rest" of God. He was writing from the point of view of an Israelite who had been saved from slavery and who enjoyed the "rest" God provided the nation. The writer understood that the various rest days commanded for Israel—the weekly Sabbath, annual festivals, and years of agricultural rest and release—reflected what God had done for the nation. Thus, God’s actions of providing "rest" signaled to the writer that in God’s creative purpose his creatures should find rest in him. In the world there was cursing and trouble, but in God’s kingdom—the Promised Land—there was prosperity, peace and rest.
Genesis 2:2-3, then, is not an early command for all people to keep the seventh day as holy time. It is a reflection of the writer’s understanding that humans should find their rest in God. For the nation of Israel, the old covenant specified that this was to be commemorated by a weekly physical rest on the seventh day. There is no command for other peoples to do the same. Other peoples did not have the physical "rest" of the Promised Land nor the command for physical rest on the seventh day. What the Israelites had was a physical image of a spiritual reality; other nations did not have this.
Future promise
The Old Testament shows that the restful state of affairs did not last very long for Israel. The nation sinned and the people suffered invasion, curses on their land and captivity. The old covenant between God and Israel failed because the nation did not live up to its promises to be faithful to God (Hebrews 4:2).
Later in Israel’s history, the prophets spoke of the need for a new covenant, based on better promises. Isaiah prophesied of a time when God would renew his covenant with Israel and give them a final rest. In chapter 11, Isaiah spoke of a Branch to come, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest. The Spirit of the Lord would be upon him and he would bring justice, mercy and peace. The Branch would usher in God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace.
In soaring metaphorical language, Isaiah said of this new era: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat. . .the cow will feed with the bear. . .The lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra" (verses 6-8). He summarized this future hope by painting the arrival of an idyllic worldwide kingdom of God: "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full for the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (verse 9). "In that day," when this future kingdom would be established, the Lord would bring his people Israel out from all the nations (verse 11). And what would he give his people? He would give them "rest." Isaiah explains: "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious" (verse 10).
Jeremiah also spoke of the rest that the Lord would bring. "‘At that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people.’ This is what the Lord says: ‘The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel ’" (Jeremiah 31:1-2).
It’s no wonder the Jews looked for a Messiah that would save them from their enemies and gather the Jews to Israel. It was a beautiful vision of peace and prosperity. The Messiah would make the regathered clans of Israel in the Promised Land the people of the kingdom of God in which righteousness, justice and prosperity would know no bounds. The enemies of the Jews, whoever they might be, would be defeated and destroyed.
Jesus is our "rest"
The Branch, the Root of Jesse, the Redeemer Messiah, came as promised, in the person of Jesus. He offered the greatest "rest" the world would ever know, but it was not a physical rest of power and prosperity given to a single nation within certain geographic borders. Jesus brought the offer of "rest" of freedom from sin and death to peoples of all nations—and a future life in the eternal kingdom of God.
The notion of "God’s rest" found in Genesis 2:2-3 and the Old Testament was still alive and well. Yes, God would send the Deliverer, and his rest would be glorious. That rest, though, would be the result of the redemptive work of Jesus, and it would be commemorated not through the seventh day, but through Jesus. In Matthew 11:28, Jesus told his hearers: "Come to me, all of you 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." What a glorious promise to a hurting humanity. But we understand that Jesus was not necessarily promising physical rest and peace, but an eternal and spiritual rest.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27). Jesus did not promise his disciples a Promised Land of peace, plenty and security. In fact, in his last talk with the disciples before his arrest, Jesus told them they would have anything but physical rest. "I have told you these things," Jesus warned, "so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
The promise to Israel had been peace, prosperity and rest in the Promised Land in exchange for obedience to the old covenant and Law of Moses. The New Testament "rest" is a rest in Christ. It is the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit and a spiritual rebirth that leads to eternal life in the kingdom of God. This is the ultimate "rest" of God. God’s purpose in Genesis 2:2-3, not completely understood under the old covenant, is now revealed and fulfilled in its final sense through Christ.
Part 2: The book of Hebrews
This is explained in Hebrews 3:1-4:11, which speaks of something vital Christians share—the "heavenly calling" we have in Christ (3:1). It is in these verses that we learn what the "rest" of Genesis 2:2-3 pictures to Christians. The subject at hand in these verses begins to be addressed under the word "today" in Hebrews 3:7, when the writer quotes Psalm 95:7-11:
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, "Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways." So I declared an oath in my anger, "They shall never enter my rest."
Psalm 95 refers to the wilderness story as told in Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-13. There are several things we should notice about this passage in Hebrews. The author focuses on the introductory word of the quotation, "today," and the phrase in which it is found. He repeats the word "today" five times (3:7, 13, 15; twice in 4:7) and the phrase, "Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts" three times (3:7, 15; 4:7). The phrase with its opening word "today" is significant for the writer in that it allows him to apply the promise of "rest" found in the Scripture to his readers. William Lane discusses this point in the Word Biblical Commentary on Hebrews:
"Today" provided the writer with a catchword for bringing the biblical statement before his hearers sharply. "Today" is no longer the today of the past, surveyed by the psalmist in his situation, but the today of the present, which continues to be conditioned by the voice of God that speaks day after day through the Scriptures and in the gospel tradition [page 87].
Lane makes the point that Psalm 95 "was a prophetic announcement that God was determining a future date for making his rest available" (page 100). The writer of Hebrews insists that the prophecy is being fulfilled in his day, in the church—and his readers need to heed its call. He wants his readers to make a connection between themselves and the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness. The author emphasizes a key concept: The Old Testament promise that God’s people would enter into "rest" is being fulfilled in the church and through Christ.
He begins by discussing God’s "rest" in terms of the promise of God to bring the rescued Israelites into the Promised Land. But as we know, and as the Scripture points out, the first generation of freed Israelites did not enter God’s "rest," but they died in the wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35). The Israelites Moses led out of Egypt did not enter into God’s "rest." The author wants his Christian readers to focus on the meaning of this tragedy. They are not to turn away from the living God (3:12) or be "hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (3:13). Rather, they are to "hold firmly till the end" their first confidence (3:14) so that they may enter into God’s "rest."
The writer summarizes his admonition by saying, "Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it" (4:1). The readers of Hebrews are encouraged to keep up their faith and hope in Christ. Otherwise, as the unbelieving Israelites in Moses’ day lost their opportunity to enter the rest in Canaan, the believers may forfeit the greater blessings of the new age "rest."
From the beginning
The author of Hebrews then turns to a discussion of God’s "rest" from another point of view. He says that this "rest"—whatever it is—has been available to humanity since the beginning: "His [God’s] work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: ‘And on the seventh day God rested from all his work’" (4:3-4).
The "somewhere" is Genesis 2:2. In the days when Hebrews was written, the Scriptures were written on scrolls. It was much more difficult to look up specific passages, so writers often quoted passages from memory. But here is our familiar Scripture, and the one we sought to understand in terms of its meaning for Christians. We can understand the "rest" described in Genesis 2:2-3 as the archetype of all later experiences of rest—including the various rest commands given at Sinai, the actual physical rest Israel received from its enemies under Joshua (a type of Christ), and the promised future rest of the kingdom of God.
From a Christian perspective, the Genesis "rest" of God, applied to God’s creative purpose in Genesis 2:2, can be seen to typify the spiritual salvation of the people of God. That means the weekly Sabbath rest (along with the other rest commands in the Law of Moses) is a lesser expression—a shadow, as it were—of the true "rest" symbolically inaugurated at the seventh day of creation. This makes the weekly Sabbath a metaphor of the Genesis "rest" of God, as was the Canaan rest.
The idea of the Genesis rest is that, beginning with the seventh day of creation, God ceased creating. He continues in a state of nonwork so far as further creating things physical is concerned. However, this doesn’t mean God has been idle. Leon Morris points this out in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Hebrews:
It is worth noticing that in the creation story each of the first six days is marked by the refrain "And there was evening, and there was morning." However, this is lacking in the account of the seventh day. There we simply read that God rested from all his work. This does not mean that God entered a state of idleness, for there is a sense in which he is continually at work (John 5:17). But the completion of creation marks the end of a magnificent whole.... So we should think of the rest as something like the satisfaction that comes from accomplishment, from the completion of a task, from the exercise of creativity [page 41].
F.F. Bruce also explained what this means in the volume on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
When we read that God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done" (Gen. 2:2), we are to understand that hebegan to rest then; the fact that he is never said to have completed his rest and resumed his work of creation implies that his rest continues still, and may be shared by those who respond to his overtures with faith and obedience [page 106].
Thus, God’s "rest" has been available from the time the creation was finished—from the foundation of the world. Even though it has been available, very few people entered into it before Jesus’ death and resurrection. The offer of entering this "rest" still stands. The writer of Hebrews makes this point by saying: "It still remains that some will enter that rest" (4:6). Whatever this "rest" is, the writer is emphasizing that it is—at the time of writing—a promise his readers can take advantage of. In fact, they must take advantage of it, and not fail to achieve the "rest" because of disobedience (4:11).
Joshua’s "rest"
The author of Hebrews must have realized as he wrote that, on the surface, there had been an apparent large-scale exception to his claim that no people had ever entered a "rest" of God. After all, the second generation of Israelites who were saved from Egypt did enter the Promised Land under Joshua. We read that under Joshua "the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them" (Joshua 23:1). But the writer of Hebrews quickly points out that this is not the kind of "rest" he has in mind, or one that constituted God’s ultimate objective—the "rest" promised to Christians. Hundreds of years after Joshua led the Israelites into the rest of the Promised Land, the Psalmist urged people to enter a divine rest, and later still, the author of Hebrews was insisting that there is a "rest" its readers must yet enter into. Clearly, there is more to the "rest" in question than mere entry into Canaan. Hebrews tells us: "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" (4:8-9).
As it turns out, Israel had not secured the true "rest" after all. Thus, the writer can exhort his readers to seek, obtain and hold on to this superior "rest" in Christ. This is the true "rest" to which Genesis 2:2-3, the literal Sabbath, the other festival rests, the Wilderness experience, the Joshua rest, and the prophecy of Psalm 95 all looked forward to. He is interested in the redemptive and eternal rest in the kingdom of God, of which the weekly Sabbath and Canaan rests were but symbols.
William Lane, in the Hebrews commentary in the Word Biblical Commentary, explains why the Joshua rest was but a type of the true "rest":
The settlement of Canaan did not mark the fulfillment of the divine promise but pointed to another, more fundamental reality. If in fact Joshua had achieved the promised rest, there would have been no need for the renewal of the promise in Ps 95. Accordingly, the experience of rest in Canaan was only a type or symbol of the complete rest that God intended for his people, which was prefigured in the Sabbath rest of God [page 101].
We have now come from Genesis 2:2-3 to Hebrews 4:9-11, and we see something interesting. The author is not telling his readers to keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath holy by resting on it. He is not talking about the weekly Sabbath at all. Rather, he is making the point that there is a spiritual "rest" that God’s people should be entering into. It is the heavenly counterpart of the earthly Canaan, and this is the goal of the people of God today—to achieve this present and eternal rest. The epistle of Hebrews has made this point by creating an analogy between the Israelites entering the Promised Land and Christians entering the better promise of a new-covenant spiritual "rest."
A present "rest"?
The Promised Land was a physical type or foreshadowing of a spiritual "rest" that the Israelites had not yet entered. And the weekly Sabbath was a temporal foreshadowing of the spiritual "rest" that God wants his people to enjoy. Christians have entered God’s "rest" by their faith in Jesus Christ. "Now we who have believed enter [or, "are entering"] that rest," the writer insists (4:3). Christians have the real rest, the spiritual rest, and do not need to observe shadows of it, neither geographically nor temporally. Jesus himself during his ministry had promised a rest for the spirit:
Come to me, all you 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 (Matthew 11:28-29).
Leon Morris points out in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary that the word for "enter" in Hebrews 4:3 is in the present tense. This would mean the author of Hebrews was suggesting that his readers were already in the process of entering the "rest" of salvation that Jesus had promised. Some commentators agree that the Hebrews 4:3 "rest" into which Christians have entered begins now, in this life. Leon Morris quotes Hugh Montefiore on this point:
Contrary to some commentators, the Greek means neither that they are certain to enter, nor that they will enter, but that they are already in process of entering [page 40].
In fairness, Morris points out that some other commentators feel that the "rest" is something that occurs in the future. The present tense used here, they insist, is meant to be applied only in a generalizing sense. Morris concludes by saying:
Either view is defensible and probably much depends on our idea of the "rest." If it lies beyond death, then obviously "rest" must be understood in terms of the future. But if it is a present reality, then believers are entering it now [page 40].
We enter now
The view of this paper is that Christians have begun to enter their spiritual "rest" now. We are receiving some of the blessings of salvation, even though we do not yet enjoy them in their fullness. Peter says that Christ "has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). Paul says God "has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). The author of Hebrews says that we are "the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven" (12:23).
It is in part a question of how we understand when the kingdom of God comes—now or in the future? The answer is both. The kingdom is already, but not yet. There is a sense that the kingdom is both present and yet obviously only future in its full reality. Christians can be said to live in the tension between promise and fulfillment, between the already and the not yet, between the glimmer and the reality. But they have nevertheless entered the "rest," even if only in an imperfect and qualified way. The spiritual realities we already enjoy, although incomplete, are enough that we do not need to observe the physical symbols and rituals of the old covenant.
We have already been invited to enter God’s end-of-creation, the Genesis 2:2-3 "rest," by believing in the Son of God. By faith, we have joined with him in his "rest." By faith, we have become new creations—created anew. Our re-creation is not yet complete, but we already have been given entrance, through Christ, into God’s kingdom "rest."
The writer of Hebrews does not state how he views the time in which the "rest" takes place. His concern is with the spiritual reality, not the physical shadow. But as we’ve seen, his concern seems to be with the present time—with today. He no doubt understands that the fullness of rest comes only with a future resurrection (10:37-38; 12:26). But his point of view in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the present time, the time for which he is writing. The writer is thinking of the salvation "rest" as beginning in the present. Otherwise, one can be misled about which "rest" he is interested in—the spiritual one or a physical one such as the weekly Sabbath day.
One traditional commentary, the Critical, Experimental and Practical Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, became confused on this issue and came (this paper concludes) to a wrong conclusion:
It is Jesus, the antitype of Joshua, who leads us into the heavenly rest. This verse [4:9] indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath; for the type continues until the antitype supersedes it: so legal sacrifices continued till the great antitypical sacrifice superseded it. As then the antitypical Sabbath rest will not be till Christ comes to usher us into it, the typical earthly Sabbath must continue till then [page 537].
The authors, we believe, have erred. Influenced by the Puritans, they were thinking of a Sunday Sabbath, and reading their own opinions into the text. The principle they enunciate is erroneous. The type does not continue until the antitype supersedes it. Various Old Testament rituals pictured purity and holiness, and even though we do not yet see complete purity and holiness in the church, the rituals are obsolete. More correctly, types continue only as long as God says they do, and God has declared the old covenant obsolete. It has served its purpose, even though God’s plan is not yet complete. Moreover, true spiritual rest is found through faith in Christ, and Christ has already come. The antitype has arrived. Christ has already led us into the heavenly rest just as he is already our sacrifice for sin. We have come to Christ and he has given us rest—seated us in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). This argues against the commentary’s claim that the literal Sabbath is in force. The antitypical salvation rest has already been ushered in, albeit incompletely. Thus, the shadow (the literal Sabbath) is no longer required.
No matter how the writer of Hebrews conceives of the future "rest" in the post-resurrection kingdom of God, he is not concerned to discuss it in chapters 3 and 4. He is interested in his readers who are alive when he writes—and who need to take hold of the promise of spiritual "rest" in this age. F.F. Bruce agreed that the future rest is not in view here. He stated the following in his commentary on Hebrews in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
The identification of the rest of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews with a coming millennium on earth has, indeed, been ably defended; but it involves the importation into the epistle of a concept which in fact is alien to it [pages 106-107].
The writer of Hebrews is not so much concerned with the future as with the present spiritual state of his readers. "Tomorrow," so to speak, is not in his view in the passage we are studying. That’s why he stresses the word "today." It was the privilege of the readers to enter God’s "rest" then—and it is our privilege to do so now. For us, today is "today," not some future time. The promise of entering God’s "rest" remains valid for each generation—and is repeated to each successive generation—in the church age.
Rest and work
Hebrews 4:9-11 is telling us we have entered into God’s promised "rest," the one he prophetically inaugurated on the seventh day of creation. This is the writer’s main theme. The epistle has already noted that God’s "work has been finished since the creation of the world" (4:3). That is, the "rest" of salvation has been offered and promised to humanity since the foundation of the world. It was, in a manner of speaking, a work of creation, inaugurated with humanity and for humanity. Donald Guthrie writes the following on this point:
What believers can now enter is none other than the same kind of rest which the Creator enjoyed when he had completed his works, which means that the rest idea is of completion and not of inactivity. . . .It is important to note that the "rest" is not something new that has not been known in experience until Christ came. It has been available throughout the whole of man’s history. This reference back to the creation places the idea on the broadest possible basis and would seem to suggest that it was part of God’s intention for man. "Rest" is a quality that has eluded man’s quest, and in fact cannot be attained except through Christ [Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, "Hebrews," page 113].
As long as we have faith in Christ—the main point of Hebrews—no matter what day of the week it is, we have entered God’s "rest" and we are resting from our own works. "We who have believed enter that rest. . . .Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:3, 10). What does the author mean by "work"? He is not discussing the question of employment on the weekly Sabbath day. That is not his interest. (He has been encouraging his readers to enter the spiritual "rest" of salvation throughout Hebrews 3 and 4.) The writer of Hebrews wants his readers to stop putting their faith in the things that humans do, such as the works of the old covenant—and to place their faith in Christ as Savior. He wants them to look to the work of Christ, which gives forgiveness and empowerment through the Holy Spirit, allowing us to enter the true spiritual "rest."
In comparison to Christ, the writer has a low view of the "works" of the Law of Moses. He says of the Law in general and the Levitical priesthood as a whole:
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God (7:18-19).
The author of Hebrews seems to be suggesting that the people to whom he wrote should rest from the ceremonial "work" they needed to do under the Mosaic Law. Their "work" in such things as offering sacrifices could not save nor endear them to God. They were saved by grace through faith in Christ, and were endeared to God by that same grace.
The weekly Sabbath?
The Jewish Christians or Gentile believers to whom Hebrews was written were already attracted to Judaistic practices. This is clear from reading the book. It was written to show the church why Judaistic practices were not necessary for Christians to perform. The individuals to whom the book was written would have already been observing the Sabbath day and would not need any admonishment to rest on this day. Even the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary understands this point. We find this explanation given for Hebrews 4:9 on page 423:
Certainly, in writing to Jews, the author of Hebrews would not consider it necessary to prove to them that Sabbathkeeping "remaineth." If the conclusion of the extended argument beginning with ch. 3:7 is that Sabbathkeeping remains for the people of God, it would seem that the writer of Hebrews is guilty of a non sequitur, for the conclusion does not follow logically from the argument. There would have been no point in so labored an effort to persuade the Jews to do what they were already doing—observing the seventh-day Sabbath. . . .What relationship a protracted argument designed to prove that Sabbath observance remains an obligation to the Christian church might have to the declared theme of chs. 3 and 4—the ministry of Christ as our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary—is obscure indeed.
The writer of Hebrews is interested in the spiritual or heavenly meaning of such things as the Sabbath and animal sacrifices, not their literal observances, which are shadows of the true "rest" and sacrifice for sin. In fact, the very Israelites who had been given the Sabbath (the generation that left Egypt) failed to enter God’s "rest." So did the Jews who strictly kept the Sabbath day when Hebrews was written. Keeping the Sabbath does not automatically bring someone to God. Why, then, would the writer of Hebrews insist on it? The fact is, the literal seventh-day Sabbath is not in his view at all.
The book of Hebrews, considered as a whole, tells us that the practices of the Mosaic Law are obsolete (7:11-12, 18-19). This would refer to the works or observances of the Law (of which the Sabbath is one example), as opposed to its great moral principles. These are eternal principles that define our relationship with God and fellow human beings. They precede the old covenant, were imbedded into that covenant, and remain as fundamental principles of the new covenant, which made the old passé.
The new covenant theme of Hebrews suggests—though it doesn’t directly make an issue of this—that the weekly Sabbath day as described in the old covenant has been superseded by a better promise. In particular, Hebrews 4:9-11 tells us that the various allusions of "rest" in the Old Testament, including Genesis 2:2-3 and the weekly Sabbath, picture a spiritual reality to Christians—the eternal rest of God. But that is all Hebrews tells us. It does not seem to address the issue of whether the weekly Sabbath should be kept or not. This is not the author’s interest.
In conclusion
Let us now close the circle between Genesis 2:2-3 and Hebrews 3:1-4:11. We have seen that God had given Israel physical rest in the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, just as Adam and Eve would have had physical "rest" in the Garden of Eden. But the first humans, like all others after them, sinned. Adam and Eve and their descendents were cursed and lost their "rest" until God saved Israel from slavery and the nation entered the Promised Land.
As part of its covenantal law, God gave Israel various rest days and years to commemorate their having achieved physical blessings (the "rest") in the Lord (Deuteronomy 5:15). The writer of Genesis saw this reality—which the rest days (especially the weekly Sabbath) commemorated—as a fulfillment of God’s original purpose at the creation. The writer included the statement about the symbolic meaning of the Sabbath (that is, about God’s "rest"—Exodus 20:11) in his description of the creation in Genesis 2:2-3. This was then a prophetical statement of God’s purpose of providing physical bounty to his human creatures, now fulfilled in Israel.
What the writer of Genesis did not clearly see, since he was an individual who lived under the old covenant, is that God’s real purpose was to provide humanity with another "rest"—a true eternal rest. This more fundamental purpose was fulfilled in Christ, and could be understood only after he had completed his redemptive work. Thus, Christ is the true Sabbath rest of Genesis 2:2-3—promised to us from the beginning (Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:4-6; Hebrews 4:3; Revelation 13:8). This is how the author of Hebrews (in 3:1-4:11) understands that "rest."
Thanks be to God that through his love he gave us his Son, allowing us in his mercy to begin to enter into his eternal rest.
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Two Greek Words for "Rest"
We should briefly take up the issue of the Greek words for "rest" used in Hebrews 4:9-10. We quote here the verses in question and show the two Greek words being used: "There remains…a Sabbath-rest [sabbatismos] for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest [katapausin] also rests from his own work" (4:9-10).
A Greek-English interlinear of the New Testament shows that the Greek word katapausin is used to denote "rest" throughout Hebrews 3:7-4:11. There is one exception, in 4:9, as shown above. Here, sabbatismos is used, and it is translated "Sabbath-rest" in the New International Version. The word is formed from the verb sabbatizo, which means to "keep/observe/celebrate the Sabbath."
The only time in the Bible that sabbatismos is used is here in Hebrews 4:9. The word is not found in ancient Greek literature until well after the time when Hebrews was written. Some decades later, sabbatismos is found in Plutarch as part of a list of superstitious practices. In his work, the word signifies weekly Sabbath observance. In later Christian documents, sabbatismos sometimes indicates the celebration or festivity associated with the Sabbath day.
With this in mind, William Lane translates Hebrews 4:9 as: "There remains a Sabbath celebration for the people of God." He points out that the use ofsabbatismos is meant to "define more precisely the character of the future rest promised to the people of God" (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 47A, "Hebrews," page 101). The word conveyed something about the promised spiritual rest that katapausin would not have done—"the special aspect of festivity and joy, expressed in the adoration and praise of God" for his wonderful grace (page 102).
On one level, the writer of Hebrews seems to have used the two Greek words interchangeably. In 4:9, he says that a promised Sabbath-rest (sabbatismos) remains for the people of God to enter into, and this same rest is called God’s katapausin "rest." Some scholars suggest that the writer of Hebrews coined the word. He wanted to differentiate between the ultimate spiritual "rest" and the Promised Land rest into which Israel went. If so, the author may also have been making the same difference between the true spiritual "rest" and the weekly Sabbath rest. That is to say, the Sabbath day is a metaphor of the true rest in the same way that the Israelites entering the Promised Land under Joshua was also a metaphor for spiritual rest.
Since the seventh-day Sabbath is but a symbol of the true spiritual rest, the writer would have no logical reason to stress the keeping of the weekly Sabbath. Like the Promised Land, the Sabbath day itself was a shadow that prefigured the coming reality—the spiritual "rest" of the Christian in Christ.
To summarize: The spiritual rest of salvation into which God’s people are entering is a sabbatismos—a "sabbath keeping"—in the sense that it is a participation in God’s own "rest," which we enter by faith (4:3). "Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his" (4:10). That is to say, the sabbatismos rest of God described in Hebrews 4:9 refers to the salvation "rest" into which all Christians have entered. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the culmination of this rest does not occur until the resurrection. But, upon conversion, we have begun the journey.
The weekly Old Testament Sabbath points to the blessing and joy of the spiritual "rest" Christians have in Christ. This may be why the author of Hebrews coined the word sabbatismos—making a play off the word for the Sabbath day (sabbaton). That is, sabbatismos stressed the joy, the celebration, the peace, the jubilation of the spiritual "rest" Christians enjoy. (We’ve put "rest" in quotes here because it does not really mean inactivity.)
Hebrews is not clear as to the writer’s attitude toward the weekly Sabbath day. Perhaps he wanted his readers, who were attracted to old covenant customs, to understand the Sabbath’s true meaning in the light of the Christ event , but without having to make an issue of whether it needs to be kept or not. This would certainly be in the spirit of Romans 14, in which the apostle Paul avoided making one’s view of "sacred days" a test or issue of faith or fellowship.
The Sabbath is meaningful on its own terms, just as the Festival of Tabernacles or the Passover-Exodus is. After all, the Sabbath stands as a metaphor of the whole purpose and meaning of redemption, as do the sacrifices and other old covenant, Mosaic institutions. They foreshadowed the true spiritual "rest" we have in Christ, which includes a "resting" in forgiveness of sin and "resting" from sin itself through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
But Hebrews 4:9 issues no command about keeping or not keeping the Sabbath. In fact, the book as a whole makes the point that all the old covenant institutions are obsolete now that the reality has come in Christ. The verse in question cannot be used as a proof-text to insist that Christians keep a weekly seventh-day Sabbath rest. The verses in question do not exhort us to keep an old covenant Sabbath, but they do admonish us to enter the spiritual "rest" of God by having faith in Christ.
1The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, volume 3, page 219, edited by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, gives the following explanation ofsabbatismos:
1. The NT offers in Hebrews 4:9 the oldest documentation of the noun sabbatismos, which occurs several times in post-NT early Christian writings independently of Hebrews 4:9 (e.g., Justin Dial. 23:3; Origen Orat. 27:16; Epiphanius Haer. xxx.2.2; lxvi 85:9;Acts (Martyrdom) of Peter and Paul 1; Apostolic Constitutions ii.36.2; pseudo-Macarius (Symeon) Homily 12.2.4.... At present,sabbatismos has been documented in non-Christian writings only in Plutarch Superst. 3 (Moralia 166a).
The noun is derived from the verb sabbatizo, which in the LXX [Septuagint] appears as the translation of Hebrew sabbat. The vb. means: a) "celebrate/observe the sabbath" (Exod 16:30; Lev 23:32; 2 Macc 6:6; so also Ign. Magn. 9:1; Pap. Oxy. 1,1.2; Justin Dial.10:1 and passim), b) "observe (sabbath) rest" (Lev 26:34f.; 2 Chr 36:21; 1 Esdr 1:55).
Accordingly, the substantive means sabbath observance (thus in the non-NT passages mentioned) and sabbath rest (thus the understanding of sabbatismos in Heb 4:9 by Origen Cels. v.59; Selecta in Exod on 16:23 [PG XII, 289b]).
2. In Heb 4:9 sabbatismos encompasses both sabbath rest and (cultic) sabbath observance. The word is neither identical in meaning nor interchangeable with katapausis (3:11, 19; 4:1, 3, 5, 10f); it designates more closely what the people of God should expect when they enter the katapausis of God (cf. 4:9 with v.6a). Just as God rested on the seventh day of creation from all his works, so also will believers find the eternal sabbath rest on the day of the completion of salvation in God’s "place of rest" (see 4:10). Quietistic or mystic elements have nothing to do with this expectation. The statement in Heb 4:9f. remains dependent on a Jewish sabbath theology that associates the idea of sabbath rest with ideas of worship and praise of God (Jub. 2:21; 50:9; Bib. Ant. 11:8; 2 Macc 8:27; cf. also 1 Enoch 41:7). Accordingly, the author of Hebrews understands by sabbatismos the eternal sabbath celebration of salvation, i.e., the perfected community’s worship before God's throne.
Samenvatting:
Sabbat werd aan Israel gegeven zodat ze Gods rust konden binnengaan ondanks de zondeval. De sabbath voorafschaduwde ook de rust in het beloofde land en de rust in Christus. Eenmaal in het beloofde land was de rust niet voltooid, ze waren immers nog niet volledig in Gods rust binnengegaan omdat Jezus nog niet gekomen was. Dankzij Jezus is de rust die verloren was na de zondeval volledig hersteld. ALs we Jezus aannemen gaan we Gods' rust binnen.
Hebreeers 4 roept niet op om de wekelijkse sabbat te vieren. Je moet het artikel zelf maar eventjes lezen.
Sabbat werd aan Israel gegeven zodat ze Gods rust konden binnengaan ondanks de zondeval. De sabbath voorafschaduwde ook de rust in het beloofde land en de rust in Christus. Eenmaal in het beloofde land was de rust niet voltooid, ze waren immers nog niet volledig in Gods rust binnengegaan omdat Jezus nog niet gekomen was. Dankzij Jezus is de rust die verloren was na de zondeval volledig hersteld. ALs we Jezus aannemen gaan we Gods' rust binnen.
Hebreeers 4 roept niet op om de wekelijkse sabbat te vieren. Je moet het artikel zelf maar eventjes lezen.
Ik ben bezig het te lezen maar het is een beetje teveel van het goede zo laat.quote:
Samenvatting:
Sabbat werd aan Israel gegeven zodat ze Gods rust konden binnengaan ondanks de zondeval. De sabbath voorafschaduwde ook de rust in het beloofde land en de rust in Christus. Eenmaal in het beloofde land was de rust niet voltooid, ze waren immers nog niet volledig in Gods rust binnengegaan omdat Jezus nog niet gekomen was. Dankzij Jezus is de rust die verloren was na de zondeval volledig hersteld. ALs we Jezus aannemen gaan we Gods' rust binnen.
Hebreeers 4 roept niet op om de wekelijkse sabbat te vieren. Je moet het artikel zelf maar eventjes lezen.
Je moet me echter nog steeds uitleggen waarom ik niet wekelijks de rust van de sabbat in zou willen gaan, zowel om te stoppen met werken en verfrist te worden, als om de hemelse rust nu al op aarde te ervaren, en als voorproef op de toekomst, ook om mn broers en zussen in Christus te zien en tijd met hen te besteden (die op dezelfde dag niet werken, zodat we elkaar niet constant mislopen), God aanbidden. Wat je me eigenlijk uit zou moeten leggen is, waarom zou God zo gemeen zijn geweest om de sabbat te schrappen?
Ik vind het lief van Hem dat hij mij gebiedt de sabbat te houden. Stel dat iemand van mij eist dat ik 7 dagen per week moet werken, dan kan ik op grond van de autoriteit van de God van het universum weigeren. En niets dat hij er tegen zal kunnen doen, God zal mij helpen.
[ Bericht 5% gewijzigd door Ali_Kannibali op 27-02-2013 00:27:28 ]
Het is bewonderingswaardig om een dag voor God opzij te zetten, maar niet binnen de sektarische context van het zevende-dags adventisme waarbij het vieren van de sabbat een voorwaarde is om gered te worden, waar niet-sabbatvierders naar de hel gaan, waarbij niet-adventisten worden beschouwd als Babyloniers etc. De sabbat was een rituele schaduw-wet die vervult is in Christus. Jezus is nu onze sabbat en hij is elke dag beschikbaar, 7 dagen per week.quote:
[..]
Ik ben bezig het te lezen maar het is een beetje teveel van het goede zo laat.
Je moet me echter nog steeds uitleggen waarom ik niet wekelijks de rust van de sabbat in zou willen gaan, zowel om te stoppen met werken en verfrist te worden, als om de hemelse rust nu al op aarde te ervaren, en als voorproef op de toekomst, ook om mn broers en zussen in Christus te zien en tijd met hen te besteden (die op dezelfde dag niet werken, zodat we elkaar niet constant mislopen), God aanbidden. Wat je me eigenlijk uit zou moeten leggen is, waarom zou God zo gemeen zijn geweest om de sabbat te schrappen?
Ik vind het lief van Hem dat hij mij gebiedt de sabbat te houden. Stel dat iemand van mij eist dat ik 7 dagen per week moet werken, dan kan ik op grond van de autoriteit van de God van het universum weigeren. En niets dat hij er tegen zal kunnen doen, God zal mij helpen.
Ik raad je van harte aan om je bij een evangelische kerk aan te sluiten, eventueel eentje die ook op sabbat diensten draait als je je daar prettig bij voelt.
Haha nee, want geen enkele andere kerk dan de ZDA is profetisch. Behalve de rooms katholieke kerk, maar we weten beide wie dat is.quote:
[..]
Het is bewonderingswaardig om een dag voor God opzij te zetten, maar niet binnen de sektarische context van het zevende-dags adventisme waarbij het vieren van de sabbat een voorwaarde is om gered te worden, waar niet-sabbatvierders naar de hel gaan, waarbij niet-adventisten worden beschouwd als Babyloniers etc. De sabbat was een rituele schaduw-wet die vervult is in Christus. Jezus is nu onze sabbat en hij is elke dag beschikbaar, 7 dagen per week.
Ik raad je van harte aan om je bij een evangelische kerk aan te sluiten, eventueel eentje die ook op sabbat diensten draait als je je daar prettig bij voelt.
Dus nee, ik blijf bij ZDA.
De schaduw van de sabbat is inderdaad vervuld in Christus.
De nieuwe betekenis van de sabbat is dan de rust door recreatie in Christus en de toekomstige hemelse rust.
Ik vind er niets bewonderenswaardigs aan om een dag opzij te zetten voor God. Ik zou niet weten hoe ik het leven door zou moeten komen zonder.
Ik heb ook een interessant en lang artikel.
The Gospels—Jesus and the Sabbath
Jesus' most memorable teaching about the Sabbath came in the context of controversy. Sampey remarked,
It is worthy of note that, while Jesus pushed the moral precepts of the
Decalogue into the inner realm of thought and desire, thus making the
requirement more difficult and the law more exacting, He fought for a
more liberal and lenient interpretation of the law of the Sabbath.
Rigorous sabbatarians must look elsewhere for a champion of their
views.309
This may be so, particularly in reference to the many regulations which had been added to the Sabbath law in the various rabbinic traditions. And "while none of [Jesus'] actions clearly infringes the written law, the non-emergency healings of Jesus certainly 'stretch' it."310 But Jesus' comparative "leniency" with regard to the Sabbath must be understood within its proper framework.
In Matthew 12:1-8 (cf. Mark 2:23-28; and Luke 6:1-5), Jesus comes under attack for his disciples' actions. On a Sabbath day, while walking along the edge of a grainfield, the disciples plucked some of the heads of grain to eat. Luke adds the detail that the disciples were rubbing the grain in their hands (6:1), doubtless to winnow away the chaff. The Pharisees were aghast, and since it was Jesus' disciples who had done this, the Pharisees rightly assumed that it was with Jesus' approval; implicitly, they accused Jesus of contravening the Mosaic law. Moses specifically allowed one to take of his neighbor's grain by hand (Deut. 23:25), but harvesting on the Sabbath was specifically forbidden (Exod. 34:21). Further, the Pharisees may well have perceived the disciples' "rubbing out of the grain as threshing and their blowing away of the chaff as winnowing."311 It is significant also that the charge was never brought against Jesus or his disciples formally; it evidently would not have stood even in their own religious court.312 The disciples' actions were hardly what was in view in the Mosaic prohibition.
What first strikes us about Jesus' response is that he does not answer on these grounds. He does not argue that they have over-extended Moses, however accurate such an argument would have been. Instead, he argues from 1 Samuel 21:1-6 that he constitutes an exceptional case.313 David and his soldiers, during their flight from King Saul, took and ate the showbread in the house of God. This action constituted a violation of the law; the consecrated bread was to be eaten by the priests only (Lev. 24:5-9). Yet David, when hungry and in need, allowed—demanded—this exception from the priest, and that on the Sabbath day.314 So Jesus' opponents are faced with a dilemma: they must choose between their traditions and interpretations of the law on the one hand, and David their great and revered king on the other. In opting for David, they would thereby exonerate the activities of Jesus' disciples, whom they have already pronounced guilty, and implicitly acknowledge the narrowness of their own teachers. The conclusion was an obvious one, however difficult it would have been for them to admit it.
The justification for the actions of David and his men, and by extension, the actions of Jesus' disciples, is still unexplained. Jesus makes mention of David's hunger, thus demonstrating a parallel situation. David "needed" (chreian eschen) to eat, and so now do Jesus' disciples. But this is not the point at issue, really, for unlike David's men, the disciples of Jesus were not hungry to the point of exhaustion. David's was an extreme case; not so for the disciples of Jesus. By implication Jesus lends some insight into the nature of the Sabbath law itself. If the Sabbath were, as is often assumed, a part of God's "unchangeable moral law," it would be very difficult indeed to admit such an exception as this, especially given that this is an exception grounded in human concerns.315 Jesus does not classify the Sabbath as unchanging moral law, and this brought him into conflict with the Pharisees. The Sabbath was not an end in itself, an absolute that admitted no exceptions. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). It was intended for man's benefit, his well-being. To elevate it to a place of tyranny over man is to make more of it than was intended; indeed, it would overthrow it altogether.316
More to the point, it is Jesus who possesses the authority to decide these things—he is "Lord, even [ascensive kai] of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:8). "As lord of the sabbath he stands above the law and implicitly claims the right to define it . . . . It is the Son of Man who decides what is and what is not acceptable behavior on the sabbath."317 That is, the question is not so much Jesus' relation to the Sabbath but its relation to him. As B. B. Warfield stated, "It [the Sabbath] belongs to him. He is the Lord of it; master of it—for that is what 'Lord' means. He may do with it what he will: abolish it if he chooses."318 Jesus "continually subordinates the Sabbath to the demands of His own mission."319 It is not so much a question of the extent of Sabbath regulations but of Jesus' lordship. In the words of Plummer, "The Son of man controls the sabbath, not is controlled by it."320 This is the point at issue, and this is the high point of Jesus' defense (hoste, Mark 2:28 321). If David had the right to make an exception to Israel's ceremonial laws, Jesus has more. Jesus' defense claims the highest possible ground: he has an authority that surpasses even the Sabbath itself. His greatness gives certain rights to his disciples: they may pluck this grain and eat, even on this day of rest.
As a second illustration of his point, Jesus continues, "'Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?'" (Matt. 12:5). The priests continue their work on the Sabbath; indeed, on the Sabbath they are busier than on any other day! But this does not "profane" the Sabbath, for (it is implied) the temple takes precedence over the Sabbath. Again, Jesus claims higher ground—"in this place there is One greater than the temple'" (v. 6). Jesus' rights surpass not only those of the priests but even the temple itself. He is greater. He is greater than David, greater than Jonah (v. 41), greater than Solomon (v. 42), greater than the temple (v. 6), and greater than even the Sabbath (v. 8). Jesus justifies his disciples' actions on the ground of his unsurpassed lordship.322 "This does not mean that Jesus here actually breaks the Sabbath or overrides it, at least a far as Torah is concerned, but it does mean He claims authority to do so, and in a sense questions the Pharisees' right to question Him."323
Jesus only hints here that the Sabbath is being transformed. Some significant change is taking place. He does not specify exactly what that change is, but it is impossible to think that his lordship over the Sabbath will not be exercised in some way. A claim to authority over the Sabbath demands definition. Accordingly, there are some contextual clues as to what changes the Sabbath would undergo. In the preceding paragraph, Jesus offers "rest" to those who are weary (Matt. 11:28), and it is in connection with this ("at that time," 12:1) that Jesus asserts his lordship over the Sabbath. Matthew seems to imply that the "rest" which Jesus offers is that to which the Sabbath pointed. Here, in Jesus, the Sabbath finds its true meaning. Mark casts this incident more explicitly in redemptive-historical terms. The question of fasting was used to show something of the epochal significance of Jesus' person and presence on earth and the newness of this Messianic age (2:18-22—the question of fasting, the new cloth, the new wineskin). The epochal shift marked by the coming of Jesus Christ had ramifications even in regard to the Sabbath day and how it is to be observed in this age. The Lord Jesus has ushered in an age in which God's promised rest is realized. The fuller details of this await the apostolic writings (see below), but our Lord himself here lays the groundwork for that teaching. The statement, as it is, neither confirms nor disallows the continuation of Sabbath observance, in explicit terms. But it emphatically affirms Jesus' inherent right to do with the law as he pleases, and so the foundation for an epochal change is clearly implied. The arrival of God the Son has forever changed the whole significance of the Sabbath day. He has brought about that which it only anticipated.
It was most often Jesus' works of healing on the Sabbath that gave rise to controversy (e.g., Matt. 12:8-14/Mark3:1-6/Luke 6:6-11; 13:10; 14:1-6; John 9:1-41). Brown asserts that Jesus "went out of his way to heal on the Sabbath," but he offers no explicit support.324 He does note later that Jesus intends by his Sabbath healings to demonstrate his lordship over the day, and this may lend some weight to the point. Jesus remarked that it was "necessary" (dei) for the woman with the spirit of infirmity to be healed on the Sabbath, and Moo concludes from this that "Jesus regarded the day as a particularly appropriate time for his ministry of healing."325 It would seem, then, that Jesus' Sabbath healings are designed to illustrate the rest and relase from Satanic "bondage" (Luke 13:16) that Jesus brought and which is typified in the Sabbath. Jesus' emphasis in these passages, however, generally falls on the harshness of the rabbinic Sabbath regulations and the appropriateness of doing good on any day of the week, Sabbath included.
In John 5:1-18, however, there is a further twist. Jesus' emphasis here is similar to that of Matthew 12:1-8 (and parallels)—it is his inherent right to determine what is good on the Sabbath. "'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working'" (John 5:17). Moreover, his superior authority affects not only his own behavior on the Sabbath, but also that of others (namely, the man whom Jesus commanded to rise and carry his pallet). Beyond that, the illustrative function of his healings is something Jesus himself notes. This particular sickness was evidently due to sin (v. 14), and thus "this Sabbath cure is more directly related to the soteriological work for which the Lamb of God came into the world (1:29)."326 This is both Jesus' and his Father's "work"—a work which they had been at for some time. Presumably, this statement—"'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working'" (John 5:17)—points back to mankind's fall into sin and Genesis 3:15 and the work of redemption/rest which God then took up. It also presupposes a soteriological/eschatological view of Genesis 2:2-3.327 This is the Father's work which Jesus has come to do (John 4:34: 9:4), and it is a work of redemption (John 6:37-40). "Until now" seems to imply that the work is soon coming to completion; this Jesus affirms later—the work will be "finished" when he dies on the cross (John 19:30; cf. 17:4). With these connections in place we have clearer indication of the meaning of the Sabbath—it pointed to a finished work of God in providing redemptive rest for his people through the death of his Son.
Hebrews—Entering into Rest
Hebrews 3:7 - 4:13 confirms that our tracking of this theme has been on the right lines. First, the inspired writer explicitly connects the rest which we enjoy by faith in Christ (4:2, 6), with God's creation rest (vv. 3-4), with the rest of the land under Joshua (v. 5), and with the rest of the Sabbath (sabbatismos, v. 9). For the writer to the Hebrews, this observation arises from a simple chronological reading of the Bible. He notes that in Psalm 95:7b-11, the psalmist invites the people of his day to partake of that rest which that first wilderness generation forfeited because of rebellion and unbelief. He further notes that the psalmist inserts the word "today." From this, he reasons that since in the day of the psalmist (tenth century B.C.) God's rest was still available, then clearly Joshua's rest, although of a piece with it, did not exhaust it (v. 6). He further concludes that this offer of Sabbath-rest (sabbatismos, v. 9) "remains" for us "today." In calling the creation rest a "Sabbath-rest" (v. 9) he links together the ideas of creation rest, the Sabbath day, the rest of Canaan, and the soteric rest that is yet available.
There are indicators that this rest involves still more, a future blessing of which all these have been but a preview.328 This rest "remains" for the people of God (v. 9). This rest is that of Genesis 2:3 (v. 9); that is, it is the final goal for which history was created. Verse 11 also hints of the believer's prospect of rest—"Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience." The concept is an eschatological one, and all these previous "rests" are but pointers and samples of it.329 The point is that this rest is available "today," for those who believe (v. 2) and "cease from their works" (v. 10). So the writer to the Hebrews, like the psalmist, extends the same invitation along with the same warning—"The gospel is preached to you, and this rest is available; be careful that you do not miss it by unbelief as they did." All this is to say that the creation Sabbath portrays a rest which God intended to share with redeemed mankind; all Sabbaths and "rests" since have been in view of this. "Today" the rest of salvation—yes, the rest of the eschaton—is available to those who cease from works and believe.
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