A Life in Exile

The writer of the book of Hebrews directs his words to Jewish Christians prior to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Perhaps as a result of persecution or the delay of Christ’s second coming, they were discouraged or questioning their faith. Therefore, Hebrews is a beautiful testament to the superiority of Christ and a call to remain faithful.

The third chapter is a call to hold fast to Christ and not let your heart be hardened, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Because of their hardness of heart, an entire generation did not enter the rest of God in the Promised Land. Yet, the writer reminds them, that as believers in Christ, we have already entered the rest of God. This is a rest that reflects the original rest demonstrated by God.

For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in this way: And on the seventh day God rested from all his works. Again, in that passage he says, They will never enter my rest.

Hebrews 4:4-5 CSB

The writer quotes Genesis 2:2, to reveal the rest we know in Christ predates the Law and is modeled by God. The rest taken on the seventh day was not because God was tired, but because he had completed what he started. He found all that he created as good, culminating in the creation of man. In view of all he had done, the Lord rested from his work.

Christ makes available what man and the Law could not provide.

The disobedient Israelites failed to maintain the initial purpose of the Sabbath. Their disobedience pre- and post-exile to keep the Sabbath as a day set apart for God was a cause of much of the troubles brought by surrounding nations. Having the Sabbath day set in the Ten Commandments was no guarantee the people would adhere to its provision. Unrest would be the nature of the game in the history of Israel and Judah.

With their sin ever before them, due to their inability to abide by the Law of Moses, hearts were ill at ease by the time of John the Baptist’s appearance on the scene. God had been silent for four hundred years, and thousands had passed since the earliest of promises of a coming Messiah. Their land was occupied by Rome. God’s people were oppressed once again.

Something changed with the baptism of Jesus. A voice from heaven spoke and the words reflected those of Creation.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

Matthew 3:17

The well-pleased One had entered the world that was no longer good.

The rest that Creator God had enjoyed and longed to provide to his children could only be made available by the One in whom he was well-pleased. The righteous perfection of the obedient Son of God made the way for the now-imperfect mankind to know rest. The rest we come to enjoy in Christ came at a great cost that only he could pay.

There remains for us a Sabbath rest.

The rest we have in Christ is a release from the works-based righteousness required by the Law. Just as the original Sabbath rest was a sign of God’s grace for the people of Israel, giving them a day to rest from their labor, the rest we have in Christ Jesus is his grace. We are no longer bound to the Law and sin but free in grace to live the abundant life in faith in Jesus. The writer of Hebrews encourages us, as he did the original readers of his sermon, to strive to enter God’s rest. We must remain diligent in our faith in Christ and not get waylaid by disobedience. Disobedience takes our rest—Faith restores it.

Are you resting in God today? Choose Christ and know the beauty of Sabbath rest.

Grace and Peace

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