REST

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Key Verses

  • For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power], just as He has said, “AS I SWORE [an oath] IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,” [this He said] although His works were completed from the foundation of the world [waiting for all who would believe]. Hebrews 4:3 AMP
  • Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways. Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise]. Psalm 95:10-11 AMPC

Those who experienced Rest

  • Caleb and Joshua: Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you. Numbers 14:30 AMP
  • King Solomon: “But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. 1 Kings 5:4 NASB
  • Israelites: A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years … Joshua 23:1 BSB

Let us seek to enter that Rest

  • Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late. Hebrews 4:1 AMP 
  • Therefore, since the promise remains for some to enter His rest, and those who formerly had the good news preached to them failed to [grasp it and did not] enter because of [their unbelief evidenced by] disobedience, He again sets a definite day, [a new] “Today,” [providing another opportunity to enter that rest by] saying through David after so long a time, just as has been said before [in the words already quoted], Today if you hear His voiceDo not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:6-7 AMP 

Pardon ≠ Entry in Promised Land

  • So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, will by no means see the land which I swore to [give to] their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it. Numbers 14:20-23 AMP
A point of note: In the New Testament context, the above does not mean that forgiven sinners will not go to Heaven. It implies that there is a promised rest (Hebrews 4) that we should seek to enter into while we are on earth itself.

Footnotes