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Today, Enter His Rest
Today's reading is simple in some ways, but very complex in others. The concepts here are pretty basic to the Christian life:
-Respond to God
-Rely on God's grace
The difficulty and complexity comes with how this is communicated. As this is a letter to Jewish Christians, the writer of Hebrews is trying to communicate these ideas in ways that will be very meaningful to Jews and tie the New back with content from the old. The writer does so by quoting liberally from Psalm 95. Take a minute to read it - especially the second half, which is where the author quotes from. As with many OT quotes in the NT we need to do some work to figure out how the author is using the OT. Sometimes it's as easy as "Here is a prophecy that is fulfilled", but often the reason and function of the quote is much more complex than that. This is one of those cases. So how is the author using Psalm 95? Read through this slowly to make sure you follow the line of thinking/explanation:
"This ancient expositor’s reasoning goes as follows:
• David lived long after the original receptors of God’s promise of rest (v. 7).
• God, through David, again issued an implied promise through Psalm 95 that the people of God may enter his rest by not following the pattern of disobedience found in the desert story (v. 7).
• God gave this promise of rest through the psalmist because the physical entrance into the land under the leadership of Joshua did not fulfill the original promise (v. 8).
• The universally relevant Word of God, issued in the form of Psalm 95, shows that a Sabbath rest still exists for the people of God, who are under obligation to “hear his voice” in the time frame of “Today” (v. 9).
• Verse 10 concludes this portion of the author’s exposition by reflecting on the interpretive relevance of Genesis 2 for the Psalm 95 text: The essence of entering God’s rest means resting from one’s own work just as God did on the seventh day." [1]
The reasoning here is a little dense - the commentator is explaining A LOT in a very concise way, but I think he does an amazing job if you read it slowly and follow his explanation closely. Basically it amounts to this:
Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts. ("Today" is everyday! When I wake up tomorrow, this command will be just as valid because then that will be called "today" as well.) By not hardening your heart, you can enter into God's rest. But what IS God's rest? Verse 10: "...for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his." (emphasis mine)
To hear God's voice today is to rest from our striving and works and to rest in the grace of God. What is true "Sabbath rest"? It is to lay down one's work to enter into the grace and rest of God.
Rest in that thought today.
Questions? Comments?
Today, Enter His Rest
Today's reading is simple in some ways, but very complex in others. The concepts here are pretty basic to the Christian life:
-Respond to God
-Rely on God's grace
The difficulty and complexity comes with how this is communicated. As this is a letter to Jewish Christians, the writer of Hebrews is trying to communicate these ideas in ways that will be very meaningful to Jews and tie the New back with content from the old. The writer does so by quoting liberally from Psalm 95. Take a minute to read it - especially the second half, which is where the author quotes from. As with many OT quotes in the NT we need to do some work to figure out how the author is using the OT. Sometimes it's as easy as "Here is a prophecy that is fulfilled", but often the reason and function of the quote is much more complex than that. This is one of those cases. So how is the author using Psalm 95? Read through this slowly to make sure you follow the line of thinking/explanation:
"This ancient expositor’s reasoning goes as follows:
• David lived long after the original receptors of God’s promise of rest (v. 7).
• God, through David, again issued an implied promise through Psalm 95 that the people of God may enter his rest by not following the pattern of disobedience found in the desert story (v. 7).
• God gave this promise of rest through the psalmist because the physical entrance into the land under the leadership of Joshua did not fulfill the original promise (v. 8).
• The universally relevant Word of God, issued in the form of Psalm 95, shows that a Sabbath rest still exists for the people of God, who are under obligation to “hear his voice” in the time frame of “Today” (v. 9).
• Verse 10 concludes this portion of the author’s exposition by reflecting on the interpretive relevance of Genesis 2 for the Psalm 95 text: The essence of entering God’s rest means resting from one’s own work just as God did on the seventh day." [1]
The reasoning here is a little dense - the commentator is explaining A LOT in a very concise way, but I think he does an amazing job if you read it slowly and follow his explanation closely. Basically it amounts to this:
Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts. ("Today" is everyday! When I wake up tomorrow, this command will be just as valid because then that will be called "today" as well.) By not hardening your heart, you can enter into God's rest. But what IS God's rest? Verse 10: "...for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his." (emphasis mine)
To hear God's voice today is to rest from our striving and works and to rest in the grace of God. What is true "Sabbath rest"? It is to lay down one's work to enter into the grace and rest of God.
Rest in that thought today.
Questions? Comments?
[1] George Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), 153.
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