Hebrews 4:9–11

Context

The Epistle to the Hebrews is a letter whose author is not named. It is commonly regarded as an exhortation addressed to Christians who, amid persecution and discouragement, were in danger of abandoning their faith. This passage forms the conclusion of the section running from Hebrews 3:7 to 4:13, which expounds the words of Psalm 95, "They should not enter into my rest."

The author reminds his readers that the wilderness generation failed to enter the Promised Land because of disobedience and unbelief. He then states that although Joshua brought the people into Canaan, he did not give them true rest (Hebrews 4:8). From this follows the conclusion: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."

The word "rest" in verse 9 translates the Greek sabbatismos (a Sabbath-keeping rest), a term that appears only here in the New Testament. It differs from katapausis (rest, place of rest), the word translated "rest" in the surrounding verses. Verse 10 explains this rest by comparison with God's resting after He completed creation (Genesis 2:2, quoted in Hebrews 4:4).

Interpretation

• The rest as future: This reading understands the rest as the repose of the kingdom of God that will be consummated on the last day. It appeals to the forward-looking expressions "there remaineth" (v. 9) and "let us labour therefore to enter" (v. 11).
• The rest as present: Citing "For we which have believed do enter into rest" (Hebrews 4:3), this reading emphasizes a rest already enjoyed through faith. In the Reformation tradition, "he also hath ceased from his own works" (v. 10) is interpreted as laying aside one's own merits as a means of obtaining salvation. For this reason the passage is sometimes read in connection with justification.
• The rest as "already" and "not yet": Adopted by many commentators today, this reading holds that the rest has already begun through faith, while its consummation still lies ahead.

Controversies and Issues

• Relation to the Sabbath: On the basis of the word sabbatismos, the Seventh-day Adventist Church maintains that observance of the seventh-day Sabbath still remains for the people of God. Most Protestant denominations read the rest in this passage as the spiritual rest given in Christ. Traditions that regard the Lord's Day as the Christian Sabbath sometimes cite this passage as one of the grounds for the continuity of the Sabbath principle. For further discussion, see Sabbath and the Lord's Day.
• Warning and perseverance: Interpretations differ over the warning in verse 11, "lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions read the warning as indicating that believers can actually fall away from faith. The Reformed tradition understands the warning as a means by which God preserves true believers to the end, explaining it in connection with the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
• "Rest" and "labor": A frequently raised question is how the call to cease from one's own works (v. 10) fits with the call to labor (v. 11). The call to labor is generally explained not as an injunction to accumulate merit but as a call to devote oneself wholeheartedly to holding fast to the faith to the end.

Related Passages

• Psalm 95:7–11
• Genesis 2:2–3
• Deuteronomy 5:12–15
• Matthew 11:29–30
• Hebrews 3:12–19