Lesson 6

Hebrews 4 – New King James Version

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, ^[a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ³ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; ⁵ and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

⁶ Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if ^[b]Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

¹¹ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³ And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

Second Impression?

• After finishing the first lesson, I reread the whole chapter and realized I left a lot of meat on the bone, so to speak. The guys countered with alive and powerful, nothing hidden, and confidence. I had no real simple thought, just the need to review again.

A promise remains – How does the promise of God compare to the promises you make?

• This throws me back to the blog I just did for Job 9:19 that basically says God is Almighty and we are not. God has power to make things happen, we have power to influence others or move things, but He can create and destroy ,and everything in between.

The word which they heard did not profit them – How important is it that your efforts get a response?

• As unimportant as is possible. Our job is to follow, it is up to God to produce fruits. I just wanted to reinforce this to the group.

Mixed with Faith – Can one have faith without the Gospel?

• One can have faith without the Gospel, but it is not a saving faith. The only way to God is through His Son.

In a certain place – Any idea why he used this phrase?

• The easiest answer is because the Bible did not have chapters and verses until long after this point in time. There may have been some advantage to knowing if something came from Isaiah or Jeremiah, but I believe we have gotten too much into the details of which part of the Bible something comes from as it is all the Word of God.

Some must enter it – Is there significance behind this phrase?

• We debated this for a bit. I believe God created the world to gain children and some had to enter His rest as that was the purpose. I am not sure the author was trying to convey that message or not. I would almost say that that aspect is being skipped over and the intent was to just confirm that our place was being held for us.

A day of rest for His people – Beyond the rest we spoke about last week, do you understand a rest day as coming for the Jews? And if so, how would you describe it?

• I do not understand. I want to say the people of God here are Christians and not necessarily Jews. For whatever reason, I do not feel driven to dive deeper, I only know some will be saved.

The Word of God – describe each for me:

• Living and powerful – It is not just word on paper, it is words that can change the course of history.

 

• Sharper than any two-edged sword – It is not simple and cannot be used to humiliate others without also exposing the flaws in the wielder.

 

• piercing even to the division of soul and spirit – a hard one, first pass it reveals the difference between your own soul and the Holy Spirit living in you or for non-believers, the fact you do not have the Spirit living within you.

 

• joints and marrow – Having never had biology, I may not get the gist of this one, but I see this as the difference between the inner workings of everything and the outward outcomes they produce

 

• discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart – I fully believe the Bible is able to show the believer if not any reader, how they differ from the ideal position that God has on a given issue. Slavery is bad to most people’s view, but some points in history it has allowed a person to overcome the bad behind them of a lost of family, of friends, of resources by exchanging the illusion of self-sufficiency for the safety of a loving master.

 

No creature hidden, open to the eyes – Why is this a stumbling block to some?

• People do not want to repent of every sin. Some want ice cream even if they are allergic. Some want sex with anyone, even though they are married. The list goes on, but many people equate admitting God knows everything to having to stop sinning the sin they like.

Our weakness, tempted – Why do we have weaknesses and temptations?

• I would phrase this as the need to know you need. With no weakness and no temptation, it is impossible to know how wonderful it is to chose to do what God wants.

Come boldly to the throne – We do we not?

• Sin. Even when we know Christ’s blood covers our sin, we know we are sinners and not worthy. It is hard to remember to put on the robe of Christ and act as if it covers our sin and God only sees a perfect child asking for something. As with me asking for a better view of the sunset, sometimes it just feels weird to ask for things.

I was born a slave to sin. I was reborn as a slave to God. Sometimes I forget this.