"There remains therefore a rest to the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9)
This text and its context require frequent explanation. We accordingly give the following, which, although brief, will, we think, be found a sufficient key to the entire chapter.
That God made to Abraham a promise of an inheritance, is well known. We will quote only two texts. The first is: "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto you." (Genesis 13:14-17)
Again the Lord said to Abraham, after he had offered Isaac: "I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies." (Genesis 22:17)
Putting these two texts together, we learn that the inheritance promised to Abraham contemplated peaceable and quiet possession of the land; not simply of a few square miles, but of the whole world. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
Now it was in pursuance of this promise, that the Lord delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. "Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shall you see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, which brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the Lord." (Exodus 6:1-8)
Passing by the wanderings in the wilderness, we come to the address which Moses made to the children of Israel just before his death. Speaking to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, who were allowed to settle on the east side of Jordan, he said: "The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it; you shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel. ... Until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond Jordan; and then shall you return every man unto his possession, which I have given you." (Deuteronomy 3:18,20)
From this we learn that the giving of them rest was nothing more nor less than the establishing of them in their possession. The same thing is also shown by the following words: "For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God gives you. But when you go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place." (Deuteronomy 12:9-11)
In further confirmation of the idea that the promised rest comprehended quiet possession of the land, we read 2 Samuel 7:1, which says that: "when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies," (2 Samuel 7:1) then he thought to build a house for the Lord. In refusing to allow him to do this work, the Lord made great promises to David, and said, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime." (2 Samuel 7:10)
It is evident, then, that the "rest" promised to the Israelites was the inheritance. Into this rest Joshua led them, as it is written: "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He swore to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand." (Joshua 21:43-44)
Yet in the face of this declaration, the apostle declares that Joshua did not give them rest, and that the Lord afterward spoke of "another day," in which they might secure rest: "For if Joshua had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day." (Hebrews 4:8,margin)
We have just read from 2 Samuel 7:10 the promise of that rest. If Joshua had given them that rest, then another day could not have been spoken of.
Although God did give to the Israelites the land of Canaan, Abraham had no part in it, "And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." (Acts 7:5) neither did Isaac and Jacob, to whom the promise was made as well as to Abraham; and the apostle, after mentioning these patriarchs, and many other worthies, says, "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:39-40)
This shows that the possession of the land of Canaan by the Israelites did not fill all the specifications of the promise. This is still more evident from the fact that they were at peace when the Lord renewed the promise in 2 Samuel 7:10.
But how shall we explain the statement in Joshua 21:43-45, that God gave to the Israelites that which He promised? Simply on the ground that the partial inheritance which they had, might have been made complete, if they had obeyed and trusted God. That they did not have the complete rest and inheritance that was promised to Abraham, is evident from the fact that the promise to him included nothing less than the possession of the whole world. "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
Now from Jeremiah 17:19-27, we know that God designed that the Israelites should be forever established in the land of Canaan, whose capital, Jerusalem, was to be the capital of the whole world, even as the New Jerusalem will be the capital of the earth made new. "Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; And say unto them, Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: Thus says the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do any work, but hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if you diligently hearken unto me, says the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if you will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." (Jeremiah 17:19-27)
But although they were given possession of the capital of their inheritance, they entered not into the full possession thereof, because of unbelief; so that it was the same as though they had never had any of it. But, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise," (2 Peter 3:9) and so, "There remains therefore a rest to the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9)
This rest is the same as that promised to Abraham, namely, the whole earth; for, after evil-doers have all been cut off, "The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)
The fact that some could not enter into rest because of unbelief, does not invalidate the promise that those who will now believe shall enter into it, for the rest was prepared and completed from the foundation of the world; and God will not allow his original plan to be frustrated.
With the knowledge that the earth is the rest that was promised to Abraham and to his seed, and which remains for us who believe, it is very easy to understand Hebrews 4:3-4, and the relation which the facts there stated bear to that rest. Thus, the apostle says, "and God did rest on the seventh day from all His works." (Hebrews 4:4)
This is positive proof of the statement made just before, namely, that: "the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4:3)
Genesis 2 says that: "[God] rested on the seventh day from all His works which He had made." (Genesis 2:3)
And that His blessing pronounced upon the seventh day was "because that in it He had rested from all His works which God created and made." (Genesis 2:3)
He made the earth "to be inhabited," (Isaiah 45:18) and gave it to men for a peaceful abode; and the fact that He rested on the seventh day was a proof that the works were finished and the rest prepared.
The Sabbath, therefore--the memorial of God's rest--a day in which to be glad through the work of God, and to triumph in the works of His hands, as we meditate upon their greatness, "For You, Lord, have made me glad through your work: I will triumph in the works of your hands. O Lord, how great are your works! and your thoughts are very deep." (Psalm 92:4-5 is an assurance that God has prepared a rest for His people, and that they will share it just as surely as He is the great Creator who changes not. The rest that remains is, therefore, the coming inheritance and kingdom of the saints. The "another day" of Joshua is the day of final reward.
When Christ shall descend in glory, sitting upon the throne of His glory, having received the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession, that He may rid it of all that corrupt it, He will say to the righteous who have kept the faith, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)
And when they with Him shall have executed upon the wicked the judgment that is written, And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. (Jude 14-15) "Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord." (Psalm 149:5-9) then will be fulfilled the promise given through the holy prophet: "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." (Isaiah 32:17-18)
Then shall the people of God enjoy the rest which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world.--Bible Students Library, No. 101, November 1894--Genesis 13:14-17.