1 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, 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,’” [Psalm 95:11] although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” (1) “Seeing the Israelites lost the rest of Canaan, through obstinacy and unbelief, let us be afraid lest we come short of the heavenly rest, through the same cause.” (Adam Clarke) “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them…” (2a) The Gospel was preached to these Hebrew Christians, as it was to “the Israelites in the wilderness, in the ministry of Moses, and by types and sacrifices;” (John Gill) “but the word which they heard did not profit them;” (2b) It was of none effect (Mark 7:13)- “they were not evangelized by it, or cast into a Gospel mould, or brought into a Gospel spirit..” (John Gill)- because the word was not "mixed with faith in those who heard it." (2c)- "because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.”(Exo. 6:9) "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,’” [Psalm 95:11] (3a) “The apostle speaks of believers of all ages as a body, to which he and those to whom he was writing belonged, and says, ‘It is we who believe, and we alone, who under any dispensation can enter into the rest of God’” (Dr. J. Brown)— “although the works were finished from the foundation of the world— ” (3c) “even though God had planned rest for His people when He created the world. God's purpose and provision did not guarantee that His people would experience it." (Constable's Expository Notes) 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”; [Genesis 2:2] 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” [Psalm 95:11] "In context, the writer is showing that the ultimate ‘rest’ for God's people, which was typically portrayed by God's rest after creation and which was therefore typified by every weekly Sabbath observance, was not attained in Canaan under either Joshua or David, and was still reserved for the future even after Christ had returned to heaven and the Christian era had begun. Since the antitype is yet future, therefore, the type must still be in operation, just as the animal sacrifices in the temple did not cease until Christ ‘had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever.’ (Hebrews 10:12). This fact, combined with the evident fact that all the early Christians continued to observe a weekly ‘Lord's day,’ and that nowhere in the New Testament was it stated that ‘Sabbath’ observance should cease, makes it clear that this commandment, like all the Ten Commandments, applies in the Christian dispensation as well as in the Mosaic dispensation, though not with the same applications and penalties that related specifically to the Mosaic ordinances. As a matter of fact, God's people will continue to observe a weekly Sabbath even in the coming kingdom age (note Isaiah 66:22, Ezekiel 46:3). All of this is the tremendous testimony of the seven-day week and, especially, of the day of rest which marks its boundaries. Its very existence can only be explained by the reality of a primeval six-day completed creation! God desires that we never forget that He is both our Creator and Redeemer, and also that we continually look forward to the eventual fulfillment of all His creative and redemptive purposes, when they are finally consummated in that eternal Rest for all the people of God in the ages to come.” [Cite this article: William J. Bauer, Ph.D. 1979. Creation and the Seven-Day Week. Acts & Facts. 8 (9)] 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.” [Psalm 95:5-6] 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest [Sabbath rest— sabbatismos] 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. “Today”- in the Chrisitan era— “if you will hear His voice, do not harden you hearts.” (Ps 95:5-6), while Jesus is in heaven as Mediator High Priest. "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.” (8) “‘Jesus’ is a Greek form of ‘Joshua,’ who is otherwise never mentioned by name in the New Testament. It is also possible to understand this as actually referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, who before His incarnation may have been revealed as ‘the angel of His presence’ (Is 63:9). ’In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them,’ as He led them into the promised land under Joshua [just as He had led them in the wilderness under Moses- 1 Cor 10:4 ]. In any case, this was not the ultimate ‘rest’ God had promised His people, as the next verses show. “There remains therefore ‘a rest’ for the people of God.” (9) The ‘rest’ in this verse is not the rest mentioned so frequently in this section. Rather it is ‘sabbath rest,’ from the Greek sabbatismos, occurring only this once in the New Testament. Thus the people of God not only may enjoy the spiritual rest promised by Christ in this life (e.g., Matt 11:28) but also may look forward to the eternal rest in the new earth which was typified by a weekly Sabbath rest in Israel. The latter not only commemorated the completed work of creation but also anticipated the completed work of redemption and reconciliation. That coming rest will not be one of inaction, of course, for ‘His servants shall serve Him’ there (Rev 22:3), but rather one of perfect fellowship with God and freedom from the presence of sin. Our present weekly ‘rest’ on the Lord’s Day continues this observance even more effectively than the sabbatismos of Israel, for it commemorates both His creation and His resurrection, the two finished works of Christ, until He comes again. “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works ‘as God did from His.’” (10) Note again that God ‘ceased from His works’ of creation, and thus creation is no longer taking place… In analogous fashion, the believer now enters into rest (not the sabbatismos rest which still ‘remaineth’), but the immediate spiritual rest (Greek katapausis) received right now, when we cease trying to work for our salvation and receive the finished work of Christ by faith. “Let us therefore [labor] be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (11) We do not work to enter into His rest, for that is the very theme of this section, but rather believe with confidence in His Word and His work. This faith will result in good works (Eph 2:10) as evidence of the reality of our faith (Jam 2:18), but it is not the works that save us.” (The New Defender's Study Bible by Dr. Henry M. Morris)
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. “Let us labour, or as the greek, let us study [our Bibles], and warmly espouse the cause of religion, to enter into that rest…" (Sutcliffe)-- lest we fall as the Israelites of old did. "For the Word of God is…” "The Word of God is to be understood as the Bible, God's revelation of His truth to people, especially in the sense of His Commandments; and, although the passage suggests John 1:1, it would not appear that any such personalization of the Word is intended here. That the Word of God is ‘living’ is corroborated by other New Testament writers such as Luke (Acts 7:38), Peter (1 Peter 1:23), and others. The word ‘active’ shows that the word does not lie inert and dead but at all times carries within itself the mighty power of its divine author. Rather than trying to find subtle differences in the meaning of such words as ‘soul’ and ‘spirit,’ it is perhaps just as well to view this verse as a heaping together of powerful terms for the purpose of showing the utmost ability of the word of God to penetrate the complex inward nature of man, to convict him of sin, to expose his hidden motives, and to judge the very nature of life itself. Davidson, as quoted by Bruce, said that this verse is a ‘rhetorical accumulation of terms to express the whole mental nature of man on all sides.’ The passage presents God's Word as totally different from the word of men, making it infinite in power, all-seeing in discernment, and able to pierce or penetrate any human subterfuge.” (Coffman Commentary) Let us not forget that Jesus is the Word made flesh- very God of very God. Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow- “Macknight sees in the words here a reference: ‘to the state in which the sacrifices called burnt offerings were laid on the altar. They were stripped of their skins, their breasts were ripped open, their bowels were taken out, and their backbone was cleft. This is the import of the original word. Then they were divided into quarters; so that outwardly and inwardly they were fully exposed…(Lev 1:5,6); and… they were laid in their natural order upon the altar and burnt.” (A. W. Pink) 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. Let us not forget how Paul had been quoting the Old Testament Scriptures to make his case for the superiority of Jesus. “All the chief points of the earlier chapters are brought together in this verse and the next:—the High Priest (Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1); His exaltation (Hebrews 1:3-4; Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 2:9); His divine Sonship (Hebrews 1; Hebrews 3:6); His compassion towards the brethren whose lot He came to share (Hebrews 2:11-18). That is passed into the heavens.—Rather, that hath passed through the heavens. As the high priest [of Israel— of the earthly tabernacle] passed through the Holy Place to enter the Holy of Holies, Jesus ‘ascended up far above all heavens,’ and sat at the right hand of God...” (Ellicott's Commentary) to make intercession for us. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace: since our High Priest hath a sense of our infirmities, hath experienced our trials, and no sin is in Him to shut up his bowels of compassion, therefore haste we to Him, as those who desire to reach favours from our Sovereign, as our poor, guilty, needy souls want them. It is a soul-motion by faith and love, breathed forth in strong cries to His God and Father and ours, constantly approaching God in every duty by Him: compare Hebrews 10:19-22; and that with open face, boldness, and assurance, without any shame or dismay, coming in the name and with the person of our great High Priest, who takes our duties and persons, and presents them, perfumed with the incense of His merits, to Him [our Father]. Away now with all unbelief, doubtings, or fears in our approach to Him; admission to Him, and hearing by Him, is now certain unto the believer, Romans 5:1,2 Eph 2:18 3:12; 1 John 3:21,22, 5:14,15. For His throne, now the Father is propitiated by Him, is from a throne of strict justice made a throne of grace, of which the propitiatory seat over the ark of the covenant in the holy of holiest, both in the tabernacle and temple, was a type. All the terror and dread of it is now done away by Christ. Thunderings, and lightnings, and voices, and the sound of a trumpet are now ceased; the still voice of pardon, peace, purging and saving sinners, proceeds from it; grace in reference to believers, sits in all its glory, and majesty, and power only, Revelation 5:1,6,13; compare Hebrews 8:1 12:2 Ephesians 1:20. Christ now takes us by the hand, brings us thither, and pleads by His own blood for us, so as we may approach to it with greatest confidence.” (Matthew Poole) The Word of God "is able to discover blemishes or taints of character by means of the most thorough and accurate discernment of the entire man, such being the spiritual equivalent of the priest's minute examination of the ancient sacrifices. Not one little sin shall ever be able to crawl by the eyes of the Eternal God without receiving it’s just condemnation and punishment; and that is the overwhelming reason why every man should fly to Christ for refuge and forgiveness.” (Coffman Commentary)