Hebrews 4:5-8
3 August 2025
And again in the passage above He says, “They shall never enter My rest.”
Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest,
and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience,
God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.”
This He did when a long time later He spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:
“Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
So as we come to this section in Hebrews 4, we finally, after many weeks of dealing with so much of the problems, the wickedness, the unbelief of Israel during one particular generation of the Old Testament, we come to another generation, and this time we come to some success. Because the focus in chapter four in this middle section now becomes contrasting the Lord Jesus with Joshua. So Joshua was the successor of Moses, and if we remember from verse seven of chapter three, there has been an unpacking of what happened to the generation that Moses led nearly to, but not over to, the promised land.
But as we come to Joshua and the contrast between Jesus and Joshua, one thing that we have to have in mind is there have been a couple of key themes throughout chapters three and four. One has been the issue of the evil unbelieving heart, the hardened heart of Israel. The other has been on the subject of rest. Now, we'll reach the climax of this rest that is promised and found in Jesus Christ when we deal with verses 9, 10, and 11. But the subject of rest comes throughout this chapter.
And here is an interesting point, because as we come to Joshua and the success of Israel, we may be thinking, well Israel, when they were with Moses, they didn't have rest. But when it came to them entering the promised land, well that was them entering rest. But when we look to the Old Testament, and even the more rare successful or prosperous times, what do we note consistently about Israel standing before God? Even when sacrifices were given, and they were sufficient for atoning sins of Israel at that point, for that year. Even when victories were won, and land was gained for Israel, even when people were faithful, and their work and their life deemed to be righteous, what we must be reminded of is that this is not where it ends.
Because in the Old Testament, sin is not defeated with the Old Testament sacrifices. Righteousness is not achieved by the Old Testament saints, and here what we find in Hebrews chapter four is that rest in the way that it is being taught and unpacked in Hebrews 4, is not found by Israel's march into the promised land. And this is why the climax of this section is to declare that there is another day later on. There remains a rest which is in Christ. Even when Israel enters into the promised land, there remains a rest.
This final promised rest in Christ. And what we're going to be unpacking in these verses that we have in verses five to eight. First of all, we will be almost concluding how Israel fell in verses five to seven, and then we'll get to, in verse eight, how Israel triumphed. Now the reason we're taking quite a big portion of Hebrews by comparison from previous sermons is because, as you likely have noted, verses five, six, and seven are a lot of repeated points. Repeated points for emphasis.
And so as we're coming to this first point in verses five to seven, how Israel fell, it's building the argument about this final rest, which is in Christ. So if you just pay attention to what we see in verse five, it says, “And again in this passage He said, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Now when we read, “And again in this passage,” that's quite a helpful reminder of, yes, this is again the same verse is being quoted. It's the third time we see, “They shall not enter my rest” being written in this section in Hebrews. Look at Hebrews 3:11. It ends, “They shall not enter my rest.” Look at just two verses earlier, Hebrews 4:3, at the end it says, “They shall not enter my rest.” And so when we come to verse five, just two verses later, the writer begins, “And again in this passage he said.” And he's saying and again because again he is making this point. So that's the issue that we have here, and so we wonder why.
Why is he saying the same thing for a third time and he's just literally said it in verse three? Why is he making this point? Why is he emphasizing it? Because he's clearly emphasizing it. Well, it's because verses three to four deals with the rest in relation to creation.
Verses five to eight deals with the rest in relation to the promised land. And in these instances, the author continues to remind us about Israel's failures, of Israel's disobedience, because of chapter three, that hardness of heart. So in verse three, we have the, “For we who have believed enter that rest as He has said, I swore in My wrath they shall not enter My rest,”—Referring to Israel with the promised land. Then in the rest of verses three and four, he deals with the issue of creation. And we looked at that last time where the author establishes that there is a rest which is found in this creation principle, where God creates the earth in six days, He rests on the seventh, and this establishes this principle of rest for us, and we even thought in the closing minutes last time of that application in the context of our Christian Sabbath on the Lord's day.
And as he comes to verse five, again he says, they shall not enter my rest, because now the focus goes from that creation principle of rest to now dealing once more with Israel's disobedience. And if we remember, this quote is from Psalm 95, which is being worked through in Hebrews chapter three verses 7 to 11. Hebrews 3:7-11 is almost a direct quote of Psalm 95 written by King David. And he is giving a sort of commentary of what happened with Israel in the wilderness. So these are all things that, if we've been following through this series in Hebrews, should be familiar.
There shouldn't be anything new at this point, but it's worth noting again because the author to the Hebrews notes it and emphasizes it again. Making his point once more, that people, that generation, “they shall not enter My rest.” But then he goes to verse six and says, “Since therefore it remains for some to enter it.” Now you'll notice what is beginning to be built with even greater frequency. There's increasing reference to there is a rest, and it's a rest which is different to these Old Testament rests.
So this should be in our minds as we're working towards Joshua leading Israel into the Promised Land, because in verse six it is saying, there remains for some to enter it. And this, brothers, sisters, friends, is the hope that we know and we have here tonight. As we sit in this building, this truth stands. There remains hope of entering this rest. And the warnings that are being given as we look to Israel's hardness of heart, their wicked, unbelieving, rejecting of God and His promises, what we find the author to the Hebrews is doing is using that warning to bring the hope that is found in Christ.
So even though this generation failed, there remains for some to enter it. And then he goes on once more, “and those who formally received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience.” Yet again, another warning comes. Now one question that you may have when looking at this, when it says, those who formally received the good news failed to enter, Think back to what we found in verse two when it made reference again to good news came to us, justice to them. What was the good news that Israel received, and yet they still failed to enter because of disobedience.
What was this good news? Well, it was the good news that was found in who God is. What He revealed to this people, this covenant people that God has chosen and set apart, what He revealed of who He is, what He revealed of what He would do for them. And we saw what the Lord did for Israel in redeeming them, delivering them from Egypt, from the bonds of slavery, imparting the Red Sea, and miraculously providing them with drink and food, and bringing victory over the enemies. These were the types and shadows foreshadowing and pointing forward to the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We even find in the Theophanies, where God is visibly manifesting himself through different means, such as the burning bush and the pillar of fire and cloud that we see appearing. These are God's visible manifestations for the people to know that the one true living God has revealed Himself to this people. He has revealed Himself to this people, and it's why there is no detaching of the Old Testament to the New, as if to say, well when we get to the gospel of Matthew, that's when we get to good news. Before that it's all bad news. Well, yes, it's consistently bad news regarding humanity, because we've fallen in sin, and Israel are evidence of that.
But the good news that is found in the living God, which is then revealed in its fullness through Jesus Christ, is something that the old testament is pointing towards. So these truths of the old testament are not separate or detached, they are leading towards the coming of Christ. Because there is one covenant-keeping God, and the promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is this very God. And this is why the New Testament writes about the good news being preached beforehand. It speaks in the New Testament of the good news being preached, spoken of, written of beforehand.
Galatians 3:8—it says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So the good news was preached beforehand to Abraham. We also find in Acts 10:43, it talks of “…the prophets before bear[ing] witness…” to whom? To Christ.
And even the beginning of the book of Hebrews establishes and summarizes this very point. Also, Timothy is encouraged because of the sacred writings which give the wisdom to know Christ. And this is what the glory of the book of Hebrews is all about. It is written to help us understand the sacred Christ-centered reality of the Old Testament. Chapter after chapter as we go to whether it be Abraham, Moses, Joshua, all throughout the Old Testament, through the times of different covenants, through what was established in the giving of the law, it all points to, it all gives the picture of the glory of Jesus Christ, and this is the good news.
And as we then come to the gospels in the New Testament, Jesus then declares, the time has come. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news. It is not a bolt out of the blue. Here comes good news.
No. The time has come. All of these types and shadows, all that has been prepared beforehand, now we come to Jesus is here. This is the good news, and here tonight, we look to this good news. We look to see and savour the glorious richness of Jesus Christ.
That is the delight of the soul of the Christian, to know that as we come to Hebrews, as we come to hear the preaching of the word of God, we are coming to see and savour and delight in Jesus Christ. And that is found even as we look at such a warning as the end of verse six for once more. Those who formally received the good news, they failed to enter this rest because of their disobedience. Think to what we saw in numbers chapter 14. They literally were at the edge of the promised land, and they themselves chose not to go over.
They looked with fleshly eyes and saw that there were some big bad scary people over in Canaan, and we don't want to get into that trouble, so we'll pick the easy life, rather than the obedience to God. And again, these sorts of examples that we've repeatedly worked through with this generation that fell in the wilderness, is something we do need to be reminded of. And that's why, once more in verse seven, the author to the Hebrews talks about this certain day. Verse seven—“again, He appoints a certain day. ‘Today’, saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Notice again, we've another repeated emphasis that's already been found in this section in Hebrews, namely this word today. Today. Why is the author pressing on this point? Well, it is on one level to further establish and build the argument about this final rest which is in Christ, but it is also a much-needed exhortation to the urgency of the matter.
These are urgent truths. These are urgent warnings that we have in this passage, and it's why this is another quote repeated previously and now given once more. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Now we covered this already, but let's briefly summarise because it's worth pressing in this as the author has come back to it. What does it mean to hear the voice of God?
As we thought about even this morning in the book of Romans regarding that effectual call of the living God in convicting and saving sinners, as we delight in the grace of God in the lives of people in this room, as you think about your life, are you sitting here this evening as one who has heard the voice of God? And by that, we mean through the spirit of God revealing in His word who He is, who you are, and your sinful condition and desperate need of this glorious, rich, and precious good news. Have you heard the call of the living God? The voice of God revealing truly who He is. Because for Israel, they heard, but yet still they didn't hear.
They saw, and yet they didn't see. Many can come into church buildings, and they can hear the message of the gospel, and yet they do not hear the message of the gospel. Because by this we mean believing ears, believing hearts. And this is the danger. This has been the danger throughout this passage.
It's why there is such a dwelling on this issue, because the disobedience of Israel is because of verse 12, the evil unbelieving hearts that led this generation to fall away. And this is why, crucially, for any church, for any individual Christian, how fundamentally important it is that we know upon which we stand, and that is the truth of who God is revealed in His word. It's why when we say we need to be, we must be a biblical church, what does that mean? What does it mean to stand upon the authority of the word of God? Well it means that as you come into the house of God Sunday by Sunday and at other opportunities, you are hearing the voice of God because the Word of God is being read, and the Word of God is being proclaimed. And yet, increasingly so, what do we find?
2 Timothy 4:3-4,
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth, and wander off into myths.”
There is judgment for such folly, for such wickedness. And this is why the word of God, again and again, gives this exhortation.
Do not harden your hearts to the truth. Now for the so-called Christian in many a setting, they're opening up their Bibles. They're saying they believe in Jesus. They're even doing Christian things, but they're sitting truly with hardened hearts. Hardened and resistant to the truth of who God is and what He calls and sets us apart to be.
And it's why we need to hear this glorious message of the gospel. And so with this, these three verses act as a summarising of what we've seen for almost a chapter's worth of content regarding a generation of the people of Israel which fell in their evil unbelieving hearts. In their disobedience, they did not heed the warnings. They did not obey the living God. And so once more we come to this example, and may we “Take care,” verse 12—“lest there be in any of us evil, unbelieving hearts” (Hebrews 3:12).
Let it be that we seek to come to God's word with a desire and a yearning to know it, live according to it, feast upon it. So let's go to verse eight now, and we come to what is very much a new focus in Hebrews chapter four, and that is how Israel triumphed. And we're introduced specifically to Joshua. Now it's quite a jump because verse eight begins, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.” So quite a lot is referred to in relation to what Joshua has done.
So we need to spend just a few minutes going to mainly the book of Joshua to see what is it that Joshua has actually done here. We've seen what Israel did during the Moses time, but what about during Joshua's time? Let's turn to Joshua chapter one, first of all. Joshua chapter one and verses two to six. So this is right at the beginning in the ESV. It has God commissions Joshua as the title. So let's read from verse two:
“Moses my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea towards the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”
Now with this, what we have is, finally, in the book of Joshua, we're coming to the fulfilment of promises we find in the time of Abraham in the book of Genesis. God has promised from the covenants established with the patriarchs that Israel will enter the promised land, and now God is declaring that through this man Joshua, Moses’ successor, this is the time, so be strong and be courageous. You will be victorious. Now we don't need to go any further in the book of Joshua to know that this is going to happen. In fact, we don't even need to go past what we find in Genesis to know this is going to happen, but now in the book of Joshua, it happens.
And the book of Joshua contains the narrative of how Israel crossed over the Jordan and into the promised land. Because what we find again and again throughout this book is battles. We have the fall of Jericho in Joshua 6. We have the fall of Ai in Joshua 8. The defeat of many opposing kings and groups in Joshua 10 as the sun stands still.
And the conquests go on until we get to Joshua 11:23, which states, “So Joshua took the whole land.” At this point, “Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.” Notice this, the people enter the land and they have rest. And we also find, if you were to turn to Joshua 23:1, “A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years”—Success. At this point, Israel is triumphant. They enter the promised land, and in Joshua in these places it says, they have rest.
And yet, in Hebrews chapter four verse eight, it seems to be in some ways arguing the opposite. It says if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So we scratch our heads and we think, well, what's going on? And the key question that we need to grapple with here is whether Israel had rest in Joshua's time. The Bible says that it did, but what was the nature of that rest?
What was the nature of the rest that Israel, under Joshua's leadership, had, because clearly from Hebrews 4:8 it is different from the promised rest that we have in verses nine to eleven fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Clearly, Israel entering the promised land, they did have rest, but it is a different rest from that rest which is in Christ. Because, and this is crucial, although Israel entered the promised land, and this meant peace not war, they didn't enter a final rest with God. They've entered a rest from wars and battles. They've entered this promised land, but they do not have a final rest with God, and that's the point.
This was merely a physical rest during a time of glorious triumph for Israel, but what was their spiritual condition? What was the spiritual condition of Israel in the time of Joshua when they'd entered the promised land? Because the physical rest of Canaan is not complete without the spiritual rest that is only found in God. And Israel knows what is required. That was given on Mount Sinai.
They were given the law to obey. And just as was the case in the wilderness when Israel fell, this was also the case during Joshua's leadership. Turn to Joshua seven verse one, and let's see what we find of the spiritual condition of Israel at a time when they were about to enter rest. Joshua 7:1, it says, “But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.”
And then down to verse 12, “Therefore, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.” Now this does not mean that this was not a blessed time of triumph for Israel, but it was not a time of perfect law keeping.
And then we just quickly go over to the book of Judges. Israel, under Moses leadership, one generation. Evil, hardened hearts fell in the wilderness. In the generation with Joshua, we see that they would not give up the devoted things. They were still a sinful people.
Then what happens to the generation after Joshua? Because they've now entered the promised land, are we now coming to things getting better and better, and we're really going to see the fruition of a greater rest experienced of Israel? What happens when we get to the book of Judges 2:10? “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.”
They did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. And this is it folks. This is fundamentally why this final rest is simply and absolutely not a rest, which either Moses, Joshua, or any Old Testament figure or leader can provide. And this is beginning to build the climax of the argument. There was a rest which was given, but it is not the final rest.
The final rest can only be found in the One who is greater, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this, brothers and sisters, is a spiritual rest. One thing that's interesting to note about verse eight is that the name of Joshua is the name for Jesus. And the author to the Hebrews would surely have been mindful of this connection as he was putting yet another Jesus being contrasted with another figure or earlier this the celestial beings. Because each time we're getting a picture of how great and glorious these celestial beings are. How faithful Moses is. How great a warrior and a leader Joshua is. So the author is not saying that, oh yeah, all these people, they were actually a right waste of time. No. They were triumphant. They did mighty things for the Lord.
And yet, there is One who is infinitely greater, Jesus Christ, Where we have prophets who spoke long ago. We have in these last days, who? We have Jesus Christ with the angels. They are the ones who are literally in the heavenly realm, but they are circling the One who is seated on the throne, and that is Jesus Christ, who is the living God.
There is Moses who is faithful in all God's house, but as a servant, Jesus was as a Son. And then here we have Joshua, the one who can provide an external rest in Canaan. But this cannot in any way be compared to the final rest, which is found in the God-Man, Jesus Christ. And that's the reality. It's why these rests that are mentioned in the time of the establishing of this principle of the Sabbath, why even the entering of the promised land, something promised for many hundreds of years.
That is not where this rest is found. It is simply providing the argument, the picture of where there is a complete and a final rest, which is this other day found and fulfilled in Christ and Christ alone. It's why Jesus says in John 14:2-3,
“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have not told you that I'd go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
These are the words of the Lord Jesus. There is a designated rest, which brings peace to the guilty sinner, reconciling the sinner to the giver of life, the Lord God Almighty. If we look at these warnings of the evil, unbelieving heart, and we do recognise that sounds like me, were it not for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, your salvation and your promised rest in no way rests in who you are or in what you do, in what you secure. There's no direct hotline to heaven to try to claim some room that we see in John 14. No!
Everything is ordained by our God. It is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and it is a Spirit-wrought work in the lives of his elect people. And this is a promised rest we have in Jesus Christ, which is a spiritual rest, which means victory over the enemies, over the evil one. It means that we look to the one who is ultimately victorious and triumphant today, Jesus Christ, and we know and are reminded from Hebrews chapter one that He is now seated. He sat down because He is victorious.
The work is done, and this is why we have such assurance and confidence. We look at ourselves. We look around us. We even look at struggles in the life of the church, and we have reason to doubt. We have reason to fear, but we then look to Christ, and we know that the foundation is solid.
We know that the victory is won, and we know that Christ is our hope. He is our all, and He is our everything. And in this, in Him, we have this final perfect glorious rest, and that is your comfort and your joy here tonight, Christian. Where Israel fell, and even where Israel succeeded and were triumphant, there was no final rest. Their hearts, wicked and rebellious, still hardened and far from the living God.
And for us too, wicked hardened hearts far from God, but for God and His saving work through Jesus Christ, but for the work that he has done on Calvary in redeeming a people by His blood. These rooms that are prepared, they're prepared only because of what Christ secured at the cross for you, for the church. So you have a rest. You can go to your bed tonight and enjoy, hopefully, some physical rest. But maybe you feel great degrees of turmoil over circumstances and situations, but may it be that you can come before the Lord and know in Christ I have rest because I have Jesus Christ.
I'm not looking to Moses. I'm not looking to Joshua. I'm not looking to the law. I'm not looking to the prophets. I'm looking to Jesus Christ.
And this glorious gospel message, this hope by which I am saved, by which I have life, by which I have perfect, absolute, steadfast, sure rest. This is why Jesus declared, come to Me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is what you have in Jesus Christ. And by the grace of God, when we pick it up in verses nine and ten next week, we're going to unpack and flesh this out in even more depth as we come to the next and closing climactic section of this argument, where there is rest found in Christ and Christ alone.