God’s People Enter His Sabbath Rest

¹But the promise of entering God’s rest is still open. So I want you all to be careful not to miss it.

²The good news has been preached to us, just as it was to our people of long ago. But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because they didn’t embrace it by faith when they heard it.

³But we do have faith, and we can still enter that rest. God said,

“When I was angry, I swore an oath:

‘They’ll never enter the rest I planned for them.’ ”

God said that even though he’d already been resting ever since he finished creating the world.

⁴Somewhere in Scripture he has spoken about the seventh day this way: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”

⁵But in the passage just quoted, God said, “They’ll never enter the rest I planned for them.”

⁶So some people can still enter that rest. Those who had the good news announced to them earlier didn’t obey, and so they didn’t go in.

⁷So God chose another day, calling it “Today,” when he spoke through David a long time later, in the passage we’ve been considering:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

don’t be stubborn.”

⁸It’s true that Joshua led the next generation of Israelites into the promised land. But if that had been the rest God said he was planning, God wouldn’t have spoken later about another day.

⁹So there must still be a Sabbath rest available for God’s people.

¹⁰Anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their own work, just as God rested from his.

¹¹So let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will die by disobeying the way the people of long ago did.

¹²The word of God is alive and active. It’s even sharper than any sword that has two edges. It penetrates deep inside us, to where the bones meet the joints and where the soul meets the spirit, until it reveals the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. His eyes see everything, and he’ll hold us accountable for everything we do.

Jesus Is the Great High Priest

¹⁴Because we have a great high priest who has gone up into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold on firmly to our faith.

¹⁵We don’t have a high priest who can’t feel what we feel when we’re weak. Instead, we have a high priest who has been tempted in every way just as we are, but without sinning.

¹⁶So let’s approach God’s throne of grace confidently, because we’ll receive mercy there and find grace to help us in our time of need.