Introduction

This morning I want to focus attention on Hebrews 4:9, "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." This is a thought provoking passage because it is a conclusion within a somewhat difficult argument. "So then" signals the fact that what has just been said (back to 4:3) makes up a series of premises. We have to try to figure out how the writer of Hebrews makes his way from his premises to his conclusion.

Two main points will help us understand 4:9. 1) First, we will consider the perseverance context of 4:9, then 2) the historical-redemptive context of 4:9. The first takes up materials from outside the argument and the second takes up materials within the argument.

1A. The perseverance context of Hebrews 4:9

At the least this verse has to be read within the context of 3:7-4:11. Actually, it is probably better to say that the contextual unit extends from 3:1-5:10. This larger context springs from the exhortation in 3:1, "consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession." It is important to compare the exhortations and to keep them together in our thoughts as we interpret this section of Hebrews:

• 3:1, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession
• 3:6, hold fast your confidence and your boasting in your hope (implied exhortation)
• 3:12, take care…lest…unbelieving…you…fall away
• 3:13, but exhort one another "today"
• 3:14, hold your original confidence firm to the end (implied exhortation)
• 3:15, so "Today…do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion"
• 4:1, let us fear (failing to enter his rest)
• 4:11, let us strive to enter that rest (that no one fall as in the rebellion)
• 4:14, let us hold fast our confession
• 4:16, let us…draw near to the throne of grace

Thus, the context of Hebrews 4:9 is a number of exhortations to persevere in faithful obedience "firm to the end" (3:14). Now looking over this list of exhortations, which one stands out as distinct from the rest? It is the one that concentrates on how to persevere. You have probably already guessed that I am trying to direct your thoughts to 3:1, "consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession." This is a duty but it is more than a duty; it is the central means by which we are able to fulfill all the other duties cited. Accordingly, we are told in Hebrews 12 to "run with endurance" (v. 1) "looking unto Jesus" (v. 2) considering "him who endured" (v. 3a). The end result is the ability to stand strong and unwearied (3b) and thus to "run with endurance" (v. 1).

So the Sabbath that remains (4:9) must be connected to the Lord Jesus. Already we have the hint that the Sabbath that remains is His Sabbath; it is the Lord’s Sabbath, the Sabbath that belongs to Jesus. And we have the hint that some relationship exists between the Sabbath that remains and the exhortation to faithful perseverance. Looking to Jesus we are directed to an argument that concludes with the statement, "There remains a Sabbath observance for the people of God" (v. 9) and leads to the injunction: "let us strive to enter" (v. 11).

Notice that I translated the verse in a slightly different way than what we have in the ESV that has "There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." Using the word rest here is good to a point but the word has the "more exact shade of meaning" of "Sabbath observance" (Lincoln, Sabbath, 213) or Sabbath keeping. In some way or another, Sabbath keeping is in view. Commentators part ways on how it is in view. So let’s turn now to the historical-redemptive context of Hebrews 4:9 to think through the writer’s line of argument and nail down what he means by "Sabbath observance" that remains.

2A. The historical-redemptive context of Hebrews 4:9

In 4:4, the seventh day of creation is cited and looking closely at the wording the author conflates Genesis 2:2-3. So he is referring us back to God’s rest (v. 2) in its relation to the blessing of the seventh day for man (v. 3; in Gen. 2, God’s rest on the seventh day is the reason for the blessing of the seventh day for man). This impacts the meaning of 4:9. The support for 4:9 has two parts: vs. 5-8 (premises going before) and v. 10 (the premise coming after).

1B. The premises going before (vs. 5-8)

1) They are rooted in the original Sabbath

Pointedly, what Genesis 2:2 promised was entry into God’s rest. We are promised entry into God’s rest by the fact that God put His rest at the end of our work; this applies weekly for each week by faith we move from work to rest with Him in His rest. This tokens the life of faith everyday in the acknowledgement of God as Sabbath Lord and sovereign over all things and all time. This promise of rest entered weekly points ahead to the end of history and final rest. Each cycle ends with God; thus all the cycles end with God.

2) They confirm the promise of 2:2

The things cited in 5-8 confirm the promise of Genesis 2:2. They show that that promise abides. They show that the promise of rest given in the seventh day that is accessible to man by faith remains in three contexts. a) It remains accessible in the time of the rebellion (vs. 5-6, they did not enter because of unbelief and disobedience which implies that the promise still stood and rest with God is entered by faith and obedience). b) It remains in David’s day. Long after the rebellion the promise still stands (v. 7); that which was promised in the seventh day, rest with God now and at the end of history, is still promised to those who believe). c) It remains beyond Joshua’s day in David’s day (v. 8). Although Joshua did lead Israel into rest and they were a believing generation (Josh. 11:23; 24:31), he did not give them rest (finalizing it). If Joshua had brought the people of God to the end of their journey then God would not have spoken of another day later on in Psalm 95 (today enter His rest).

3) They (these premises) accent the promise

These examples show that God’s rest is still out in front of the people of God within history; it abides as a promise that can be entered within history but such entry is only provisional anticipating the ultimate rest at the end of history.

4) They lead to the conclusion of 4:9, namely, Sabbath keeping remains

From these examples that confirm the promise embodied in the seventh day, the writer draws the conclusion that a Sabbath observance remains for the people of God within history (v. 9). Sabbath observance literally speaks of what is done on the weekly Sabbath, a Sabbath keeping. Thus, we should think about how the author draws the conclusion that the weekly Sabbath remains for the people of God based on Genesis 2:2 confirmed in verses 5-8. How does this work?

a) The line of thought

Since the promise remains stage by stage in the unfolding of history then the day that promises it, the seventh day and all that it embodies, remains in the form of a Sabbath keeping for the people of God (since the promise remains then the day that points to it remains).

b) A reiteration of the 2:2 to 2:3 argument

Genesis 2:2 (God rested) is the premise for 2:3 (God blessed the seventh day for man making it a Sabbath for man to keep; cf. Ex. 20:11). The basis for the Sabbath or blessed seventh day for man is God’s resting on the seventh day. From Isaiah 66 we know that the reason for the blessing the seventh day is that it is a day of enthronement and that impacts all of remaining history. But here in Hebrews another point is stressed, the point of the promise that is implicit in God’s resting (it put God’s rest at the end of man’s work on earth; that is what is promised to man in his work). In other words, the reason for the blessing of the Sabbath is the fact of God’s resting on the seventh day that promised entry into God’s rest.

Thus, in the beginning God’s resting promised rest for man and therefore God blessed and set apart the seventh day as continual reminder of the promise of rest (it calls man to rest weekly and thus daily under the royal king of all things and in turn with anticipation of the end of history and final rest). Therefore, the conclusion of 4:9 is simply Genesis 2:3 but restated and spread out over time. In 2:3 God blessed the seventh day, that is, He set the day apart for man to keep (as a Sabbath, Ex. 20:11) because He rested promising rest for man (2:2). In 4:9 the Sabbath remains set apart for man to keep because the promise arising from His rest (2:2) continues as evidenced in 5-8.

c) The line of thought picks up historical-redemptive nuances

To say it another way, the premise "God’s rest as promise" is stated in 2:2. Verses 5-8 confirm and reiterate that promise citing its continuance in the times of the rebellion, Joshua’s day, and David’s day. In doing this these verses reiterate the premise of 2:2. Then verse 9 expresses the conclusion that follows from 5-8, a Sabbath keeping remains. This is a reiteration of the conclusion to which 2:2 points: the blessing of the seventh day for man (2:3) as a Sabbath (Ex. 20:11). He is therefore saying that the Sabbath instituted at the time of creation remains in the present time of the new covenant because the promise that it embodies remains throughout history. The promise (made in 2:2 and reiterated successively in the incidents of 5-8) remains, therefore, that which is grounded in the promise and which points to it (embodies it) remains.

Thus 2:2 is a ground or premise that leads somewhere. Surveying redemptive history, the writer shows that this ground or premise still stands and still leads somewhere. Where it leads is to the fact that a Sabbath keeping remains in accord with its institution. Just as the institution of the Sabbath is grounded in 2:2 so is the abiding Sabbath (in the various stages of history cited). In outline we can summarize in the following way:

The promise of 2:2 still stands (as shown in 5-8)

So the conclusion of 2:2 still stands (2:3 expressed in the new covenant in v. 9).

2:2 grounded a sanctified day for man to keep (2:3, cf. Ex. 20:11)

It still continues as a ground (as a promise)

What it grounded still stands

The blessed day for man to keep still stands (per 2:3)

It stands as a Sabbath keeping now in the new covenant (per 4:9)

2B. The premise coming after

Verse 10 indicates that whoever enters God’s rest in the final sense does so by resting from his works like God did from His. The Sabbath remains because the grand finale is outstanding. Thus, since the people of God have not rested from their works, they still have much to do in the way of persevering faith, then Sabbath keeping remains. The weekly Sabbath and all that it tokens remains because what it embodies (God’s resting as promise) is not yet attained. Here the concentration is on the ultimate future (whereas in 5-8 concentration was on the present, each "today" along the way that provided God’s rest and promised it despite unbelief and the provisional nature of this is evident in the rest given by Joshua).

Because that which is promised in God’s resting on the seventh day (and embodied in the Sabbath, 2:3; Ex. 20:11) is still promised then Sabbath keeping remains. By the resurrection/ascension of Christ (as a unity), the Sabbath that remains is His day oriented to His resurrection and shaped by it. Simply put, the Sabbath that remains is the Christian Sunday Sabbath (the new day is implied in Hebrews).

Concluding remarks

1) The great lesson here is not simply to document the duty of keeping the Sabbath. That is implicit in the fact that Sabbath keeping remains for the new covenant people of God. But the great lesson is found in the reason that Sabbath keeping remains. It remains because the promise since the foundation of the world remains. The important thing is what the Sabbath embodies: the promise of entering God’s rest weekly and thus daily and therefore eternally.

2) God’s rest is always out in front of us in our daily work because each week moves from work to rest with God in His rest on the seventh day. So daily living is energized with promise under the Lordship of God in Christ. Thus passing through the heavens He has ascended to the throne of universal sovereignty and marvelously our great king is a great high priest and His throne is the throne of grace (14-16). We thus come weekly to worship our Sabbath king and acknowledging Him in this way as Sabbath king means He rules all things and all time so the weekly worship with the saints tokens a daily walk under His throne. The Sabbath gives daily life a sense of promise in a weekly cycle that anticipates worship with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day.

• The Sabbath gives us a blessed doctrine.
• It gives us a blessed experience.
• It is a blessed day, blessed for us.
• It is a sanctified day, to be sanctified by us.

3) But it not only gives us a view of history within history that cycles from work to God’s rest; the Sabbath also fixes our eyes on our Sabbath king and what He has accomplished in the fullest and most complete sense as our priest-redeemer-king. Sabbath keeping embodies and gives a taste ahead of time of what is yet to come in the glory of eternal Sabbath rest.

It energizes our daily life with hope in a needed weekly way that gives us a foretaste of eternity; it gives us a living hope by cultivating our expectation and enlivening our sense of anticipation. This is like the illustration used by my first theology professor (Dr. Peter Connolly) that I have never forgotten. He spoke of a tendency he had as a student living in a boarding house, I think somewhere in England. Engrossed in study, He used to neglect going down to dinner in the common dining room. The landlady would call him to dinner again and again but her words would go unheeded. But in her eyes this young man was not to be denied the nourishment he needed. So she would come to his door, knock, and present him with a spoonful of her marvelous chicken soup. He says that before he opened the door he could smell the soup and once he tasted it he could not delay any longer and with great anticipation he would make his way to the dinner table for the full meal. The sample and foretaste was inefficient in itself but sufficient to literally move him to supper with expectation and anticipation.

Sabbath keeping that remains is like that. It embodies God’s promise giving us a taste of what is to come ahead of time. It therefore energizes our daily life with a sense of hope, expectation, and anticipation. The Sabbath gives us a glimpse of glory and we want to see more. It gives us a smell of heaven and we can already taste the chicken soup. It gives a sample and we want the full meal. Hope as expectation is cultured by the Sabbath that remains both in what it represents doctrinally and what it represents experientially.

4) Now we can see the grand connection to the exhortations that surround this Sabbath keeping section of Hebrews. Sabbath theology encourages perseverance! Come boldly to the throne now with full access. Persevere in prayer. Enter into the holy of holies. Enter now into the throne room of your Sabbath king and find rest for your soul now. Do this weekly. Do so in a six and one pattern. Enter His rest on the Sabbath that remains and thereby enter His rest for the days you live under the Lordship of your Sabbath king. That one day under girds all the other days. Strive to enter that rest. There is much work to do. It is work with a capital L. It is labor. Put forth the painstaking effort required of you as the servant of Christ. And what do you find? You find that His yoke is easy, that He gives refreshment of soul, that He gives encouragement and enflames your desire to know Him better now and to enjoy His company forever in the Sabbath rest yet to come. Sabbath is a means of striving. It is a duty. But it is a duty with promise; it reeks with promise. It is therefore deeply motivating. Taken up in faith, Sabbath keeping stirs up faith. Taken up in obedience, Sabbath keeping stirs up obedience. It sends us to our work daily as a service to God and others; it directs our thoughts to the grand finale of human history in total.

5) How does it do so much? It does so much because it centers on Jesus who has passed through the heavens as ascended Lord of the Sabbath (Heb. 4:14). It informs us of His great and precious promises. It helps us to fix our eyes on Him (cf. 12:1-3) and therefore the Sabbath that remains drives us to the work of persevering faith, repentance, obedience, and love to our Lord and because of Him love to others. So consider Him, hear the promise that is proclaimed by the Sabbath, and keep up the good work of learning from Him, submitting to Him, and clinging to Him as your great high priest, redeemer, teacher, and Sabbath king.