Hebrews 4:5-8

Great blessings for the believers -- Hebrews 4:5-8: Here the Hebrew writer continues to quote from and apply Psalms 95:1-11. In Hebrews 4:5 he refers to Psalms 95:11, "Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." The quoting of this Psalm seems to have two purposes: (1) To show that even in this Psalm God promised a rest that many would miss, and (2) To show that a heavenly rest remains for the faithful child of God.

The Spirit used two Old Testament rests to picture a third rest yet to come. God's rest on the Sabbath Day and the rest that some Jews entered into in Canaan, thought most missed because of unbelief, is a picture a our rest when the preaching of the gospel is mixed with faith on our part. The true spiritual rest was not Canaan, but there remains a rest to be enjoyed by the people of God. God's people have a full assurance of enjoying this rest conditioned upon their faithfulness. This heavenly rest is far different, better and more glorious than the rest Joshua led Israel to in Canaan.