Hebrews 4:3

We which have believed. That is, we Christians, meaning particularly converted Jews in the apostolic church.

Do enter. Or, “are entering.” The invitation is still valid; furthermore, some are accepting the invitation and entering into God’s “rest,” by faith.

Rest. Literally, “the rest,” meaning the very same “rest” to which reference has already been made in chs. 3:11, 18; 4:1 (see on Heb. 3:11). The “rest” into which Christians, including converted Jews, enter is the very same spiritual “rest” into which God had invited ancient Israel to enter — the “rest” of soul that comes with full surrender to Christ and with the integration of the life into the eternal purpose of God (cf. Isa. 30:15; Jer. 6:16; Matt. 11:29).

As he said. The writer has just affirmed that, one by one, Christian believers are entering into the very same spiritual “rest” into which God formerly purposed that ancient Israel should enter, but from which they, as a nation, were now barred. Beginning at this point and continuing on through v. 8 he sets forth the evidence on which he bases his conclusion, a conclusion shocking to unconverted Jews and perhaps an enigma to many, if not most, converted Jews. In v. 9 he concludes this line of reasoning by reaffirming the validity of his major premise, namely, that admission to God’s “rest” is now through the Christian faith as it formerly was through Judaism.

The line of argument in vs. 3-8 may be summarized as follows:

1. God had sworn that literal Israel should not enter into His “rest.”

2. Nevertheless, God’s “works” — here His purpose for mankind — were “finished [“finalized”] from the foundation of the world.” In the beginning God had determined that men should enter into His “rest.” Thus, God’s oath barring ancient Israel from the promised “rest” might appear, on the surface, to be in conflict with His original purpose. Does the oath mean that God has rescinded His original design? Or does He pursue an objective until He secures it?

3. To prove that God achieves His purposes, the writer points (v. 4) to the “works” of creation. God set out to create this world; He completed His “works” of creation; His rest on the seventh day testifies to a completed creation. Note the words “finished” and “ended” in Gen. 2:1-3 and the emphasis on completion.

4. In Heb. 4:5 God’s oath that ancient Israel should not enter into His “rest” is repeated and placed in juxtaposition with the thought of v. 4, that God accomplishes what He sets out to do, as illustrated by the completed work of creation week.

5. A completed creation, as testified to by God’s rest on the seventh day of creation week, is evidence of the immutability of God’s purposes. This is Paul’s major premise. His minor premise is the fact that God had purposed that His chosen people should enter into His “rest,” but that “they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.” This brings him to the conclusion that “it remaineth that some must enter therein” (v. 6).

6. As further evidence for the validity of his conclusion, the writer points again, in v. 7, to the words of Ps. 95, to the effect that the failure of earlier generations had neither altered God’s original purpose nor withdrawn the original invitation. Compare the repeated invitations to the great banquet (see Luke 14:16-24).

7. In v. 8 he draws the further conclusion from the observation in v. 7 that God’s mention of “another day” in the time of David is evidence that although Joshua had indeed given Israel “rest” in the literal land of Canaan (see on ch. 3:11), he had definitely not led them into the spiritual “rest” God intended them to enjoy.