Diligent to Enter His Rest
Hebrews 4:11-16
Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. [Hebrews 4:11]
This verse pivots directly upon the previous discussion of Heb 4:1-10, “A Sabbath Rest for the People of God.” The writer exhorts, “a promise remains of entering His rest” and warns, “let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” [Heb 4:1] The historical example was 40 years of wondering the desert.
Moses was unable to lead them into the Holy Land because they didn’t believe God’s Word and promises. Jesus, therefore, being “better than” Moses, now leads them into the Holy of Holies by His better blood, better sacrifice, and better ministry as Great High Priest. But the question remained, will they believe or will they too perish because of unbelief. These same questions are for us today.
“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
Wandering Israel disobeyed God’s Word because they did not believe God’s promises. The Lord promised Abraham’s descendants, who would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, a Land. He instructed them to possess the Land, which was their inheritance. But in unbelief they disobeyed; they were disobedient to God’s word and therefore came short of their inheritance: They perished in the wilderness and never entered in.
It is a similar warning for us today. Our inheritance is the Holy of Holies, behind the veil. Jesus has made the way by His better blood, and He leads us in by His superior Priestly Order. This is what the Hebrews writer describes in the latter of Chapter 4 and beyond.
Jesus, our Great High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, leads us into the Holy of Holies, where there is a true Sabbath rest.
Let us therefore be diligent to enter in.
