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Crash Course in Hebrews, Pt 2

March 31, 2026 at 2:27 PM Leave a comment

Last time in the first of this series, we introduced our overall plan to focus in on the numerous warnings found throughout the book of Hebrews in chapters 2, 4, 6, 10 & 12. These warnings are addressed to Jewish (Hebrew) believers. After providing some background on the times that the book was written in, we zeroed in on Hebrews 2:1-3, which is the first warning presented to the writer’s readers.

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him… (NKJV)

The writer is warning his readers to ensure that they do not neglect the salvation they’ve been given. The writer was not warning them that they could lose their salvation, but was instead urging those believers to continually strive to enter a complete dependence on Jesus daily. By not doing so, we lose ground and end up failing to grow in the salvation that we possess, also known as our sanctification, that process of growth that continues until we leave this life. There is a big difference between receiving salvation and living out our sanctification as I’ve noted in other articles previously.

For this article, let’s move onto the next warning and see what it says. That’s found in Hebrews 4:1-3.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Here the writer is referring to is the Israelites from the Old Testament. Specifically, he’s pointing to the incident that occurred when they were ready to go into the Promised Land God had brought them to, but ended up not going in. Instead of believing God would provide for them and gain the victory over the people groups who already lived in that land (who had become thorough enemies of God due to their severely pagan ways), the people chose to listen to the ten spies who claimed the Israelites were not strong or big enough to vanquish the enemies in the Promised Land. They refused to listen to the two spies – Joshua and Caleb – who urged the people to exercise faith in God and go in and take what God was giving them.

Because of this, all of Israelites were forced to wander in the wilderness outside the land of promise until all the men of that generation had died (40 years). So in essence, those people failed to enter into God’s “rest” and the Promised Land here is a metaphor for God’s rest. It’s not that resting here means absolutely no labor. It means laboring in God’s strength, not our own.

In essence, the Israelites did not take what God said He would do in and through them and mix it with faith (v2b). Does this mean that those who died in the wilderness were not saved? Not necessarily, though it is certainly possible that some were not. However, it can also mean that those who did have salvation failed here because they did not continue to believe in God’s mighty ability to do what He promised.

So what does this mean for the Christian today? Well, a few verses later in Hebrews 4:6, we read these words.

Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience…

Can that apply to actual Christians? Absolutely, without question. If a Christian is disobedient and chooses not to believe God, does that Christian lose salvation? Not if we consider the entirety of God’s Word where we learn repeatedly that His gift of salvation is literally eternal and that He will never leave or forsake us.

Even for those in Scripture who did turn away in some form of disobedience (as in 1 Corinthians 11:30, due to their disregard of the Lord’s Supper), what we learn is that God exercised His right to take them out of this life early. Paul’s use of the phrase “fallen asleep” always referred to believers, not the unsaved. This same thing happened with Moses because of his unbelief when he struck the rock. Had Moses not done that, he would have likely led the Israelites into the Promised Land physically and personally. But because he went down the road of unbelief, God forbid him to go into the Promised Land. Did Moses lose salvation? As we discussed last time, no because we see him at the Mt. of Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah.

So what is the point the writer of Hebrews is trying to make here? I believe it is this. Just as we exercise faith in Jesus to first receive salvation, so must we exercise faith on a daily basis to enter into a state of rest as we labor to fulfill God’s will in our lives, using His strength not our own.

Who among us never has to deal with pressures of this life? Who among us always trusts Him in all things, every moment of every day? Show me a person who unequivocally states that’s how they live their lives and I’ll show you someone who may well not fully comprehend the concept of what it means to enter into His rest.

The writer of Hebrews is urging his readers to ensure that every day, every hour, they enter into that rest that is available to us because of our union with God through Christ. Somethings are much easier for us to let go of and trust God in than other things. If we consider the life of Jesus, it is clear that in every way – thought, word and deed – He perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will for His life. I would hope you would agree with me on this. Jesus never sinned in any thought He had, any word He said or in any act He accomplished. Everything was in perfect harmony with the Father.

But, was it all easy to accomplish for Jesus? Did He never have any real struggles? Was it tremendously easy for Him because He was God in the flesh? Clearly not and the proof of that is seen in the situation during the night He was betrayed. Let’s look at it for a moment.

In Luke 22:39-46, we read this narrative.

39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He told them, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation.”

41 And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 44 And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

45 When Jesus rose from prayer and returned to the disciples, He found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.” (Berean Standard)

We can see the tension building within Jesus starting in verse 42. While He did not sin there, it is clear that something was troubling Him a good deal. So much so that in verse 43, we read that an angel came to Him and strengthened Him. Notice that the situation externally did not change, but Jesus certainly felt more strength to persevere in prayer. In verse 44, we read the description that Dr. Luke provides that Jesus was so troubled even after being strengthened by the angel that He was sweating profusely and was tinged with a reddish hue because His blood mixed with His sweat. I’ve never been at that point before over anything although I’ve experienced tremendous anxiety at times over specific situations. While I know what that’s like, I haven’t a clue how it feels to go through what Jesus did.

But the big point here is that Jesus persevered in prayer to the Father because of what He was emotionally and even physically suffering. In the end, Jesus gained the victory over the situation and was able to move forward fully trusting in the Father’s will. I believe it is this very thing that the writer of Hebrews is attempting to point out to his readers. He wasn’t warning them of potentially losing their salvation at all. He was warning them of their failure to enter into the rest (from our own works), that only comes to those who fully submit to Him and His will. Sometimes, that is not at all easy to do, is it?

The Hebrew believers were in danger of not entering the rest that God had for them. As noted in my previous article dealing with the Hebrews 2 warning, if they chose to go back to the Mosaic sacrificial system instead of simply pressing on in Jesus and resting in His finished work, that would have meant going back to Jerusalem. Being there then would have meant a likely death because of the Roman armies destroying Jerusalem in AD70.

But think about those Jewish people, who were now believers. The sacrificial system was what they had known since birth. Then as adults they became Christians and they were no longer under the Law. Imagine the persecution they were under from Jews who were not believers in Jesus. Imagine always feeling a bit out of place because you no longer needed to do what you had been taught to do as a Jewish person. The temptation to return to that system was likely overpowering to them at times.

So after the writer points out the warning in Hebrews 2, he moves onto emphasize to them that they were still not where they were supposed to be in Jesus because many to most had not entered into God’s rest according to Hebrews 4. This rest is a cessation of our own effort to achieve what only God can achieve.

It is possible to “put on” a happy face, isn’t it? We can fool people into thinking that even though there may be frustration or even deep fear within our hearts, we outwardly project what we want to them to see so that they will think well of us. Even as we do this, we know we are being dishonest, but we do not like it when people see the “real” us at times. So we project and hope they don’t see through it.

The problem though is God always sees through our charades and caricatures. He wants us to stop doing that and by faith, cease from self-effort and simply live His will in His strength. This is probably the most difficult lesson of Christianity to learn and it is fully tied to our sanctification. We must learn to enter into His rest and that only comes when we stop trying to get things done using our own power.

Entry filed under: Religious - Christian - Prophecy.