Pastor Paul here, One the greatest enjoyments of being a Pastor is meeting gifted people. I love hearing the different perspectives that different people have. For that reason, I’m changing the format of our weekly email blog. I’ve asked others to write over the next season so that you can hear the wonderful insights that so many others have. I received the following from Ed Mack the other day. It is excellent insight into the Father’s rest. Ed and his wife have been attending Cornerstone for the last several years. please enjoy.
Hebrews 4:9-11
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,10 for whoever has entered God's rest has no Some mysteries of Hebrews 3 & 4 revealed:
Hebrew. 3: 7-11
7) So, as the Holy Spirit says:
8)Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,
9) where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.
10) That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, “Their hearts are always going astray and they have not known my ways”
11) So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”
In Hebrews 3 & 4 there are several prophetic words that are repeated many times:;
Today - 5 Xs
Hear - 3 Xs
Rest - 12 Xs
Psalm 95: (7-11) - quoted in these 2 chapters - 4X’s
The most repeated phrase used by Jesus in the New Testament involves our “hearing”. “He that has ears to hear...” Jesus also says this to each of the 7 churches in Rev.2 & 3 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says ...”
John 8: 47 “He who belongs to God hears what God says...”
John 14:24 “... These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
This is also a common plea from God in the the Old Testament.
Deut.6:4 “Hear O Israel (Shema Yisrael): The Lord our God is one...”
(said 3nX’s each day)”
Isaiah 55:2-3 “... Listen,listen to me, and eat, what is good, and your soul will delight in richest of fare.”
Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.”
Ezekiel 37:4 “... Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, pay attention to what I say: listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to a man”s body”.
In Hebrews 2 & 3 “rest” is repeated over 12X’s. In every case but one it is the Greek word Katapausis (G-2663) meaning “to rest from your labor or work”. It is what the 4th Commandment says in order to obey and “honor the Sabbath”.
But Hebrews 4:9 is different. The translators used the words “rest” or “Sabbath-rest” in most translations. But it is an entirely different Greek word, only found once in the New Testament. It is the Greek word “Sabbatismos” (G-4520). It literally means “Sabbath keeping”.
Hebrews 4:9-11 “There remains then a “Sabbatismos” (G-4520 Sabbath keeping) for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest (G-2663 “rest”) also rests (G-2663) from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us therefore, make every effort to enter that rest (G 2663), so that no one will fall by following their (Israel’s) example of disobedience.”
Don’t you find it strange that the writer of Hebrews, after using the word rest (G-2663 “rest”) over 12X’s, now speaks of a prophetic day of Sabbath-keeping (G-4520) for the people of God. And by this Sabbath-Keepingwe enter into God’s eternal 7th day rest. And He exorts us “to make every effort” at “Sabbath-keeping” in order to enter His rest.
This makes me ask at least two questions: What is “Sabbath-keeping” and what is “The Sabbath”, or more accurately, what does God see as “Sabbath-keeping”, and what does God consider “The Sabbath”?
The 4th Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
These were prophetic shadows, not the reality. The real was Jesus. These were imperfect “types and shadows”, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” was the real. The Sabbath rules of “resting” were the “types and shadows” pointing to Jesus, and Jesus is both perfect theology and perfect rest. God put great importance on Sabbath-keeping in the Old Testament, but it is about our heart and our motives.
“Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil” (Isaiah 56:2).
“To the Eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant - to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off”(Isaiah 56:2-5).
“And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold to my covenant - these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.” ... “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:6-7)
JESUS seems to have broken many of the culture’s religious rules, but never broke God’s Sabbath. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He and his disciples, when hungry, ate grain on the Sabbath. He forgave sins. He disrupted the money changers at the Temple during the Passover Feast, and he spoke against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.
But how did Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, live his life? He walked out His life by saying what the Father was saying and doing what the Father was doing. Jesus had an intimate relationship with the Father through the Holy Spirit.
John 5:19-20 : ...”I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
John 12:49-50 “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
Hearing the Father’s voice, through the Holy Spirt, and yielding, by calling on the name of the Lord, is how you became a new creation in Christ Jesus. You heard God’s voice and obeyed by faith. That’s how this all began for you. It is the simplicity of the Gospel.
Colossians 2:6 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him ...” (NKJV ... “asyou received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him ... )
The same way you received Him then is how we walk/live in Him today. It is not complicated. At first, you probably knew nothing about God, theology, church fellowship (koinonia), or the Bible. You were convicted (Holy Spirit drawing you), repented, and called on the name of Him who is salvation.
Live Today like the “karos” moment when you became born again! You “perceived”, “saw”, “heard” the voice of God, believed and obeyed (called on the name of the Lord). I believe that’s how Jesus walked with the Father. He heard (“saw”, “perceived”) with his heart and obeyed. Paul says in Eph.1:18 “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened ...”. The heart “sees”, “hears”, and “perceives” the voice and will of God.
When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment (Matt.22:35-38) he quoted Deut.6:4-5 “Hear (Shema) Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” In Jewish culture this is referred to as “The Shema”, which means “to hear and obey”. Sometimes “Shema is translated “hear” and other times “obey”. In English we also refer to “hear” as meaning “obey”. When you tell your children not to chase the ball if it goes across the street, and one of them does, you say: “did you ‘hear me’” (“obey me”).
In Hebrews 3&4 the Holy Spirit quotes out of Psalm 95 - 4X’s. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts ...”
“So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest” (G- 2663 rest).
Our human nature (like Israel) is to “harden our hearts”. Perhaps, we are afraid of what God is going to say to us,or maybe we are afraid it will disrupt our plans or touch one of our sacred cows. All I know is, this Psalm 95 verse is repeated 4X’s in these two chapters with “entering His rest” being a major concern of the Holy Spirit for us. He wants us to enter into His rest.
There is a prophetic day that awaits you and me. It is a unique day, a day like never before. The Bible calls this day “today”. It is repeated 5X’s in these 2 chapters. “Today, if you hear his voice ...(Heb.3:7,15; 4:3,7); “but encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today (Heb.3:13 ) ...; “Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Heb.4:7)
In the context of these 2 chapters the Sabbath day is any day you call Today. And Sabbath-keeping is hearingwhat God is saying to you today and obeying. This living relationship is how we enter into and abide in God’s rest. The “hearing” (“seeing or perceiving”) from the Holy Spirit comes with the grace (anointing, empowering ability) to do what He says. He is for us, not against us! In these 2 chapters the Holy Spirit uses the words “unbelief” and “disobedience” interchangeably, referring to Israel not entering God’s rest (Heb.3:18-19). Belief and obeying are also used interchangeably. “Now we who have believed (obeyed/received) enter that rest...” (Heb.4:3).
This Sabbath-keeping, of hearing and obeying what the Spirit is saying today, does not take away from setting aside a specific day of the week. On this day, we all come together, like the scripture says, and worship and honor God (Heb.10:25). In this way, we encourage and edify one another (koinonia). We need each other. We also need to learn how to listen in this relationship to the Holy Spirit, to learn His language and His ways. I believe the best way to learn this is to begin with just you, your Bible and the Holy Spirit.
“As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real ...”. (1John2:27).
Following Heb.4:9 (The prophetic day of “Sabbath-keeping), the Holy Spirit points us to the Word of God in verse 12. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb.4:12).
The word of God speaks to us. It is a good and faithful place to start in this Jesus life-style of Sabbath-keeping (“hearing” and saying; “seeing” and doing), abiding in God’s eternal “day of rest”.
James 1:22-25 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.
Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it”
I put together some of the thoughts that I believe the Holy Spirit was showing me in these 2 chapters in the book of Hebrews. But, putting it in writing has chopped up the flow of just reading and meditating on this portion as a whole. Please, after reading this, read these 2 chapters as a whole message. Prophetic understanding of Scripture is not just linear. It has other layers and dimensions of kingdom understanding. God bless.
Today, when you hear His voice ....