Member-only story
What is the Sabbath Rest Waiting for the Children of God -Hebrews Four?
Book of Hebrews
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9) The rest mentioned ten times in Hebrews three and four is a curious passage because it is not mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament. Jesus statement: “ Come to me and I will give you rest” is the only time the word is used outside of Hebrews.
John Wesley in his Notes on the New Testament, believed the sabbath rest referred to the Christians final location in Heaven. I was surprised to find Wesley had changed Hebrews 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day — to read — For if Jesus had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. By doing that he eliminated any chance of the rest referring to anything in this life.
I think he got it wrong, possibly deliberately. I suspect Wesley reacted to a reference that seemed to allow Christians to rest from working for God. Be Extremely zealous about constant activity in the preaching of the Gospel, resting was repellent to Wesley’s mindset. Perhaps, knowing Christians and new converts would read his writings, he did not want to provide an excuse for doing nothing for God. We get a clue about the meaning of this rest when we consider the author of Hebrews was…
