Hebrews: Don’t Fall Short on the Promise of Rest
Hebrews 4:1-2 - Again, the urgency is of moment. Don’t be a person who falls short of His grace.
“Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”
Hebrews 4:1-2 NASB1995
The beginning of Hebrews 4 follows on to the themes laid out in Hebrews 3. I ended my last devotional with the lexicon definition of rest. Hebrews 4 continues to examine the concepts of rest, both for the believers and for God Himself.
Reading commentary, it appears I will have my work cut out for me to understand Hebrews 4. Is it directed at the person who claims to believe in Jesus but is still suffering from a hardened heart, or is it aimed at the unbeliever? Or both? This will be interesting to explore.
Let’s start with commentary from Enduring Word:
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.
a. Therefore: The idea is carried on without pause from Hebrews 3, that unbelief kept the generation that escaped Egypt from entering Canaan. The promise remains of entering His rest, and we can enter into that rest by faith. Unbelief will make us fall short of the rest God has for us.
i. The old Puritan commentator John Owen described five features of this rest for the believer:
· Rest means peace with God.
· Rest means freedom from a servile, bondage-like spirit in the worship and service of God.
· Rest means deliverance from the burden of Mosaic observance.
· Rest means the freedom of worship according to the gospel.
· Rest means the rest that God Himself enjoys.
b. Let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it: This place of rest is so wonderful it should concern us when others or we seem to come short of it. It isn’t enough to almost enter His rest; we don’t want to come short of it.
i. Adam Clarke on come short: “It is an allusion, of which there are many in this epistle, to the races in the Grecian games: he that came short was he who was any distance, no matter how small, behind the winner.”
c. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them: Hearing God’s word isn’t enough. Ancient Israel heard the word but it did not profit them because they did not receive it with faith. Hearing gave them the opportunity, but the opportunity only profited if it was mixed with faith.
d. Mixed with faith: One may hear God’s word and have spiritual experiences, but unless the work of God is mixed with faith it will do no good. This explains why two people can hear the same message and one benefits while the other does not. It also shows that when there is more faith – more of the anticipation of blessing and favor from God – there is more blessing indeed.
i. Clarke on mixed: “It is a metaphor taken from the nutrition of the human body by mixing the aliment taken into the stomach with the saliva and gastric juice… so that on this process, properly performed, depend (under God) strength, health, and life itself.”
ii. Think of the joy Israel had in coming out of Egypt and approaching the Promised Land – and then think of all the graves dug in the desert. A wonderful promise was available but unattained. They came short because though they heard God’s word, it was not mixed with faith.
The “old puritan’s” words are important (John Owen quoted in the commentary). This rest that comes from faith gives us the following:
Peace with God.
Freedom from a servile spirit in the service and worship of God.
Deliverance from the burden of Mosaic law obedience.
Freedom of worship according to the Gospel
Rest that God Himself enjoys.
David Guzik uses the NKJV translation. Here are the differences between that version and the NASB for the last phrase in verse 2:
NKJV: but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
NASB95: but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
Let’s look at the word united:
United comes from the Greek verb συγκεράννυμι or synkeránnymi (Strong’s G4786), with the following Biblical usages:
to mix together, commingle
to unite
caused the several parts to combine into an organic structure, which is the body
to unite one thing to another
Hearing God’s word without receiving it in faith keeps us from uniting our beliefs and entering into God’s rest. This is something we should fear, both for ourselves and for other believers and we cannot earn our way into this rest. Charles Spurgeon has this to say, as quoted in Precept Austin:
Now, the apostle cannot mean that we are to fear lest we should come short of heaven for want of merit. There is not a man living, nor has one ever lived, nor shall one ever live, who will not come short of heaven if he tries that road. Human merit is not the way to heaven. Since the hour in which our first parent broke the law for us, the perfect keeping of the law has been impossible; neither is the keeping of the law set before us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as the way of acceptance with God. “For by the works of the law no person will be declared righteous before him, for through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20).
The just shall live by faith, and it is in the matter of faith that we are cautioned against coming short. The apostle would with indignation have spurned the idea that the gospel race is to be run at the foot of Sinai, and that its prize would be a reward for good works. Over and over again he has plainly declared, “It is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:9); but by grace, as the pure gift of the good pleasure and mercy of God. We must not, therefore, twist his words into a legal injunction, for they were never intended to bear such a meaning. The great point that we are to be concerned about is lest we come short of the heavenly rest by failing in the faith that will give us the rest. In a word, we must put our trust in the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ; we must give up all other confidences, and cast ourselves entirely upon Him, otherwise we shall certainly never enter into the rest that is reserved for believers.
One more relevant excerpt from Precept Austin on the procrastination of the uncertain mind, even those minds who go through the motions of belief, thinking that is enough:
Isn’t it amazing how some individuals can come so close to eternal life and yet end up in eternal death! They are in a good Bible believing church, they know stories and verses in the Bible, they know the message of the gospel, the good news, they are “good” people, etc, etc… but they lack one thing…they’ve never confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life the importance of which Paul explains…
But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”-- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED (means to be caused to be much ashamed, humiliated or disgraced!).” (Ro 10:8+, Ro 10:9-11)
When you come so close yet still come short, you might even presume that you have entered into the rest (like a “vaccination” or being inoculated with the inactive virus to prevent you from getting the real viral disease), and so this is why it is so important to continue to encourage one another daily while there is still time (Heb 3:13+). Coming to Bible study means nothing if Christ is not in your heart. You can know a lot in your head but the real issue is to make certain of your calling and election (2Pe 1:10-11+). Many will say to Jesus in that day “Lord, Lord“ but He will say those frightening, fateful words “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Mt 7:21-23+)
Among those WHO COME SHORT OF GOD’S REST will be the following classes…
(1) Those who are professors but who have never known anything of true piety.
(2) Those who are expecting to be saved by their own works.
(3) Those who defer attention to the subject from time to time until it becomes too late. They expect to reach heaven, but they are not ready to give their hearts to God “now,” and the subject is deferred from one period to another, until death arrests them unprepared.
(4) Those who have been awakened to see their guilt and danger, and who have been almost but not quite ready to give up their hearts to God. Such were Agrippa (Acts 26:28), the young ruler Mk 10:21, and such are all those who are “almost” but not “quite” prepared to give up the world and to devote themselves to the Redeemer.
To all these the promise of rest is made, if they will accept of salvation as it is offered in the gospel; all of them cherish a hope that they will be saved; and all of them are destined alike to be disappointed. With what earnestness, therefore, should we strive that we may not fail of the grace of God!
Tomorrow may be too late! The author of Hebrews reminds us, over and over again, that TODAY is the day that matters for truly having Him in your heart. Are you someone who fills a seat at church every Sunday and then forgets what he/she has heard for the rest of the week? Are you that anxious soul laboring away to be the best volunteer for every activity at church and elsewhere, yet you don’t understand the meaning of God’s grace? Are you stalling for time because this life is too enjoyable? Are you awake and seeing the danger but cannot take that last step of faith? Put these questions to the test!
My next devotional examines Hebrews 4:3-5- We who believe are entered into that rest although He warned those who would not believe and He entered into rest from the foundation of the world.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I repent and BELIEVE in Your gift of salvation. Help me to enter into Your rest for eternity. Amen.
Credits and citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org
G4786 - sygkerannymi - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb95). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4786/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission (we obtained this permission several years ago) and retains the original formatting. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com
Precept Austin was accessed on 11/03/2025 to review commentary for Hebrews 4:1-2.