W. Robert Godfrey

There's another pointer, I think, to help us think about this, and that's in the book of Hebrews.

The book of Hebrews, specifically in Hebrews 3 and 4, is looking carefully at the matter of the call to enter into the rest of God.

It's a meditation on Psalm 95.

And Psalm 95, you know, begins as a great call to worship and a great celebration of God as king and shepherd of his people.

And then Psalm 95 suddenly shifts in the middle of it, if you're acquainted with that psalm.

I'm always interested when churches sing Psalm 95 as a call to worship.

It's a great call to worship if you stop at the right time.

Otherwise, the psalm shifts in the middle, and as it's quoted there in Hebrews 3, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

Therefore, I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart.

They have not known my ways as I swore in my wrath.

they shall not enter my rest."

It's really a fairly terrifying statement there of God's anger with his people because of their faithlessness and disobedience, and the consequence is that they will not enter his rest.

They die in the wilderness.

The rest here is clearly the promised land.

And part of what's interesting in Hebrews 3 and 4 is the author moves in his discussion of rest from rest as a place, the promised land fulfilled in heaven, the new heaven and the new earth, and rest as a time, the Sabbath day fulfilled in the eternal rest of glory.

And as he's making this argument, there are several things that are fascinating.

One is, without any hesitation, he takes all of this said to Israel and applies it to the church.

He takes all of this said to Israel and applies it to the church.

So, it's the church that now is called to listen as Israel was called to listen.

It's the church that's called to believe as Israel was called to believe.