For whoever enters God’s restThis phrase refers to the spiritual rest that believers enter through faith in Jesus Christ. It echoes the promise of rest given to the Israelites in the Old Testament, particularly in the context of the Promised Land (
Deuteronomy 12:9-10). However, the rest mentioned here is not merely physical or geographical but spiritual and eternal. It signifies a cessation from striving for salvation through works, aligning with the New Testament teaching of salvation by grace through faith (
Ephesians 2:8-9). This rest is a foretaste of the eternal rest believers will experience in heaven (
Revelation 14:13).
also rests from his own work
This part of the verse emphasizes the cessation of human effort in achieving righteousness. In the cultural context of the Jewish audience, this would contrast with the works-based righteousness of the Mosaic Law. Theologically, it underscores the doctrine of justification by faith, where believers cease from their own works as a means of earning salvation and instead rely on the finished work of Christ on the cross (Romans 4:5). This rest is a spiritual state of peace and assurance in one's relationship with God.
just as God did from His
This phrase draws a parallel between the believer's rest and God's rest after creation. InGenesis 2:2, God rested on the seventh day, not because He was weary, but to set a pattern for humanity and to signify the completion of His creative work. This rest is a type of the ultimate rest believers find in Christ. It also connects to the Sabbath rest, which was a shadow of the rest to come in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17). Theologically, it points to the sufficiency and completeness of God's work, mirrored in the believer's rest in the sufficiency of Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
GodThe Creator who rested on the seventh day after completing the work of creation, setting a pattern for rest.
2.
BelieversThose who are invited to enter into God's rest through faith in Jesus Christ.
3.
CreationThe event where God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing the concept of rest.
4.
SabbathThe day of rest instituted by God, symbolizing the rest believers can enter through faith.
5.
Jesus ChristThe fulfillment of the promise of rest, offering spiritual rest to believers.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's RestGod's rest is not merely physical cessation from labor but a spiritual state of peace and fulfillment in Him.
Faith as the Key to RestEntering God's rest requires faith in Jesus Christ, who provides the ultimate rest for our souls.
Imitating God's PatternJust as God rested from His work, believers are called to rest from striving and trust in God's completed work.
The Sabbath as a ForeshadowThe Sabbath rest in the Old Testament points to the deeper, spiritual rest available in Christ.
Living in Rest TodayBelievers are encouraged to live in the reality of God's rest daily, experiencing His peace and presence.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Hebrews 4:10?
2.How can we enter God's rest as described in Hebrews 4:10 today?
3.What does "ceased from his own work" mean in Hebrews 4:10?
4.How does Hebrews 4:10 connect with the creation rest in Genesis 2:2?
5.In what ways can we strive to emulate God's rest in our lives?
6.How does trusting God help us cease from our own works?
7.What does Hebrews 4:10 mean by entering God's rest?
8.How does Hebrews 4:10 relate to the concept of Sabbath rest?
9.Does Hebrews 4:10 imply that works are unnecessary for salvation?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Hebrews 4?
11.What did God do on day seven?
12.What defines a day of rest?
13.What is Quietism?
14.From Hebrews 4:1-3, how can we reconcile the promise of 'entering his rest' when believers throughout history still face turmoil, suffering, and unrest?What Does Hebrews 4:10 Mean
For whoever enters God’s rest- “For whoever enters God’s rest…” (Hebrews 4:10) opens the door wide. The word “whoever” shows the invitation is universal, not restricted by background, culture, or personal history (cf.Hebrews 4:1;John 10:9).
- To “enter” is an act of faith, a decisive step into the promise God has set before us (Hebrews 4:3). It is the fulfillment of Jesus’ call, “Come to Me… and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-29).
- “God’s rest” points back to the wilderness generation who refused to trust Him (Hebrews 3:11) and forward to the completed salvation enjoyed now in Christ and fully in eternity (Revelation 14:13).
Also rests from his own work- Once inside that rest, a believer “rests from his own work.” The striving to earn God’s favor ends, because acceptance is secured by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9;Titus 3:5).
- This rest is not laziness; it is freedom from self-reliance. We still serve, but we do so in the strength God supplies (Galatians 2:20;Colossians 1:29).
- The Old Testament Sabbath pictured this reality: ceasing from labor to acknowledge that God, not human effort, sustains life (Exodus 31:13).
Just as God did from His- Our pattern is God Himself: “just as God did from His.” After six days of creation “God rested on the seventh day from all His work” (Genesis 2:2). He wasn’t weary; He simply finished (Exodus 20:11).
- Christ echoed that completion on the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Because His redemptive work is done, we can lay down our burdens and live in the Sabbath He provides (Hebrews 10:12-14).
- This promise looks ahead as well—eternal fellowship where God’s people enjoy unbroken peace in His presence (Revelation 21:3-4).
summaryHebrews 4:10 assures believers that entering God’s rest means stepping into a finished work. By faith we cease the exhausting quest to justify ourselves and instead enjoy the peace God modeled after creation and secured through Christ. Freed from self-effort, we serve out of gratitude, anticipating the full and final Sabbath with Him forever.
(10)
Into his rest.--That is,
into God's rest.Hath ceased.--Rather,hath rested from his works as God did from His own (works). This verse is added to explain and justify the reference to a "sabbath" inHebrews 4:9. Man's sabbath-rest begins when he enters into God's rest (Genesis 2:2); as that was the goal of the creative work, so to the people of God this rest is the goal of their life of "works."
As the whole argument is reviewed, the question may naturally be asked, To what extent is this wide meaning present in the Psalm itself? Where must the line be drawn between the direct teaching of the words and the application here made? The apparent expansion of the meaning of the Psalm relates toHebrews 4:11 alone. There, in the first instance, an historical fact is mentioned--the exclusion of the rebels from the promised land. But though the mention of the oath of God is derived fromNumbers 14:28-30, the language of the historian is significantly changed; for "ye shall not come into the land," we read, "they shall not enter into My rest." True, the land could be spoken of as their "rest and inheritance" (Deuteronomy 12:9); but the language which the Psalmist chooses is at all events susceptible of a much higher and wider meaning, and (as some of the passages quoted in the Note onHebrews 3:11 serve to prove) may have been used in this extended sense long before the Psalmist's age. ThatHebrews 4:8, when placed by the side ofHebrews 4:11, shows the higher meaning of the words to have been in the Psalmist's thought, and implies that the offer of admission to the rest of God was still made, it seems unreasonable to doubt. As the people learnt through ages of experience and training (seeHebrews 1:5) to discern the deeper and more spiritual meaning that lay in the promises of the King and the Son of David, so was it with other promises which at first might seem to have no more than a temporal significance. If these considerations are well founded, it follows that we have no right to look on the argument of this section as an "accommodation" or a mere application of Scripture: the Christian preacher does but fill up the outline which the prophet had drawn. . . .
Verse 10. -
For he that is entered into his rest (God's, as before)
hath himself also rested from his works, as from his own God. There are two ways of understanding this verse. Its general intention is, indeed, clear. It accounts for the use of the word
σαββατισμὸς which precedes, expressing that the true meaning of "God's rest" is not satisfied by any earthly rest, but only by one like his. The question is whether the verse is to be taken as a general proposition or as referring specifically to Christ. In favor of the latter view is the aorist
κατέπαυσεν. The
literal translation would be "He that entered... himself also
rested." Ebrard, on this ground, strenuously defends the reference to Christ; and also on the ground of parallelism with
Hebrews 2:9 in the first division of the general argument. In the first division (
Hebrews 2.) the course of thought was - Dominion over creation has been assigned to man: man has not attained it: Jesus has; and in Jesus man fulfils his destiny. In this second division the corresponding course of drought is - God's rest has been offered to man: man has not attained it: Jesus has; and in Jesus man may enter it. And thus (as has been explained above) the conclusion that Jesus is the High Priest of humanity is led up to by two parallel lines of argument. But the third of the propositions of the second line of argument (corresponding to
Hebrews 2:9 in the first) is not distinctly expressed unless it be in the verse before us; and therefore this verse, on this ground as well as that of the use of the aorist, is taken to refer to Christ. On the other hand, it is argued (Bleek, Do Wette, Delitzsch, etc.) that, if a specific reference to Christ had been intended, he would have been mentioned, so as to make the meaning clear; and secondly, that the aorist
κατέπαυσε is legitimate, though the proposition be a general one. Delitzsch explains it thus: "The author might have written
καταπαύει or (more classically)
καταπέπαυται: but he has taken up into the main proposition the
κατέπαυσεν, which properly belongs (according to
Genesis 2:2) to the clause of comparison: whosoever has entered God's rest, of him the '
κατέπαυσενἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὑτοῦ holds good in the same manner as of God." And, further, it is to be observed that the Greek aorist may sometimes be put for the present, "to express an action completely determined, every doubt as to its truth and unalterableness being removed" (Matthiae, 'Gr. Gram.,' § 506). In this instance the idea might be - he that has entered into God's rest rested, when he so entered, from all his works, etc. On the whole, it appears that specific reference to Christ is
not apparent from the immediate context, or required by the mere language used. Still, in consideration of the general argument, we may take the writer to have meant his readers to understand that it was Christ who
had so entered the rest of God, so as to lead God's people into it. That this is so appears from ver. 14,
Ἔχοντες οῦν ἀρχιερέα μέγανδιελη;υθότα τοὺς οὐρανοὺς, which seems to require that preceding link of thought. - Among man's deepest feelings is a longing for rest. Haply in the freshness and ardor of early life not deeply felt, it recurs from time to time, and grows stronger with advancing years. Nothing in life fully satisfies this longing. Labors, distresses, disappointments, anxieties, never allow the desired repose. Few there are whose hearts have not sometimes echoed the psalmist's words, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I flee away, and be at rest!" Many since Job have felt something of his longing to be where "the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest." Is there to be no satisfaction ever of this deep human craving? Holy Scripture meets it as it meets all others. It spoke of a rest of God above creation from the beginning of time; it intimated man's part and interest in it by the weekly sabbath which he was to keep with God. But this was, after all, but a symbol and earnest of something unattained. At length a fuller realization of the longed-for rest was held out to the chosen people, and the Promised Land was pictured beforehand in the colors of an earthly Paradise. Forfeited, when first offered, through the people's unworthiness (representing by an historical parable the bar to man's entrance into the eternal rest), it was attained at last. But the true rest still came not. Canaan, like the sabbath, proved but a symbol of something unattained. Yet the old longing for rest went on, and inspired men went on proclaiming it as attainable and still to come. The irrepressible craving, the suggestive symbols, the prophetic anticipations, are all fulfilled in Christ. He, when he had passed with us through this earthly scene of labor, entered, with our nature, into that eternal rest of God, to prepare a place for us, having by his atonement removed the bar to human entrance. Through our faith in him we are assured that our deep-seated craving for satisfaction unattained as yet, which we express by the term "
rest," is a true inward prophecy, and that, though we find it not
here, we may through him, if we are faithful, confidently expect it
there, where "
beyond these voices there is peace." There now follows (vers. 11-14) a renewal of the warning of
Hebrews 3:7-4:1, urged now with increased force in view of the danger of slighting such a revelation as the gospel has been shown to be; after which (ver. 14, etc.) come words of encouragement, based on the view, now a second time arrived at, of Christ being our great High Priest. And thus the exposition of his priesthood, which follows in
Hebrews 5, is led up to.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Forγὰρ(gar)Conjunction
Strong's 1063:For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.whoeverὁ(ho)Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.entersεἰσελθὼν(eiselthōn)Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1525:To go in, come in, enter. From eis and erchomai; to enter.[God’s]αὐτοῦ(autou)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846:He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.restκατάπαυσιν(katapausin)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2663:From katapauo; reposing down, i.e. abode.alsoκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.restsκατέπαυσεν(katepausen)Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2664:From kata and pauo; to settle down, i.e. to colonize, or to desist.fromἀπὸ(apo)Preposition
Strong's 575:From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.hisαὐτοῦ(autou)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846:He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.[own]τῶν(tōn)Article - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.work,ἔργων(ergōn)Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 2041:From a primary ergo; toil; by implication, an act.just asὥσπερ(hōsper)Adverb
Strong's 5618:Just as, as, even as. From hos and per; just as, i.e. Exactly like.God [did]Θεός(Theos)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316:A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.fromἀπὸ(apo)Preposition
Strong's 575:From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.[His].τῶν(tōn)Article - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
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NT Letters: Hebrews 4:10 For he who has entered into his (Heb. He. Hb) 
