Hebrews 3:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He says that there are three kinds of rest. One is the Sabbath rest, in which God rested from His works.

Another is the Palestinian rest, when the Jews, having entered Palestine, were to rest from many calamities and labors.

The third and true rest is the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever reaches it truly rests from labors and sorrows. Thus he mentions three kinds of rest here.

Why, then, when discussing one rest, did he mention three? To show that the prophet spoke of the last.

He did not speak of the first, because it had existed long before. Nor did he speak of the second, which was in Palestine, because that too had already ended.

Rather, he says, "They shall not enter My rest." The third remains, and it is this of which he speaks.

He swore that the murmuring generation would not enter the land of promise, and indeed all of it perished in the wilderness, except Caleb and Joshua.

Therefore, if David, speaking after that generation, said, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts," it was so that you would not suffer the same things as your forefathers and be deprived of rest.

Clearly he was speaking of another rest, which we must obtain. For if they had truly attained rest, why would he say, "Today, do not harden your hearts as the fathers did, lest you also fail to enter into rest"?

What other rest is this, if not the Kingdom of Heaven? The Sabbath serves as its image, as does the entry of the children of that unbelieving generation into Palestine, which was accomplished typologically.

The Apostle has cited the testimony, certainly to put the Jews in fear, so that they might guard more carefully the hope given to them. Yet he also has something else in view, again directing his speech so as not to arouse suspicion. He continues the exhortation.

"As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest" (Ps 94:11). The word "as" means confirmation. God says, "I firmly declared in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest." I have said elsewhere that among the Hebrews the word "if" often means "not" (Zigabenus on Ps 94:11). The "rest" is the promised land. It gave rest to those Israelites who entered it after forty years of wandering and passing from place to place. Thus it became rest for them. Then, too, those who do not heed Christ's commandment shall likewise not enter the rest of the Kingdom of Heaven.

"Therefore" is used here not for comparison, but to affirm what has been said. It means, "truly He swore," just as when it is said, "How good God is to Israel, to the upright in heart!" (Ps 72:1).

Or again: "How magnificent are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have made them all" (Ps 103:24).

By the oath understand the unchangeable threat of God. If even we are not permitted to alter oaths, much less does God alter His promises and threats.

This is what is indicated by the word "oath." In what, then, did God swear? That the Jewish people would not enter His rest.

This indeed happened to those who angered Him in the wilderness. They died in the wilderness and did not inherit the promised land.

The discourse just completed above, concerning the embassy of Moses, gives the Apostle occasion to draw several strong moral exhortations for his readers from the history of that same Mosaic ministry.

Having become partakers of the heavenly calling and having entrusted themselves to the guidance of Christ, who was the prototype of Moses, Christians must firmly preserve their boldness and hope to the end, despite every temptation from Christ's enemies.

In this case, the New Testament Israel should take as an example those Israelites of the time of Moses who were steadfast and strong in spirit.

During the entire forty-year wandering, they did not lose their faith and kept themselves from murmuring, namely Joshua and Caleb, despite all the temptations and calamities in the wilderness.

For a long time, for a full forty years, the Hebrews saw the miracles of God and still tested God by their disobedience and unbelief.

Therefore God was indignant with them and even swore that they would not enjoy His rest. That is, they would not enjoy safety from enemies or live in the promised land under God's protection.

The psalmist reminded his contemporaries of this divine threat, because he saw that they were not yet enjoying God's rest in this sense.

Likewise, the Apostle, in the words of the psalmist, urges his readers, Christians from among the Hebrews, not to resist the Christian law offered to them.

Otherwise, he threatens, they will be deprived of the eternal inheritance, just as the stubborn Israelites were deprived of the opportunity to enter the land of promise. The Apostle develops this thought in Heb 4:1-10.