Hebrews 4:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This rest belongs to the future, since it is clear that some must enter afterward. Just as the Sabbath in Scripture is called rest, and nothing prevented the entrance into the promised land from later being called rest, so now nothing prevents the future rest from being named after that ancient rest. I mean the Kingdom of Heaven, into which those who have not believed will not enter.

Therefore, if the Hebrews did not rest on the seventh day, as their works also did not rest, then it is evident that it was said of them, "They shall not enter My rest."

"And again in this place," that is, He said it in this place of Scripture. What did He say? "They shall not enter My rest." Behold another rest. Therefore, just as the first rest did not prevent this second one for us, so the second will not prevent the third, which is the Kingdom of Heaven.

To prove that entry into God's rest is still open, and that only believers can enter this rest, the Apostle first explains what should be understood by God's rest, εις την κατάπαυσίν μου. It is precisely the rest which God began to enjoy after the completion of the world's creation. Concerning this rest, God swore that the Israelites who came out of Egypt would not enjoy God's rest because of their unbelief. Yet God Himself had already rested long before, namely, after the completion of the world's creation, as it is said in Genesis 2:2. Then the Apostle sets side by side the scriptural saying that rest for God began from the seventh day of the world's existence, and God's oath that the Israelites would not enter God's rest. He thereby gives the reader to understand that both places speak of one and the same rest, namely God's rest, which continues even now.