Hebrews 4:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So it will be then also. Yet he did not say it in that way. How did he speak? "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works, as God did from His."

"There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God." Notice the order of his whole discourse. God swore to the ancients, he says, that they would not enter into rest, and they did not enter.

Then, a long time after them, addressing the Jews, He said, "Do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me."

From this it is evident that there is another rest. He is not speaking here about Palestine, for they already possessed it. Nor is he speaking about the seventh day, for the discourse is not about that day, which had long existed.

Consequently, he points to some other and true rest. Indeed, it is a rest in which there is no sickness, sorrow, or sighing. There are no cares, labors, griefs, or fear that strikes and shakes the soul.

There is only the fear of God, filled with joy. There the words are not heard: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread," or, "thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you" (Gen 3:18-19).

There are no thorns and thistles there. It is not heard there: "In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (Gen 3:16).

Everything there is peace, joy, gladness, sweetness, goodness, meekness, righteousness, and love. There is no envy, hatred, sickness, bodily death, or that death of the soul. There is no darkness and no night.

Everything there is day. Everything is light. Everything is delight. There is no weariness and no satiety. Instead, there will be a constant desire for the same good things.

Do you want me to present to you some image of that state? It is impossible. Nevertheless, I shall try to depict it for you as far as possible.

Let us turn our eyes to heaven when no cloud darkens it and it shows us its crown. Then, after long contemplation of its beauty, let us imagine that beneath us there will be earth unlike the present one.

It will be better than this earth by as much as a golden roof is better than one of clay. Let us then imagine another roof above it, still higher.

Then let us imagine Angels, Archangels, the innumerable ranks of the bodiless powers, the royal dwelling of God itself, and the throne of the Father.

But, as I have said, it is impossible to describe everything in words. One must experience it and know it by experience.

Tell me, how do you suppose Adam lived in Paradise? That life will be better than this life by as much as heaven is better than earth. But let us seek another comparison.

Suppose that the present king were to gain possession of the whole universe. Suppose then that he had no anxieties from wars or cares, but only received honors and enjoyed himself.

Suppose he surrounded himself with many spear-bearers, received streams of gold from every side, and lived in glory. What state do you think his soul would be in, if he saw that wars had ceased throughout the whole earth?

Something similar will exist then. Yet even this does not give us a sufficient image of the future life. Therefore we must seek another comparison.

Imagine a royal child who, while still in the womb, feels nothing. Then suppose that, coming forth from there, he suddenly ascended the royal throne and received everything not gradually, but all at once.

Such will be the state then. Or it will be like the state of a prisoner who, after suffering many evils, is suddenly raised to the royal throne.

Yet even in this way we do not present an exact image. Here, whatever good things someone receives, even the kingdom itself, he feels a living joy on the first day, and on the second, and on the third.

But with the passage of time, though joy remains, it is no longer the same. By habit it always diminishes, whatever it may be. There, however, joy not only does not diminish, but even increases.

Consider, then, what it will be like when the soul, departing from here, does not expect any end or change of those good things. Rather, it expects increase.

It will enjoy a life without end, free from every danger, from every care and sorrow, and filled with pleasures and countless good things.

When we go out into a field and see there the tents of soldiers covered with awnings, and spears, helmets, and the rounded surfaces of shields shining with brilliance, we are amazed at such a sight.

If, besides this, we are deemed worthy to see the king walking among them, or riding on horseback with golden arms, we think we have attained everything.

What, then, do you suppose it will be like when you see the eternal dwellings of the saints, established in heaven? For it is said, "that they may receive you into eternal habitations" (Lk 16:9).

What will it be like when you see each one shining more brightly than the rays of the sun, not from bronze and iron, but from that eternal glory whose splendor the human eye cannot behold?

And this will be with men. What, then, shall one say of myriads of Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers, whose beauty is inexpressible and surpasses every conception?

Yet why do I still strive to depict what is incomprehensible? "Eye has not seen," the Apostle says, "nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Cor 2:9).

Therefore no one is more worthy of pity than those who are deprived of these good things. And no one is more blessed than those who receive them.

May we also be deemed worthy to be among these blessed ones, so that we may receive eternal good things in Christ Jesus our Lord. With Him, to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

It was especially fitting to entrust to their song and service the glorification of the day of His Resurrection. What day follows the Sabbath, if not the Lord's Day? It is precisely this day that follows the Sabbath. In the order of days the Sabbath was the last day, but it was sanctified by the law as the first. When the end of the law came, and this is Jesus Christ, for "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom 10:4), He sanctified the eighth day by His Resurrection. This day became first, though it was eighth. And the day that was first became eighth, because the eighth day received precedence according to numerical order, and holiness through the Resurrection of the Lord. Therefore in the Gospel we read of the δευτερόπρωτον Sabbath, which in our language is "second-first." When the Lord's Day, on which the Lord rose, surpasses the Sabbath day which had formerly been first, the Sabbath withdraws to second place. The first rest has ended, and the second inherits it. Therefore the Apostle says in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Therefore there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God... Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest" (Heb 4:9, 11). Consequently, true rest does not consist in the cessation of works, but in the time of Resurrection. Whoever kept the celebration of the Sabbath according to the law spoke of the first day after the Sabbath, as though there were one Sabbath and no other. We, having put on the garments of spiritual worship, strive that our service may be ordered according to the likeness and attain rest according to God. We desire to serve in that heavenly city, where there is no image or shadow, but truth. We speak of the "first day of the Sabbath," as it is written: "Late on the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn" (Mt 28:1). How beautiful and expressive these words are. Before the Resurrection, it speaks of the Sabbath. After the Resurrection, it speaks of the first day of the Sabbath. The Evangelist John also says: "On the first day of the Sabbath Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, while it was still dark" (Jn 20:1). The time was still shadowed, but the morning of grace had already dawned. The Evangelists could speak more clearly, as though the veil had already been removed. David, however, while under the authority of the law, kept moderation and proper caution, though he did not hide the mystery. He called the day following the Sabbath the Lord's Day. Thus he preserved the order of numbers for the Jews and knew the revelation of the spiritual mystery. Let us now hear what the one who sang psalms to God on the day after the Sabbath will say.

Therefore, says the Apostle Paul, true rest lies ahead for the people of God. That means those who lived well and skillfully after receiving the faith. This rest has been prepared not in Palestine, but in the Jerusalem beyond the world.

Otherwise the same thing may happen to them as befell the Hebrews who were disobedient to God (v. 11). The Apostle reinforces his exhortation by pointing to the fact that the word of God, which calls to this rest and warns man against hardness, is not like a human word, which acts only upon the hearing. It is living and active. That is, it supplies us with the means to attain rest, since it once did even more: it created the worlds. On the other hand, it also knows how to punish us if we do not obey it. It lays bare all our hidden thoughts, and no excuses will make it possible to escape its judgment. The word of God has this power because God Himself knows all things and judges all.