Hebrews 4 has many physical and spiritual layers contained within it that we will examine such as the Good News, The Shabbat, and eternal life!
Hebrews 4:1-11 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Therefore, let us be terrified of the possibility that, even though the promise of entering His rest remains, any one of you might be judged to have fallen short of it; for GOOD NEWS has been proclaimed to us, just as it was to them. But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust. For it was we who have trusted who enter the rest. It is just as He said, “And in My anger, I swore that they would not enter My rest.” He swore this even though His works have been in existence since the founding of the universe. For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day, “And ELOHIM rested on the seventh day from all His works.” And once more, our present text says, “They will not enter My rest.” Therefore since it still remains for some to enter it, and those who received the Good News earlier did not enter, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David, so long afterwards, in the text already given, “Today, if you hear ELOHIM’s voice, don’t harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, ELOHIM would not have spoken later of another “day.” So THERE REMAINS A SHABBAT-KEEPING for ELOHIM’s people. For the one who has entered ELOHIM’s rest has also rested from His own works, as ELOHIM did from His. Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.”
Verse 2:
“For GOOD NEWS has also been proclaimed to us, just AS IT WAS TO THEM.”
The Orthodox Jewish Scriptures says “For indeed we have had Besuras Ha Ge’ulah preached to us, just as they did also…”
HebrewforChristians.com says Besorah Ha Ge’ulah means “Tidings of Redemption” and the four “gospels” which begin with “Ha BESORAH ‘al-pi’ which means “The Tidings according to the title of the author.” An example would be “The Tidings according to Matthew” because he wrote a version of the Good News according to what he witnessed.
So, in the Peshat (the literal meaning of the scripture): The “Good News” is that YAHWEH was bringing the Israelites into the promised land as He had sworn to our ancestors.
Genesis 15:7-14 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Then He said to him, “I am YAHWEH, who brought you out from Ur-Kasdim to give you this land as your possession.” He replied, “YAHWEH, ELOHIM, how am I to know that I will possess it?” He answered him, “Bring me a three-year old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year old ram, a dove and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these, cut the animals in two and placed the pieces opposite each other; but he didn’t cut the birds in half. Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was about to set, a deep sleep fell on Abram; horror and great darkness came over him. YAHWEH said to Abram, “Know this for certain: your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be slaves and held in oppression there four hundred years. But I will also judge that nation, the one that makes them slaves. Afterwards, they will leave with many possessions. As for you, you will join your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. Only in the fourth generation will your descendants COME BACK HERE, because only then will the Amorites be ripe for punishment.”
Exodus 3:17 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“And I have said that I will lead you up out of the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites to a LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.”
Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“When YAHWEH your ELOHIM has brought you into the LAND HE SWORE TO YOUR ANCESTORS Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He would give you---cities great and prosperous, which you didn’t build; houses full of all sorts of good things, which you didn’t fill; water cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant…”
The Remez (The hint to a deeper spiritual meaning): The Good News is YESHUA because He was proclaimed to them, just as He is with us today because YESHUA was there amongst them! This is how Moses knew to accept the persecution for YESHUA!
Hebrews 11:24-26 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“By trusting, Moses, after he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose being mistreated along with ELOHIM’s people rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of iniquity. He had come to regard ABUSE SUFFERED ON BEHALF OF THE MESSIAH as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes fixed on the reward.”
Yes, YESHUA was there the entire time as Paul also tells us in:
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“For, brothers, I don’t want you to miss the significance of what happened to our fathers. All of them were guided by the pillar of cloud, and they all passed through the sea, and in connection with the cloud and with the sea they all immersed themselves into Moses, and they all ate the same food from the Spirit, and they all drank the same drink from the Spirit---for they drank from a Spirit-sent Rock which followed them, and THAT ROCK WAS THE MESSIAH.”
1 Peter 1:18-20 (Aramaic English New Testament)
“Since you know that neither with perishable silver nor with gold you were redeemed from your vain doings which you had by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of that Lamb, in which is not spot nor blemish, namely the MESSIAH: WHO WAS KNOWN BEFOREHAND TO THIS, BEFORE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD, and was manifested at the termination of the times for your sakes; Who, by means of Him, have believed in ELOHIM who raised Him from the dead and conferred esteem on Him; that your faith and hope might be in ELOHIM.”
Revelation 14:6 (Hebrew)
“Then I saw a messenger fly in the midst of the heavens, and he had ONE GOOD NEWS to make known to those who dwell on the earth, and to all the peoples and the nations.”
The footnote for “Good News” says or “ONE GOSPEL.”
What is the definition of Gospel? According to Oxford languages is “The TEACHING OR REVELATION OF MESSIAH.”
Revelation 14:6 (Aramaic English New Testament)
“And I saw another Messenger flying in heaven; and with blood, he had the EVERLASTING GOOD NEWS TO PROCLAIM to dwellers on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people…”
Revelation 14:6 (Amplified Bible)
“Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an ETERNAL GOSPEL TO PREACH to the inhabitants of the earth, to every nation tribe and language and people…”
The words eternal and everlasting are interchangeable, and we know eternal means lasting or existing forever, and we see that the Good News of YESHUA is eternal and was known even in the wilderness! But what about Abraham? Abraham knew as well because He saw YESHUA!
John 8:56-59 (Hebrew)
“Abraham your father desired to see My day, and HE SAW IT, AND REJOICED.” The Jews said unto Him, “You do not even have fifty years of age yet, and has Abraham seen You?” So, YESHUA said to them, “Truth I say to you that before Abraham existed I, I AM! Then they brought stones to cast them on Him; but YESHUA hid Himself and went out of the Sanctuary.”
I have done a message on Abraham seeing YESHUA and I’ll include the link here and the description box: https://youtu.be/xm60orkG7WE
“But the message they heard didn’t do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust.”
It takes more than just hearing a message, it also requires obedience and trusting what is heard. Shema in Hebrew means to “HEAR AND OBEY!”
Revelation 14:12 (Hebrew)
“Here is the hope of the set-apart ones, and here are those who DO THE COMMANDMENTS OF YAHWEH, AND BELIEVE IN YESHUA.”
Jude 1:4-5 (Hebrew)
“For some sons of man came in among them—of those who were already written up (recorded) for this condemnation—and they were wicked ones, and invalidated the steadfast-love of YAHWEH in arrogance, and they did NOT BELIEVE in YAHWEH AND HIS MESSIAH. But I want to make you known, that He who brought His people out of Egypt, killed those who DID NOT BELIEVE, TWO TIMES.”
So again, we have more witnesses that our ancestors in the Old Testament knew about YAHWEH and YESHUA but chose not to believe. And verse five gives us the context of the Old Testament by referring to “they” meaning those who YAHWEH and YESHUA brought out of Egypt but they did not believe and were killed by Him twice for it.
Verse 3
“For it is we who have trusted who ENTER THE REST. And in My anger, I swore that they would not enter My rest.”
Peshat (The literal meaning): Those who trusted and obeyed YAHWEH and YESHUA entered the physical land of Canaan as He promised! While the disobedient did not!
Numbers 14:20-24 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“YAHWEH answered, “I have forgiven, as you have asked. But as sure as I live, and that the whole earth is filled with the esteem of YAHWEH, none of these people who saw My esteem and the signs I did in Egypt and in the desert, yet tested Me these ten times, and did not listen to My voice, will see the land I swore to their ancestors! None of those who treated Me with contempt will see it. But my servant Caleb because he had a different Spirit with him and has fully followed Me—him I will bring into the land he entered, and it will belong to his descendants.”
Psalms 95:8-11 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“If only today you would listen to His voice: “Don’t harden your hearts, as you did at Meribah, as you did on that day at Massa in the desert, when your fathers put Me to the test; they challenged Me, even though they saw My work. For forty years I loathed that generation; I said, ‘This is a people whose hearts go astray, they DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW I DO THINGS.’ Therefore I swore in My anger that they would not enter my rest.”
We know that Joshua, Caleb and their descendants, and the children of the rebellious parents who said that their children would be prey in the wilderness entered into the promised land.
Remez (The hint to a deeper spiritual meaning): Those of us who trust and obey YAHWEH and YESHUA will enter into the promised land.
2 Peter 3:11-13 (Aramaic English New Testament)
“As therefore all these things are to be dissolved; what persons should you be, in Set Apart CONDUCT AND IN THE FEAR OF ELOHIM, expecting and desiring the coming of the day of ELOHIM in which the heavens being tried by fire will be dissolved and the elements being ignited will melt? But we, according to His promise, expect NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH IN WHICH RIGHTEOUSNESS DWELLS.”
The righteous will possess the land while the unrighteous/disobedient will not, because only righteousness will dwell in the Kingdom to come.
End of verse 3 and 4
” He swore this even though His works have been in existence since the founding of the universe. For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day, “And ELOHIM rested on the seventh day from all His works.”
Jubilees 2:30
“On this WE (ELOHIM and angels) GUARDED THE SHABBAT IN THE HEAVENS before it was made known to any flesh to guard Shabbat on the earth.”
Genesis 2:2-3 (Samaritan)
“And in the sixth day ELOHIM completed His work which He had done. And He RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY from all His work which He had done. And ELOHIM blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which ELOHIM had created to do.”
Verse 5-7
The writer of Hebrews is reiterating and stressing his previous points about rebellion and not entering the promised land.
Verse 8
“For if Joshua had given them rest, ELOHIM would not have spoken later of another “day.”
Joshua in Hebrew is “Yehoshua”, and it means “YAHWEH is Salvation” just as YESHUA the shortened form means “YAHWEH is Salvation.” The Peshat (The literal meaning) is that Joshua brought the Israelites into the promised land:
Joshua 1:1-3 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“After the death of Moses the servant of YAHWEH, YAHWEH said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, Moses my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over the Jordan, you and all the people, to the LAND I AM GIVING THEM, the people of Yisra’el. I am giving you every place you will step on with the sole of your foot, as I said to Moses.”
Deuteronomy 28:13-14
(Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“YAHWEH will make you the head and not the tail; and you will BE ONLY ABOVE, NEVER BELOW---if you listen to observe and obey the commandments of YAHWEH your ELOHIM and not turn away from any of the words I am ordering you today, neither to the right nor the left, to follow after other elohim and serve them.”
The remez (the hint to a deeper spiritual meaning): The same way Joshua brought the children of Yisra’el into the promised land is the same way YESHUA brings us into the promised land when He comes back to reign:
Daniel 7:13-27 (Aramaic)
“I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the SON OF MAN (YESHUA) came upon the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days (YAHWEH), and they brought Him. And there was given to Him DOMINION and esteem and a KINGDOM, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed.” Verse 27 “And the dominions and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall BE GIVEN TO THE SET-APART PEOPLE OF THE MOST HIGH, whose kingdom is an EVERLASTING KINGDOM, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
Revelation 2:26 (Hebrew)
“And whosoever overcomes, I will GIVE NATIONS AS HIS INHERITANCE, and he will lead them with a rod of iron, and you will shatter them like a potter’s vessel.”
Verse 9
” So THERE REMAINS A SHABBAT-KEEPING for ELOHIM’s people.”
Hebrews 4:9 (Aramaic)
“It is therefore the DUTY OF THE PEOPLE OF ELOHIM TO KEEP THE SHABBAT.”
In the peshat (the literal meaning) means that we must enter a literal physical rest on the 7th Day Shabbat
The Remez (the hint to a deeper spiritual meaning) means we keep the literal 7th Day Shabbat as we wait to enter to the everlasting rest (Shabbat) when YESHUA comes back to reign!
2 Peter 3:8
“Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with YAHWEH, ONE DAY IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS AND A THOUSAND YEARS LIKE ONE DAY.”
So based off the creation week in Genesis 1, each day represents a thousand years, so after 6,000 years of humanity YESHUA will return being that ELOHIM created all things and finished it all on the 6th day and rested on the 7th day! Being that each age is divided up into 2,000 years it makes sense, because from the time of creation to Abraham was 2,000 years, from Abraham to YESHUA was 2,000 years, and the age we are currently in from YESHUA until the end of this age is 2,000 years and would mark a total of 6,000 years. The other view is 7,000 years of humanity and then the rest, either way the text is pointing to a literal rest and an eternal rest to come.
“For the one who has entered ELOHIM’s rest has also rested from His own works, as ELOHIM did from His.”
Genesis 2:2-3 (Samaritan)
“And in the sixth day ELOHIM completed His work which He had done. And He RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY from all His work which He had done. And ELOHIM blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which ELOHIM had created to do.”
YAHWEH showed us how to enter to His rest just as He did from His own by giving twice as much manna on the 6TH Day because they would not find it in the field on the 7th Day! He was showing His children how important His Shabbat is and how to enter His rest, to prepare us for the spiritual one to come.
Exodus 16:26-27 (Aramaic)
“Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Shabbat, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day to gather, and they found none. And YAHWEH said to Moses, how long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See, YAHWEH has given you the Shabbat, therefore He gives you on the sixth day BREAD FOR TWO DAYS…”
Verse 11
“Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that none will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.”
The choice is yours to obey or disobey! We see that Hebrews 4 is not an exhortation to break the Shabbat Day and do what we want, rather, it has a physical and spiritual component and gives us the complete picture.
Romans 2:13 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“For it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom ELOHIM considers righteous; rather, it is THE DOERS OF WHAT TORAH SAYS WHO WILL BE MADE RIGHTEOUS IN ELOHIM’s SIGHT.”
James 1:22 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“Don’t deceive yourselves by only HEARING what the Word says, BUT DO IT!”
Luke 11:28 (Complete Jewish Scriptures)
“But He (YESHUA) said, “Far more blessed are those who HEAR THE WORD OF ELOHIM AND OBEY IT!”
Revelation 14:12 (Hebrew)
“Here is the hope of the set-apart ones, and here are those who DO THE COMMANDMENTS OF YAHWEH, AND BELIEVE IN YESHUA.”
As always may YAHWEH bless you all in YESHUA’s Name! Shalom!