Fools Don’t Rush In

GOOD NEWS

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
(Hebrews 4:11 – ESV)

The background of this writing was that there was heavy persecution for the new Jewish Christians. However the Jews themselves were not being persecuted, and so these new converts were considering going back to Judaism so as to avoid the persecution, and avoid possible death. The writer of Hebrews is telling them that they may be looking at physical death, yes, but that if they draw back they are most assuredly inviting spiritual death. They either had to have faith in Christ, and move forward, or fall back and deny Christ, and thereby not obtain the salvation Christ was promising them if they entered in. They were at the moment of decision.

Therefore – the writer is applying what he is now going to say to what he has already said. He had said “therefore” in verse 9, meaning that there was still a rest to be entered into. So he says that they must be diligent to enter it, unlike those who failed before. They had to make their choice and rush in now, or be left behind. He compares them with the situation at Kadesh-Barnea (Numbers 13-14), where the Jews rebelled against God, Moses and Aaron, by not wanting to enter the Promised Land because of the giants they saw.

The writer of Hebrews challenged them and us to "be diligent" so that we do not settle into a life of disobedience. But this means we rush in, we make haste when we have a choice, we either enter in or fall back in those moments. The examples the writer had shared from the Old Testament were applicable to those reading then and to the life of the reader today.

This would be a graphic and startling illustration to be compared with them. It would bring forth the seriousness of what was going on and the decision that needed to be made because they knew what happened to those people. They died in the wilderness, all of them except those under twenty and Joshua and Caleb. They knew of God’s displeasure in their disobedience, their lack of faith in God and His promises. The writer of Hebrews wants them to know they are about to make the same mistake. So can we, it applies to us today as well.

In this verse are two verbs, both in the aorist tense, meaning it is a singular event in time; they are on the brink of decision. They give us one positive exhortation and one negative. In essence they are “hurry up and enter in”, and “don’t fall back”.

Now in verse 10 we see rest, and the end of works, and we are supposed to be entering rest, but many versions say, “strive”, or “be diligent”, or “make every effort”, etc., and this can be confusing. If God entered in and stopped from working and rested, why are we supposed to work to enter in? Well, it isn’t working to enter the rest, the truth is that what this means is not labor or working or having to do things, it is about speed, to hasten, make haste, hurry up. The obedience required isn’t works it is belief. Do it now, don’t wait. Don’t delay you may miss it.

Failure to act now may lose you the opportunity. People think they can keep one foot on the bus and one foot on the ground, but you cannot halfway enter into the ark. You either get in or you are left behind. We all know how it is when someone is waiting on you, and the door is open, and you are halfway in the car. They will say something like, “In or out?” or “Are you coming or not?” If you don’t act they may drive away.

Hurry up, enter in, or fall away. This is the disobedience of unbelief (Hebrews 3:18-19, 4:2,6). This is the example the writer is warning them of. If they don’t act they will begin to fall away. It is the same with us when we are convicted by the Word. Repent or rebel, be helped or be hardened. You either get in or you are left behind like a boat pulling away from the shore.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©