Rev. Bob Stevens
Hebr 3:14 (NASU) For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me." 16 For who provoked [Him] when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt [led] by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest,but to those who were disobedient?
The greek word "SWEAR" means lifting up of the hand and making an oath.
Gene 2:2 (KJS) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
(REST)
BDB/Thayers # 07673 shabath shaw-bath'} a primitive root; (cease 47, rest 11, celebrate 1) to cease, desist, rest) to cause to cease, put an end to) (Qal) to keep or observe the sabbath
Gene 1:26 (NASU) Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, [I have given] every green plant for food"; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Gene 3:22 (KJS) And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Gene 3:15 (NASU) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
(The above prophecy by God Himself told of the coming of His son Jesus)
Gene 6:5 (KJS) And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. every...: or, the whole imagination: the Hebrew word signifieth not only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires} continually: Heb. every day} 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. both...: Heb. from man unto beast}
So God destroyed everything that man had polluted with his sin.
And man once again would not enter into God's rest.
God makes a covenant with man and promises never to destroy the earth again with water.
Gene 8:21 (KJS) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. a sweet...: Heb. a savour of rest or, satisfaction} for the imagination: or, through the imagination} 22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. While...: Heb. As yet all the days of the earth}
Gene 11:1 (NASU) Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn [them] thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top [will reach] into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Gene 12:1 (KJS) Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This time the people gathered and stayed in Egypt!!
(This is not the land that God gave Israel for their rest)
God called Moses
(God lifted up His hand and promised rest in the land across Jordan.)
Exod 3:8 (KJS) And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Now the people are in the wilderness and have witnessed with their own eyes all the miracles of God and still they disobeyed
God has made an oath:
Numb 14:30 (KJS) Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, [concerning] which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. sware: {Heb. lifted up my hand} 31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
These men were the only ones to give the people a good report and Glorify the Lord by speaking in faith that God would save them and fight for them.
The Lord seems always to have a remnant somewhere to save the rest of the people. Noah-Abraham-Moses-Joshua-Caleb
Moses calls them to remember !
Deut 30:19 (KJS) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Who are you Going to rest with? God says you must make a choice today
Elijah told the people to fish or cut bait
1Kin 18:21 (KJS) And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word. opinions: or, thoughts?}
Even after this statement Elijah thought he was the only one that was on the face of the earth that obeyed God
1Kin 19:14 (KJS) And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, [even] I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael [to be] king over Syria: 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint [to be] king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint [to be] prophet in thy room. Elisha: Gr. Eliseus} 17 And it shall come to pass, [that] him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 18 Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. I have...: or, I will leave}
God will reward those that are faithful
Josh 14:6 (KJS) Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea. 7 Forty years old [was] I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as [it was] in mine heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God. 9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God. 10 And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while [the children of] Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I [am] this day fourscore and five years old. wandered: Heb. walked} 11 As yet I [am as] strong this day as [I was] in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength [was] then, even so [is] my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.
Satin knows when you enter into God’s rest you will become invincible and beyond reproach
Psal 125:3 (NASU) For the scepter of wickedness shall not restupon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
The Lord has promised to give you this land so that you may rest with him and have fellowship
Psal 37:32 (KJS) The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. 33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see [it]. My God will help against my enemies
Isai 50:6 (KJS) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 8 [He is] near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who [is] mine adversary? let him come near to me. mine...: Heb. the master of my cause?} 9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who [is] he [that] shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
God has lifted up His hand again a swore another oath
The Lord is going to make a way for you to enter His rest -
even if you have been disobedient
Jere 31:33 (KJS) But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Isai 7:14 (KJS) Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. shall call: or, thou, O virgin, shalt call}
God with us(Immanuel)
God will come to earth and rest with His children!!
(God, with His infinite patience, is waiting for us to rest with Him)
Hebr 3:14 (NASU) For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me." 16 For who provoked [Him] when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt [led] by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?
Let God bring you into His rest
Matt 11:28 (KJS) Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
If we hang in there and don’t give up - we will have victory
Matt 10:22 (KJS) And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
"SAVED"
BDB/Thayers # 4982 4982 sozo sode'-zo} from a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saoz, "safe"); TDNT - 7:965,1132; v AV - save 93, make whole 9, heal 3, be whole 2, misc 3; 110 1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction 1a) one (from injury or peril) 1a1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health 1b1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue 1b) to save in the technical biblical sense 1b1) negatively 1b1a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment 1b1b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance
The Lord says Enter into My Rest!!
(Enter into faith)
Receive ye the Holy Spirit!!