Tag: Enter Into Rest

Enter Into Rest – Part 2

~ iolaHC ~ 1 Comment

Hebrews 4:3-5 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

‘Rest the seventh day from all his works. Quoted from Genesis 2:2-3. God ceased work on this day of the week of re-creation – not from fatigue, but from achievement. He had completed His work, and was refreshed (Ex. 31:17). People were told to rest likewise and refresh themselves on the seventh [shebiy‛iy] day after six days of work (Ex. 20:8-11; 23:12; 34:21) as a picture of eternal rest (4:1-11; Col. 2:14-17). Genesis 2:3 says God “had rested.” God rested on that one day, not on every seventh day from then until now. He needed to work again when man sinned (Gen. 3:8-24), and not only for six days a week. The redemption program is carried out seven days a week. Therefore, the seventh day wasn’t set apart for God’s rest very long, and no scripture says that man was commanded to rest every seventh day from this time forward. God’s sabbath couldn’t be the same day as man’s sabbath, because Adam wasn’t created until the sixth day and had worked only one day – naming the animals (Gen. 1:24-31; 2:7, 19-25). The first sabbath for man is mentioned in Exodus 16:23-29, at least 2,513 years after God’s rest here. It was a sabbath for Israel only, as a sign between them and God, commemorating their deliverance from slavery (Ex. 31:12-18; Deut. 5:15; Ezek. 20:12-24).

‘If they shall enter into my rest.’ A reference to Psalms 95:7-11.

‘Rest’ [Greek: katapausis] is a putting down; to depose one from power. Used in Acts 7:49 and Hebrews 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 10, 11. It refers to the complete putting down of enemies where one can rest secure from any danger of further uprising, as referred to in Acts 2:35 and Matthew 22:44. God’s rest from all redemptive work and of using force to put down rebellion will come at the end of the Millennium when Christ has put down all enemies and God becomes all and all (1Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:10; Rev. 21:3-7; 22:3).

Enter Into Rest – Part 1

~ iolaHC ~ Leave a comment

Hebrews 4:3-5 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 

‘As I have sworn in my wrath, if thy shall enter into my rest.’ Quoted from Psalms 95:11.

‘Foundation of the world’ [Greek: katabole & kosmou] means the disruption or casting down of the social system – the one before Adam. Katabole should have been translated as “overthrow” or “casting down of the world” in Matthew 13:35; 25:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; 9:26; 11:10; 1Peter 1:20 and Revelation 13:8; 17:8. Except for Hebrews 11:10, katabole is used with kosmos, which means the social world, and refers to the overthrow of the pre-Adamite world by the flood of Genesis 1:2; 2Peter 3:5-7; Psalms 104:5-9 and Jeremiah 4:23-26 and the defeat of Lucifer and his earthly kingdom before Adam (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:11-17; Luke 10:18).

Katabole is not the ordinary word for founding or foundation. A reference to the founding of the world would require the use of themelios, as in Luke 6:48-49; 14:29; Acts 16:26; Romans 15:20; 1Corinthians 3:11-12; Ephesians 2:20; 1Timothy 6:19; 2Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 6:1; 11:10 and Revelation 21:14, 19. This word is never used with kosmos, social system, or used of ge, the earth. The verb, themelioo, occurs in Matthew 7:25; Luke 6:48; Ephesians 3:17; Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 1:10 and 1Peter 5:10. This verb is used only once for the founding of the earth (Heb. 1:10).

Katabole, therefore, means the disruption, overthrow, or ruin of the social system before Adam. In Genesis 1:1 we have the themelioo, founding of the earth (Heb. 1:10), and in Genesis 1:2 we have the katabole, overthrow of the social system on the earth by a flood. Note in the first scriptures above that “from” is used seven times and “before” is used three times in connection with the overthrow of the social world. Thus, the New Testament is very clear that the earth became desolate and empty before it was re-created in the six days of Genesis 1:3-31.

To be continued…