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A prominent Bible teacher has challenged the validity of the Book of Hebrews in the Apostolic Writings because he thinks the writer was attacking the validity of the Torah, the law of God. In Hebrews 3-4, some see the teaching that the seventh-day Sabbath has been replaced with “daily rest in Yeshua,” but a careful reading reveals just the opposite.
Questions to be addressed in the discussion
- What does it mean to “enter into His rest”
- Is the seventh-day Sabbath replaced by “entering into Yeshua daily”? Samuele Bacchiochi has a detailed response/apology to this question as well.
Food for thought from the discussion
Heb. 3:1-7 — Who is the audience of this letter?
Psa. 95:1-7 — What is the rest is the Psalmist discussing? Is this about resting from daily labour?
Hebrews 3:8-16 — Why did the children of Israel rebel in the wilderness? What was the “wrath of God” in this case? God could have struck them dead instantly in His anger but He didn’t. Why? What work did God perform during this time? What kind of sorrow/indignation did God experience as a result of the rebellion of the children of Israel? How did Israel harden their hearts?
On what Holy Day does the author of Hebrews focus his attention? Why this one and not another? How would Yeshua as the High Priest given the audience hope and reassurance of their salvation?
Yeshua had to go through the Day of Atonement to enter into His rest — where God dwells.
Heb. 8:17 — Who angered God? How did the people sin? What was the sin of deceit? What does it mean when it says that God was “grieved”? Was He “sorry”?
Heb. 4:1-3 — Did the people in the wilderness have the same message as the message of the Book of Hebrews? What was the “gospel” that was preached in the wilderness? What is the “gospel” of Hebrews? Are they the same?
What does the Greek word for “rest” mean?
Psa. 95:11 — What is the “rest” mentioned here? Is it Shabbat? Is the rest of Hebrews Shabbat?
We need to have a broader definition of rest. David said he wanted to “dwell in the house of the LORD.”
Heb. 4:7 — What does God “limit” in this text? What has God “marked out”? What day is mentioned here (Psa. 95:7)?
Heb. 4:9 — This is the only verse in this discourse where the Greek word that is translated as “rest” is actually Sabbatismos, which means “sabbath-rest.” The other references to rest in this discourse do not use the Greek word for the Shabbat. Heb. 4:10 goes back and uses the other word for rest.
This text is actually a defense of the seventh-day Sabbath, not a negation of it. The author of the book of Hebrews never uses the Sabbath rest as a daily rest. He never says that the daily rest replaces the seventh-day Sabbath.
Speaker: Richard Agee.