Hebrews is skillfully weaving the two concepts of spiritual rest and Sabbath rest together.
The reason you, Kland have a hard time seeing this, is because you have separated the two. In your mind it must be either the spiritual rest OR the Sabbath rest. Of course the text doesn't make sense if we separate the two.
Could you demonstrate that that is so? I believe I demonstrated it doesn't make sense that it's talking about the 7th day Sabbath.
Did Joshua not give the Israelites the 7th day Sabbath?
Heb 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
Joshua did not give them "rest", he was only a human being, he could only lead them to the "rest" but he couldn't make them "rest".
Under Joshua they entered what was to be the "land of rest" and they also had the day of rest--
Yet because of their unbelief and hardness of heart they did not enter into the rest God wanted to give them.
They COULD HAVE --
3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
3:2 the gospel was preached.. unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard.
7th day does not fit here.
Or was it that Jesus prevented them from keeping the 7th day Sabbath?
Heb 3:11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'
Jesus could not bless them with His rest, either with the blessing that came from true Sabbath keeping, or with the blessing of rest that He wanted to bless them with in the promised land.
Why?
3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
4:2 the gospel was preached.. unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard.
So it's not talking about keeping / obeying the 7th day, but something bigger.
This spiritual rest as well as the Sabbath rest was ordained for mankind at creation:
4:4 And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
is 4:4 talking about every week, or the end of creation?
It was there --
They COULD HAVE entered in.
That rest comes from an abiding relationship with our Creator. He it is that sanctifies and gives spiritual rest to everyone who accepts Him and walks with Him in trust and obedience.
The Sabbath, when truly entered into, is a sign, as well as an experience in the spiritual sanctifying rest found in Christ.
Yes, a sign of something bigger. That's what the text is talking about, not keeping the 7th day.
Heb 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
They DID enter the promised land -- but didn't enter the "rest".
Exactly because they did not obey.
It's not talking about obeying the 7th day, but obeying God.
Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
57:21 There is no peace [or rest], saith my God, to the wicked.
They found no rest in the promised land, nor in their Sabbath keeping, because their hearts weren't with their Savior, and they weren't walking with Him in obedience.
There is no rest for the disobedient.
Exactly!
Not talking about the 7th day.
Were the ones being spoken to in Hebrews not keeping the 7th day Sabbath, that it remains for the future?
Heb 4:9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
We already belabored that point.
First the text uses a totally different word
Heb. 4:9 There remains therefore a SABBATISMOS (Sabbath keeping) for the people of God.
The word there is NOT the word "rest" but SABBATISMOS.
Please don't ignore the fact that the author of Hebrews uses a completely different word here.
It's making a comparison, not instructing. And the word is not used elsewhere, don't ignore that fact. Similar but not the same.
Following a few Sabbath rules is not observing the 7th day Sabbath or finding the sanctifying rest it affords in Christ.
The ones spoken to in Hebrews came from background in which the Sabbath had been made a burden with so many rules it was hardly a day of sanctifying rest with the Creator God.
Yes, they needed to be instructed on the real meaning of Sabbath rest and how it is intricately interwoven with the spiritual rest in Christ.
That rest comes from an abiding relationship with our Creator. He it is that sanctifies and gives spiritual rest to everyone who accepts Him and walks with Him in trust and obedience.
The Sabbath, when truly entered into, is a sign, as well as an experience in the spiritual rest found in Christ.
Hebrews 4:4 And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Ex. 31:15 Six days may work be done; but the seventh isthe sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD.
Yes, but it's not the 7th day. It's only a sign for what the text is talking about.
How does one labor to enter the 7th day Sabbath?
Heb 4:11 ¶ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
By being in an abiding relationship with their Creator and Savior all week long as they go about their daily work, then on Sabbath they rest in trust and faith, in HIM.
Hebrews 4:4 And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
And according to Genesis 2, He blessed that day and sanctified it. and in Ex. 20 He asks us to remember the seventh day and follow His example of working six days and resting on the day He made holy.
Yes, he's making a comparison. But the 7th day is not what the text is about. Something bigger.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need
Why did he say that? Can we only come boldly to the throne of grace only on the 7th day Sabbath?
We need to come boldly every day before God's throne of grace to find the spiritual rest. It is by coming to the throne of grace, that makes the Sabbath rest truly meaningful, because we then understand the meaning of the Sabbath rest-- a sign of Christ's sanctifying power and we can rest in the promise that He who has begun a good work in us will complete it to that day.
Without coming to the throne of mercy and grace we can't find any rest even if we keep rules, we would find ourselves in the same place as the Israelites who didn't find the rest in their promised land, in their temple services or in the Sabbath.
Today is that "other day" -- the rest is still available --
Don't put off coming into that rest.
Exactly! Nothing about keeping a 7th day, but a rest of something bigger than our workweek!
But expect you to be of the same opinion still. You can use the same tactics as Sunday keepers use, so you can debate them and see where that leads. You can take an approach that is contrary to the SDA commentary and all or most of the secular commentaries, and that's your choice. It comes across as an individual private interpretation. But you are entitled to your opinion as I am mine.