Hebrews 4:1
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
When the Israelites left slavery in Egypt, they were being led to the Promised Land.
There, they would live in houses they did not build, drink from wells they did not dig, and eat from crops they did not plant (Deut. 6:11)
God, who has control over events and time, had orchestrated a plan in which the Israelites would enjoy rest and abundance.
This rest and abundance would not be the result of their hard work...
Their land and their houses would not be bought with capital gain from careful investment...
The Promised Land was a gift that God chose to give to a group of people, based not on their merit but on His graciousness and generosity.
In this land, He would be their God and they would be His people. They would know that He is LORD, the one who brought them out from under the burden of the Egyptians (Exodus 6:7)
In the Promised Land, they would have the full experience of the promise God made to them: "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:14)
The Promised Land was not a material gift, though the materials needed were included, it was an eco-system.
Here, God would display His glory, power, and love.
God had one requirement: "Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you."
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As we all know, the Israelites did not experience this gift.
The original group to leave Egypt did not even get to experience the geographical land that God had set aside for them, and Hebrews 4 shows us that even those who came after them, though they experienced the geographical land, did not experience the promise.
They got the land… They did not get the Promised Land.
Psalm 95:8-11 explains this
"The LORD says, “Today, if you hear his voice, Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
God is explaining to us that the Promised Land is still out there.
He tells us, "TODAY, if you hear my voice, do not harden your hearts like they did." "Don't miss it like they did!"
I am not advocating that you buy a plane ticket and travel to the geographical location. Travel there and you will find many people living in the LAND who aren't living in the PROMISE.
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Are you under a burden today?
Do you feel enslaved by a set of problems?
Have you cried out to Him, asking Him to deliver your relationships, your finances, your health?
Just as He heard the Hebrew people, He hears you.
As a good Father, He saw your situation and got to work.
Hebrews tells us, "His works have been finished since the creation of the world."
Today, the Promised Land is available.
Why then, are you still burdened?
Why are you still experiencing the slavery of this world?
Why does this verse seem to be describing your situation: "You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!" (Haggai 6:1)
It is because you have placed yourself under the oath that God made, "So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest."
Like those Israelites, you are walking through the wilderness in circles, while the Promised Land sits, prepared and complete, waiting for you to enter into it.
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God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness, and He provides for you... He will never leave you or abandon you... But the wilderness is not your home.
This is why you are tired, thirsty, and unsatisfied.
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."
God tells us what is required of us:
"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."(2 Chronicles 7:14)
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I am not preaching a "prosperity gospel" that says God is a vending machine that, if you press the right key combination, spits out a new house and car...
I am preaching that God knows your need. He knew your needs before the creation of the earth, and if He was willing to give His own Son to save your eternal soul, He surely will take care of any other problem you have.
"Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Mathew 6:33)
If you will humble yourself, pray and seek His face, and turn from your wicked ways, He will hear you.
He will take you out of the wilderness where you plant but harvest nothing. Where you eat but are still hungry, and drink but are still thirsty.
You will find a rest that has been prepared for you before the creation of the earth.
He will be your God, and you will be His person.
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If by God's grace He chooses to open your eyes and let you experience this rest, I give you one additional warning:
"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.
He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed." (Deut 8:11-19)
"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14)