You Must Rest in Order to Possess

Hebrews 3

“Rest” = ?
• Cessation of movement or action.
• Cessation of labor; a state of freedom from exertion. 
• Freedom from anxiety; freedom from mental or emotional anxiety. 
• Repose of sleep; refreshing to body marked by a reduction in 
metabolic activity.
• Repose of death (death perceived as freedom from earthly toil).
The “Rest” Being Offered
It is possible that the faith of these Jewish believers will be tried because 
of the persecution they are experiencing at the time this epistle is written 
to them. Because of their present situation, they, too, might fall short 
of attaining all God wants them to attain in this life. 
The promise of rest is still available because it was never totally fulfilled. 
The promise of rest in the Old Testament was unfulfilled, but it was not 
withdrawn; it is available to those who want it now. 
The entire purpose of this letter to the Hebrews is to get the Jewish 
believers to enter the fullness of “rest.” 
The writer uses two different words for rest in this chapter. The one he 
uses the most is kata,pausij katapausis, which is used eight times in 
Chapters 3 and 4 (Heb 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3—twice, 5, 10, 11). Outside of 
the Book of Hebrews, this word is used only once in the entire New 
Testament (Acts 14:18). The word means “a cessation of activity.” It 
means rest in the sense of ceasing.