Sabbath rest (4520) (sabbatismos from sabbatízo = keep the Sabbath) literally means a keeping of a sabbath or a keeping of days of rest. It is used in this passage not in the literal sense (meaning to keep a specific day, the "Sabbath" day) but to describe a period of rest for God’s people which is modeled after and is a fulfillment of the traditional Sabbath.
W E Vine adds that...
sabbatismos (σαββατισμός), “a Sabbath-keeping,” is used in Heb 4:9, rv, “a sabbath rest,” kjv marg., “a keeping of a sabbath” (akin to sabbatizo, “to keep the Sabbath,” used, e.g., in Ex 16:30, not in the NT); here the sabbath-keeping is the perpetual sabbath “rest” to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. Because this sabbath “rest” is the “rest” of God Himself, He 4:10, its full fruition is yet future, though believers now enter into it. In whatever way they enter into divine “rest,” that which they enjoy is involved in an indissoluble relation with God. (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words)
Vine in his collected writings adds this note...
There remains therefore a sabbath rest [a sabbatismos, or sabbath-keeping] for the people of God.—no sooner had His handiwork been marred by sin than God began to work with a view to man’s redemption and to the restoration of the enjoyment of the rest of communion with Him. Hence all the pre-figurative sacrifices and types and shadows in the Old Testament. The work of redemption having been accomplished on the Cross, God raised Him from the dead, seated Him at His right hand and rested once more.
Man was now called not to keep a seventh-day rest,
appertaining to the old creation,
but an abiding rest in Christ.
In Him God rests eternally. The believer is called to apprehend what it means to enjoy His rest; and this as against the world, the flesh and the devil.
This is granted not one day in the week,
but a sabbatismos,
a sabbath-keeping all the days of the year.
This word sabbatismos has a Greek suffix added to a Hebrew word. This is used instead of katapausis (as in He 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 10, 11), a cessation....
...As has been pointed out, our sabbath in this day of the indwelling Holy Spirit and His ministry, is not one day in the week; “there remains [i.e., abides continually] a sabbath rest [a sabbatismos, a sabbath-keeping] for the people of God.” Our rest is in the living and glorified Christ on the ground of His finished work at Calvary.
This rest does not depend on special days,
it is not intermittent.
If kept uninterruptedly as God designs it for us, then our delight is in the Lord and we may enjoy constant fellowship with Him. We are ever to refrain from doing our pleasure, pursuing our own ways and engaging in any business as if it was our own. If we do so we cannot enjoy the privilege of rest in Christ. We are ever to abstain from useless talk of the lips, which “tendeth only to penury” (Prov. 14:23). (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)
The Messianic Jewish writer Arnold Fruchtenbaum describes sabbatismos as...
the ideal rest. It is provided by God. It is available today and the readers of Hebrews can attain it by faith. It means reaching a definite stage of attainment after satisfactorily fulfilling God’s purpose for their life. God finished His work and He entered into Sabbath Rest. Sabbath Rest is a type of spiritual maturity. It was destined primarily for Israel in Ex 20:8, 9, 10, 11. Its symbolic meaning is that it remains for the true believer, both Jew and Gentile. This is a promise of rest available for every believer. If a believer persists in his faith, he will reach a level of spiritual maturity when he ceases to constantly struggle over the basics of the spiritual life. (The Messianic Jewish Epistles : Hebrews, James, First Peter, Second Peter, Jude)
Thayer writes that sabbatismos refers to...
the blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshippers of God and true Christians
Marvin Vincent writes that ...
The sin and unbelief of Israel were incompatible with that (sabbatismos) rest. It must remain unappropriated until harmony with God is restored. The Sabbath-rest is the consummation of the new creation in Christ (Ed: Which will not be fully consummated until we enter into the state of glorification and into the presence of the very one Who Himself is the Source and Essence of Rest!), through whose priestly mediation reconciliation with God will come to pass.
Sabbatismos is used here to indicate the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son under the New Covenant in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Old Covenant of the Law. In this verse the writer is referring to a divine rest into which the believers enter in their relationship with God not just in eternity future but (in my opinion) also in the here and now while still on earth (albeit our spiritual rest will not be perfected until we reach glory in the presence of God).
Hagner notes that...
The rare Greek word for Sabbath-rest in this verse (sabbatismos) is deliberately used by the author in place of the word for “rest” used previously in his argument (katapausis) in order to emphasize that the rest of which he has been speaking is of an eschatological order-indeed, of the order of God’s own sabbath-rest. God’s sabbath-rest thus becomes a symbol for our rest. (New International biblical commentary: Hebrews)
Craig Evans...
The author of Hebrews admonishes Jewish Christians to enter God’s “rest” (Heb 3–4). The author infers from Scripture and Israel’s history that “there remains a sabbath rest [sabbatismos] for the people of God” (Heb 4:9).
The reference here is not to weekly Sabbaths or to any particular holy day, but to the eschatological fulfillment of God’s will.
At this time all believers will enter God’s rest, or sabbath. (Dictionary of New Testament Background : A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship)
Walter Elwell writes that..
he author speaks of a Sabbath rest (Gk. sabbatismos) again to connect the rest that the believer will obtain with the rest of God (He 4:4; Ge 2:2, 3). It refers not to the weekly Sabbath but to eternal salvation as different from and following upon this life of work. It should not be thought that this rest is inactivity, however, for God’s rest is not (Jn 5:17). Again, note the author’s characteristic emphasis on the futurity of salvation. (Evangelical Commentary on the Bible)
The renowned Jewish author Alfred Edersheim in discussion of the feast in Jerusalem in John 5 has this note that relates to the accurate interpretation of sabbatismos...
While they (the Jews) were discussing the niceties of what constituted labour on a Sabbath, such as what infringed its sacred rest or what constituted a burden, multitudes of them who laboured and were heavy laden were left to perish in their ignorance.
That was the Sabbath, and the God of the Sabbath of Pharisaism; this the rest, the enlightenment, the hope for them who laboured and were heavy laden, and who longed and knew not where to find the true Sabbatismos!
Nay, if the Christ had not been the very opposite of all that Pharisaism sought, He would not have been the Orient Sun of the Eternal Sabbath. But the God Who ever worked in love, Whose rest was to give rest, Whose Sabbath to remove burdens, was His Father. He knew Him; He saw His working; He was in fellowship of love, of work, of power with Him. He had come to loose every yoke, to give life, to bring life, to be life—because He had life: life in its fullest sense. For, contact with Him, whatever it may be, gives life: to the diseased, health; to the spiritually dead, the life of the soul; to the dead in their graves, the life of resurrection. And all this was the meaning of Holy Scripture, when it pointed forward to the Lord’s Anointed; and all this was not merely His own, but the Father’s Will—the Mission which He had given Him, the Work which He had sent Him to do. (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Christian Classics Ethereal Library)
SABBATISMOS:
"A REDEMPTIVE REST"
Unger commenting on Hebrews 4:9,10 writes that...
Redemptive rest is available for God’s people. These verses refer to the rest called sabbath-keeping (sabbatismos, ‘a state of rest from labor’) which involves the believer’s resting completely in a perfect work of redemption (Heb 4:3,4) as God rested from a perfect work of creation, Heb 4:10. This rest of redemption reposes wholly in the work of the Cross, and ceases from all self-effort, human merit or legalistic claim as a means either to salvation or sanctification, 10 (cf. Ep 2:8, 9, 10). It projects the victory of faith in conquest over spiritual enemies (the world, the flesh and the devil). (The new Unger's Bible handbook)
Donald Guthrie comments that...
The description of the rest as a sabbath rest is important because it introduces a word (sabbatismos) which occurs nowhere else. It may have been coined by this writer (so MM), for it effectively differentiates between the spiritual kind of rest and the Canaan rest (the psalm has the word katapausis). (Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary)
The related word sabbaton is used in Colossians...
Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath (sabbaton) day-- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Col 2:16; 2:17-notes)
Comment: Jesus fulfilled the Jewish regulations and celebrations by achieving perfectly the intentions they (and related to our present passage, the Sabbath day in the OT) only pointed to. The Sabbath Day was like a "giant finger" pointing to something far better. To go back to the old worn out picture is to miss His available rest. How ironic and how tragic. The very rest some attempt to attain by keeping legalistically the Sabbath they actually lose because they miss God's true rest, which was not a day but a Person, Christ Jesus! It is also relevant to note that the command to observe the Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments not repeated after Pentecost.
Seven Cole...
The author here uses a unique word for rest (sabbatismos), translated “Sabbath rest.” Some think that he coined the word.
It calls attention to the spiritual aspect of God’s rest. It goes beyond observing the seventh day as holy. It goes beyond entering the physical Promised Land. This Sabbath rest is a soul-rest.
It is what Jesus promised when He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Mt. 11:28, 29, 30). (Hebrews 4:1-11 Cultural Christianity versus Saving Faith)
Compare rest [katapausis] in [Re 14:13-note]
From the context this Sabbath rest is one in which a believer can enter today (Re 14:10-note) although obviously not as completely and fully as when we are in our future state of glory (Re 14:13-note). This Sabbath Rest for a believer is also described in the next verse as a rest from one's own works. What keeps a person from entering this "Sabbath rest"? (Re 14:11-note) "Disobedience" (which in turn in the context is a manifestation of unbelief - cp Hebrews 3:18, 19-note).
Craig Slane...
Hebrews anticipates an eschatological “sabbath rest” (sabbatismos) that remains for the people of God (Heb 4:1-11). The term sabbatismos appears nowhere else in the New Testament, and may be the writer’s own creation to indicate the superiority of the coming rest to that of the seventh day. Though a superior quality of rest, it is still marked chiefly by the cessation of labor patterned after God’s rest on the seventh day. (Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)
Exodus 31:13
But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Comment: Observe God's own interpretation of the meaning of the Sabbath in this verse -- it is a sign. What is it a sign of? As Youngblood writes "the sign of the Mosaic covenant is the observance and celebration of the Sabbath day (Ex 31:13, 17)." The Sabbath marked Israel out as God’s people. Observing the Sabbath showed that the Israelites were set apart (i.e., holy) to God.
Ray Stedman...in his discussion of The Rest Obtained Is New-Creation Rest (4:8-11)
The use of the term sabbatismos (“Sabbath-rest”) suggests that the weekly sabbath given to Israel is only a shadow of the true rest of God. Paul also declares in Colossians 2:16–17 where he lumps religious festivals, New Moon celebrations and sabbath days together as “a shadow of the things that were to come, the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
Thus rest has three meanings: (1) the Promised Land; (2) the weekly sabbath; and (3) that which these two prefigure, that cessation from labor which God enjoys and which he invites believers to share.
This third rest not only describes the introduction of believers into eternal life, but also depicts the process by which we will continue to work and live, namely, dependence on God to be at work through us. “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil 2:13-note).
This is in many ways the lost secret of Christianity. Along with seeking to do things for God, we are also encouraged to expect God to be at work through us. It is the key to the apostle’s labors: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13-note). Also, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20-note). Note, “I no longer live”—that is, I do not look for any achievement by my own efforts. Rather “Christ lives in me” and the life I live and the things that I do are “by faith”—that is, done in dependence on the Son of God working in and through me.
This makes clear that truly keeping the sabbath is not observing a special day (that is but the shadow of the real sabbath), but sabbath keeping is achieved when the heart rests on the great promise of God to be working through a believer in the normal affairs of living. We cannot depend on our efforts to please God, though we do make decisions and exert efforts.
We cease from our own works and look to his working within us to achieve the results that please him. As Jesus put it to the apostles, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). They must learn to work, but always with the thought that he is working with them, adding his power to their effort. That is keeping the sabbath as it was meant to be kept!
Learning to function from a position of rest
is the way to avoid burnout in ministry or any other labor.
We are to become “colaborers with God,” to use Paul’s wonderful phrase (cp 1Cor 15:10-note).
This does not mean that we cannot learn many helpful lessons on rest by studying the regulations for keeping the sabbath day found in the Old Testament. Nor that we no longer need time for quiet meditation and cessation from physical labor.
Our bodies are yet unredeemed and need rest and restoration at frequent intervals. But we are no longer bound by heavy limitations to keep a precise day of the week. (Our Pilgrim Journey and Entering God's Rest) (Bolding and color added for emphasis)
Dr Robert Morey discusses this passage as it relates to the argument used by some (Seventh Day Adventists) to support the keeping of the OT Sabbath...
The Hebrews 4:9 Argument
The Sabbatarian Position
In this chapter the author of Hebrews clearly states that there remains for the Christian a Sabbath day of rest.
Examination of This Argument
1. This argument’s greatest proponent was the Puritan, John Owen. But the exegetical evidence against his Sabbatarian position is so great that no classic commentator can be cited who agreed with his interpretation. Even some of the Puritans, such as John Brown, rejected Owen’s interpretation.
With almost all the classic commentaries and exegetes against the Sabbatarian position on Hebrews 4, this at once makes us suspicious of its validity.
2. A careful exegesis reveals that Hebrews 4 is teaching the exact opposite of the Sabbatarian position. The context is clear on the following points:
a. God’s “rest” in Hebrews 3:18 stands symbolically for the promised land. Because of unbelief, most of the generation died in the wilderness instead of entering His “rest” (Heb 3:16, 17, 18, 19).
b. From this Old Testament example, the author now informs his audience that the promise of a greater “rest” stands before them (Heb 4:1a).
c. This “rest” is of such a nature that:
• We can fall short of it (Heb 4:1b).
• We fall short if we do not believe the Gospel (Heb 4:2).
• It is entered into by faith (Heb 4:3).
d. This “rest” is now drawn from another Old Testament example: God’s Sabbath rest (Heb 4:4).
e. The author combines God’s Sabbath rest with the “rest” of the promised land (Heb 4:5), and states that disobedience to the Gospel hinders anyone from entering “rest” (Heb 4:6).
f. Even now in the age of salvation, the age of “Today” (Heb 4:7; cf. 2Cor. 6:2), God calls us to enter a “rest”; a rest like God’s Sabbath rest; a rest like that in Canaan (Heb 4:9).The only reason for putting the word “Sabbath rest” (Greek, sabbatismos, Heb 4:9) instead of just “rest” as in the rest of the context is that the author had just used God’s “Sabbath” as an illustration or example.
g. The nature of the “rest” or “Sabbath rest” of Heb 4:9 is explained in Heb 4:10, 11.
• Just as God ceased forever from His works, even so we are to cease from depending upon or trying to produce works to merit salvation. The works we produce are elsewhere called “dead works” (Heb 6:1).
• Let us enter the “rest of faith” in the Gospel and persevere to the end. We must not fall into or rest upon dead works.
• The danger to which the author was addressing himself was apostasy, not which day was to be observed by Christians. The audience was tempted to return to Judaism, thus the author exhorts them to persevere in the faith, and he warns them of condemnation if they become disobedient to the Gospel.
The fact that this is the theme of the entire book and the thrust of chapter four is accepted by nearly all commentators. Why do the Sabbatarians ignore this broader and immediate context? The emphasis in Hebrews 4 is on a future rest that yet awaits all who persevere to the end in faith (cf. He 10:38, 39), and the author’s fear that by moving back under the Old Covenant they would fall short of that sabbatismos.
The conclusion of the author’s argument is given in Heb 4:14, 15, 16. In order to enter God’s rest, we must “hold firmly to the faith” (Heb 4:14) in Christ’s meritorious priestly atonement. Therefore, let us “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb 4:16) in view of Christ’s work for us.
Conclusion - Hebrews 4 is a passage which shows that God’s Sabbath and the Promised Land were an eschatological foreshadowing of the believer’s rest of faith in the Gospel of salvation, accomplished by the sealing of the New Covenant by the blood of Christ. Heb. 4:9 does not say “Sabbath day” but rather “Sabbath-like rest” (sabbatismos). The context rules out the Sabbatarian interpretation, because the emphasis falls not on a day to be observed in this age, but on an eternal rest awaiting all who live by faith until the end (cf. Heb 3:14). (The encyclopedia of practical Christianity)
Charles Simeon writes of the glorious privileges that are entailed by the concept of rest...
They have already in some respect entered into rest—
They are freed from the terrors of a guilty conscience.
They feel a delight in ordinances and Sabbaths.
Their minds are fully satisfied with the Gospel salvation.
They experience the truth of our Lord’s promise
But the rest which awaits them is far superior to that they now possess—They will enjoy a freedom from all labours and sorrows—They are constrained to labour as long as they are in the world. Their whole life resembles a race or warfare. They can obtain nothing without strenuous exertions: and of necessity they are encompassed with many sorrows. But in heaven they will cease from their labours: nor will their happiness have any intermission or alloy.
They will be exempt from all influence of sin or temptation—Sin now defiles their very best services. Satan is also unwearied in his endeavours to corrupt them. These are sources of much pain to them at present. But the souls of all in heaven are made perfect: nor can any unclean thing enter to defile them. Their triumph will be complete and ever-lasting.
They will dwell in the immediate presence of their God—Their capacity of enjoying God will be wonderfully enlarged: they will behold him not darkly, as now, but face to face. The Saviour’s glory will be the object of their devoutest admiration. Their delight in him will surpass their present conceptions. They shall know that their happiness will be eternal. Then will every desire of their heart be fully satisfied. (Hebrews 4:9 The Rest that Remains for God's People - Online)
Sabbath rest for the people of God - Since the Gospel is to the Jew first (this epistle addressed primarily to Hebrew readers), this phrase refers first to the Jews who would enter the Sabbath rest by faith. Christ Himself was the substance (He is Lord of the Sabbath [Mt 12:8, Mk 2:28, Lk 6:5] and the ultimate place of rest for the weary, sin sick soul = compare His invitation to "Come...find rest for your souls." Mt 11:28, 29, 30) of the shadow (the Sabbath day) (see Col 2:16, 17-note, He 10:1-note). How tragic that most of the Jews (and most Gentiles) fail to enter the "strait (small) gate" (cp Jn 10:9, Acts 4:14, Jn 14:6, Jn 8:24) and the true rest found only in Christ (cp Mt 7:13, 14, Lk 13:23, 24) And thus the writer's solemn, serious warning to be diligent to enter that rest! for once that "door" is shut there will be no second chance (cp Lk 13:25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
Leon Morris adds that the writer...
sees the rest as for "the people of God"--an expression found elsewhere in the NT only in He 11:25 (though 1Pe 2:10 is similar, and expressions like "my people" occur several times). In the OT "the people of God" is the nation of Israel, but in the NT it signifies believers. (Jews and Gentiles) The rest the author writes about is for such people (Ed: I agree, but remember the writer's "target audience" is primarily Jewish readers). Others cannot enter into it. This is not so much on account of a law or rule denying them entrance as that they shut themselves out by disobedience and unbelief. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing or computer version)
A Rest Remaineth for the Weary
by Johann S Kunth
A rest remaineth for the weary;
Arise, sad heart, and grieve no more;
Though long the way, and dark and dreary,
It endeth on the golden shore.
Before His throne the Lamb will lead thee,
On heav’nly pastures He will feed thee,
Cast off thy burden, come with haste;
Soon will the toil and strife be ended,
The weary way which thou hast wended.
Sweet is the rest which thou shalt taste.
The Father’s house has many a dwelling,
And there will be a place for thee.
With perfect love His heart is welling
Who loved thee from eternity.
His precious blood the Lamb hath given
That thou might’st share the joys of Heaven,
And now He calleth far and near:
“Ye weary souls, cease your repining,
Come while for you My light is shining;
Come, sweetest rest awaits you here!”
O come, come all, ye weak and weary,
Ye souls bowed down with many a care;
Arise and leave your dungeons dreary
And listen to His promise fair:
“Ye bore your burdens meek and lowly,
I will fulfill My pledge most holy,
I’ll be your solace and your rest.
Ye are Mine own, I will requite you;
Though sin and Satan seek to smite you,
Rejoice! Your home is with the blest.”
There rest and peace in endless measure
Shall be ours through eternity;
No grief, no care, shall mar our pleasure,
And untold bliss our lot shall be.
Oh, had we wings to hasten yonder—
No more o’er earthly ills to ponder—
To join the glad, triumphant band!
Make haste, my soul, forget all sadness;
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