God’s Presence and the Promised Rest
Context
Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV - 5 [Let your] conduct [be] without covetousness; [be] content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say: “The LORD [is] my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Deuteronomy 31:3-8 NKJV - 3 “The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said. 4 “And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 “The LORD will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He [is] the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 “And the LORD, He [is] the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
Go - Enter the Promised Land!
The author of Hebrews does something amazing here at the end of his epistle to the God-fearing “OT” Hebrews. The Jewish audience’s hope - that which was promised, the better country of heavenly origin, the better and lasting possession, the good things to come, the approaching day, the inherited promises, the age to come, His rest to be entered, the world to come, Mt. Zion itself, the kingdom with unshakable foundations - has been a major recurring focus of the author’s argument. He has been speaking throughout the book of “the world to come” (Hebrews 1:5) and urging the hearers to enter the Lord’s rest (Hebrews 4:1,9,11). Hebrews 4:9 proclaims that there remains a Sabbath rest for God’s people that Joshua could not give the Israelite people who had wandered for forty years in the wilderness. Through faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah, the hearers of this epistle must enter that “new” rest (4:11) - much like the wilderness wanderers had to follow Joshua and enter the Promised Land after the Exodus.
The correlation doesn’t stop there. Right before Moses died he encouraged the people to possess the land because the Lord would be with them and go before them. Twice Moses declares in Deuteronomy 31 that God “will not leave you nor forsake you” as the people enter their promised possession - the land of Canaan (v. 6, 8). As the book of Hebrews concludes, the author observes that the God-fearing Hebrews have “come to Mt. Zion” (12:22) and encourages them to “receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken.” In fact, they hadn’t yet entered or yet received it, but they stood on the banks of the Jordan (as it were) poised to enter by faith. And just like Moses affirmed that God would be with the Israelites as they entered Canaan (Deut. 31:6,8), so also the Lord promised to be with the God-fearing Hebrews (Hebrews 13:5) as they followed Jesus the Anointed One into the glorious final rest (the physical kingdom of the Messiah reigning from David’s throne in Jerusalem over national Israel) promised by God throughout the Old Testament and reaffirmed in this letter. Enter this long-awaited rest, O God-fearing Israelite!
Follow the Messiah Jesus and the Lord will never forsake you.
Bonus Connection
The wandering Israelites complained and complained in the wilderness, wishing to go back to Egypt. The God-fearing Hebrews were warned to be content (Hebrews 13:5) because the Lord would be with them leading them into the future promised rest - the kingdom that cannot be shaken. What need have they to complain when the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to them is at hand? Don’t be like your forefathers who complained and were not allowed to enter Canaan land.