Philip Dampier's Blog

“Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Even though this seems like a diversion, keep in mind that the overall theme of the writer is to show the superiority of the new…

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Depending on what your relationship is with God, this could be a scary statement. In my younger days, it was a very scary thought for…

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Here is a verse that will be more familiar to us. No doubt…

“Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” Our first thought when we read this verse in the context of this chapter should be that there is a need to strive, or we may fall. The key to…

“…for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” As we said earlier, God rested from His work of creation. Now He has promised a rest for His people. Some may think God is referencing works of righteousness, but that is not…

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,” “So then,” tells us that the author has reached a conclusion of some kind. We see right away what the conclusion is; the Sabbath rest is still available. As it has always been the rest of God is…

“For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.” The rest is still available for the Hebrews readers, and thus it is available to us today. They didn’t miss it, and neither did we. It is still obtainable. The rest given by…

“…again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,’ ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’” The Israelites were offered the rest when they stood on the banks of the Jordan overlooking the land of milk and…

“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,” The invitation of God to enter His rest is still open. The fact that the Israel of the wilderness failed to enter doesn’t mean the rest has…

“And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” We move from Genesis 2 to Psalms 95. This is the third time this particular verse is quoted. It appears the writer is trying to make a point about who will and who won’t enter the rest.…