On Saturday, Moses told the people, "Today is the Sabbath, the special day of rest to honor the LORD. So none of you should be out in the fields. Eat the food you gathered yesterday. You should gather the food for six days. But the seventh day of the week is a day of rest—so there will not be any of the special food on the ground."

On Saturday, some of the people went out to gather some of the food, but they could not find any.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? Look, the LORD has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are."

So the people rested on the Sabbath.

So, brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has the evil thoughts that cause so much doubt that you stop following the living God. But encourage each other every day, while you still have something called "today." Help each other so that none of you will be fooled by sin and become too hard to change.

We have the honor of sharing in all that Christ has if we continue until the end to have the sure faith we had in the beginning. That's why the Spirit said, "If you hear God's voice today, don't be stubborn as in the past when you turned against God."

Who were those who heard God's voice and turned against him? It was all the people Moses led out of Egypt. And who was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned. And their dead bodies were left in the desert. And which people was God talking to when he promised that they would never enter his place of rest? He was talking to those who did not obey him. So we see that they were not allowed to enter and have God's rest, because they did not believe.

And we still have the promise that God gave those people. That promise is that we can enter his place of rest. So we should be very careful that none of you fails to get that promise. Yes, the good news about it was told to us just as it was to them. But the message they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith.

Only we who believe it are able to enter God's place of rest. As God said, "I was angry and made a promise: 'They will never enter my place of rest.'" But God's work was finished from the time he made the world. Yes, somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week. He said, "So on the seventh day God rested from all his work." But in the Scripture above God said, "They will never enter my place of rest."

So the opportunity is still there for some to enter and enjoy God's rest. But those who first heard the good news about it did not enter, because they did not obey. So God planned another special day. It is called "today." He spoke about that day through David a long time later using the words we quoted before: "If you hear God's voice today, don't be stubborn."

We know that Joshua did not lead the people into the place of rest that God promised. We know this because God spoke later about another day for rest. This shows that the seventh-day rest for God's people is still to come. God rested after he finished his work. So everyone who enters God's place of rest will also have rest from their own work just as God did.

So let us try as hard as we can to enter God's place of rest. We must try hard so that none of us will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey God. God's word is alive and working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined. God's word cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts.