Purpose and agenda start in our thought life. God has to be our foundation to establish a good purpose and agenda or these plans can become defiled, unclean. If we consume (take into our minds) things unhealthy and unwholesome we get defiled within. Only by entering into his rest do we truly reach the promised land. We wander around in the deserts of our lives seeking rest and nourishment. Even if we enter into the promised land tolerating those who teach evil, such as sexual immorality, will result in sickness and even death This death can be physical or even the death of our plans and purpose. Godly plans are not upheld by an ungodly lifestyle.

— King David hated the wicked and wanted to see them destroyed but we must first deal properly with self

Psalm 139:23, Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Heart and mind are intertwined in Jewish thought. We all should know that the heart is the seat of emotions. The idea thast the LORD tries our hearts means he examines it like that of a gold inspector. He has to test that our hearts are genuine. If we have any impure thoughts they will be found and rooted out. In all of this our disquieting thoughts are laid bare before him. Even ungodly agendas are uncovered despite our best of intentions. Sometimes even we ourselves are unaware of hidden modivations, impure motivations, and devils lurking in the depths of our souls. This is one way is the purpose of deliverance. That is the exorcism of thpse hidden motivations.

Once we have properly dealt with the log or beam in our own eyes can we properly see to help remove the speck in the eyes of others (Matt. 7:3-5). This eye is perception. Once we remove the blinders in our eyes then we can help others more sufficiently. This is what was lacking in King David’s life when he was considering all of the evil he saw around him. It was also what was removed from Saul’s life so he could become that great Apostle that God destined him to be.

— We always think we have godly purpose in our own hearts but only true if the LORD establishes it

Proverbs 16:2-4:: The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.

The preperations of the heart is what we feel is the right things to do. The word however is that of God. He gives the final say. It is his tongue that speaks truth. Our hearts can be deceiptful. Prophet Jeremiah said there is no cure to a sick heart (Jer. 17:9). We cannot fully understand it’s thoughts and intentions. The prophets further states:

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings. (Jer. 17:10)

Our ways are always pure in our own vision accord to the proverb. Yet there is a weighing done from the LORD. It says he weights the spirits. The word is tāḵan (taw-kan’) which is the hebrew word meaning to weigh something

I suggest to you this is related to the words written on the wall during the last day of King Beltzhazzar:
MENE,MENE, TEKEL,UPHARSIN

This is the interpretation of each word.
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

When he weighs our spirits it is like a balance. Unfortunately we, just as Belzhazzar think our spirits are pure and our motivations correct. We do not want our kingdoms yanked away from us in one day. We need to commit our works unto the LORD. It is then and only then our thoughts will be established. We can now see clearly how to rule. The thoughts of the mind are thus linked to how the heart feels. If the heart is found lacking and evil then the mind cannot think correct thoughts. It really starts as a heart issue.

— What comes in and goes out of a man’s heart truly defiles, not what goes into the stomach and is elimated out the rear

The Parisees were speaking about eating bread with unwashed (defiled) hands. Yeshua then starts talking about laying aside commandments like honoring your father and mother to move into ceremonial cleansing of pitchers and cups. He then segways into the idea that food goes into to the stomach and is then eliminated so that is not what is truely important (unclean food that gets eliminated). He was more concerned about what comes out of the heart that defiles.

Mark 7:20-23:: For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

The idea of the foods we eat or even how we eat food is really talking about what comes into our hearts. This is not food in the earthly sense but what feeds our souls and the results it brings into our thought life.

Yeshua said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work (John 4:34).

So the spiritual food we are to consume should likewise be seeking to do God’s will. It is also to finish the tasks he has assigned unto us. He could assign us a task to build a church or start a school or just be a friend to one in need. So Christ’s idea of spiritual food is not like what we consider food. It was lake when the disciples returned from Sychar seeing him talk to a woman at the well. They were probably hungry so they figured Yeshua was likewise hungry.

So accoring to Christ, eating spiritual food with unclean hands is not doing God’s will and what he has assigned unto us. This puts a different slant on what is considered unclean food. Being lazy or indifferent. Not using the gifts and talents he has entrusted unto us to do specific tasks. That is what makes us unclean.

— Let us enter into God’s rest for God sees this as entering into the promised land

This whole chapter is about entering into God’s rest. It does not mention the sabbath, per se. But what it does spell out is that God rested on the seventh day.

Hebrews 4:12, describe God’s word as being able to “discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart”

It is on shabbat we enter into God’s rest. It is not so much a day as an opportunity to enter into rest. If our day to rest is occupied with early pursuits and business then how can we be entering into rest. The writer of Hebrews spoke of the beginning as that of God himself entering into rest on the seventh day. I am not pursuing this to challenge sabbath keeping but that is the context of Hebrews chapter 4.

if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day (Heb. 4:8)

My bible notes say that the actual greek name used here is iēsous which is Jesus or Yeshua in Hebrew. Yeshua means Jehovah is salvation. I think the confusion of which name to use here is because of the idea of salvation. Joshua brought the children of Israel into the promised land. Joshua 21:44 says “the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers” but if you look at the Septuigint the word here for Lord is kurios which many times is interpreted as Jesus in the new testament.

So from a Torah perspective neither Joshua, Jesus, or Yeshua are the correct translation expressed in Hebrews 4:8. If Joshua wrote the book with his name attached of course he would say the LORD gave them rest which can be translated as Jehovah Saves (Yeshua). It is a small point but just want to show that we don’t claim the bible is perfectly preserved, just God breathed.

Mark 2:27-28 Yeshua said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath

So what is the connection of the sabbath of rest to the idea of discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart?

Here is my view on the subject which I think is confirmed by the Holy Spirit. What is our intent in honoring God with a day of rest? Are we entering into the Lord’s day of rest? I won’t even get into the Saturday vs. Sunday debate. We just need to honor God and enter into his rest. This is confirmed at the end of Romans:

Romans 14:5-6:: One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.

The sabbath or shabbat was made for man according the Yeshua. Consider it a gift: a day of rest and reflection. Like following God’s ways, it is to honor him because his teachings really are a gift. This is our purpose and our agenda is to honor God.

— We are not saved to commit sin but to do good works

Even when we find ourselves entering into the promised land and all seems peaceful and business is booming we have to be on guard against evil entering into our hearts. We might want to think we can relax, build a bigger nest egg, or just do as we please. Yes, we can enter rest, but no, we cannot permit sin to enter in just as Cain was spoken to in Genesis 4:7. Sin was waiting at the doorway to his heart giving rise to an evil thought. We are told in Ephesians:

Eph. 5:10-13:: have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.

To the church in Thyratira there was condemnation because the prophetess named Jezebel taught and seduced the God’s servants there to commit sexual immorality.

Rev. 2:23:: “I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’ (Rev. 2:27, Ps. 2:9)

This is a rather severe rule. Sin has it’s consequences. Many think of hell or a lake of fire but there are consequences in this life as well. We can have sickness, tribulation, or even death. So we need to stay on the ‘straight and narrow’ path to see life, that is wholeness and prosperity.

I leave with you the adjunct to Ephesian 2:8-9 which is primarily about being saved by grace: we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10)