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Understanding the Gift of Rest

January 15, 2025

"Until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you." 


- Deuteronomy 3:20 (NKJV) 

 

Rest is a time to refrain from work to recover and recharge, to relax and reflect, and to rejuvenate after our efforts. After creating the heavens and the earth, God rested on the seventh day: Genesis 2:2 says, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done”. 


God called this day the Sabbath: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” - Exodus 20:11. 


Through Moses, God taught the Israelites the concept of the Sabbath, emphasizing the importance of resting after work. Exodus 31:15-16 states, “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.” 

True rest... arises when we witness and experience God's promises coming to pass in our lives.

Another definition of rest is found in 1 Kings 5:4: “But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.” The New International Version translates this as “…no adversary or disaster.” This indicates that we experience rest when there are no adversaries to contend with and no troubles or disasters affecting us. 


Before his passing, Moses urged the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Deuteronomy 3:20: “until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.” Joshua reiterated this in Joshua 1:12-15, reminding these tribes of the importance of helping their brothers possess their lands on the other side of the Jordan before seeking their own rest. 


From these scriptures, we can understand that rest signifies the possession of God’s promises. When we realize a promise, we have been holding onto, we enter God’s rest. Abraham experienced this rest when Sarah bore Isaac (Genesis 21). The Israelites entered their rest when God delivered them from Pharaoh (Exodus 14), fulfilling the promise He made to Moses (Exodus 3). 


Thus, true rest encompasses not just a physical cessation from work but a deeper spiritual fulfillment and contentment that arises when we witness and experience God's promises coming to pass in our lives. 

 

  Song of Worship 


He has promised He will never fail 

I will follow, I will follow Him 

My God has promised He will never fail, 

His faithfulness is for evermore (2X) 


Prayer -  Dear Lord, Thank you for your promises to me. May they manifest in my life that I may enjoy true rest in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

 

 

Bible in 1 year: Genesis 36-38 

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