Hebrews 4:8-10

 

 

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Hebrews  4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.  (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: ei gar autous Iesous katepausen, (3SAAI) ouk an peri alles elalei (3SIAI) meta tauta emerasei
Amplified: [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day. 
(Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: If Joshua had actually brought them into rest, God would not then after that be speaking about another day. (Westminster Press)
NLT: This new place of rest was not the land of Canaan, where Joshua led them. If it had been, God would not have spoken later about another day of rest. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips:
For if Joshua had given them the rest, we should not find God saying, at a much later date, "today".
Wuest
: For if Joshua had given them rest, then would He not have spoken of another day afterward. (
Erdmans
Young's Literal
:  For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

References

Albert Barnes
John Calvin
Adam Clarke
Thomas Constable
Dan Fortner
Dan Fortner
Scott Grant
Dave Guzik
Matthew Henry
Jamieson, F, B
S Lewis Johnson
John MacArthur
Alexander Maclaren
F B Meyer
Phil Newton
A W Pink
John Piper
A T Robertson
C H Spurgeon
C H Spurgeon
Ray Stedman
Ray Stedman
Marvin Vincent
Drew Worthen
Precept Ministries
Rest in Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4

Hebrews 4:1-16 Let Us - Entering into Rest
Hebrews 4:9-11 The Sabbath That Remains
Hebrews 4:1-13 Resting With God
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 4:1-13 God's Rest and Man's Rest (audio)
Hebrews 4:1-13 Entering God's Rest
Hebrews 4:11 Man's Share in God's Rest
Hebrews 4:9: The Gospel of Rest
Hebrews 4:1-11 The Rest of Faith
Hebrews 4:3-10 Christ Superior to Joshua
Hebrews 4:1-11 Be diligent to enter God's rest

Hebrews 4 Word Pictures
Hebrews 4:9 Heavenly Rest
Hebrews 4:9; Hebrews 4:9

Hebrews 4:1-13 Greater Than Joshua
Hebrews 4:8-11 Rest Obtained - New-Creation Rest
Hebrews 4: Word Studies
Hebrews 4:1-10 Cease From Your Rest - Enter His
Hebrews Inductive Study Pt 1
Rest in Hebrews 4

FOR IF JOSHUA HAD GIVEN THEM REST: ei gar autous Iesous katepausen (3SAAI): (Acts 7:45) (Heb 11:13-15; Deuteronomy 12:9; 25:19; Joshua 1:15; 22:4; 23:1; Psalms 78:55; 105:44)

Jameison writes that this is the writer's...

Answer to the objection which might be made to his reasoning, namely, that those brought into Canaan by Joshua...did enter the rest of God. If the rest of God meant Canaan, God would not after their entrance into that land, have spoken (or speak [Alford]) of another (future) day of entering the rest. (Jamieson, R., Fausset, & Brown)

If (1437) is a so called second class conditional  (determined as unfulfilled). The form of the Greek sentence indicates a contrary-to-fact condition. Specifically, here is the idea...

If Joshua had given them rest [as he did not], God would not have spoken later about another day [as he did].

The Greek text, however, says "Jesus"; and both the writer and his original readers would have been mindful of the connection with the name of Christ, even though the emphasis in the passage lies elsewhere. There had been a "Jesus" who could not lead his people into the rest of God just as there was another "Jesus" who could.

Joshua (
2424) (Iesous) is a masculine proper noun transliterated from the Hebrew Yeshua (3091) which means Jehovah his help. It can be rendered as Jesus or Jehoshua which is contracted to Joshua (Neh 8:17). The KJV renders it Jesus but context would suggest it is most accurately rendered Joshua, which is somewhat surprisingly the only  mention of Joshua in the NT. To be sure the man Joshua could never have given them rest outside of the enablement of the God Man Jesus, but in this context Joshua the man makes the most sense. One other way to explain it as actually a reference to Jesus, is to consider it a reference to the Angel of the  the leadership of the

- (Jos 21:44, 22:4) () Joshua led the nation of Israel into the land of the PROMISED LAND (Jos 21:43,44,45,23:1 rest from enemies...his readers knew these passages and might have even quoted them to him as prove that "rest" was no longer available.)

Had given them rest (2664) (katapauo from katá = intensifies + paúo = make to cease) means to cause to cease from activity and enjoy a period of rest or cessation from work or activity.

The word group katapauo/katapausis differs from a similar word group anapauo/anapausis in that the emphasis of katapauo/katapausis is more upon the cessation of the activity resulting in rest rather than solely upon the restorative character of rest. So in this verse one may paraphrase it "If Joshua had caused them to cease from their labors and so rest."

NIDNTT adds that...

katapauo means to stop, put an end to; with reference to persons, to put an end to, hinder, depose, kill (Homer, Il. 16, 618; thus often with an unpleasant undertone); but also, to appease, calm (Homer, Od. 4, 583). In Judaism the term was taken up in the sense of to give someone a good rest (LXX).  (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)

But the very fact that, according to Psalm 95, God was still offering His rest in the time of David (long after Israel had been in the Promised Land) meant that the rest being offered was A spiritual rest rest, not just the Promised Land. The rest is characterized by the absence of labor (now Mt 11:28,29 and in eternity future [see note Revelation 14:13]) and emphasizes that Canaan was not the ultimate rest. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.

As the OT promise points beyond Moses to Christ, so the rest of God in Ge 2:2 points beyond Joshua and David (Heb 4:7-8) to the final rest to which believers in Christ will attain if they hold fast to the confession of their assurance and confidence firm until the end. This is not a "work" that merits salvation but a work enabled by salvation! Only those with true faith will be able to do this.

HE WOULD NOT HAVE SPOKEN OF ANOTHER DAY AFTER THAT: ouk an peri alles elalei (3SIAI) meta tauta hemeras:

He would not have spoken - he would not be speaking. The argument of the writer is that if Joshua had given Israel a complete and final rest in Canaan, then God would not, five hundred years afterward, have spoken of a rest for Israel as He did through David in Psalm 95.

Of another day after that - The writer has now proved that Jesus the Messiah is better than Joshua since He provides a better rest than Joshua did. The rest into which Joshua led Israel was a temporal, physical, and material rest, whereas Jesus leads into an eternal, spiritual rest. Since Jesus is better than Joshua, the New Testament is superior to and takes the place of the First Testament

 

Hebrews 4:9  So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: ara apoleipetai (3SPPI) sabbatismos to lao tou theou
Amplified: So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;
(Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: So a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. (Westminster Press)
NLT:  So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Young's Literal: There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

SO THERE REMAINS A SABBATH REST FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD: ara apoleipetai (3SPPI) sabbatismos to lao tou theou: (Heb 4:1,3; 3:11; Isaiah 11:10; 57:2; 60:19,20; Revelation 7:14-17; 21:4) (Heb 11:25; Psalms 47:9; Matthew 1:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2)

So there (686) (ara) means so, then, therefore and conveys here the idea of drawing a conclusion. The sentence begins with the inferential ara ("so," "as a result"). What follows is the logical consequence of the author's preceding argument.

So there remains -  In other words, Today, the rest is still open.

John Piper elaborates writing that this...

is the foundation of God's message to you today: There is a rest open to you today. God offers rest. The door is not shut. The time is not past. You have not missed your last opportunity. Hear the words of verse 9: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God." The door is open. The time is now. Ah, but someone says, "Yes, a rest remains for the people of God -- but not for me." But I answer, do not rule yourself out. Look at verse 3 -- our last word, "We who have believed enter that rest." There is one door to the safe, peaceful, happy rest of God -- the door of faith. Anyone who puts faith in God's promises bought for us by the blood of Jesus, and is diligent not to throw that faith away, is a part of the people of God. So on behalf of God, I call you this morning, put your trust in the promise of God's rest. (See the full message by John Piper - Hebrews 4:1-11 Be diligent to enter God's rest)

Remains (620) (apoleipo from apo = from, marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association  + leípo = lack, be deficient or wanting) means to leave behind in the active sense and in to remain in the passive sense (as used in this verse). present tense  = continually remains. Paul uses it in the active voice to describe leaving behind of his cloak (see note 2 Timothy 4:13 cp the two other uses of the active voice - 2 Ti 4:20; Titus 1:5)

The passive voice as used here in Hebrews means to be reserved or to remain, to be left over.

Apoleipo in the present verse conveys the idea that the promise of rest remains over from past times. The present tense indicates that it continually remains. In other words, even though the promise of rest had not been appropriated (by faith) by most of Israel in the wilderness, the promise of rest still holds good.

A T Robertson says...

This left-over promise is not repealed, though not utilized by the Israelites under Moses

Apoleipo is apparently a  technical term in wills in ancient Greek writings.

Stedman explains why there remains a Sabbath rest writing that...

Though Jesus is not compared here with Joshua in terms of relative greatness, it is apparent from Hebrews 4:8-10 that the work of Joshua in leading Israel into the rest symbolized by the Promised Land was far inferior to the work of Jesus. He provides eternal rest to all who believe in him. The fact that God repeats his promise of rest through David in Psalm 95, centuries after Israel had entered Canaan, is used to indicate that Sabbath-rest is the substance and Canaan-rest but a shadow. There was an experience of rest for Israel in Canaan (from armed invasion, natural disasters, failure of crops) when they were faithful to God. But even at best that rest was outward and essentially physical, and could not satisfy the promise of rest to the human race which was intended from the beginning. The author specifically states, There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:8-11 Rest Obtained - New-Creation Rest)

Sabbath rest (4520) (sabbatismos from sabbatízo = keep the Sabbath) means a keeping of a sabbath or a keeping of days of rest. It was a special period of rest for God’s people modeled after the traditional Sabbath and thus was a Sabbath rest. In the NT it is used only of rest with God.

Thayer writes that sabbatismos refers to...

the blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshippers of God and true Christians

Sabbatismós is used here to indicate the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son under the New Covenant in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Old Covenant of the Law. In this verse the writer is referring to a divine rest into which the believers enter in their relationship with God not just in eternity future but in the here and now while still on earth.

Vincent comments that...

Remaineth, since in the days of neither Moses, Joshua, or David was the rest appropriated. He passes over the fact that the rest had not been entered into at any later period of Israel’s history. Man’s portion in the divine rest inaugurated at creation has never been really appropriated: but it still remaineth. This statement is justified by the new word for “rest” which enters at this point, sabbatismos instead of katapausis. Sabbatismos, signifies a keeping Sabbath. The Sabbath rest points back to God’s original rest, and marks the ideal rest — the rest of perfect adjustment of all things to God, such as ensued upon the completion of his creative work, when He pronounced all things good. This falls in with the ground-thought of the Epistle, the restoration of all things to God’s archetype. The sin and unbelief of Israel were incompatible with that rest. It must remain unappropriated until harmony with God is restored. The Sabbath-rest is the consummation of the new creation in Christ, through whose priestly mediation reconciliation with God will come to pass. (Vincent, M. R.. Word Studies in the New Testament 4:424)

Wuest adds that sabbatismos

is a Sabbath rest because the believer reaches a definite stage of attainment and has satisfactorily accomplished a purpose, as God did when He finished the work of creation. It is not the believer’s rest into which he enters and in which he participates, but in God’s unique, personal rest in which the believer shares. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

The related word sabbaton is used in Colossians...

Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath (sabbaton) day-- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (see note Colossians 2:16; 2:17) (Comment: Jesus fulfilled the Jewish regulations and celebrations by achieving perfectly the intentions they only pointed to. It is important to keep in mind that the command to observe the Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments not repeated after Pentecost.)

Compare rest [katapausis] in [see note Revelation 14:13]

From the context this "Sabbath rest" is one in which a believer can enter today (v10) although obviously not as completely and fully as in glory (see note Revelation 14:13). This Sabbath Rest for a believer is also described in the next verse as a rest from one's own works. What keeps a person from entering this "Sabbath rest"? (v11) "disobedience".

See also Genesis 2:1-3, (God rested on 7th day)

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.
2 And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Exodus 20:8-11 (4th commandment)

8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11 "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Deuteronomy 5:15 (adds to 4th commandment to remember slavery in Egypt)

15 'And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

Exodus 32:12-17 (sign, penalty = death)

12 "Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people.
13 "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'"
14 So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other.
16 And the tablets were God's work, and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets.
17 Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp."

See Exodus 31:13

13 "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

The Jewish Mishnah comments on Ps 92 which is introduced with the title "A Psalm: A Song for the Sabbath" writing that it is...

A Psalm, a song for the time that is to come, for the day that shall be all Sabbath and rest in the life everlasting (Tamid 7:4).

Sabbath rest for the people of God - refers to Jews and since the gospel is to the Jew first, this phrase refers first to those Jews who entered the Sabbath rest by faith...Christ Himself being the substance of the shadow. How tragic that most missed true rest as do most Gentiles! And thus the warning to be diligent to enter that rest! 1Pe 2:10 Here this phrase refers to NT believers from Gentile background

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest

Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest. Psalm 95:11

God’s Rest has been waiting for man’s entrance, since He rested from all the work that He created and made. To all other days there were evening and morning, but not to this. It does not consist in circumstances, or conditions of existence, but in disposition. It does not lie, as sacred poets have too often suggested, beyond the confines of this world — it is now, and here. Canaan is not primarily a type of heaven; but of that blessed experience which is ours when we have passed the Jordan of death to natural impulse or selfish choice, and have elected for evermore to accept, and delight in, the will of God.

Will you not take up this position today? Today! Oh that ye would hear his voice! To hear his voice speaking in the heart, in circumstances, and in nature, and to obey promptly, gladly, blithely, — this would bring the soul into the rest that remains unexhausted for the people of God. Are you hardening your heart against some evident duty to which you are called, but which you are evading? Are you hardening your heart to some appeal which comes to you through the ties of kinship and nature? Are you saying, Can God subdue these Canaanites, instead of God can? Beware, for this is the sin of Massah and Meribah, which, being interpreted, means strife. Woe to those that strive with their Maker; let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.

Every one comes in the Christian life, once at least, to Kadesh-Barnea. On the one hand the land of rest and victory; on the other the desert wastes. The balance, quivering between the two, is turned this way by faith; that by unbelief. Trust God, and rest. Mistrust Him, and the door closes on rest, to open to wanderings, failure, and defeat. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest

As the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
So didst Thou lead Thy people,
To make for Thyself a glorious name. (Isaiah 63:14)

It is the noonday glare in Palestine. The sun’s rays like spears of flame are striking down upon the parched sand-wastes, and all the land burns like a furnace. Away yonder is a sequestered glen, where mosses line the margins of streamlets and pools, and rich pasture keeps green in the shadow of the hills. Thither the cattle descend at noon. As the shadows creep down the mountain-sides they follow them, and presently the herd browses on the succulent herbage or reclines beneath the shadows of the spreading trees, while the brooks purl past clear and cool. Similarly Isaiah says God brought his people through the wilderness, leading them as a horse that might not stumble, and finally conducted them into the rest of Canaan.

But how fit an emblem is suggested of our Father’s dealings with us. The scorching sun of temptation shines around us. The glare of publicity, the fever of money-making, the strife of tongues, torment the children of men. But for God’s beloved ones there is a secret place by Him, a green and verdant nook, watered by the river of God. Over its portals these words are written: “I will give you rest.”

When once we learn to trust our Fathers unfailing love, we are caused to rest. Notice that forcible expression: the Spirit of the Lord caused them to rest. Here is anew thought of the omnipotence of love. It can so reveal itself that it almost compels rest. Cause us to lie down, O Lord, we pray Thee! Job speaks of Him as giving quietness: and then who can make trouble? Seek quietness as his gift! Lo! there is a place by Him, in the mountain-shadowed valley of his care, where disquieted souls are at peace. Seek it! (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest

My people have become lost sheep;
Their shepherds have led them astray.
They have made them turn aside on the mountains;
They have gone along from mountain to hill
And have forgotten their resting place. (Jer 50:6)

These words may often be said of us. A time of emergency arises; the necessity for instant and vigorous action seems overpowering; we fail to see what course to adopt — and immediately we get flurried and excited; we run from one to another; we lose our sleep. All our earnest resolutions to abide in Christ and live in his fellowship are forgotten. We have forgotten our resting-place.

Or we are in the midst of a great campaign of work. From morning to night we are plunged in a mass of calculations and activities. There is no time to take our meals, much less to obtain opportunities for prayer and fellowship with God. Our rooms without, our souls within, are littered with the symptoms of the many absorbing interests which are monopolizing our attention. We have forgotten our resting-place. Or, perhaps, it is a time of great temptation. Hour after hour the foe returns to the attack. We have done our best to withstand him; but have hit out without precision, have fired at random. Again, we have forgotten our resting-place.

The place where we lie down to rest is under the shadow of the Cross. Whilst we remain there, we are perfectly safe and blessed. Return unto thy rest, O straying sheep! Back to the arms of Jesus, where only such frail ones as thou art are safe.

I knew a man, who had to bear a thousand crosses belonging to others, and who grieved himself into an illness because others did not love God as He deserves, till all at once his own foolishness and sinfulness struck him to the heart. He could do nothing then but cast himself and them into the endless depths of the love of God; and he ended by having rest in his heart, and a song on his lips. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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Rest in Six Aspects

• Creation rest, broken by sin - Genesis 2:2
• Redemption rest, secured in Christ  - Zephaniah 3:17
• The sinner’s rest, by coming to Christ - Matthew 11:28
• The saint’s rest, in communion with Christ - Mark 6:30
• Paradise rest, present - Rev 16:13 and 2 Cor. 5:1-8
• Eternal rest, future - Hebrews 4:9; Rev. 22:5

From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W Noble, Chicago

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Sabbath rest  -

There is a rest for weary souls. — God speaks of it as his Rest. He entered it, we are told, when He had finished his work; and beheld it to be very good; and ever since the door has been standing open for the travel-stained, weary children of men to enter it. To every other creation-day there were evening and morning, but not to this; it partakes of the nature of eternity in its timeless bliss.

Let us rejoice that this rest remaineth. — Of course, the Sabbath, which was and is a type of it, could not exhaust it. And Canaan, with its sweet plains and cessation of the wilderness wanderings, could not completely fulfill it; because centuries after it had been given through Joshua, in the Psalms God spoke of yet another day, as though his rest were still future.

The rest may be a present experience. — The word “remaineth” has diverted the thoughts of commentators who have supposed it referred to heaven. There is rest, sweet rest, there. But “remaineth” means “unexhausted, unrealized, by aught which has taken place.” The rest is for us here and now. “We which have believed do enter into rest.” Where is it? In the bosom of Christ: “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.” It is in ploughing the furrow of daily duty — “Take my yoke; ... and find rest.”

This rest is compatible with great activity. — He that enters into the Divine rest is not reduced to quietism. On the seventh day the Creator rested from creation; but He works in providence. Jesus, on the seventh day, rested from Calvary; but He pleads in heaven. Cease from your own works, after a similar fashion; abandon your restless planning and striving; by the grace of the Holy Spirit better service will be produced. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest

Now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side. (1Kings 5:4)

God is the Rest-Giver. When He surrounds us on every side with His protecting care, so that our life resembles one of the cities of the Netherlands in the great war— inaccessible to the foe because surrounded by the waters of the sea, admitted through the sluice— then neither adversary nor evil occurrence can break in, and we are kept in perfect peace, our minds being stayed on God.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can enter, never traitor stand.

Have you experienced the rest which comes by putting God round about you, on every side—like the light which burns brightly on a windy night because surrounded by its four panes of clear glass? Ah! what a contrast between the third (1 Kings 5:3) and fourth verse: Wars on every side; Rest on every side. And yet the two are compatible, because the wars expend themselves on God, as the waves on the shingle; and there are far reaches of rest within, like orchards and meadows and pasture-lands beyond the reach of the devastating water.

Out of such rest should come the best work. We are not surprised to find Solomon announcing his purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord. Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus, anointed Him. Out of quiet hearts arise the greatest resolves; just as from the seclusion of country hamlets have come the greatest warriors, statesmen, and patriots. Men think, foolishly, that the active, ever-moving souls are the strongest. It is not so, however. They expend themselves before the day of trial comes. Give me those who have the power to restrain themselves and wait; these are they that can act with the greatest momentum in the hour of crisis. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest

A man of rest … he shall build. (1 Chronicles 22:9-10)

The men of rest are the builders of the most lasting structures. Solomon builds the Temple, not David. Mary’s deed of anointing, learned in much sitting at the Lord’s feet, fills the world with its aroma. What is needed to make us men and women of rest?

First, a profound conviction that God is working.— Never despair of the world, said the late Mrs. Beecher Stowe, when you remember what God did with slavery: the best possible must happen. This serene faith, that all things are working out for the best— the best to God, the best to man— and that God is at the heart of all, will calm and still us in the most feverish days. There is a strong and an experienced Hand on the helm.

Next, an entire surrender to His will.— God’s will is certain to mean the destruction of the flesh, in whatever form He finds it; but it is our part to yield to Him; to will His will even to the cross; to follow our leader Christ in this, that He yielded Himself without reserve to execute His Father’s purpose.

Thirdly, a certain knowledge that He is working within to will and do of His good pleasure.— What a blessed peace possesses us when once we realize that we are not called on to originate or initiate, nor to make great far-reaching plans and try to execute them; but just to believe that God is prepared to work through our hands, speak by our life, dwell in our bodies, and fulfill in us the good purposes of His will. Be full of God’s rest. Let there be no burry, precipitation, or fret; yield to God’s hands, that He may mould thee: hush thy quickly throbbing pulse! So shalt thou build to good and lasting purpose. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)

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C H Spurgeon in Faith's Checkbook has a devotional entitled "Work Is Done; Rest in Him" - GOD has provided a Sabbath, and some must enter into it. Those to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief; therefore, that Sabbath remains for the people of God. David sang of it; but he had to touch the minor key, for Israel refused the rest of God. Joshua could not give it, nor Canaan yield it: it remains for believers.

Come, then, let us labor to enter into this rest. Let us quit the weary toil of sin and self. Let us cease from all confidence, even in those works of which it might be said “They are very good.” Have we any such? Still, let us cease from our own works, as God did from His. Now let us find solace in the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Everything is fully done: justice demands no more. Great peace is our portion in Christ Jesus.

As to providential matters, the work of grace in the soul, and the work of the Lord in the souls of others, let us cast these burdens upon the Lord and rest in Him. When the Lord gives us a yoke to bear, He does so that by taking it up we may find rest. By faith we labor to enter into the rest of God, and we renounce all rest in self-satisfaction or indolence. Jesus Himself is perfect rest, and we are filled to the brim in Him. (Spurgeon, C. Faith's Checkbook)

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Morning and evening: Daily readings (January 18 AM)

How different will be the state of the believer in heaven from what it is here! Here he is born to toil and suffer weariness, but in the land of the immortal, fatigue is never known. Anxious to serve his Master, he finds his strength unequal to his zeal: his constant cry is, “Help me to serve thee, O my God.” If he be thoroughly active, he will have much labour; not too much for his will, but more than enough for his power, so that he will cry out, “I am not wearied of the labour, but I am wearied in it.” Ah! Christian, the hot day of weariness lasts not for ever; the sun is nearing the horizon; it shall rise again with a brighter day than thou hast ever seen upon a land where they serve God day and night, and yet rest from their labours. Here, rest is but partial, there, it is perfect. Here, the Christian is always unsettled; he feels that he has not yet attained. There, all are at rest; they have attained the summit of the mountain; they have ascended to the bosom of their God. Higher they cannot go.

Ah, toil-worn labourer, only think when thou shalt rest for ever! Canst thou conceive it? It is a rest eternal; a rest that “remaineth.” Here, my best joys bear “mortal” on their brow; my fair flowers fade; my dainty cups are drained to dregs; my sweetest birds fall before Death’s arrows; my most pleasant days are shadowed into nights; and the flood-tides of my bliss subside into ebbs of sorrow; but there, everything is immortal; the harp abides unrusted, the crown unwithered, the eye undimmed, the voice unfaltering, the heart unwavering, and the immortal being is wholly absorbed in infinite delight. Happy day! happy! when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, and the Eternal Sabbath shall begin. (Spurgeon, C. H.)

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Henry Bosch tells the following story entitled "Oh Rest in the Lord"...

Years ago the English steamer Stella was wrecked on a rocky coast. Twelve women put into a lifeboat, but the boisterous sea immediately carried it away. Having no oars, they were at the mercy of the winds and the waves, and they spent a fearful night being tossed about by the raging tempest.

They probably would have lost hope if it had not been for the spiritual stamina of one of the ladies, Margaret Williams, who was well-known for her work in sacred oratorios. Calmly she prayed aloud for Divine protection. Then, urging her companions to put their trust in the Lord, she encouraged them by singing hymns of comfort.

Throughout the dark hours her voice rang out across the water. Early the next morning a small craft came searching for survivors. The man at the helm would have missed the women in the fog if he had not heard Miss Williams singing the selection from Elijah. “Oh, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him!” Steering in the direction of her strong voice, he soon spotted the drifting lifeboat. While many others were lost that night, these trusting few were rescued.

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Augustine in a frequently quoted saying wrote of God that...

Thou have created us for Thyself, and our heart cannot be stilled until it finds rest in Thee.

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Our Daily Bread - Loosen the Bow

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian,

"Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies."

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained,

"If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

People are also like that. That's why we all need to take time to rest. In today's Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He "rested from all His work" (Genesis 2:3).

Shouldn't we take His example seriously? Start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and renew yourself emotionally and spiritually. You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow. (
Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

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Rest is Not Cessation from Labor - A man named Frederick W. Taylor, may provide some answers. Taylor worked for a large steel mill during the Spanish-American War 1898.

He was an ambitious young executive and was one of the first to apply scientific methods—as then known—to study the productivity of manual labor. In those days there were no cranes to load steel bars onto railroad cars. It was backbreaking manual work and, after some experimentation, Taylor concluded that the men could do more work if they took rest pauses at definite intervals.

He induced some of the workers to try his new method. He offered a dollar a day more and flattered them by calling them his “high-priced men.” Under this system, a whistle was blown after the men had carried iron for twelve minutes. At this whistle they were to sit down and rest. After three minutes’ rest, the whistle was blown again as a signal for the men to resume work.

The result—the amount of iron carried increased from 12 and a half to 47 tons a day! This seeming miracle ushered in the era of rest pauses, the forerunner of today’s coffee breaks.

 

Hebrews  4:10  For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his