This Paper was given at a Break-away Session during the 2024 SOLA 5 Conference
by Joachim Rieck
The doctrine of rest, or ceasing from work, is
deeply embedded in the Bible – more deeply than we may believe at face value. Frankly,
it is an overlooked theme in biblical theology, and therefore it rarely
features in our theological discussions, except when it comes to disputes
around the Sabbath. Though the specific word translated as rest or ceasing is not
found in every single book of the Bible, the concept of rest is a consistent
thread from Genesis to Revelation.
The doctrine of rest is founded in creation
in Genesis, it is commanded in the law in Deuteronomy, it is realized
in Jesus finished work of salvation in the gospels and it is consummated in
heaven, in the book of Revelation.
The concept of rest formed a part of the DNA of OT
Israel. The early church continued in that habit. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
once wrote, “for Jews, whose sacred
architecture isn’t only physical but temporal, “Sabbaths are our great cathedrals.” “Six days a week,” he observed, “we
wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we
especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.”
The practical value of this doctrine is often not
readily understood. We tend to think of physical rest, and it certainly
includes that, but it has a much profounder spiritual foundation, which we must explore if we hope
to understand the biblical concept of rest.
In essence, the concept of biblical rest refers to a ceasing from labour,
for the purpose of finding spiritual refreshment in God.
A BRIEF
CONSIDERATION OF THE WORD “TO REST”
1. Old Testament - ‘to rest’
Nuach - to rest, remain, be quiet. The
first occurrence of this word is found in Gen.
8:4: “And the ark came to rest
on the mountains of Ararat.” The use of the word here indicates a physical
settling down in some particular place.
The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha (2
Ki. 2:15). Sometimes it is synonymous with the word sabat
(Ex. 20:11)
Hadal - “to cease, come to an end, desist, forbear …”.
The basic meaning is “coming to an end.”
The first occurrence of hadal is found
in Gen. 11:8 (Tower of Babel) where,
after man’s language was confused, “they
left off building the city” (ESV). Sarah’s capacity for childbearing
had long since “ceased” (come to an end) before an angel informed her that she
was to have a son (Gen. 18:11). The
Mosaic Law made provision for the poor, since they would “never cease out of the land” (Deut. 15:11; Matt. 26:11).
Sabat - (noun/verb)
to rest, cease. (שׁבת/shabath). This is the word of
particular interest to us. It occurs frequently throughout the Old Testament.
The verb first occurs in Gen. 2:2-3: “And on the seventh day God finished his work
that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that
he had done. So God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy because on it God
rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” This passage
establishes the pattern of working for six days and then observing a Sabbath
day of rest. This was later codified as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:9-11). God commanded that human
beings should follow Him in this pattern of rest and renewal.
·
Ex.23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest;
that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant
woman, and the alien may be refreshed”. In Ex 31:15, the seventh day is called
the Sabbath rest. This rest was to
include a person’s animals and servants. This rule was to be observed … even “in ploughing time and in harvest you shall rest”
(Exod. 34:21). “It is a sign
between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Exod. 31:17). This was a covenantal sign between God and
Israel. Israel rested with God and in God.
·
In addition, the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the
first and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles provided Israel with “a sabbath of complete rest”
(Lev. 23:24, 32, 39).
·
In Ex.
23:10,11 the concept
of the 7th year as Sabbath rest is expounded. “… Then shall the land keep
a Sabbath unto the Lord”. Six
years’ crops will be sown and harvested, but the seventh year “there shall be a Sabbath of solemn for the
land, a Sabbath to the Lord …” (Lev.
25:2,4).
In the Old Testament these weekly, yearly,
seven-yearly and forty-nine-yearly cycles of rest serve two functions.
The first is to give
both people and land a physical rest from the hardship and frustration
of work.
The second is a
spiritual rest, in which God’s people were called to commune with God in
worship, meeting a greater need than just that of their physical bodies. God’s
people need physical rest, but also spiritual rest by which they would be made aware again and again that the
Lord God was their ultimate Provider and Sustainer. During these times of worship,
Israel was reminded that God Himself is their source of rest: “My Presence will go with you, and I will
give you rest" (Ex. 33:14).
The Sabbath was a day of worship (Lev. 23:3) as well as a day of rest and refreshment for man (Exod. 23:12). In that sense we must
understand Jesus’ words in Mark 2:27-28,
“The Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.' By
observing the Sabbath, Israel confessed that they were trusting in the LORD and
in His providence.
The prophets regularly rebuked Israel for their
neglect of the Sabbath (Isa. 1:13;
Jer.17:21-27; Ezek. 20:12-24; Amos 8:5). They also proclaimed Sabbath
observance as a blessing in the messianic age and a sign of its fullness (Isa. 56:2-4; 58:13; 66:23; Ezek. 44:24;
45:17; 46:1, 3-4, 12). The length of the Babylonian Captivity was
determined by the extent of Israel’s abuse of the sabbatical year (2 Chron. 36:21; cf. Lev. 26:34- 35).
Rest and the Sabbath were eschatological in
perspective, looking to the accomplishment of God’s ultimate purpose through
the redemption of His people in a promised land, Canaan, but ultimately in
heaven. In this sense Abraham was looking
forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. (Hebr.
11:10)
2. New Testament – ‘to rest’
In the New Testament, the Greek word most often
translated as rest is anapausis (noun) anapauō (verb); katapauō (to
cause to rest)
·
It is
related to the idea of taking a break from exertion and the seeking of
refreshment. It includes stopping regular work and activities
in order to renew spirit, mind and body.
·
The NT
church did not do away with the concept of Sabbath. She had the
freedom not to tie it to the Jewish Sabbath, but rested the principle on the
finished work of Jesus in the resurrection, which happened on a Sunday. This
became the Christian Sabbath. The law is completed in Christ! When we rest in Christ, we are truly at rest!
·
Jesus used
this word (anapausis) when He
promised rest for those who are weary and burdened “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt.11:28-30). This rest that Jesus offers here is in
contrast to the demanding burdens imposed by the Pharisees. The rest which
Jesus promises is not a rest from our work, but in our work. I will be with you, in this life in which you will have tribulation (Jn. 16:33) even unto the end of the ages (Matt.
28:20). He said that His yoke (compared
to the world’s yoke) is easy and his burden is light (Matt.11:30). When urging people to take
His yoke upon themselves, Jesus declared, “I
will give you rest” (Matt 11:28-30).
Jesus provides rest on two levels.
(i)
He invites His
disciples to have physical rest in
the sense of encouraging them to come
away to a desolate place and rest a while (Mk. 6:31).
(ii)
But the profounder rest He offers is in Himself: “Come to me!” Jesus is the profound centre of Christian
rest, both in this side of the grave and in the life to come.
·
This theme continues in Hebrews 4 as the author explains how those who trust in Christ
enter God’s “Sabbath-rest” (Hebr. 4:9)
(i)
This is a spiritual
rest from the burdens of sin, guilt, and trying to justify ourselves before
God. When we trust in Him, we experience “peace
with God” (Rom. 5:1). Augustine
affirmed this when he wrote, “You have
formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You”.
(ii)
Future
eschatological rest. The 4th chapter of Hebrews contains a
discourse on entering his rest (katapauō). The concept of stopping work and resting as God did
on the seventh day of creation is discussed, but Hebrews 4:1-11 anticipates a far greater rest. The writer warns us against
missing out on God’s ultimate Sabbath-rest through disobedience and lack of
faith. So then, the rest spoken of here
has a twofold dimension which includes
a. entering
His rest in the here and now by trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ now, and by
resting in Him in every providence that we encounter in this life
b. to anticipate the
ultimate rest from our earthly labours, when we shall enter into the
joy of our Master (Matt. 25:21). In Revelation 14:13 the saints are
promised they will “rest from their labour.”
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) wrote a book, “The Saints Everlasting Rest”, as
his own funeral sermon. He believed that he was on the verge of death. He was
quite ill for most of his life. Quite to the contrary he lived on for many
years thereafter. He writes, “Rest
is the end and perfection of motion. The saint's rest, here in question, is the most happy estate of a
Christian, having obtained the end of his course: or, it is the perfect,
endless fruition of God, by the perfected saints, according to the measure of
their capacity, to which their souls arrive at death...”.
APPLICATION
The question now arises,
·
What are we
to do with this doctrine?
·
What are the implications?
1.
We must
believe that God means what He says about this subject. God is introduced to us as the working God in Genesis 1. His working nature is offset
by the seventh day, a day of Sabbath rest (Gen
1:31). Work and Rest is a part of God’s Being. It is part of God’s created design, and
therefore it is written also into the DNA of human life. We must believe
this and we must practise this. If we choose to
disregard the godly principle of rest, then we (i) go against God’s design (ii)
we will do damage to ourselves.
2. We must
believe that both, work and rest have become a real challenge after the fall in Genesis
3. Sin undermines the biblical concepts of work
and rest. We can typically see this in
terms of how our view of work is either exaggerated (e.g. workaholism)
or diminished (e.g. the lazy man, the sluggard of Proverbs). We need to
avoid both and strive for the work-rest balance that the Bible envisages.
3. As fallen, but regenerated beings we must learn again what it means to
rest. Entering a
state of rest is possible! If you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then
you have begun to enter into God's Sabbath rest. Heb. 4:10 says, “For the one
who has entered God’s rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did
from His”. It is ultimately a sanctification issue. It is an invitation to grow in the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to have to learn to rest, not in our
hoarded resources, but in the kind, gracious, merciful providence of our
Creator and Saviour. The 7th year Sabbath rules are a powerful
illustration of this.
4. Rest begins with a mind-set that must be cultivated. For this we need time, method and application.
(i)
Time: God has commanded times of physical and
spiritual rest for our good. The NT Sabbath is our very best day of rest
in the week. In this regard Jesus must remain our focus point. He is the
end of the law. We need to be reminded that the rest of the 7th day
was not first published in the law. It was first published in the perfect Garden
of Eden. It is rooted in Creation ordinance. It is our DNA. It should be catered for in our
lifestyles. It is the market-day for the
soul. It is meant to be a focus day for resting in God. It is given to re-focus
our spiritual priorities as we gather under the Word of God. Other times for rest are found in our
every -day routines , where we
need physical (sleep) and spiritual rest
(a spiritual quiet time). Furthermore we need sustained times of rest-
vacations/sabbaticals to help body and soul to catch up.
(ii)
Method:
·
We
do this through regular prayerful reading of the Bible and meditation upon
Scripture. The old theologians called this having
communion with God.
The Sabbath and the daily routines help
here. When we increase our knowledge of God’s word we will find it easier to
rest in God and in His promises.
·
We also get to know Him through our fellowship
with other Christians. We learn from others. Paul calls people to imitate him
as he imitates Christ. We learn particularly from people who have walked
faithfully with Jesus over a long time, whose lives demonstrate that restful
spirit. (iii) we must also rest in God’s
sanctifying providences.
(iii)
Application: all this must be followed by the
conscious application of Scripture. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but doers (Jas. 1:22-24). “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Tim 4:16 NIV). We must be
practical theologians in the matter of rest. DO IT!
HINDRANCES TO BIBLICAL REST
1.
Many hindrances to rest start in the
mind. Here we think the effect that anger, fear,
resentment, unforgiveness, jealousy, anxiety produce. Anxiety for instance is nothing but failing to rest in God as
Provider (See Matt 6:25-34). Anxiety
is a pagan mind- set. The antidote to
anxiety is to engage in different thinking. Philippians 4:6,7 is a good example. The strategy in Ephesians 4 &5 is to put off
unhelpful patterns of thinking and to put on Christ centred thinking and
acting.
2.
Lack of faith/trust in God’s Word
concerning the matter of rest (Hebrews 4:1,2). When we ignore God’s Word concerning the necessity of rest we
are going to frustrate ourselves. ILLUSTRATION:
In Exodus 16 Israel needed food. God
promised to provide daily manna. However, on the sixth day (Friday) they were
to gather twice as much bread, for “tomorrow
is a day of solemn rest, a holy
Sabbath to the LORD” (Ex. 16:23).
This was a test from God. We learn here that the people do not obey this command , because they ultimately
did not trust in God’s provision (16:27).
3.
Dissatisfaction is another problem. Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 observes,
“I saw vanity under the sun: one person
who has no other, either son or brother; yet there is no end to all his toil,
and his eyes are never satisfied with riches. “For whom am I toiling and
depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business”.
People work to relieve dissatisfaction by amassing riches, but they fail to see
that their loss of relationship with God and with people ultimately cripples
them. Obsessive work only makes people more restless and unhappy.
4.
All the pursuits of the works of the
flesh mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 are essentially a refusal to rest in God’s providence. No holiness – no rest. There is no peace – no rest for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22;57:21).
5.
Work- Rest Imbalance: The danger of overwork – Spurgeon,
Calvin, Luther, Richard Baxter overworked and suffered in their bodies. All
died relatively young. Is there not
perhaps a subtle assumption that God will not be able to do the work without
us? I am convinced that Spurgeon in his early days overworked himself, so that
his ministry was affected adversely. “Approximately
1/3 of his last 22 years of his ministry was spent out of the Tabernacle
pulpit, either suffering, convalescing or taking precautions against return
of illness.
QUESTION : Exaggerated work
ethic = idolatry?
BENEFITS OF OBSERVING BIBLICAL
REST
1. Peace: “And the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus” (Phil. 4:7) Biblical rest produces a
peace that is from God. It is not dependent on the circumstances around us. In the Scriptures we read of those who do not enter
God’s rest and suffer the consequences of restlessness or lack of peace. This
is the situation that plagues many people today.
2. Contentment:
We read also of those who do enter God’s rest and find joy and contentment despite
their circumstances in life. See Paul in
Phil. 4:11-13 – “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for
I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be
brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have
learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do
all things through him who strengthens me. Paul, who had been through many
trials, wrote this while in prison. He was able to be content, because he did not
look to the circumstances but found his rest
in God. Many people look to all the wrong things to provide this deeper
spiritual rest, resulting in increased restless.
3. Biblical rest promotes physical rest: When we have God in view, the centre holds. If the
centre holds then we can go to sleep at night, knowing that our Father sustains
us. It
is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of
anxious toil; (note the presence of anxiety again) for
he gives to his beloved sleep (Ps.127:2).
Physical rest without spiritual rest is
not satisfying; nor is spiritual rest without physical rest restoring.
PRACTICAL TIPS
1. Make use of your Sundays to learn to rest in God. Feed and meditate on the Word that is brought
to your soul. A good church is Scripture soaked. Make sure that you attend Communion services. They are repeated invitations
to rest in Christ’s finished work.
2. Use the church holy days (Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost) to be reminded of God’s grand plan. A mind that sees God’s plan
at work over time is a mind that rests in His promises and providence. We see
that the faithful Father is in charge of
history, and therefore we will not fear or
be anxious about anything
3. Take holidays and sabbaticals. In the Old Testament, God instituted various patterns or
cycles of rest, creating regular God focussed rhythms for the Israelites. Weekly,
monthly, seasonal, annual, and sabbatical rhythms can provide us with a freeing
rest, particularly when Christ is kept in focus. Sadly, such times may hinder
us from experiencing a deep satisfying rest when Jesus is excluded.
4. Take charge of what thoughts inhabit your mind.
·
Philippians exhorts people to think about things
that are good and true and beautiful.
·
Colossians encourages Christians to imagine the
glorious future that awaits all those who look to Christ.
·
2 Corinthians asks believers to recognize current
problems and difficulties as momentary afflictions compared to the eternal rest
that awaits. To rest fully is to anchor the mind upon Jesus and the perfect
future that awaits all who follow him.
5. Examine existing desires. Many people don’t experience true rest because they are
consciously or subconsciously pursuing something that appears to promise rest,
but which doesn’t deliver. The Bible considers anything which we pursue above
Christ to be an idol. An idol has a controlling position in one’s heart,
causing one to spend their passion, energy, emotional and financial resources,
on it… but find that it ultimately doesn’t satisfy. This is a frequent theme in
the book of Ecclesiastes. Repentance and return in such cases is necessary. We
need to die to a false sense of self-sufficiency. Without this repentance,
people cannot experience deep rest. If there is a solution that promises to fix
all life’s problems, and it’s not rooted in Jesus, repent of it.
6. Remember also that there are seasons in life where we may not be able to
experience the rest that we would want. New parents, for
example, cannot take a day off from caring for the needs of their infant. In
these seasons when people are not able to enjoy physical rest properly, they
need not feel guilty, but instead turn to God with hopeful expectation for future
rhythms of rest and work, always remembering
that “a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9), both from an eternal
perspective and in this lifetime. God’s covenantal goodness remains constant.
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