There are rest verses in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. There are over 500 verses that talk about rest. Some are a different context or part of a word but the majority of them are about rest being commanded. The other type of rest mentioned is a Sabbath rest, which is important for the future.
In a break from work, we talked about what rest means and why it is important for our bodies to have it. And in no rest for the weary, we found out there are types of people who will never have rest and others who will.
Why is taking a rest a Biblical command? And what is a Sabbath rest and why is it so important?
Rest Verses in the Bible: A Weekly Command
God rested and took a break from work. He is our example of taking a rest from the beginning of time. And He made it a holy day. It is a day set apart to worship Him as our creator, provider, and sovereign God.
“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.”
There are many reminders throughout the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, to honor this day of rest.
The Jewish Sabbath starts on Friday night before sunset and ends an hour after sunset on Saturday. There were specific things the Jews could do and not do. They had to get their baking and other necessary tasks done on the day before the Sabbath. Then whatever is left to be done would wait until the next day.
He said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”
The Christian Sabbath is all day on Sunday. But the command still applies to Christians as well.
One of the Ten Commandments
This command to take a day of rest is so important to God that it is one of the Ten Commandments that all of us need to follow.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and 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.
Did you notice that everyone in the house was to follow the commandment? I love that God was concerned that the servants, livestock, and visitors had a day of rest as well.
Rest Verses in the Bible: Rest and Inheritance of Land
The Background of the Story of Promised Rest
In Genesis 12, the Lord called Abraham to move from his country, he passed through the land of Canaan. And through Abraham, many nations and descendants would come from him. The Lord had told Abraham that someday this land would belong to his family. However, the land was occupied by the Canaanites. They and their descendants sojourned around in the land of Canaan for decades.
Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, was sold by his brothers to some tradesmen. These traders sold him to the house of Pharaoh in Egypt. He eventually became the second in command in the nation. When there was a worldwide famine, people came from all over the earth to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph. In his wisdom, he had the country save up grain during the seven years of plenty so there would be grain during the seven years of famine. This is when his brothers moved to Egypt. After Joseph died and many years passed, the nation grew so large that the Israelites became slaves.
Moses and the 10 Plagues
The Lord heard the cries of the Israelites. So the Lord called Moses to speak to Pharaoh to set them free. You probably know the story of Moses and how Pharaoh refused to obey God and let the people go. So there were ten plagues that came upon the land so that Pharaoh would know that He is God. And eventually, Pharaoh relented and let the people go to worship God.
Once they left Egypt, they wandered the desert for 40 years due to their disobedience. When they got close to Canaan, they camped in Moab for a couple of months while Moses reviewed the Law, the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses told them that when they got to Canaan, they should not do what they were doing today, which was doing what was right in their own eyes. He said:
for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety.
Rest and Safety
Since the land was occupied by the Canaanites, they would have to fight them and other enemies to obtain the land. Once the wars were over, then the land would be theirs. They would the inherited land that had been promised to them for centuries. And they would have rest from wars.
And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.
God had fulfilled His promise to Abraham that the land would be theirs. And they had rest from their enemies on every side because God was with them.
Rest Verses in the Bible: Year of Rest for the Land
During Biblical times, the people were to work the land for six years. Then the seventh year, they were to give the land rest. It was called a Sabbath year.
But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
The notes in my study Bible indicate this prevents the land from being overworked. And there were thoughts that this was intended to eliminate poverty as the poor could eat from the land.
But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
Sabbath Rest
Now we come to the Sabbath Rest and what that means to us today.
When the Israelites were released from their bonds of slavery in Egypt, they left to go to the land of Canaan. Instead, they wandered the desert for 40 years. They weren’t allowed to enter the land because of their disobedience. And this was because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19 ESV). Those who believed entered the land. Those who did not believe did not enter the land.
Before the Israelites entered the land, Moses sent 10 spies into the land to check it out. Eight of the men came back and said the land was great like Moses said, but the cities are fortified and large. And there are descendants of giants living there. And many of their enemies living there (Numbers 13:27-28 ESV).
They were afraid and told the people that they should not go into the land. And they even said that they should choose a leader and head back to Egypt! They did not believe that this land would be theirs and that God would help them conquer the inhabitants so they could live there. Because of their unbelief, those 20 years old and up from these tribes were not allowed to enter Canaan, the Promised Land. And the eight men who were spies died of a plague.
Sabbath Rest and Belief in God
However, the two other spies, Joshua and Caleb, spoke of the land from a different viewpoint. They came back with produce from the land and said the land was a good land. The people know that the Lord would be with them and give it to them. They believed what the Lord had told their forefathers (Numbers 14:7-8 ESV). Joshua, Caleb, and all of the people from their tribes were allowed to enter the Promised Land. And those who were under 20 from the eight other tribes were allowed to enter as well.
Sabbath Rest for us All
The writer of Hebrews explains that because of the blood of Jesus, we can have a Sabbath rest with God for all of eternity. Any of us who accept Jesus as our Savior can have eternal rest from our work here on earth. We can rest like God did when He rested on the seventh day after creating the world.
We need to strive for this eternal rest so we don’t miss out on it due to the disobedience of unbelief.
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore to strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
I am so thankful for this type of Sabbath rest! How about you?
Do you know Jesus as your Savior? If you don’t, check out this Know Peace page and learn more about how you can have eternal rest or a sabbath rest with God for all of eternity.
****
Resource Library
There are free Bible reading plans, Bible verses, and other tidbits for you to download from the Resource Library. Click on the resource library link and you can get verses like the ones on the left. They are all yours for stopping by God’s Plan Guided Steps.
Be blessed this week and be sure to rest on the Sabbath!
