Biblical Rest (2022)
The Commandment: Exodus 20:8-11
- This is one of the original Ten Commandments.
Exodus 34:21 This passage is later after the people have rebelled with the golden calf etc.
- This was very much a societal rest. Something we have really lost sight of today.
- Notice, they didn’t rest and quickly fell into sin.
Exodus 23:12 Your Ox & donkey, the salve and the Alien are to rest, so you can’t get others to do the work.
Lev 25:1 Even the land was to have rest every 7 years.
Lev 26:31 This is right in the middle of a section where God is speaking future judgment over the people for their disobedience. Notice that in their punishment the land will get the rest that it didn’t get during the time they lived there. The implication here is that the people weren’t following this command to rest the land.
Other Days of Rest:
- The Feast of Trumpets Lev 23:23-25
- The Passover Feast, Lev 23:7-8 included a day or rest
- The Feast of Weeks Lev 23:21 included a day of rest
- The Day of atonement Lev 23:28 included a day of rest
- The Feast of Tabernacles Lev 23:35, 36 included two days of rest
- The Year of Jubilee (Every 49 years) was also to be a year of rest.
How can this be?? When God asks something from us, he also makes a way. Lev 25:18-22
- He asks the people to rest themselves and the land for one year and he makes a way for that to happen.
- I wonder how much blessing we miss out on because we don’t follow what God has called us to and we don’t trust Him to make the way.
Rest for Rests sake or with a purpose?
- So now I want to ask the question do we rest simply for rests sake or is there other purpose.
- The answer is of course both. Our bodies do need rest.
There are other purposes in God’s call for us to rest.
To Honor God:
- All of those special days of rest I mentioned earlier involved a sacred assembly and an offering of sacrifice to God. So, the rest was tied to honoring God. Putting our eyes and attention back on God.
- And all of those special days of rest involved an assembly which puts us back in community.
- So being in community was also a big part of rest.
Atonement: Lev 16:29 This day of rest was tied to atonement, being made right before God, having their sins forgiven.
Trust: When God asks the people to not sow or reap for an entire year there is a big trust factor here.
Worship: Exodus 33:12-14 the Presence of the Lord and rest are tied together.