Every so often, you will encounter something in the Bible
that changes everything.
Let’s start with Deuteronomy 12:9.
We all know the story how God delivered Israel out of Egypt and
brought them to a Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Sometimes this land is called an inheritance. In Deuteronomy 12:9, it is called that and something
else.
Deuteronomy 12:9 (NASB95)
9 for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance
which the LORD your God is giving you.
The expression ‘resting place’ can also be translated as ‘rest.’
So though this land required the Israelites to conquer it
first, it is their place of rest, their rest.
In Psalm 95, this land is again referred to as ‘rest,’ or ‘resting
place.’
Psalm 95:7–11 (NASB95)
7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep
of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts,
as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 “When your fathers
tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. 10 “For forty years I
loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And
they do not know My ways. 11 “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall
not enter into My rest.”
So far we have been talking about Israel and their Promised
Land, but the book of Hebrews quotes this passage from the psalms 3 times and
mentions ‘rest’ 8 tunes in explaining to us how our lives in God and in Christ
are a rest. (Hebrews 3:11,18;4:1,3,5,10,11)
Now you can’t rest, until your mind is at ease. So the writer of Hebrews ends this section on
rest with these words: Hebrews 4:14–16 (NASB95)
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has
passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, . . . 16 let us draw near with boldness to the throne
of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Some translations read ‘confidence’ where I have ‘boldness’
here. The word is παρρησία (par-ray-see'-ah),
which means: a use of speech that conceals nothing and passes over nothing,
outspokenness, frankness, plainness; a state of boldness and confidence,
courage, confidence, boldness, fearlessness, esp. in the presence of persons of
high rank. We are to draw near to God being
totally open with everything we say, not afraid of any consequences.
Romans calls this
being at peace with God and having been brought into a state of grace, or favor,
with God in which we now stand. (Romans
5:1,2)
It’s not often
that we hear of our relationship with God as being rest, or a resting
place. Like a haven where you can turn
off the world and be at peace. Too many
of us are constantly wrestling with God, having questions and worries about too
many things. God wants us to leave all
that outside too. Like going home where
you can totally relax and be yourself.
We should feel that same way when we pray or just spend time conscious
of God.
We have peace with
God, now we need to experience it.
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