Putting “Rest” to Rest

Sundays are special.

It’s a good opportunity to get some rest and reflect on what I’ve accomplished and worship the One Who makes that possible.

It’s an occasion to celebrate a time-honored tradition which has evolved from an ancient Jewish ordinance the Lord gave to his people over five-thousand years ago.

More specifically, He commanded His firstborn Israel not to do any work on the seventh day of their week, but rather to rest [נוּחַ nūach: to rest] and remember that He delivered them from bondage out of Egypt.  In doing so, they would sanctify—or dedicate that time to Him.  [Deut. 5:12-15]

It was a “decompression” mandate, requiring them unwind and set aside time to worship and reflect upon Him.  But it was also symbolic of His creation narrative [see: Exod. 20: 8-11]:

“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. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.”  [Gen. 2:2-4] [my emphasis]

[שָׁבַת shabath: to cease, desist, rest]

And I’m not sure why, but many of us who live under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ insist that His people are still required to observe a specific time period of complete rest and worship before Him. But neither Jesus nor any New Testament author ever demanded such a thing.

In fact, the Bible doesn’t reveal any other relevant use of the word “rest” until the reader opens up the Book of Hebrews.  The author records the Greek noun κατάπαυσις [kâtâpâwsîs; rest, repose] six times, corresponding to the same Hebrew term נוּחַ [nūach: to rest] noted above in the Old Testament Writings.

So I’m convinced the context of these passages in the Hebrew letter would satisfy any questions about whether or not it’s okay to be productive or have fun on Sundays.  

Because the issue isn’t about when or how to rest, but rather about “how to enter into it.”

But why would anyone need to “enter into it?”  Doesn’t it just roll around every seven days?  Not only that, vs. 4:9 clearly states that “…there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” The context of the third and fourth chapters makes it clear. After the author documented the Genesis narrative to the reader [vss. 3:8-11], he then submitted questions:

“For who provoked Him when they had heard?  Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?  And with whom was He angry for forty years?  Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? [Heb. 3:16-18]  [my emphasis]

In this case, being able to enter into the land where God’s people Israel were destined to “receive rest” was clearly contingent upon the absence of their whining and disobedience:

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”   [Heb. 3:19-4:1]  [my emphasis]

Hm-m. The same goes for me, I guess.

The author of Hebrews recognized Christ’s New Covenant “rest” as being a means to the goal of obedience to the Living God:

“For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”  [Heb. 4: 10-11]  [my emphasis]

Self-sufficiency is the foundation on which disobedience is built and sustained.  The ancient tribes of Israel were good at it.  It seems that when I decide to “rest” from [or stop relying upon] my own sufficiency to secure righteousness and instead regard Christ’s sufficiency as enough, I’m on the fast track toward entering into the miraculous domain He referred to as “His rest.”

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the concept of rest is clearly perceived by the authors as the ideal combination of security, meaningful fellowship and genuine contentment.  Jesus’ parables describing life in the Kingdom of the next age never hinted of idle servants lying around playing harps and sucking on grapes.

On the contrary, His visions portrayed confident, hard-working and obedient servants having great responsibilities and loving every minute of it!

Complete sufficiency in Christ the King allows me to “rest” from the folly of my own.

Besides, I don’t like grapes anyway.