Rest
Song of Solomon 1:7 “Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions?”
Rest…to be refreshed.
(Flocks, resting at noon…which is the hottest time of the day; when after walking and grazing in the morning….they would need a place to lie down and digest what they had eaten. The Shepherd led them to a place of rest….where he would watch as they were there. It would not be all afternoon…just for a time of refreshing.
This is the rest the believer in the song of Solomon wants……to be at rest, knowing Christ Jesus is watching and tending to me.))
Hebrews 4:9-10 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
When we think of rest, we think of sitting down, or the weekend, or no work.
But when God uses the term “rest”…..He is speaking of a place in our experience where we have:
the quietude of spirit, the satisfaction of the soul, and the quickening of the body. It is the refreshing of the spirit, soul and/or body.
In God’s rest,…there is work, but without labor!
(In the ultimate sense….the “rest” God has for us will be complete when we enter heaven and eternity.
But God also calls us to enter into His rest….the rest He has in Christ’s accomplishments on the cross….and subsequent resurrection, and ascension.
What did Christ accomplish on the cross?
The paying of my debt of sin….therefore I am free from penalty.
The fulfilling of the everlasting covenant…giving us a place with Him…and in Him forever.
The wiping away of defilement so that we may have access to God, through Christ.
And in HIs resurrection and ascension, we have the opening of the way to His life in us,….
…..and HIs authority and reign in and through us.)
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Notice we are to take upon us,… His yoke….that is the double yoke where we are yoked, of course, with Him. And in this double-yoke….we have “burdens”. But we have rest.
When God “rested” on the seventh day, after recreating the earth and all the creatures, and then forming man….He saw that all was “ very good”.
Genesis 2:1-2 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended HIs work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all HIs work which He had made.”
“Rested” here means to desist from exertion. He took a Sabbath. And the first day of man, was the day that God rested….and He saw to it that man entered into it with Him.
After sin entered, rest with God was not spoken of till Moses was to bring out Israel from Egypt.
Then God had to teach Israel about entering into “rest” with HIm, once again, through many illustrations and types.
One was the Sabbath….and manna.
The manna was given six days….every day they were to gather….not keeping it until the next day….eating the provision given. (a great example of the grace God gives us….to use the ability, and provision He gives, as He gives it.)
But on the sixth day they were to gather for two days….for:
Exodus 16:29-30 “See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day.”
The Lord had to teach HIs people how to “rest”. And that this rest was….with Him.
No labor was to be done….they were to stay in their place: stay with their families and enjoy their time together….with the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,….”
(I remember my grandmother….she was a godly woman…..and she loved Sundays. Church, then the family dinner….and all afternoon, sitting around talking.
When she came down to my house to live….in the winter, for we would not let her live by herself at her age….then she and my aunt….would have such conversations about the sermon! Out the Bibles would come and here a verse….and there a verse!
Both of them missed this special fellowship when grandma went back home in the spring.)
Rest….the refreshing of our spirits, souls and bodies….from the Lord. This we are to have….it is promised each of us.
“Come unto Me,….and I will give you rest.” (Mat. 11:28)
Again, this is not that there is no work…..just that in the work, there is no labor….for we are like the sheep that are simply following where our Shepherd leads us, doing His will…..letting Him defend us.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 