The story of Joshua taking over leadership of the nation of
The book of Hebrews in the New Testament refers to this incident in entirely different terms. In chapter 3 verse 17 he writes, “And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they should not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
So it was because of unbelief that the people of
I’ll continue from verse 9, “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 strive to enter that rest….”
We’ll follow this up in some future posts and see where this leads us. But for now, we need to realize that God is at rest. He worked six days to create the world and rested the seventh day. There is a promise available to Christians to enter into God’s rest. God is not working and fretting over the world situation today. He is at rest – at peace. That rest and peace is available to each of us Christians. Have you entered into it?
2 comments:
I have no problem with the concept of rest with God when I go home, but the concept of rest with God in the here and now is more complicated. Too often I feel that God is depending upon me to solve my problems, where if I were to "rest" in him, the burden would be far less. When I pass the problems to him in confidence that He knows best, then I am much more at peace.
You're right, Jimmie, and there certainly is the rest of being in heaven. But Hebrews 3 and 4 specifically promise us a rest now. The Israelites entered into the promised land and it was the land of blessing, but it was also a land of battles. When the people believed God and trusted in His victory, they were successful. I think that's the way it is with us now. God tells us that they didn't enter in because of unbelief and that is the very reason we don't enter in. We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ and yet we claim so few of those blessings because we don't really believe God's word on it. We say we do, but we don't. If we really believed that God is as all-loving, all-powerful and all-wise as we say He is, we wouldn't complain or worry when He sends and allows things that are difficult for us. We would know that they are for our good and His glory.
Watch for further posts on the study in Joshua. It's a great study.
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