Topic: Rest (Before I wipe my memory ...)
See also: Rest (re: 152)
Greek expression: Katapausis
Prounciation: kaht-AH-pow-Seess
Strong’s No. 2663
The Old Testament tells us that “ by the seventh day, God completed His Work which He has done...” GEN. 2:2
This “rest” by God on the Seventh day was the basis for the Hebrew Sabbath – God’s command to the Hebrews to rest on the seventh day.
But the Sabbath rest really didn’t give God’s people a peaceful cessation from all the hardships of life – [for] God promised another day of rest in Psalm 95:7-11. These two different rests are important for our understanding of how the concept of katapausis, the Greek word for “rest” is developed in the New Testament – Specifically by the writer of the Book of Hebrews.
Quoting Ps 95: 7-11, the writer of Hebrews rehearsed the tragic experience of Israel under Moses during the desert wandering (Heb. 3:7-19). Throughout the forty-year wilderness experience, the people hardened their hearts and rebelled against God in turn, God was provoked by their stubbornness and swore that those who sinned would never enter “the rest” He was going to provide (Heb 3:10-11,18). The writer thus argued that if disobedience to God under Moses had serious consequences, forsaking Christ will be much more perilous. Hence, the wavering Christians were urged to be careful in case they should fall away from the living God due to an evil, unbelieving heart (Heb 3:12). Although Joshua was regarded as a great leader of Israel, The Israelites under Joshua’s leadership failed to enter “the rest” that God has planned because of the people’s disobedience.
The “rest” spoken in this passage is related to the Sabbath rest of God (Heb 4:3-4); but it is more closely related to the concept of salvation. It is a spiritual reality that is achieve by turning from our own empty works and trusting in the finished work of Christ (Heb. 4:10). The author of Hebrews reminded his readers that “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” (Heb. 4:9), one that only Christ can provide. Christian not only benefit from this Sabbath rest in the present age, but anticipate its full realization in the age to come.
It is God’s “rest” into which all person are encouraged to enter. This weekly day of rest is a reminder and a reflection of that rest!
The “rest” of the Israelites in the Promised Land after their wilderness wandering is a symbol of God’s eternal rest that His people will share. The rest that Christ gives to those who come to Him (Matt. 11:28) is a foretaste and a guarantee of “the divine rest” that awaits them. The Rest after [the] death of [all] believers who have fallen asleep in Christ is a blissful intensification of the reality of this experience: “... Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on... that they may rest from their labours... .”(Rev. 14:13)
Key verses: Heb 3:11,18; 4:1,3,5,10-11
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