Meditation – Gen 2:1-3 – Day 7: “The day of rest”.
Part 2: The Rest of God.
by Isaac Overton
We call the Lord’s Day “The Day of Rest”. But what does that actually mean? What is this “rest” all about really? When we use that word “rest”, probably the first thing we think about is kicking back in our lazy-boy for a snooze. Is that what this means? The Sabbath is not about relaxation. But what is it about? I think as we study the scriptures on this question, there’s at least four significant things that we need to say.
Firstly, rest is a pattern for us. In Exodus 20:8 we read:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
The fourth commandment makes it perfectly clear here: God rested on the seventh day to set a pattern for us to follow. The Sabbath was indeed made for man (Mk 2:27). God didn’t need the Sabbath, but he chose to give it to us as a gift for our good. We follow the pattern of rest, and cease from our normal work.
Secondly, resting is dwelling. This word that we translate as “Sabbath”, one of it’s meanings is literally “to dwell.” When you’re resting, by definition you’re not roaming. You’re staying put in one spot! In 1 Chronicles 28 we find King David announcing in Jerusalem his intention to build the Temple, which would be the dwelling place of God:
“Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.”
Did you notice what David called the Temple? It was a “house of rest”, and a house of rest because it would be the place where God would dwell. Resting is dwelling, and specifically for us: it's dwelling in the presence of God.
King Solomon further confirmed what David had declared when he called the Temple God’s “resting place” (2 Chron 6:41). On day one of creation God made it clear that he wanted to fill the earth with his glory and presence, and that implied by definition that he would dwell here. On day seven, the day of rest, he thus initiated this rest of dwelling. He further foreshadowed this earthly dwelling in the Temple as the house of rest. Finally, God’s rest was realised as he dwelt among us in the person of Christ (Jn 1:14). In this sense, Christ is our sabbath rest, for he is God with us, our Immanuel. God’s rest will finally be consummated in the new creation when he dwells among us in fullness (Rev 21:3). Resting is dwelling and, in a sense, that’s the beating heart of the sabbath. The Lord’s Day is the day when we come and dwell together in the presence of God.
A third thing we might say about rest is that: resting is reigning. God rests or dwells in the Temple, as we have seen, but God’s rest is also referring to his reign. Let me share with you a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 11:9-10:
“They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Verse 10 continues, making it clear that this is in reference to Christ’s messianic reign:
“In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Did you notice what Isaiah said there? He described Christ’s reign as Christ coming to his resting place! We see the same thing in Isaiah’s temple vision in Isaiah 6. We already know that the Temple was God’s resting or dwelling place, but we see in Is 6 that it is also God’s throne room:
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”
As God rests, he both dwells among us, and he reigns over us. When God called his people to stop working for one day in seven in the fourth commandment it was a very logical thing to do, because this isn’t just a day off work, it’s a day when God calls us to cease from the activity of dominion. Now remember – what is dominion? It is man ruling over and subduing creation under God. On the day of rest we are called to stop ruling for a day, and to recognise God’s ultimate and supreme rule. This is why there was a death penalty attached to Sabbath breaking under the Old Covenant, because if someone went to work on the sabbath what they were effectively saying was: “God doesn’t rule, I do.” In going to work, they were declaring to everyone around them that they were not under God’s rule. This is why in Psalm 92, which is a song for the sabbath, the psalmist focuses on rejoicing in God’s works:
“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!”
As God rested on the sabbath day, he reigned. Part of our sabbath rest is to recognise and rejoice in his reign.
Here’s the fourth and final thing I want to say about resting: resting is ceasing. On day seven, God ceased from his work of creating. He stopped doing it, which again established this as a pattern for us. As we exercise dominion, we are – in a sense – continuing God’s work of creation. On the sabbath we cease from that labour, we rest, we dwell in the throne room of God and we worship the king. So this is what sabbath rest is all about: it’s about God dwelling among us; it’s about God reigning over us; and it’s about God setting a pattern for us to follow. It’s a day for us to rest in the gracious, soveriegn, almighty work of God, and to cease from our own labours, rejoicing and trusting in God’s mighty works. As we keep these things in mind, and worship the Lord on the day of rest, our worship will indeed be enriched.
SDG.