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The Lord of Rest

God is the Lord of rest.
Rest comes from Him (Is14:3) and
He lets those who obey Him enter His rest (He3:18, 4:2).

Faith is believing Him and longing for Him, and
The life of this faith is making every effort to obey His word to enter His eternal rest (He4:11).

While everyone seeks rest through vacations, possessing a big house, sleep etc
There is no true rest in the universe for
It is the place that will become the eternal lake of fire, hell (2Pe3:7-12; Rev19:20) where
The smoke of torment rises for ever (Rev14:10).

After God finished His work of creation in six days (Ge2:2-3),
He blessed the seventh day, made it holy and entered rest – this is the model of rest.
Deceived by the serpent, Adam the ancestor of mankind sinned (Ge2:7, 3:4-6) and
All men became destined to toil (Ge3:16-18) and finally follow the devil to hell (Mt25:41).

The slavery of Israel in Egypt materialized this
But God sent Moses to lead them into the wilderness where even greater toil awaited them:
The commandments, especially those regarding the Sabbath (Ex20:8-10):
1) Remember the Sabbath — Jehovah is the Creator who made all things in six days and rested on the
seventh day; and
2) Keep the Sabbath holy — set it apart from other six days — do no work (Ex20:10), do not speak idle words,
do not do as you please (Is58:13-14).
Anyone breaking it was to be put to death (Ex31:15).

The sanctuary was an extraterritorial space where
The priests served Jehovah day and night (Lev26:9; 1Ch9:32; 2Ch2:4).
It reminded them that He is their God and they were His people, and that
They were to keep the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant for rest (Jer31:2) for
They were promised the land in which they would find rest (Dt12:10).
While they were to observe the Sabbath and have reverence for the sanctuary (Lev19:30), however,
They broke the Sabbath and desecrated the temple (Eze20:21), for which they faced repeated curse.

As they had become slaves of the Sabbath, especially due to the Pharisaic law,
Yeshua angered them when He said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”
But through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-21),
He would end the rest Jehovah commended Israel and
He Himself would give rest to the souls of all nations (Mt11:28-30).
Furthermore, by keeping not the Sabbath day but “another day” (He4:8),
He would give not physical rest in the land of Canaan but eternal rest in the Father’s house (Jn14:2).

He was accused by the Pharisees and passed over to death for
Healing and doing forbidden things on the Sabbath
(Mt12:1; Mk2:23-24, 3:1-6; Lk13:14-15; Jn5:5-17, 9:14-16)
But Yeshua is greater than the temple, the Lord of the Sabbath (Mt12:1-6; Mk2:28).

As He died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Obeyed the Father’s command (Jn10:18) and finished the toils of His flesh, committing His spirit into the
hands of the Father, the Lord of rest (Ps49:15; Lk23:46);
2) Condemned the devil who disrupted the rest in heaven (Is14:12-15; 1Jn3:8); and
3) Redeemed the sins of all men and delivered them (He2:14-15).

The Word in the beginning — the Lord of rest — became flesh (Jn1:1, 14)
- His death — carried men’s burden, sin (Ps68:19; Is53:4-5) — released from the bondage
- His blood — sprinkled on souls — to give rest to those who believe

Yeshua resurrected on the first day after the Sabbath, the eight day, another day
The Lord’s Day (Ac20:7, 1Co16:2; He4:8; Rev1:10), and entered eternal rest.
- The seventh day — the Creator finished His work — entered His rest;
- The eight day/ another day — the Redeemer finished His work — entered His rest.

The Holy Spirit comes to those who received the promise of entering God’s eternal rest (He4:1-2).
On the Lord’s Day, He gathers them in the name of Yeshua into the church and lets them worship.

The Christian finds rest for his soul in worship and
Obeys the word he heard (He3:14-19, 4:1-11) by praying (Col4:2), gathering (He10:25),
Preaching the word (2Ti4:2), serving (1Th4:10), and doing the Lord’s work (2Co11:23-28).
He lays his burden on the Lord through repentance and prayer (Mt11:28-30) and
Carries other’s burdens (2Co4:10; Gal5:2), making every effort lest he fails to enter that rest.

O Lord,
Being yoked with Yeshua whom I love is not hard or burdensome…rather, it is easy and light!
While we are on earth, let us never cease praying and let us obey to the end.
So on the day we leave this place, let us all enter Your eternal rest!
Oh I wanna go, oh I wanna go home~
Amen.