The Two-Hundred-Fiftieth (What Rest)

I think I’ve shared before that as far as choosing topics for the week usually early to mid-week a topic comes to mind and it’s immediately evident to me that it’s the one.  Additionally, as the study develops and the message gets written, it’s not until after it’s done I realize that it’s as much for me personally as it is for anyone who might read it, if not more.  However, this week, as tends to happen on occasion, no topic had come to mind within the usual time.

I prayed for the right message to be given to me before going to sleep and in the morning I received the answer, which resulted in this week’s topic.  It was confirmed in my mind by a man of YHWH and brother in Christ that has been posting inspirational scriptural messages daily for quite awhile now, JE Boone, and I thank him for following the leading of the Holy Spirit in that mission.  The idea of not letting current worldly or even personal events dictate how you live or what you do had come to mind, and JE’s post connected that idea in my mind to our spiritual rest in Yeshua.  

I will say first, that today I am very different than I was six years ago, and different, to a degree, than I was even three years ago, in that I no longer focus on worldly events or news.  Six years ago, and more, those things were a primary focus in my life to the extent that I was using them to try and help me to decide what to do in my family's lives.  From six years ago, after Yeshua brought me back to Him, to about three years ago, those events shifted to being a focus for me in how they related to my study of eschatology (the study of end times prophecy in scripture).

It wasn’t until about three years ago, or maybe less, that the Holy Spirit had started connecting the dots for me between what I had believed was prophecy of future events and how they had been already fulfilled.  As I continued to study, those connections only became stronger, and my whole frame of mind had started to shift from one of trying to figure out how current events were fulfilling prophecy, and even almost hoping they were, to a perspective of what our purpose as believers actually is in these times.  It seems like as believers our eschatological beliefs should be secondary to the primary driver of living how Yeshua taught us to live, but the reality is that whether we are conscious of it or not, what we believe about end times shapes how we live as believers.

As you likely know already from many previous studies, I hold Derek Prince in high esteem when it comes to his knowledge and interpretation of scripture and the associated messages he gave during his ministry.  Mind you, I do not agree with absolutely everything he said, but out of all the various preachers and teachers I have listened to and read, he, by far, is the one that I agree with most.  On the topic of eschatology though, he and I differ greatly.

One of his main beliefs and messages related to eschatology is that in order for Yeshua to return, the gospel must be preached to all nations and all people.  This is a common belief amongst many believers, and he actually took it to the next level and stated that we can even cause Yeshua’s return to come more quickly if we were able to reach everyone with the gospel faster.  This view is based on Yeshua’s prophecy (Matthew 24:14) and Peter’s suggestion that His coming could be “hastened” (2 Peter 3:12).  

The problem with that view is that all the context of what Yeshua is talking about has to do with the judgment that would come up on Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, which occurred from 67-70AD.  To try and chop up what He said and make it fit anything else by picking a sentence here or a paragraph there and associating it with some future event is, to put it simply, trying to write a man-made belief into Yeshua’s words.  We should instead be trying to understand what Yeshua said by keeping His words in their given context.  

Now, don’t get me wrong, the belief that we must spread the gospel because it will bring Yeshua back sooner is not a bad belief to have.  The spreading of the gospel is important, and if that belief motivates you to do it, then so be it.  However, this belief is not an accurate one, and really, when it comes down to it, it’s not a good foundation on which to be motivated to spread the gospel.  The ultimate motivation for this would be genuine love for our neighbor which motivates a desire for them to be saved, combined with obedience to YHWH’s leading you and the understanding that He desires all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).    

This motivation would surpass anything motivated by an eschatological belief because it’s a deeper, more meaningful motivation.  For example, if we were trying to make sure people just heard the gospel as a sort of “check in the box” on the way to the second coming, we may consider our job done once we send some radio waves out into the world.  Subsequently, we may even be confused or disappointed when He hasn't returned yet but we think we succeeded in our task.  On the other hand, if we were trying to save people because we love them and want them to join us in eternal life, simply sending radio waves out into the ether would not satisfy our desire to save because it lacks the genuine connection to the person being saved.  Just to be perfectly clear though, there’s nothing wrong with sending radio waves out or sending a message out, in general, without directly connecting to another individual!  Especially when that action is led by the Holy Spirit!

The point is, our eschatological belief can shape how we approach things relating to YHWH’s Kingdom.  The other example that was alluded to earlier is current world events.  You turn on the news or scroll through social media and you read or hear about major sun activity, an explosion of earthquakes, volcano eruptions, planes falling out of the sky, attacks of one country upon another, being on the precipice of nuclear war, etc., and if your belief about end times is that it will involve chaos and confusion, death and destruction, you think to yourself, “excellent, the end is near!”  

This belief may even cause you to think that YHWH is leading you to build a fully-stocked bunker so you can survive what’s coming, or perhaps you’re on the other side of the fence and you raise your arms up to heaven in preparation for being raptured away from what’s to come.  In either of those cases, you’re likely to direct your attention more on what’s coming rather than being a beacon of light to the world and continuing to spread the gospel.  I know that’s where I was (the bunker, not the rapture!).

When you start to realize that all the death, destruction and wrath prophesied in places like Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 and Revelation are connected with the events that occurred from Yeshua’s death until the judgment in 70AD, you also start to view our role as believers differently.  No longer is our primary focus to warn of impending destruction and connect current events to scriptural prophecy, it’s to embody and utilize what's given in the promises of Yeshua to bring healing and comforting to those of the world that are lost.  And if that role sounds familiar, it should.  It’s the same thing Yeshua did during His ministry.

As with all things though, we must let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit.  There are certainly cases when a message of repent or be destroyed is still needed.  Jude made that clear (Jude 1:22-23), and Yeshua had the same message during His ministry.  If you read through the gospels again though, you’ll find that His message and His actions to the people were dominated by healing, deliverance, and comfort rather than “snatching them from the fire” of impending destruction.

Probably at this point you’re wondering, “where’s the rest you promised in this message?”  And rightly so!  With all this talk about end times, death, destruction, earthquakes, and solar storms, it doesn’t seem like we are able to rest at all, does it?  We’ve got people to heal and save, not to mention all our normal, day-to-day things we still have to take care of!

That’s exactly why we need rest, and we’re not just talking about physical rest.  When it comes down to it, if you’ve been around long enough, you come to realize that just like everything else physical, physical rest is temporary and fleeting.  You can take a thirty-minute power nap early in the afternoon but just a few hours later you’re right back to where you started and you're tired enough to sleep through the night.    

Physical rest is certainly necessary, but the true rest is spiritual rest and surprisingly enough, from my experience, it makes our physical rest much more effective.  We’ve seen many times before in previous studies that things in the physical actually originate in the spiritual, and rest is no exception.  If you’re not spiritually at rest, it is much harder for you to be physically at rest.

So, how to we get there?  How do we get to this place of rest?  It’s certainly necessary as we get bombarded from all sides with fear mongering news about world affairs and are going through the daily grind of living our lives.  

Yeshua promised rest to those who labor and have heavy loads (Matthew 11:28).  He made this promise at a very interesting event in His ministry, and it gives us some context into what He meant and how we can enter into that rest.  Lots of believers use this passage to talk about getting rest by being in Yeshua, but you don’t frequently hear about the full context in which His statement was made.

Just before, Yeshua was rebuking the cities where He performed miracles but the people did not repent of their ways (Matthew 11:20-24).  As an aside, this is an important aspect to note, since it shows the purpose of Yeshua’s miracles: repentance.  The very next thing He talked about was how little children could recognize what was happening and what they needed to do while the “wise and learned” did not (Matthew 11:25-27), and what happened right after His promise of rest was Him and His disciples being confronted for picking grain on Shabbat (Matthew 12:1-2).  

What does all that context tell us?  We need to become like children in order to enter His rest.  Despite how “wise and learned” we think we are, we must recognize that unless we come to Him and His word seeking to understand rather than seeking to prove, the hidden things will remain hidden to us, and that includes entering His rest.  Yeshua reveals YHWH to those who come to Him in this way, and He states that entering His rest starts with learning from Him, and more specifically, learning how to be gentle and humble in heart like Him.  

The other thing that context tells us is that Shabbat is connected to this rest.  While the interaction between Yeshua and the Pharisees at this time is usually messaged as connected with legalism, it’s also connected with Yeshua’s rest.  The Shabbat rest is a representation of the rest Yeshua promised, and Yeshua’s statements to the Pharisees were intended to be a sort of reset of the meaning behind Shabbat.  While the Pharisees caused the people to worry about violating some requirement they imposed regarding Shabbat observance, they prevented the people from achieving the true intention of the day of rest commanded by YHWH.  Something that was both spiritual and physical.

This commandment was first connected with YHWH’s rest on the seventh day of creation (Exodus 20:8-11), and later to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15).  These two things may seem contradictory at first, until you realize that the deliverance from Egypt was another representation of something spiritual.  Namely, it was a representation of being delivered from the slavery of sin into the freedom of righteousness given through Yeshua’s sacrifice.  

One big clue as to this fact is that after the deliverance from Egypt, while the Israelites were in the wilderness, YHWH told Moses the same thing Yeshua said in His ministry: He would give them rest (Exodus 33:14).  If you recall everything Moses and the Israelites would go through in the wilderness, you can only come to the conclusion that YHWH meant spiritual rest!  And if you notice, the spiritual rest Moses had because of his relationship with YHWH caused some significant issues between him and the people.  They complained and challenged everything, while he was at rest knowing YHWH would provide and take care of whatever they needed.

By being gentle and humble in heart, we can learn from Yeshua and be in the rest that He promised.  One of the biggest lessons He taught was trusting in YHWH such that you do not worry (Matthew 6:25-34), but the only way to learn how to fully enter His rest is through a close, personal relationship with Him.  And the only way to achieve that is by studying His Word.  Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!

-Rob and Sara Gene