- 28. Rest
Isaiah 14:3 And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.
“That Day” in the prophets refers to the Messianic Age, the NT times in which Jesus is Lord and Savior. In that day (which is also the day in which we are presently living) Jesus proclaims, “Come to me, and I will give you rest,” echoing this promise of the Lord where He says, “The Lord shall give thee rest.” The ultimate and final day of rest is the Sabbath Rest promised for the faithful with the Lord in eternity. For today we can receive the promises of rest from sorrow, fear and bondage.
Rest from sorrow is necessary for we live in a vale of tears and sorrow is a present companion much of the time. Sin causes sorrow; sorrow brings unease and discomfort; such is our lot in life. Sometimes the sorrow can become almost overwhelming, but all the time we have the promise of rest, into which we may enter any time. Peace, calm, and ease for the soul comes through the forgiveness of sins in the Gospel. This rest is real and deep, although we do not always appreciate it as much as we could. This promised rest is so strong we could, with faith, fall asleep on the boat in the midst of the storm. Then when Jesus speaks there is a great calm.
Rest from fear includes rest and peace from worry and anxiety, which are simply lesser but more common forms of fear. How often has Jesus said, “Fear not….” His words immediately calm the fears, worries, and anxieties that are wont to plague us nightly. We need this promise of rest because fear and constant fears wear us out. We get tired fighting the “fears within” and the anxieties that are lurking about. Jesus says: Take a rest from your fears, for I am with you. “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Rest from hard bondage is a great promise if we recognize that Sin and Death and Satan keep us in slavery, and cruel taskmasters they are. Renunciation of these Enemies and turning to Christ rescues from the bondage when we recognize the kind of chains of sin that bind us. Slavery is hopeless enforcement to do things that exhaust us and bring us down. Jesus says, “If the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Jesus sets us free, free to gladly and willingly serve a loving master.