Our Promised Rest
The people had been camped at Moab for some time after Moses died. Joshua instructed the officers to get the people ready to march. They had broken camp many times before, but this time it was different. They weren't breaking camp only to wander further into the wilderness. This time they were finally entering the land to enjoy the rest that God had promised them so long ago. When we come to the end of Joshua's story, we find that, indeed, God did exactly what he promised:
The Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. (Joshua 21:43-44)
For these nomads who had wandered through the desert with no homes for forty years, rest meant coming into the land, building a home, establishing a family, cultivating the land, and raising a large number of animals-enjoying what we might call a normal life. While all these things involved a great deal of manual labor, it was rest in the sense that the people could live in peace, without wandering, without fear of attack.
And yet, Israel's rest in the land of Canaan, while real, was not that rest which God had ultimately promised to his people: "If Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:8-9).
That "special rest" that is "still waiting" is found only in Jesus Christ, the greater Joshua, who has achieved the victory-in his doing and in his dying-that will allow us to rest from our labors. The rest won for us by Jesus will one day be realized when we cross over-not the Jordan River, but into the presence of God. There at last, in the true Promised Land, glorious beyond measure because of the presence of God in all his glory, we will be forever safe from all of our enemies.
~ Jesus, you are my rest in the here and now, and for all eternity. And because of who you are and what you have done, I need not fear that day when I cross over into your Promised Land. That will be a glorious day, when all the struggles of life finally give wat to ultimate rest in your presence.
