Jesus Our Sabbath Rest

The idea for this blog came about after I recently heard a church person say Jesus is our Sabbath Rest in response to my comment that I don’t work or do business on Saturday because it’s the Christian Sabbath. Bible college taught me that Jesus mantra, although their ‘reasoning’ never really made sense to me. The Evangelical religious rhetoric goes something like this: Jesus’ atoning death grants Christians authority to not obey God’s law. They claim that Jesus obeyed God’s law perfectly so they don’t have to. The reason is because Jesus’ fulfillment of ‘works of the law’ made him God’s perfect sacrifice which accomplished redemption. So since Christians are redeemed, they don’t have to be like the Jews who had to constantly work at keeping God’s law to ‘earn their salvation’.

Evangelicals base their argument on the false idea that God would accept into His Kingdom anyone who could keep His law perfectly, which is what Jesus did. But according to them all humans are incapable of such a feat, even though God demanded it of them in the OT under the Mosaic law. So God sent Jesus to provide a way to make Christians holy and acceptable to God. As a result, Christians can REST from the struggle of doing the WORKS OF THE LAW that God required of Israel under the OT.

Now I have to admit their reasoning doesn’t make any sense because it’s based on false premises which are not found in the Bible. After I discovered the COVENANTS, that’s when I began to understand why Evangelicals have their ideas. It’s because they focus solely on the atonement aspect of redemption while ignoring or separating it from God’s Kingdom. God’s Kingdom involves His law and obedience to it. I discussed this at length in previous blogs.

A false conclusion (or premise) that Evangelicals believe is that the ancient Israelites wrongly believed that they had to obey God’s law in order to ‘be saved’ (have forgiveness of their sins). So Evangelicals consider obeying God’s law ‘a burden’ that doesn’t apply to Christians, and they quote a number of verses in the Apostle Paul’s letters. But as we’ve seen in previous blogs, the truth revealed in the OT is that God repeatedly commanded Israel to obey His law, and that if they refused, He would punish them, which we also see in the OT. So obeying God’s law was not optional for all Israelites under the Mosaic covenant. Moreover, obeying God’s law was part of their DUTIES under that COVENANT AGREEMENT, and it applied to every generation forever. Obeying the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant (which I blogged about previously at length) did not have any effect on God forgiving their sins. That always came by FAITH as a FREE GIFT.

Yet, today’s churchians have been brainwashed into believing that they don’t have any obligation to obey God’s law because in so doing they are trying to earn their salvation. And since salvation is ‘a free gift’, those who try to earn it can’t be ‘saved’. Yet, their teachers never tell them about their covenant obligations under the New covenant that Jesus ratified with his death. So in this blog I’m going to put a new spin on what JESUS OUR SABBATH REST means to correct this badly lopsided Evangelical belief.

It’s important to note that there is no passage of scripture directly stating Jesus is our Sabbath rest. That ideology is arrived at from cobbling together various passages of scripture using ‘private interpretations’ that are basically wrong. Suffice to say that THE EVANGELICAL IDEA OF JESUS OUR SABBATH REST IS RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA.

Likewise my thesis does not have any proof texts. However, my thesis is based on the political context of the time in which Jesus lived, as well as related political messages repeated throughout the Bible.

So what does JESUS OUR SABBATH REST really mean?

JESUS WILL ESTABLISH WORLD PEACE
WHEN GOD BRINGS HIM BACK TO RULE THE WORLD
SO THAT CHRISTIANS AND THEIR COMMUNITIES CAN LIVE AT PEACE
WHILE LIVING A LIFE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW.

In other words, Jesus is our Sabbath rest from POLITICS, LEGALISM, OVER TAXATION, ‘LEGAL PLUNDER’, FINANCIAL SLAVERY, CORPORATE SLAVERY, TYRANNY, WAR MONTERING, UNTRUSTWORTHY NEIGHBORS, ‘BAD BUSINESS’, RAMPANT CRIME, SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES, GREEDY POLITICIANS, FASISM, SOCIALISM, etc. I’ve blogged about this briefly in the past. That also means that Jesus will ‘rule’ the world like God intended man to do, that is, with kindness and blessings to all who obey God and severity to all who do not. That is quite a contrast to the usual and customary way human governments ‘rule’ over their people with their wicked oppressive commerce police state slavery.

I want you to take away from this blog the idea that JESUS IS OUR SABBATH REST BECAUSE HE WILL BRING POLITICAL PEACE ON EARTH FOR GOD’S PEOPLE (Christians).

Now let me quote a famous verse that has been ‘used and abused’ by Christians over the centuries:

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. (Luke 2:14)

Do you remember who said that? It was a host of angels who came to worship Jesus when he was in the cradle. One has to wonder how they knew what most people didn’t? Note the bold words, on earth peace. That’s the political message I’m focusing on in this blog. What kind of peace? If you consider yourself a Christian and also endeavor to obey God’s law conscientiously, then you will know that applies to you and to people like you. Note the underlined phrase among men with whom He is pleased. That is a reference to Israelites who obeyed God’s law the way God intended, and not the way the government intended (they shoved it down everyone’s throat by the police of the time). It’s an affirmation of who will be blessed by God’s Kingdom when it comes. It’s a signal to all Christians who obey God’s law, because God is pleased with them. They are redeemed (free gift) and they are holy (living according to God’s law). So God likes them.

Now let’s look at some of the key verses that Evangelicals cobble together in order to construct their false theory about Jesus:

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9)

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8)

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)

I don’t see in any of those verses the Evangelical idea of Jesus our Sabbath Rest, do you? If anything, Jesus controls the Sabbath (“Lord of” in Matthew 12:8). I also don’t see in those verses where Evangelicals get the idea that Christians don’t have to work to make their lives holy, do you? If anything, God worked six out of seven days, meaning He worked 85.7% of the entire creation week before He ‘rested’. Yet, if there is a proof text in the Bible for the concept that JESUS IS OUR SABBATH REST, then we can probably find it in Hebrews chapter 4.

Before I quote it, let’s take a quick look at the above three verses. Hebrews 4:9 establishes the reality of a future Sabbath rest (future from the perspective of 1^st century AD Christians). It also specifies its recipients as God’s people (not ‘unbelievers’). Matthew 12:8 establishes Jesus as the ultimate authority for determining the meaning of and legal applications of the Sabbath commandment (as opposed to Israel’s national leaders). If you want to get an idea of what’s involved with that, get a hold of a Mishnah and begin reading the tractate Shabbat. In Hebrews 4:3 we see a puzzle. The writer is contrasting when God established the Sabbath rest (the 7^th day Sabbath), that is, when He quit working during the creation ‘week’. Then he contrasts that with God’s condemnation of some Israelites, resulting in God’s preventing them from ever enjoying the Sabbath rest that He promised them. And what was the ‘Sabbath rest’ that he promised them? As we shall see below, it was THE PROMISED LAND. You have to read all of Hebrews 4 to get the details about what he is saying, so let me quote it so you can read it yourself:

1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

First thing I want to point out is that Hebrews 4 is a WARNING. The theological term for that is EXHORTATION. But why the warning? Let me start at verse 14 because it contains the command for this exhortation, which explains why. The author is warning these believers to KEEP CONFESSING. But what does that mean? For Gentile Christians living in the Christian nations today it means nothing. But for anyone living in a non-Christian nation today it can mean the difference between life and death. If you want to know more, then just ask any missionary to any Muslim or communist country and see what they say. Now apply that same principle to 1^st century people who believed in Jesus. Most likely the author wrote the book of Hebrews to Jews. I doubt it was written to pagan idolaters for a number of reasons I won’t get into. So if it’s written to Jews, then what would be the problem with CONFESSING JESUS?

When you read Hebrews, you find contrasts between Moses and Jesus, between Israel’s government system and Jesus, between Israel’s public officials (priests) and Jesus, and between Israel’s laws and Jesus. So as a Jew, when you confess Jesus you’re essentially saying that you don’t obey MOSES any more but instead, you obey JESUS. Moses was God’s mediator of the covenant that founded and built the nation Israel. Jesus is God’s mediator of the New covenant that founded and is building God’s new, all-inclusive Kingdom (all humans, not just Jews). In modern terms, JEWS CONFESSING JESUS IS TREASON AGAINST ISRAEL. You should now be able to see why these Jewish Christians would want to shy away from confessing Jesus. In case you didn’t get it, it’s because they’re asking for trouble from Israel’s law enforcement officers!

Along with that confession comes a new kind of citizenship. I’ve written about this in previous blogs about obeying God’s law and self-governance, so I won’t get into it here. Suffice to say that when you stop confessing Jesus, you are making the decision to return to Israel, or if you were a Gentile, then returning to your pagan lifestyle. You can’t have dual-citizenships according to the book of Hebrews. You can’t be an Israelite + a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom.

Evidence that Hebrews 4 is an exhortation is seen in the words let us fear in verse 1. Fear what? PUNISHMENT of course! Obviously God is the one who will do the punishing. And the punishing has to do with those Christians who were hedging on DISOBEDIENCE. Why do I say ‘disobedience’? Read on and I’ll explain why. So right at the beginning of chapter 4 you see the warning clearly stated, and at the end of the chapter you see the reason why.

The next noteworthy thing in chapter 4 is the method the author uses to make his point. He uses an analogy from the OT about the Sabbath rest. He does that by taking an example from Israel’s history that you find recorded in Deuteronomy 1:19-45. He reminds his recipients of the two kinds of Israelites, the BELIEVERS and the UNBELIEVERS. The result of that was only Joshua and Caleb entered the ‘promise land’. So what was the problem with the others? They didn’t believe God’s promise of victory, that is, they didn’t believe that they were strong enough or skilled enough to conquer the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 1:26-32). One has to wonder why they disbelieved God’s promised victory? My guess is that they were comparing their abilities with the appearance of the Canaanites’ abilities, instead of just believing what God told them and getting on with the work.

The Hebrews author used that OT example to remind his readers of the unbelievers and their fate. God considered them disobedient. God commanded them to go and conquer, but they didn’t do it. So God prevented those unbelievers from entering the promise land. The way God did that was he made Israel march around in the wilderness for 40 more years (Numbers 32:13, Deuteronomy 2:7, 8:2, 29:5, Joshua 5:6) after their spy mission until all of that generation died-off (except of course Joshua and Caleb).

Now note the words who have believed enter that rest and failed to enter because of disobedience. Those are the key words in this passage that define the issue as I explained in the above paragraph. The Hebrews author sets up a contrast between FAITH and DISOBEDIENCE (instead of faith vs. unbelief). He sees the result of faith as Rest (entering into the promised land), and the result of unbelief as Disobedience (dying in the wilderness). Those are the two contrasting worldviews and lifestyles among God’s people (of all ages, including Christians!). The writer implies a connection between faith and obedience vs. unbelief and disobedience. I blogged about this in the past. Essentially, faith = allegiance, which is the basis of obedience. You obey what you believe in. You believe the messages that those you trust tell you.

A modern example of that is hearing an advertisement and then going out and buying what’s advertised. Then you use that purchased item according to the label’s instructions. Another example is going to a doctor and taking the prescription he wrote. Same with God. Israel heard the gospel of victory to occupy the promise land, so they conquered. With Jesus, Israel head the gospel of forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ ‘sacrifice’ (instead of the Israelite priest’s animal sacrifice system), so they were supposed to believe in him and make him their ruler. For Christians today, they hear the truth about Jesus and God’s Kingdom and believe it. Then they go about changing their life so they can live the way God wants. Their instructions are found in the Bible, both OT & NT (not just the NT as we see in today’s churches!). Like I’ve said in previous blogs, this is a matter of self-government vs. man-made police state government.

More specifically, how can the above analogy apply to the Israelites who lived during Jesus’ time, far removed from Joshua’s era? Surely Jesus’ generation weren’t conquering Canaan or some other land, right? Let’s think about this for a moment. We know that 2^nd Temple Israel was a Roman vassal, meaning they were the conquered instead of the conquerors. So this can’t be about disobeying God’s command to conquer foreigners. We do know it has something to do with disobedience resulting from unbelief. So the question is, which of God’s commandments did the ‘Hebrews’ disobey? As we saw above, it was their CONFESSION. What confession? Jesus of course! So what does that compare to with Israel?

One thing we know for certain is that Moses was the first and foremost leader of Israel. It’s been that way from the beginning, and has continued from that point up to today. Moses is Israel’s founding father and first law-giver. You see that in the Gospels (look up the word ‘Moses’ in a concordance to see what I mean). You see that in the ‘Jewish literature’ as well. No doubt that the authority and primacy of Moses is one of the main threads of Israel’s history. The gospels show us that Jesus was supposed to become Israel’s new and final leader. So in a round-about way, we see that JESUS REPLACED MOSES in Israel as their new head of state. Or at least that’s what God wanted. But Israel balked, and we know the rest of the story.

To drive the point home, you really should read through the book of Hebrews and look at all the details. When you get to Chapter 13 you’ll find a bundle of commands (exhortations). Those commands are some detailed instructions on how to go about obeying the primary exhortation above about their CONFESSION.

Here is one example:

7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.

Note: I discuss legit leaders in another blog. It’s another modern Evangelical scheme that I won’t get into here. So if you want to know how to identify legit Christian leaders, then check out my previous blog on it.

‘Those who led you’ and ‘your leaders’ were the Apostles and their duly appointed delegates (such as Timothy, Silas, Titus, etc.). Remember that the Apostles were Jews who grew up obeying God’s law (or at least a semblance of it consisting of all the man-made laws of 2^nd Temple Israel). I won’t get into the politics of the Jesus movement during 2^nd Temple times. Suffice to say that ‘imitate their faith’ is self-explanatory, meaning if you do that, then you will be living like them (‘conduct’, verse 7). That means they believed in Jesus as their mediator, instead of Moses. They also believed that Jesus procured their redemption, instead of Israel. And they also obeyed God’s law the way God required, instead of the way Israel’s government demanded. So if one were to imitate those leaders, then they would have to adopt their beliefs and practices. That means the ‘imitators’ would believe in Jesus instead of Moses/Israel, and they would also obey God’s law the way God requires instead of the way the government dictates.

The above explanation is a specific example of how the ‘Hebrews’ may have obeyed the exhortation given in Hebrews chapter 4 (‘hold fast our confession’). Further, this information can be practically applied to the Christian’s life today. In other words, this is something that Evangelicals can use to change their church beliefs and all their constituents’ lives so they can ‘upgrade’ their religion to comply with God’s will for them. They already understand God’s redemption in Jesus, so now they need to get the holiness part right. That way they can get ready for God’s Kingdom instead of serving the Satan state (in whatever nation they live, including modern Israel!).

That’s the same as a Christian living according to God’s law with the motive of wanting to please God. The opposite is a person who knows God’s law and uses it against other people for profit or control. An example of that is when people sue other people to get money, or when the government legally attacks someone in order to shut then up (censor) like with a whistleblower. Or when the government wants to steal their property (covet) like when they ‘blight’ a geographical region and ‘condemn’ it so they can ‘take’ it. Or the use of ‘summary process’ in tax collections that bypasses American Constitutional rights-protections. The list of lawless use of the law is endless. We see that prevalent today here in America. I talked about this in a previous blog, citing some OT examples.

The next notable point in Hebrews 4 is the author’s focus on Joshua. The author expressly states in verse 8 that Joshua did not give the Israelites their Sabbath rest. What does that mean? To what is he referring? The answer to that is the KEY to my blog. Joshua was referring to POLITICAL PEACE. This has to do with the Evangelical theological topic known as ESCHATOLOGY. The scholars call it APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. The author is comparing Joshua’s claim of the nation Israel’s unfulfilled Sabbath rest to world-wide Christianity’s unfulfilled Sabbath rest.

Let’s think about that in a little more detail by reading scriptures in the book of Joshua:

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. Thus the land had rest from war. (Joshua 11:23)

1 Now it came about after many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, 2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. 3 “And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has been fighting for you. 4 “See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. 5 “The LORD your God, He will thrust them out from before you and drive them from before you; and you will possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. 6 “Be very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, 7 so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them. 8 “But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. 9 “For the LORD has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10 “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. 11 “So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God. 12 “For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
14 “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed. 15 “It shall come about that just as all the good words which the LORD your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. 16 ” , which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.” (Joshua 23:1-24:1)

First thing to note is the phrase ‘the land had rest from war’ (Joshua 11:23). Using common sense, I consider the word ‘rest’ to be equivalent to ‘Sabbath rest’ (Hebrews 4:8-9). So I’m equating ceasing from warfare with the Sabbath rest that Joshua is talking about. That’s why I call it POLITICAL PEACE. However, Israel didn’t fully conquer Canaan. A cursory reading of the book of Joshua reveals that Israel repeatedly lapsed into sin (violating God’s law) and fell into slavery to some of the Canaanite nations. The Philistines in particular on many occasions. This is a very intriguing subject, since the Philistines may have been remnants of the Amalekites/Hyksos. But that’s another subject that has to do with the political history of the administrative police state bureaucracies that ruled over ancient Israel. Also, a cursory reading of the entire OT (the history of 1^st Temple Israel) reveals that Israel never finished conquering the land. So they never really entered into their Sabbath rest! That is most likely what Hebrews 4 is referring to.

The question that must be asked is, how does that relate to the Christians during the Apostles’ time? To reiterate, Hebrews 4 is contrasting national political peace with Christian future ‘rest’ (future from their viewpoint, and from ours). What is the principle in that comparison? It’s the idea of REST. You can call it what you want, rest, Sabbath rest, peace, etc. The point is, YOU WORK UNTIL YOUR WORK IS COMPLETED, THEN YOU CAN REST. But you can’t loaf around if your work isn’t finished. And you certainly won’t have a right to rest if you didn’t do your work.

So what is this WORK that the 1^st century Christians were supposed to be doing? As we saw in verse 14 it’s CONFESSING. No, I’m not talking about going to Catholic church and kneeling down in the booth to tell the Catholic priest your sins so he can forgive you and you can go out and commit the same sins next week, and repeat the process…LOL! I’m talking about diligently fulfilling the obligations that your Christian confession binds you to. We already looked at one of them from Hebrews 12 (obey your leaders). There are others in Hebrews 12. There are even more in the other NT letters and Gospels. There are more on top of that in the OT, including the ‘law of Moses’. This has to do with fulfilling the STIPULATIONS OF THE NEW COVENANT (as opposed to those in the Mosaic covenant). Essentially, this has to do with obeying the commandments found throughout the Bible that apply to Christians (in contrast to Israel proper). But why is this REST future even from our time? It has to do with the POLITICAL PEACE that Jesus will bring at his SECOND ADVENT. More on that below. However, if Israel had accepted Jesus as their political ‘Savoir’, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion, because Jesus would have already established God’s Kingdom rule world-wide. In that case the future promise of rest would have been fulfilled in the 1^st century AD, and that promise would be past-tense for us today.

Back to the pragmatics of the Jesus- confession. There are two main points made in Hebrews 4 about political peace. The first point is that the Israelites must get the courage to believe that GOD WILL GIVE THEM VICTORY OVER THEIR ENEMIES, just like He promised and already had provided at the Red Sea. The second point is THEIR SUCCESS IS CONDITIONED ON THEIR OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW (the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant). You clearly see that in the Joshua passage. He sternly warns the nation of the blessings and curses involved in their ‘relationship with God’. That same covenant theme (blessings/curses) is repeated throughout the Pentateuch and also the prophets. I discussed this in previous blogs.

So It should be obvious that Israel had to work to achieve political peace, and that God didn’t just hand it over to them. For sure God assured them victory, ON CONDITION that they obeyed His law. Same with Jesus. For sure God assures us forgiveness of our sins and a place in the coming Kingdom, ON CONDITION that we live holy lives (= be like Jesus by obeying God’s law with the right motives). So in conjunction with the required conquest-work, Israel had an obligation to obey God’s law and not intermingle with other nations/gods/laws if they wanted to succeed in their work. In the above passage we see three elements: 1) Faith in God’s promise of political peace (no more war), 2) the work of conquering foreigner nations thereby purging the land of them, and 3) obeying God’s law throughout the process all your life as the condition for success.

Translating that into NT terms, we have 1) Faith in God’s promise of redemption in Jesus, 2) the work of remaining faithful to God while living in the midst of non-believers and wicked people, including tyrannical governments, and 3) obedience to God’s law throughout one’s life, regardless of the circumstances. It’s a one-for-one analogy with the OT history, just like the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:11,

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

And Romans 15:4,

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And according to NT apocalyptic scriptures, we will enter our Christian ‘Sabbath rest’ when Jesus returns and establishes God’s Kingdom on earth. But in the meantime, we have a lot of work to do learning how to live right and not acquiesce to unbelievers and their political, financial, sociological, psychological and other kinds of godless tyrannies that they bombard our minds and lives with every waking moment. Living like that requires courage and commitment. For sure, living the Christian life is not for cowards! We are obligated under the New covenant to live right in the here-and-now so we can receive our reward in the future when Jesus returns. That is when we enter the SABBATH REST that Jesus prepared for us as officials in his government.

To reiterate, we do not ‘enter the promise land’ in this life. Instead, this life is our proving ground where we undergo the tests we need that teach us to develop obedience to God’s law (with the right motives), just like James 1:12 says,

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

All throughout our lives, as we commit to obeying God’s law time and time again, we find a growing desire for Jesus to return so that we can live in peace. Obeying God’s law in the midst of a wicked world is double the work and really can wear on you. After many years of observing Sabbath you will discover that you look forward to its weekly arrival. The reason is because Sabbath is a sanctuary for our minds, emotions and bodies. You will find yourself longing for Jesus to return to bring us into the perpetual SABBATH REST that his second coming will establish on earth.

JESUS WILL BE OUR SABBATH REST because he will have delivered us from the pending punishment of our sins and uncleanness, as well have prepared a Kingdom for us to live in that is untouched by sin, and in which we will have the authority and power to enforce God’s law on the peoples of this world. But first we must commit to God by realizing that God provides for us redemption in Jesus as well as the Bible (Jesus’ life) for guiding us into obeying God’s law in the midst of the wicked and perverse societies in which we live. Otherwise, although God sets us up for success, we will sabotage our success through our own unbelief, ignorance, laziness and disobedience. It’s our own choice, and no one else’s! Don’t let faith in your worldly retirement derail you from pursuing the lifestyle that God requires for His ultimate retirement!

Now go ahead and look up all the scriptures in the OT & NT on ENTERING GOD’S REST. Sort them all out, identifying whether they refer to literal, political peace (the absence of war) or the political peace that God will give us under Jesus’ future kingship.

That ends my rendition of JESUS OUR SABBATH REST, which is an idea that really doesn’t exist in the Bible! Thanks for stopping by to read this vital information about Christian sanctification and our future hope. See you in the next blog …