Position of Rest
- May 16, 2025
- 5 min read
In Joshua chapter 1, we have been looking at God’s Faithfulness seen particularly in PARTNERSHIP; PROMISE; POWER and POSSESSION.
The final point about God’s Faithfulness in chapter 1 is seen in 'POSITION.'
POSITION - “Until the Lord gives them rest” (Josh1:15 )
For Israel, rest is a theme that goes back to creation. “Rest” is what God shared with humankind when He made all things “very good” (Gen 1:31).
Sin fractured the relationship with God and stole rest away. Rest then became elusive for God’s people.
Israel had been in the wilderness for over 40 years. Those that came out of Egypt had disobeyed God, and as a consequence God said in Psalm 95: “I have declared an oath in my anger that they shall never enter my rest.”
Now, however, with Israel entering the land, God was giving His people rest: “The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land” (v13).
Rest was part of the promise of possession; rest from the struggles and daily fights of a wilderness existence, but only when they inhabited the Promised Land. This POSITION of rest was part of their inheritance, a gift that came with the territory!
The word used in Joshua 1:15 for ‘rest’ is 'nuach,' it has the idea of settling down and remaining. It meant rest from their enemies in a land where they are able to live according to God’s ways and to serve Him as their King.
The land didn’t provide the rest; rather, God who gave the land provided the rest.
Exodus 33:14: “The Lord said, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”'
God’s will for Israel was never in the wilderness. It’s in Canaan, the place of deliverance, conquest, promise and rest! They would have rest from their enemies, rest from their weariness and rest from their journey. The Promised Land was intended to be a place of rest. But, even this was not the true rest found only in and through Christ.
Peter Kreeft writes, “This restlessness is the second most precious thing in the world, since it is the means to the only good that is even greater than itself, namely, the rest that comes only in God.”
God is the author of true rest, and this was secured for each one of us by Christ. We just need to enter into it! Do you long for rest? Rest from all the past. Rest from your restlessness?
The story in Joshua is about a PURSUING God, longing for His people to move into all that He has for them. Same for us! His story should be unfolding in and through our lives daily. Right now, He’s looking out for you! God longs for a true and meaningful relationship with you.
St Augustine said, “You’ve formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You”.
Is that your POSITION today? Are you truly at rest in your heart and soul? Are you at home with God?
Jesus has promised rest to those who follow Him: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28-30).
You see, Jesus didn’t say, "Come to me and I will give you rules, rituals, regulations, even religion." He said, "Come to me and I will give you REST."
Tim Keller said that Matthew 11:28-30 “is a matchless summary of Christianity.” and “entering God’s rest is being completely satisfied with what’s been done and who we are in Christ.”
This text reminds us we are all in a restless state and yoked to something which isn’t Him. So, He offers Himself as the true yoke and the only one with true rest.
We know there’s no rest in this life without trust in His life.
Read the Matthew 11 text again and notice you can’t do verse 28 without verse 29!
Our lives and souls only find rest in hope. We can only truly find rest in one place, one person and one POSTION! Be honest, is that where we are today?
Psalm 62:5-7 says, "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God."
This simple promise remains: “Come to me.” The promise implies a power that’s more than sufficient to deal with where we are and with whatever is happening in our lives. Jesus alone is God’s provision for our rest. If we reject this provision, we reject His rest.
You see, the children of Israel thought they were best at writing their own ‘next chapter’. A group of proud people thinking they were right, yet ended wandering for 40 years. So, they never entered REST!
Hebrews 4:8-11: "For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of
disobedience."
Phillip Hughes says this: “True rest is the enjoyment by the preacher of perfect harmony with his Creator, and it can therefore only be rest in God. As such it is totally incompatible with unbelief and disobedience toward God; hence, the inability of the rebellious Israelites to enter into God’s rest.”
Unbelief and disobedience kept an entire generation out of the Promised Land and away from rest! The writer of Hebrews is concerned that it may be happening again! Are you and I entirely sure of entering the rest that God’s prepared for us?
Some of you today, perhaps see yourself in a helpless situation. A hostage to circumstances beyond your control, perhaps trapped by wrong decisions, and you think there is nothing you can do about it. Wrong!! God is calling you and I into a REST secured by His son, our Saviour!
For the children of Israel, the Promised Land was their POSITION of rest. For us, true rest is a state of being that results when we put our faith in Jesus and rest in Him regardless of our circumstances.
What future do you have? Who’s writing your story?
Come to Him today!
Dallas Willard says that, “For most of us we jump into the busy part of Christianity - serving your neighbour, being active in the church, getting busy with spiritual disciplines but we skip the 'rest part' which is crucial in being able to accomplish the other."
True rest is only found and secured in faith in Jesus. He alone is God’s provision for our rest. If we reject this provision, we are choosing to reject the one and only POSITION of rest.
The good news is He still gives rest today! This is Jesus’ gift to you. He is our only true POSITION for rest. You don’t have to earn it. We certainly don’t deserve it, but we can have it! Simply respond to Jesus’ invitation.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest!"
There is a fatigue of the soul that can only be refreshed in and through Christ. He gives rest that renews and restores. It’s a rest that allows our hearts to heal and to feel again.
Tim Keller says, “when you rest, it’s a declaration of freedom.”
As a child of God, this is your true POSITION in Christ - Hallelujah!
‘A Sabbath Blessing – Pete Greig’
May this day bring Sabbath rest to my heart and my home.
May God’s image in me be restored, and my imagination in God be re-storied.
May the gravity of material things be lightened, and the relativity of time slow down.
May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness in the arms of God’s
infinite greatness.
May God’s Word feed me and His Spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come.
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