Online Reporter
Greetings beloved in the name of Jesus Christ.
Exodus 33:14, “And He said, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” When we read in the book of Exodus 33 from verse 1, we read about God telling the children of Israel that they would be taken to the land that He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The only problem was that God said he would not go with them, meaning His presence would not be with them, but He would send his angel to lead them there. So meaning God was saying He would keep his promise, as a covenant keeping God only that His presence would not go with them. Why? Because the children of Israel were stiff-necked, so meaning they were rebellious and disobedient to the statutes of God.
We read in verses 12-16 how Moses pleads with God and says if His presence does not go them, then he shouldn’t send them from where they were. Moses understood, because of the relationship he had with God, that God’s presence was more important than getting to the promised land safely. He understood that getting to promised with the angel and getting there with the presence of God were two different issues. This is where now we hear God saying to Moses that ‘my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest”
Today I want to focus on the second part of that verse “and I will give you rest.” I want us to look at the word REST. What is rest? ‘Rest’ has a number of definitions but I will only focus on the following Biblical Definition. In the Bible, “rest” has several meanings, including:(i) Physical rest- ceasing from labour, relaxation, and rejuvenation (Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 20:8-11). (ii) Spiritual rest- trusting in God’s provision, surrendering worries and anxieties, and finding peace in Him (Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 23:4). (iii) Sabbath rest — a day of rest and worship, set aside to honour God and rejuvenate (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15). (iv) Eternal rest- the ultimate rest and peace that believers will experience in heaven, in the presence of God (Revelation 14:13, Hebrews 4:9-11).
God gives us rest in various dimensions. There is internal rest and rest that come from the environment. There is also another dimension of rest that comes by declaration. I want us to briefly look at the life of Solomon, the great king and son of David. We will discover that there is a dimension of rest that God gave to Solomon, and this was rest that came as a result of a declaration made by God. The Bible says in 1 Kings 5:2-4, “Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying: You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.”
So we see here according to scripture that God gives Solomon rest on every side. And this dimension of rest came about as a result of a declaration made by God. This rest came as a result of the rest that God had promised the children of Israel through Moses generations before in Exodus 33:14 when He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” The bible tells us in 1 Kings 8:56 (NKJV) “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people
Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.” We see here that God had promised the children of Israel rest through a declaration or proclamation He made to them. This rest refers to the settling of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Despite the hardships and the struggles that the Israelites faced, God remained faithful to his promise and not one word failed of his good promise and He did according to all that He promised. Underline the word ALL. Unlike his father David, Solomon was not a man of battles. God blessed Solomon not only with wisdom and wealth but God also gave him rest. This shows that rest is given. God in his wisdom knows that wealth and riches amount to nothing in the absence of rest. God gave Solomon what He didn’t give to his father David, rest. God uses his discretion to decide whom He gives rest. It’s amazing that as much as God loved David, a man after God’s own heart, He didn’t give him rest. I want to say this to some of you, despite the challenges and hardships you are facing as ministries, families, businesses and as individuals, God is faithful to his promise of giving us rest. Not one word of his promise will fail. God has promised us that his presence will go with us “and he will give us REST” His word doesn’t return to him void without accomplishing that which he sent it to do, He watches over his word to fulfil it. Ladies and gentlemen, I want us to understand this. Rest is not money; you can have money and not have rest. Rest is not having a house or houses and mansions; you can have 10 houses and have no rest. Rest is not laziness, it’s doesn’t mean not working.
We have heard about some business people, who own houses and cars, yet they cannot sleep in those very houses, they are at times seen sleeping in car parks or underground parking garages. What is the value of money in the absence of rest? What is the value of cars, houses, degrees in the absence of rest? This rest that God promised the children of Israel not only referred to the physical settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, but also carried spiritual implications. God’s promise of rest ex-tends beyond physical boundaries and speaks of inner peace and spiritual rest that comes from being in God’s presence and from following his will.
When we read in 1 Kings 5:4-5, “But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for my name.” David had a desire to build the temple of the Lord but because of the battles he had to fight and blood on his hands, God did not allow him to build the temple. God instead gave Solomon rest round about (he did not have enemies or adversaries distracting him) so that he could build. I want us to notice something here, in the case of Solomon, rest is also connected to building. Because of the rest that God gave Solomon on every side, he could now focus on building the temple of God.
What I want us to realize is that rest is a gift from God. Rest is given by God, that’s why he says in Exodus 33:14 “I will give you rest”. You don’t buy it, you don’t fight to get it, and it’s a gift. Rest is peace – it doesn’t necessarily mean absence of war, as in the case of Solomon. When the presence of adversaries or enemies, those who hate you without cause, when their presence is equal to their absence- it is called rest. So meaning they exist as though they don’t exist- that is rest. Exodus 33:14 talks about two important things; (i) my presence will go with you, (ii) and I will give you rest. Without the presence of God there is no rest.
These two go hand in hand. Rest comes from being in the presence of God. Ladies and gentlemen, we need both; first the presence and then the rest. May God give us rest as He has promised us as families, as ministries and as individuals. If we are constantly in battles of all kinds of poor health, poverty, disunity, strife etc it is difficult to build anything. May God give us rest in every area of our lives, in finances, in health, in families. This is a promise and declaration that
He made to us as his children, that his presence will be with us and that he will give us rest. I would like to invite you to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and saviour, by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that he is your Lord and saviour, and you shall be saved.
May God bless you all.
