“Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest”
(Matt. 11:28) (KJV)
REST: Nuach (verb) 5117:Strong’s Concordance To rest, that is, settle down; (to dwell, stay; let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.): (be) quiet, remain, make to rest, set down.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested (took a sabbath) from all His work which He had made” (Gen. 2:2). The LORD God, the Creator of the earth took a day to rest. Sabbath means to cease from labor; desist from exertion. We are commanded to work for six days and on the seventh day every human, all animals, and the servants are to take time to BE REFRESHED. (Exod. 20:8-11)
One of the most significant stories in the Bible is the story of Noah (Nuach) and the ark. Noah’s name means “rest.” Noah’s name in Hebrew is spelled with two letters, the nun and the cheth. The nun is the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet meaning life and continuation. The cheth is the 8th letter in the Hebrew alphabet meaning a tent wall, a fence, and a hedge. The cheth can represent the separation from the outside world; a place of privacy; hence the tent wall. The number 8 also means new beginnings.
As we take seriously the command to rest, I believe Noah’s name reveals something hidden. As we rest, we will experience a reversal in our lives. What is in the reversal? If you reverse the letters of Noah’s name, nun and cheth to cheth and nun, you now have the word chen. Chen is the Hebrew word for grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Gen. 6:8) The reversal is true grace. Noah found grace in the face-to-face relationship, where he received all the information he needed to build the ark.
Noah prepared the ark. He would certainly have worked diligently to prepare an ark for the LORD. Once he entered into the ark, he entered a place of rest from the outside world. God was preparing Noah for a new world. If we will take rest seriously, each week we will be prepared for a new world. By new world, I am referring to freshness, newness, creativity in each new week.
Jesus our Messiah invites all of us that labor to come to Him. He says to those who are heavy laden meaning (over loaded, overburdened with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety) to come to Him and He will give you rest for your souls.
Seven Types Of Rest
There are seven types of rest we need to be recharged: 1
- Physical rest
- Mental rest
- Social rest
- Creative rest
- Emotional rest
- Spiritual rest
- Sensory rest
Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 4:6, says of rest, “Better one handful with tranquility (rest) than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. David describes the work of the Shepherd in Psalms 23:2 when his says “He leads me besides the still waters.”
Honoring God one day out of seven is not trying to make a Christian a Jew. Honoring God’s command to rest is a matter of being obedient to and therefore becoming like God. Rest is a gift from God. Taking a day of rest is a beautiful foretaste of the world to come.
With love,
P/Karen
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- https://advice.theshineapp.com/articles/the-7-types-of-rest-you-need-to-actually-feel-recharged/
Disclaimer: Some of the opinions expressed in this author may not reflect the beliefs of Olive Tree Connections.
