(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
““You shall say to this people, ‘Yahweh says: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes out and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will live, and he will escape with his life. For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good,” says Yahweh. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’”
(Jeremiah 21:8-10)
“Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;” and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.”
(Hebrews 4:1-4)
God was going to judge the city of Jerusalem. He had brought the armies of Babylon against them. It was going to happen. But even in judgment, God is merciful. He gave the people a clear choice in judgment in the same way He had given them a clear choice in obedience (Jeremiah 17:19-27). If they would leave the city and surrender to their attackers, they would live. If they stayed in the city, they would die. Pretty clear. A simple message. Not everyone believed it. They heard it, but they refused to trust it. They refused to believe it. They chose to believe the message they WANTED to hear, instead of the message being given. As a result, they got exactly what God said they would. He didn’t lie. Those who stayed, died. Those who surrendered, lived. A simple choice. Believe or don’t.
We have the same choice. God sent us Jesus. God speaks life to us. God isn’t seeking to bring judgment on us. He WANTS us to live. Will we listen, or will we not? Will we go with whatever it is we feel about something, or are we going to lean into what the Lord has for us? Will we try and do it all our own way, or are we going to rest in Jesus and His completed work? The Word doesn’t profit us anything if we don’t mix it with trust. It isn’t enough to read it. We have to trust in Him. We have to believe what He says and trust Him. Trust Him that He did those things, trust Him that He is doing what He says He is doing, and trust Him that He will do what He says He will do – no matter what anyone or anything else says. If we will take the Word with trust, it is transformative.
Summary
The Sabbath was (and is) such a big deal because it is the example of how we need to live and interact with God. Doing no work on the Sabbath meant they needed to rely completely on God. They had to trust that He would take care of them. That they wouldn’t be invaded. That they would have industry and crops and supplies – even though they were not working on them like everyone else around them. That their economy would function. That their resources would stretch. That the food wouldn’t go bad and they’d have something to eat. That a day of resting wouldn’t ruin the rest of their week. They had to TRUST. In the same way, WE have to trust. We have to rest in Jesus. HE did the work, we don’t do it. It isn’t OUR power, it is HIS. And we need to TRUST Him. To believe what He says and trust what we find in the Word. We have to trust it. Trust is the foundation of everything. Trust needs to be our motivation. We need to look to God for everything. He is our source. He is our strength. He is our wisdom. He is our everything. Trust Him. He is trustworthy. Trust Him. Rest in Jesus. Let God be the one in charge. Follow Him. Worship Him. Rely on Him. Trust Him.
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