'...My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.'
As Moses communes with God, whose holy presence has filled the tabernacle, God gives him this assurance of His ongoing presence with Israel even though they are a 'stiffnecked people' (v5). This promise is fulfilled as in Numbers it says 'At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents' (Num 9:18). They physically rested from travelling when God's presence filled the tabernacle, but I wonder if that is also a picture of a spiritual rest. They knew God was close to them; they had nothing to fear.
What went wrong?
The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:
'Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.' (Heb 3:7-11)
Rest was only to be found in God, but instead of drawing near to Him and listening to Him, they grumbled and let their hearts grow hard against Him. They were denied rest, because they would not find it in God. They wanted just to have their temporary needs met of a varied diet and a permanent home (see Numbers 11).
The writer of Hebrews argued that since Israel failed to enter God's rest, then there 'remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.' (Heb 4:9) How do we enter it? He then goes on to write about our 'great high priest... Jesus the Son of God' (v14). Jesus was a man who entered the rest of God and so could offer it to others (Matt 11:28-29). He kept the Sabbath in the way it was intended, by using it to draw close to God and others rather than simply following some legalistic rules about not picking corn (Luke 6). Isaiah prophesies about a Branch, a root of Jesse, who will come and 'the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him' (v2). This seems to be shown in John 1:32 when the Spirit rests on Jesus at His baptism, and Jesus Himself referred to similar prophecies in Luke 4:18 (Isa 61) and said they were fulfilled in Him.
Isaiah 11 goes on to talk about the new creation where the wolf shall dwell with the lamb (v6), and it says that 'in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.' (v10). So this must refer to Jesus, standing as a flag or banner of God's people, the One the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious because He has brought salvation to the nations. And this will be our rest too!
What about now?
Well, going back to Hebrews 4, after pointing us to Jesus as our high priest, the writer reminds us that he was 'in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.' (v15) What deprives us of rest in God? Sin. But if we come to Christ, we can share in His perfect rest in God, because He was sinless.
'Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.' (Heb 4:16)
This is the real key for us as Christians. There will be times of trouble for us, sometimes because of our sin and mess-ups, but also from sickness, or persecution, or other factors beyond our control. How do we find rest in all these circumstances? By going to the throne of grace, seeking God for His mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. The answer to our frantic busy-ness, to our despair, to our desperation, is found not in retreats, finishing tasks, new possessions, relationships or entertainment, though I know I have tried to find it in all of these things. It's only in God Himself that we can find the rest we crave.
