1)           One hardly appreciates the mental grokking of it until one is ushered into the physical reality of basking in true rest. The human mind constantly yearns for the serenity that comes from the cessation of physical travails associated with man’s life on this terra firma. Rest, indeed, is a subjective delicacy psychogenically sought after by every individual. Man’s greatest enemy, the kahuna of task masters, Lucifer, having stumbled on the best way to bring mankind into abject subjugation, sold religious piety to the warped mentality of Adam’s progeny. True rest is absolutely nonexistent in religious toils. Jesus, ergo, had to come to man’s rescue.

            Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This is the solution to man’s yearning for freedom from religious slavery. This rest is found nowhere else but in the Creator.

“Come unto Me….I will give you rest.”

            The verb ‘come,’ in the Greek, is deute (dyoo’-teh). It is a Greek imperative form of deuro (dyoo’-ro) –‘here’ and εἶμι eimi (‘to go’)– meaning: ‘come hither, come here, come interjection, come! come now!’ The word ‘labour,’ kopiaō (kop-ee-ah’-o) is: ‘to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief), to feel fatigue; by implication to work hard.’ ‘Heavy laden’ is phortizō (for-tid’-zo): ‘to place a burden upon, (properly as a vessel or animal), that is, (metaphorically) to overburden with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety).’ While the pronoun ‘you,’ humas (hoo-mas’): ‘an accusative case of the 2nd person you (as the object of a verb or preposition);’ an interesting thing is that ‘give’ and ‘rest’ mean the same anapauō (an-ap-ow’-o): ‘(reflexively) to repose (literally or figuratively (be exempt), remain); by implication to refresh; of calm and patient expectation.’

I Am, the Good Shepherd: JESUS!

            Is it possible for any man to give this kind of rest to anyone? Jesus promises anyone who obeys Him, “I will anapauō you anapauō.” This is perfect rest. This is why ‘rest’ must be mentioned twice: for emphasis. Only the Creator can offer this anapauō. It is not difficult to figure out the One who can establish this safe rest which can only be celestial. The Author of this given rest is found in this Scripture, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” [Genesis 2:2]. It is absolutely essential for God to choose the seventh day to institute His day of rest. Is it not the scriptural numerology for perfection? It also proves His perfect control of universal affairs.

The LORD of Sabbath showed Himself on Mount Sanai

                The Hebrew rendition of the sobriquet ‘God’ in Genesis 2:2 is a titillating ‘Ělôhı̂ym (el-o-heem’). This is ‘God’ in the plural. The singular is ‘Ě̆lôahh (el-o’-ah). God the Father will not vacate the celestial throne. The only One that makes Himself visible to human perception is the Second Member of the Godhead. The Christ. When ‘Ělôhı̂ym is employed in the introduction of God, what it simply means is that the Members of the Godhead are acting in strict consonance. Christ, in His preincarnational manifestation, came into Eden as the LORD God of creationism. He is the Author of Sabbath and the Lord of rest. Amen!

Perfect rest of the Garden of Eden

            The Hebraic ‘rested’ of Genesis 2:2 is shâbath (shaw-bath’): ‘to repose, that is, desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causatively, figuratively or specifically).’ The One who rested on the first ever seventh day of human existence is the very One who says to restless man, “Come unto Me……and I will give you rest.”

                The Matthew 11:28 mand of ‘come’ is a divine summon of Old Testamentary understanding. Prophetic utterance of Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” What do I see?  It is saliency: gaping at the unraveling of the deity of Jesus. Is it not apropos that if God did make a repetition of the deute it must be by none else but God Himself? There is no recorded history of any other person offering a soteriological invitation of an eternal consequence. In another prophecy it goes thus: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). Confer Isaiah 53:2 & 3; John 6:37; John 7:37 & Rev 22:17.

He went about doing good (Acts 10:38)

                The scriptural reference to ‘all’ is found in, Psalm 38:4, “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.”  This psalmodic complaint is a universal dirge of every soulish entity. Ecclesiastes 2:22 “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?” Man’s operose emprise, geared towards spiritual relevance amounts, absolutely, to nothing unless one takes the expected steps of divine protocol that answers the imperative deute of Jesus. Amen!

                Jesus will give you rest only if you will receive His life. Get born again. Say this simple prayer:

 “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”   

 (…to be concluded…)

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