Reference: Rest
American
In Ac 9:31, refers to the respite from persecution enjoyed by the Christians in Palestine, after the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, during the last two years of Caligula's short reign, A. D. 39 and 40, when the Jews were so harassed by the attempts of the emperor to force them to worship him as a god, that they forbore to afflict the followers of Christ.
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So the church throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was edified [growing in wisdom, virtue, and piety] and walking in the respect and reverential fear of the Lord and in the consolation and exhortation of the Holy Spirit, continued to increase and was multiplied.
Easton
(1.) Gr. katapausis, equivalent to the Hebrew word noah (Heb 4:1).
(2.) Gr. anapausis, "rest from weariness" (Mt 11:28).
(3.) Gr. anesis, "relaxation" (2Th 1:7).
(4.) Gr. sabbatismos, a Sabbath rest, a rest from all work (Heb 4:9; R.V., "sabbath"), a rest like that of God when he had finished the work of creation.
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Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
And to [ recompense] you who are so distressed and afflicted [by granting you] relief and rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire,
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [ to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.
So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;
Fausets
Heb 4:9, "there remaineth a keeping of sabbath (sabbatismos) to the people of God." God's rest ("My rest" Heb 4:3) was a sabbatism, so will ours be; a home for the exile, a mansion for the pilgrim, a sabbath for the workman weary of the world's weekday toil. In time there are many sabbaths, then there shall be one perfect and eternal. The "rest" in Heb 4:8 is katapausis; Hebrew noach, "rest from weariness": as the ark rested on Ararat after its tossings; as Israel, under Joshua, rested from war in Canaan.
Anesis (2Th 1:7), "relaxation from afflictions". Anapausis, "rest," given by Jesus now (Mt 11:28); but the "rest" in Heb 4:9 is the nobler "sabbath rest"; katapausis, literally, "cessation from work finished" (Heb 4:4) as God rested from His (Re 14:13; 16:17). The two ideas combined give the perfect view of the heavenly sabbath: rest from weariness, sorrow, and sin; and rest in the completion of God's new creation (Re 21:5). The renovated creation shall share in it. Nothing will there be to break the sabbath of eternity. The Triune God shall rejoice in the work of His hands (Zep 3:17). The Jews call the future rest "the day which is all sabbath."
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The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
And to [ recompense] you who are so distressed and afflicted [by granting you] relief and rest along with us [your fellow sufferers] when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire,
For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world. For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.
[This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day. So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;
So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for the [true] people of God;
Then I heard further [ perceiving the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, Write this: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are the dead from now on who die in the Lord! Yes, blessed (happy, to be envied indeed), says the Spirit, [in] that they may rest from their labors, for their works (deeds) do follow (attend, accompany) them!
Then the seventh [angel] emptied out his bowl into the air, and a mighty voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven from the throne [of God], saying, It is done! [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come!]
And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine).
Hastings
The conception of rest as a gift of God runs through the Bible, the underlying idea being not idleness, but the freedom from anxiety which is the condition of effective work. It is promised to Israel in Canaan (Ex 33:14; De 3:20), and Zion is the resting-place of Jahweh (Ps 132:8,14), the Temple being built by 'a man of rest' (1Ch 22:9; a contrast is implied with the desert wanderings in Nu 10:33-36). At the same time no earthly temple can be the real resting-place of Jahweh (Isa 66:1; Ac 7:49). The rest of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year are connected with the rest of God after creation (Ge 2:2; Ex 20:11; Le 25:4; see art. Sabbath). The individual desires rest, as did the nation (Ps 55:8); it is not to be found in ignoble ease (Ge 49:15 Issachar), but in the ways of God (Ps 37:7; Jer 6:10); it is the gift of Christ (Mt 11:28). Sinners fail to find it (Isa 28:12; 57:20), as Israel failed (Ps 95:11). Heb 4 develops the meaning of this failure, and points to the 'sabbath rest' still to come. This heavenly rest includes not only freedom from labour, as in OT (Job 3:13,17 [in Ps 16:9, see RV), but also the opportunity of continued work (Re 14:13).
C. W. Emmet.
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And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
And he saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant; and he bowed his shoulder to bear [his burdens] and became a servant to tribute [subjected to forced labor].
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes].
And the Lord said, My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.
They departed from the mountain of the Lord [Mount Sinai] three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during the three days' journey to seek out a resting-place for them. The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they went forward from the camp. read more. Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, Lord; let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands in Israel.
Until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond the Jordan. Then shall you return every man to the possession which I have given you.
Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon [peaceable], and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.
For then would I have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then would I have been at rest [in death]
There [in death] the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety,
Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.
I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.
Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise].
Arise, O Lord, to Your resting-place, You and the ark [the symbol] of Your strength.
This is My resting-place forever [says the Lord]; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
To these [complaining Jews the Lord] had said, This is the true rest [the way to true comfort and happiness] that you shall give to the weary, and, This is the [true] refreshing -- "yet they would not listen [to His teaching].
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place?
To whom shall I [Jeremiah] speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised [never brought into covenant with God or consecrated to His service], and they cannot hear or obey. Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach and the object of their scorn; they have no delight in it.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
Heaven [is] My throne, and earth the footstool for My feet. What [kind of] house can you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place in which I can rest?
Then I heard further [ perceiving the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, Write this: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are the dead from now on who die in the Lord! Yes, blessed (happy, to be envied indeed), says the Spirit, [in] that they may rest from their labors, for their works (deeds) do follow (attend, accompany) them!
Morish
The first allusion to rest in scripture is on the part of God after His works of creation. Gen. 2. It may be assumed, therefore, that while the term means cessation from labour, it also covers the idea of complacency in the result of the labour; and this thought probably underlies the institution of the sabbath; for it is clear from Ps. 95 and Heb. 4 that it was in the thought of God that man should enter into His rest. But sin entered into the world by man, with all its baneful consequences; and unless God were to acquiesce in a world of sin and moral woe He must needs work in grace. Hence the word of Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto until now, and I work." Joh 5:17. This untiring activity of God is intimated by various expressions in the O.T. God is again and again described as 'rising up early,' sending His prophets, etc. Eventually Christ came to do the will of His Father, and to finish His work. When the full results of the death of Christ are displayed, and all enemies subdued, then God will again enjoy His sabbath of rest, and His people too will enter into His rest.
The Lord Jesus in His ministry on earth, when recognising the absence of moral effect from His mighty works, and retiring consequently into the service of revealing the Father to the babes, invited those who laboured and were heavy laden to come to Him for rest. Mt 11:28. Those who felt the rejection of Christ here were invited to take His yoke upon them, and learn of Him, who was meek and lowly of heart, and they should find rest unto their souls. Mt 11:29. The soul thus has, outside of circumstances here, a portion unaffected by circumstances, and that satisfies all its longings. On the other hand there is no rest to the wicked, who are like the troubled waves of the sea; and those who bow to the future imperial beast and his image will have no rest from their torments day nor night for ever and ever. Isa 57:20-21; Re 14:11.
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But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest ( relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.
But Jesus answered them, My Father has worked [even] until now, [He has never ceased working; He is still working] and I, too, must be at [divine] work.
And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no respite (no pause, no intermission, no rest, no peace) day or night -- "these who pay homage to the beast and to his image and whoever receives the stamp of his name upon him.