Joshua 11

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Joshua 11:23, So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.

And with just one verse, this ends the encounter of the Israelites with the Canaanite peoples.  In fact, this one verse sums up everything that has been going on with the previous few chapters.  Under the leadership of Joshua, the people of God took the whole land that was promised to them.  Finally, the land had rest from war.

Let's talk for a minute about rest.  Here, it states that the land had rest from war.  This means the people also had rest from war and that rest was a gift from God.  In Hebrews 4:8-11, the author mentions Joshua and this rest.  It reads,  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.  There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

There is physical rest and certainly we all need that.  Physical fatigue feels terrible but it also can have terrible health consequences.  God designed our bodies to sleep.  But there is also spiritual rest.  Spiritual rest refers to God-given Sabbath rest.  One works and then one rests.  This is also essential!  Many of us struggle with this but God did not design us to work nonstop.  He even modeled this Sabbath rest in creation.  This seems to be the kind of rest that our focus verses in Joshua are referring to - the land and the people received a Sabbath-type rest from war.

But there is still one more kind of rest to which the author of Hebrews is alluding.  This is salvation rest.  The people of God during the time of Joshua did not have this rest.  This means that we can rest from constantly trying to find favor in the eyes of God.  Our salvation is assured because of faith.  Constant works, trying to be good enough for God, is not necessary.  We can rest in God's acceptance of us.  What freedom! 

Let's pray...Lord Jesus, We are so thankful for physical and spiritual rest!  In all we do, help us remember that our salvation is by grace through faith alone.  We don't need to work for it.  It's a gift from you and we can rest in the gift of your grace.  Help us truly rest.  In Your Name, Amen.