Tag: rest

Eternal Covenant

Posted on by jovial_cynic

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:7 (NIV)

Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:13 (NIV)

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
Genesis 17:19 (NIV)

The Hebrew phrase “brit olam” (בְּרִית עוֹלָם), means “everlasting covenant,” and it shows up three times in Genesis 17. It is a promise of relationship: “I will be your God, and the God of your descendants.”

The first time we see brit olam, it’s when God says He will not destroy the world by flood. One symbol of the flood is the rising of darkness and chaos, so this covenant gives us hope.

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
Genesis 9:16 (NIV)

After God’s brit olam with Abram in Genesis 17, the next time we see it is in Exodus 31, where God gives us rest as an everlasting covenant.

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.
Exodus 31:16 (NIV)

From this, God tells us: Rest. Be still. Remember.

So these are the words of God’s everlasting covenant with us:

“I will not harm you.”

“I will be with you.”

“I will give you rest.”

Remember to Rest

Posted on by jovial_cynic

But God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
Genesis 8:1 (NASB)

The first line in Genesis 8 starts by telling us that God remembered Noah. Noah’s name means rest.

Over and over in Genesis and Exodus, God remembers his covenant. God remembers his promise.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
Exodus 20:8 (NASB)

And the first time God tells US to remember is when He introduces Sabbath. He’s reminding us to rest.

And God said to REST

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Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

The name Noah means “rest.” Here in Genesis 7, we know it refers to the man’s name, but if you get very, very, absurdly literal, consider this other theological statement that it appears to say:

Then the Lord said to REST. He said stop. Trust.

And because the rest of the verse describes God inviting Noah into the Ark, which represents atonement, we have this:

“Come into my protection. My dwelling. My house, you and your people. I see you desire to be with me, to be near me, to be face to face with me right here, and right now. Come. Be with me.”

I’m telling you, this is a love story.

A Final Rest

Posted on by jovial_cynic
I’ve said before that Genesis 1 appears prophetic. It’s not merely saying what happened, but what is happening, and what will happen. There are many Revelation parallels.

Genesis 2 hints at this as well.

The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array.
On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work.
Genesis 2:1-2 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)

We have a day of rest every week, and while we could get lost in a cycle of week-in and week-out, it’s written in a way to show us that rest is a finality. It is FINISHED. It points to a future forever-rest.

Gen 2 gives us a clue.

The words that I highlighted in the first post are the same word: “finished.” Kala.

But they have different forms in the text there in the passage. They mean different things.

The first instance of “finished” is in the pual form. This idea of completion. “It’s done.” God finished it, perhaps the way one might finish a task or an assignment.

But the second instance is in the piel form. It carries a more… ominous meaning. It’s not just being done, but having brought something to an end. To fulfill. In some instances, to destroy in its finality.

Perhaps this points to a future newness. A new heaven; a new earth.

A final Sabbath.

Vast Array

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Guest Author @Randallthetrue from Twitter/X:

So the heavens and the earth were finished with all their forces.
Genesis 2:1 (John Goldingay, The First Testament)

What I love about this translation (John Goldingay, The First Testament, A New Translation, is it uses the word forces.

This opens up many lines of thought.

First Question: What forces is it talking about? I can think of many such as gravity, air currents, electricity, life (breathing and so on), photosynthesis… there are many.

Next the Scripture states that says God rested. but what is interesting is the forces He instituted did not stop. When He spoke them into existence they were always there. They never stop for the Sabbath. Mankind was told to take a Sabbath and in a different way the fields of the earth were told to be Sabbathed as well.

Rest

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis 2 starts with rest. It starts with a reminder to stop. We have to know when to be done.

The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array.
On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work.
And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy–having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done.
Genesis 2:1-3 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006