The Land Had Rest
It is almost November and we are well into autumn. The air has a chill here in South Carolina and the leaves are only now starting to change. Last weekend, we went to a large farm near Clemson and picked pumpkins, navigated a corn maze, and [the kids] played around in the hay. I was reflecting as I drove (on my friend’s advice) down the winding country road near NewSpring, with the sunroof open, and the leaves dancing in my rear-view mirror. I thought of the natural rest that the land gets every year via the seasons. But it seems that sin itself can disturb the slumber of the earth.
I am a big fan of the book of Judges, in the Old Testament. Perhaps it is the rawness of the storytelling that attracts me. The book gives accounts of some of the various judges that were installed, by God’s providence, to save the people of Israel. At the end of some of the accounts we see the phrase, “the land had rest for xx years.” (See Judges 3:11, 30; 5:31; 8:28.)
It seems clear that, like Joshua 11:23, the rest the land received was from war with neighboring nations. But I love the chain reaction. The Hebrews would disobey God and they would practice worship of other gods. God would become angry and, as the Bible says in several occasions, He would sell them into the hands of other nations. War would result in occupation. Then the people of God would cry out to God and He would provide a deliverer: a judge. This judge would provide respite from the enemy and the fighting and the land would have rest.
I love this picture of ultimate rest. I sense this repetitive drama acted out in Judges is a symbol of the greater story of humanity and God.
Humanity has sinned against God — disobeyed Him. Evil permeates and we are in bondage to sin. But there is a Deliverer — Jesus! — who provides respite from the enemy. The main difference between the stories in Judges and the grander story of humanity is, of course, that there is no repetition. Our Deliverer has come once and for all. And soon we will have rest.
Romans 8:22-23 — For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
So this fall, while the land around us rests for a season, let us remember the promised eternal rest for creation. But let us not become so absorbed by it that we ourselves rest. May we continue working, my friends. Our time to rest is when Jesus returns. Until then, we have a job to do!
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