Rest (2663) katapausis by Greek Word Studies

Rest (2663) (katapausis from katá = intensifies or "down" conveying sense of permanency + paúo = make to cease) describes literally a ceasing from one's work or activity. Thayer cites a use in the active sense of a putting to rest as used in the sentence "a calming of the winds". Metaphorically as used in the present verse, katapausis speaks of the spiritual fulfillment God provides for His people. Barclay has the following analysis of katapausis noting that... In a complicated passage like this it is better to try to grasp the broad lines of the thought before we look at any of the details. The writer is really using the word rest (katapausis) in three different senses. (i) He is using it as we would use the peace of God. It is the greatest thing in the world to enter into the peace of God. (ii) He is using it, as he used it in Hebrews 3:12, to mean The Promised Land. To the children of Israel who had wandered so long in the desert the Promised Land was indeed the rest of God. (iii) He is using it of the rest of God after the sixth day of creation, when all God’s work was completed. This way of using a word in two or three different ways, of teasing at it until the last drop of meaning was extracted from it, was typical of cultured, academic thought in the days when the writer to the Hebrews wrote his letter. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press or Logos) Katapausis is used 9 times in the Septuagint (LXX) and refers to God's rest in several of the contexts. Exodus 35:2 "For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. Numbers 10:36 And when it (the Ark of the Covenant) came to rest, he said, "Return Thou, O LORD, to the myriad thousands of Israel." (Comment: The Israelites were ready to leave Sinai under God's leadership. This prayer presents Moses' understanding of God. With the presence of God resting in the center of the tribes and His glory radiating outward from the camp, His enemies would flee. On the other hand as the Ark rested in their midst the "Shekinah" glory would be the manifestation of His presence among His people and they would worship Him and rightly fear Him.) Deuteronomy 12:9 for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you. 1 Kings 8:56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. 1 Chronicles 6:31 Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after the ark rested there. 2 Chronicles 6:41 "Now therefore arise, O LORD God, to Thy resting place, Thou and the ark of Thy might; let Thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy godly ones rejoice in what is good. Psalm 95:11 "Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest." Psalm 132:14 "This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? Katapausis is used 8 times in the NT, all but one in the epistle to the Hebrews... Acts 7:49 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is the footstool of My feet; What kind of house will you build for Me?' says the Lord; 'Or what place is there for My repose? Hebrews 3:11 As I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' Hebrews 3:18 And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. Hebrews 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:5 and again in this passage, "They shall not enter My rest." Hebrews 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. See also a more detailed discussion of Rest in the Epistle of Hebrews Peter Toon has an excellent summary of rest in Hebrews 3-4 noting first that ... the verb katapauo (2664) occurs three times and the noun, katapausis (3709), eight times. Also, the Greek text of Psalm 95:11 (“they shall never enter my rest”) is cited eight times. Joshua was given the task by Yahweh of leading the tribes of Israel into the promised land, into the rest promised them by their God. This task was fulfilled in an earthly sense by Joshua, as the Book of Joshua describes. However, the fuller meaning of the everlasting rest of God promised to his people and related to the gift of rest of the seventh day was not achieved by Joshua and the tribes under the old covenant. Jesus the Christ, the greater Joshua, was sent by the Father to bring into being the true nature and fullness of the gift of rest for the people of God. The rest is rightly called a “sabbath rest” because it is a participation in God’s own rest. When God completed his work of creation, he rested; likewise when his people complete their service to him on earth, they will enter into God’s prepared rest. Now, in this age, the rest is before them as their heritage and by faith they live in the light of it in this world. How this is done is wonderfully illustrated with the wealth of biographical detail in Hebrews 11. Here the rest is also portrayed as a city prepared for God’s faithful people—a city whose builder is God himself. Whatever this rest consists of it is not a state of complete inactivity, such as the rest of the wicked (Job 3:17–19). In Revelation 14:13–14 the heavenly voice speaks of the blessedness of those who die in the Lord and the Spirit replies: “They will rest from their labor for their deeds will follow them.” Here a different dimension of the meaning of rest is being pointed to—a rest that is not inactivity but is certainly free of the burdens of the flesh and of the present, evil age. Finally, we note that as the Spirit of the Lord rests on the Messiah (Isa. 11:2), so in the new covenant, “If you [Christian believers] are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Peter 4:14). (See full article in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology ) Ray Stedman explains that it is possible to interpret God's "rest" in at least three ways and each has some merit. And so God's rest could refer to (1) The rest associated with placing one's faith in Christ (see Matthew 11:28-30 above). In context, this appears to be the primary meaning, that is, of coming to Jesus by faith and entering His salvation rest where self effort is to replaced (or at least can and should be replaced) by Spirit initiated and empowered effort. Ray Stedman speaking of those who have entered this salvation rest by faith explains that many believers experience breakdown in their Christianity (not referring to a loss of salvation but a loss of joy and sense of His presence and power) under the pressures of stress or responsibility because they try to work out their salvation in their power (see exposition of Philippians 2:12-13 and Pound's discussion Work out Your Salvation) and have not learned to "operate out of rest". (Stedman, Ray: The Rest Obtained Is New-Creation Rest) (2).The rest that is promised to Israel (and applies to all believers) in the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth ("the Messianic Age"), the "rest" of which Isaiah records... "Then it will come about in that day (when Messiah takes His throne in Jerusalem after the "great tribulation" - see Daniel's Seventieth Week - and the defeat of the "antichrist") that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse (Messiah), Who will stand as a signal (a banner lifted up to be a rallying point) for the peoples; and His resting place (LXX uses the related word anapausis) will be glorious." (Isaiah 11:10) (3). The rest associated with eternity and which is described by John who... "heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." (Revelation 14:13) The KJV Commentary notes that... Rest involves more than mere inactivity. It is that which follows the satisfactory completion of a task. Salvation rest is the gift reckoned to the believer resulting from Christ’s finished work. Heaven (#3 above) and millennial rest is the reward of the believer’s labors for the Lord (see note Revelation 14:13). Verse 11 records the warning one more time: Do not miss through unbelief what God has promised." (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson or Logos) Matthew Henry explains the "rest" this way: The end proposed-rest spiritual and eternal, the rest of grace here and glory hereafter—in Christ on earth, with Christ in heaven. The way to this end prescribed- labour (KJV), diligent labour; this is the only way to rest; those who will not work now shall not rest hereafter. After due and diligent labour, sweet and satisfying rest shall follow; and labour now will make that rest more pleasant when it comes." (Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged) Larry Richards writes that... The third and fourth chapters of Hebrews explore the significance of God's voice in the believer's experience. The writer argues that only by hearing and responding to the Lord as he speaks to us in our "today" can we find rest. Such rest is not cessation of activity but repose in activity. God's Sabbath rest is defined: God has ceased creating (Hebrews 4:9-11). But the God of the OT is active. How then is He at rest? He is at rest from bringing into existence and organizing the basic plan and contents of the universe. He knows the end from the beginning, and his purpose will stand (Isaiah 46:8-10). Thus, His voice is able to guide us into the paths He intends for us. The struggle Christians are engaged in is not that of finding their way through life but of entering his rest (Hebrews 4:11). That is, they are to be responsive to the Lord and let his Word and Spirit guide them to the solutions He has already provided for their problems. In knowing God and responding to Him we find true repose. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) John MacArthur nicely summarizes rest in Hebrews 3 and 4 writing that... The basic idea is that of ceasing from work or from any kind of action. You stop doing what you are doing. Action, labor, or exertion is over. Applied to God’s rest, it means no more self-effort as far as salvation is concerned. It means the end of trying to please God by our feeble, fleshly works. God’s perfect rest is a rest in free grace. Rest also means freedom from whatever worries or disturbs you. Some people cannot rest mentally and emotionally because they are so easily annoyed. Every little nuisance upsets them and they always feel hassled. Rest does not mean freedom from all nuisances and hassles; it means freedom from being so easily bothered by them. It means to be inwardly quiet, composed, peaceful. To enter God’s rest means to be at peace with God, to possess the perfect peace He gives. It means to be free from guilt and even unnecessary feelings of guilt. It means freedom from worry about sin, because sin is forgiven. God’s rest is the end of legalistic works and the experience of peace in the total forgiveness of God. Rest can mean to lie down, be settled, fixed, secure. There is no more shifting about in frustration from one thing to another, no more running in circles. In God’s rest we are forever established in Christ. We are freed from running from philosophy to philosophy, from religion to religion, from life-style to life-style. We are freed from being tossed about by every doctrinal wind, every idea or fad, that blows our way. In Christ, we are established, rooted, grounded, unmovable. That is the Christian’s rest. Rest involves remaining confident, keeping trust. In other words, to rest in something or someone means to maintain our confidence in it or him. To enter God’s rest, therefore, means to enjoy the perfect, unshakable confidence of salvation in our Lord. We have no more reason to fear. We have absolute trust and confidence in God’s power and care. Rest also means to lean on. To enter into God’s rest means that for the remainder of our lives and for all eternity we can lean on God. We can be sure that He will never fail to support us. In the new relationship with God, we can depend on Him for everything and in everything—for support, for health, for strength, for all we need. It is a relationship in which we are confident and secure that we have committed our life to God and that He holds it in perfect, eternal love. It is a relationship that involves being settled and fixed. No more floating around. We know whom we have believed and we stand in Him. The rest spoken of in Hebrews 3 and 4 includes all of these meanings. It is full, blessed, sweet, satisfying, peaceful. It is what God offers every person in Christ. It is the rest pictured and illustrated in the Canaan rest that Israel never understood and never entered into because of unbelief. And just as Israel never entered Canaan rest because of unbelief, so soul after soul since that time, and even before, has missed God’s salvation rest because of unbelief. Two other dimensions of spiritual rest will not be found in a dictionary—the Kingdom rest of the Millennium and the eternal rest of heaven. These are the ultimate expressions of the new relationship to God in Christ, the relationship that takes care of us in this life, in the Kingdom, and in heaven forever. (MacArthur, John: Hebrews. Moody Press or Logos) The words “They shall not enter into” in the Greek text include a conditional particle not brought over into the English. It is, “If they shall enter.” This is a common Hebraistic formula in oaths. In the case where God speaks, as here, it is “may I not be Jehovah if they shall enter.” The earthly rest which God promised to give was life in the land of Canaan which Israel would receive as their inheritance (Dt 12:9,10; Jos 21:44; 1Ki 8:56). Because of rebellion against God, an entire generation of the children of Israel was prohibited from entering into that rest in the Promised Land (cf. Dt 28:65; Lam 1:3). The application of this picture is to an individual’s spiritual rest in the Lord, which has precedent in the OT (116.7" class="scriptRef">Ps 116:7; Isa 28:12). The Promised Land represents our spiritual inheritance in Christ (Ep 1:3, 11, 15-23). And just as the people of God had to “step out by faith” (Jos1:3)(which equates with belief in the promises of God, and relates to Heb11:6) and claim the land for themselves, just as believers today must do. : 2Cor 5:7 Rest according to Wayne Barber means to cease from works with the idea of release from anxiety, worry, insecurity. This is what is offered to us in Jesus Christ. When applied to Israel, rest applied to Canaan, a land. Israel was an earthly symbol of what Jesus offers us of a heavenly kingdom. Jos 22:4 speaks of "rest" in Canaan. For believers "rest" refers not to a land BUT to a life, to all we have in Christ. ><> ><> ><> Rest in Six Aspects • Creation rest, broken by sin - Genesis 2:2 • Redemption rest, secured in Christ - Zephaniah 3:17 • The sinner’s rest, by coming to Christ - Matthew 11:28 • The saint’s rest, in communion with Christ - Mark 6:30 • Paradise rest, present - Rev 16:13 and 2 Cor. 5:1-8 • Eternal rest, future - Hebrews 4:9; Rev. 22:5 From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W Noble, Chicago ><> ><> ><> Kent Hughes comments that... The point the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to see is that it is possible to have a remarkable spiritual “exodus” and yet fall by the way when trouble comes. This was the Holy Spirit’s message to the beleaguered little church from Ps95, and it is his message to us. If we have been Christians for any length of time, we have seen this lived out. During my years as a youth pastor, I had a spectacular “convert” in my group—a classic hippie who turned overnight into a classic “Jesus person.” He was intelligent, winsome, handsome and spiritual. Just a few weeks after this “exodus,” he would stand regularly to give testimony, entrancing all who heard. He even reproached the lukewarm. I was so proud! But it all came down in one unforgettable week when a relationship he was pursuing fell through and he hurt himself in a church softball game. The result? Rejection of Christ—and a lawsuit against the church! Jesus said of such, “What was sown on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away” (Mt 13:20, 21). The problem today is that so many people when asked about faith point to their “exodus”—when they began with Christ. They can wax eloquent about their experience. How dare anyone question that! They “went forward”—they left Egypt—they were baptized and identified with God’s people—they visibly drank from the same rock (Christ)—they use the same redemptive vocabulary with the same pious inflections. But troubles came, and they turned away. Their “exodus” is a convenient memory. But to trust God now? That is a problem, for their faith is dead. (Hughes, R. K. Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul. Volume 1. Crossway Books; Volume 2) ><> ><> ><> F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest. Psalm 95:11 God’s Rest has been waiting for man’s entrance, since He rested from all the work that He created and made. To all other days there were evening and morning, but not to this. It does not consist in circumstances, or conditions of existence, but in disposition. It does not lie, as sacred poets have too often suggested, beyond the confines of this world — it is now, and here. Canaan is not primarily a type of heaven; but of that blessed experience which is ours when we have passed the Jordan of death to natural impulse or selfish choice, and have elected for evermore to accept, and delight in, the will of God. Will you not take up this position today? Today! Oh that ye would hear his voice! To hear his voice speaking in the heart, in circumstances, and in nature, and to obey promptly, gladly, blithely, — this would bring the soul into the rest that remains unexhausted for the people of God. Are you hardening your heart against some evident duty to which you are called, but which you are evading? Are you hardening your heart to some appeal which comes to you through the ties of kinship and nature? Are you saying, Can God subdue these Canaanites, instead of God can? Beware, for this is the sin of Massah and Meribah, which, being interpreted, means strife. Woe to those that strive with their Maker; let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Every one comes in the Christian life, once at least, to Kadesh-Barnea. On the one hand the land of rest and victory; on the other the desert wastes. The balance, quivering between the two, is turned this way by faith; that by unbelief. Trust God, and rest. Mistrust Him, and the door closes on rest, to open to wanderings, failure, and defeat. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily) ><> ><> ><> F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest As the cattle which go down into the valley, The Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So didst Thou lead Thy people, To make for Thyself a glorious name. (Isaiah 63:14) It is the noonday glare in Palestine. The sun’s rays like spears of flame are striking down upon the parched sand-wastes, and all the land burns like a furnace. Away yonder is a sequestered glen, where mosses line the margins of streamlets and pools, and rich pasture keeps green in the shadow of the hills. Thither the cattle descend at noon. As the shadows creep down the mountain-sides they follow them, and presently the herd browses on the succulent herbage or reclines beneath the shadows of the spreading trees, while the brooks purl past clear and cool. Similarly Isaiah says God brought his people through the wilderness, leading them as a horse that might not stumble, and finally conducted them into the rest of Canaan. But how fit an emblem is suggested of our Father’s dealings with us. The scorching sun of temptation shines around us. The glare of publicity, the fever of money-making, the strife of tongues, torment the children of men. But for God’s beloved ones there is a secret place by Him, a green and verdant nook, watered by the river of God. Over its portals these words are written: “I will give you rest.” When once we learn to trust our Fathers unfailing love, we are caused to rest. Notice that forcible expression: the Spirit of the Lord caused them to rest. Here is anew thought of the omnipotence of love. It can so reveal itself that it almost compels rest. Cause us to lie down, O Lord, we pray Thee! Job speaks of Him as giving quietness: and then who can make trouble? Seek quietness as his gift! Lo! there is a place by Him, in the mountain-shadowed valley of his care, where disquieted souls are at peace. Seek it! (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily) ><> ><> ><> F B Meyer - Our Daily Homily - Devotional on Rest My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place. (Jer 50:6) These words may often be said of us. A time of emergency arises; the necessity for instant and vigorous action seems overpowering; we fail to see what course to adopt — and immediately we get flurried and excited; we run from one to another; we lose our sleep. All our earnest resolutions to abide in Christ and live in his fellowship are forgotten. We have forgotten our resting-place. Or we are in the midst of a great campaign of work. From morning to night we are plunged in a mass of calculations and activities. There is no time to take our meals, much less to obtain opportunities for prayer and fellowship with God. Our rooms without, our souls within, are littered with the symptoms of the many absorbing interests which are monopolizing our attention. We have forgotten our resting-place. Or, perhaps, it is a time of great temptation. Hour after hour the foe returns to the attack. We have done our best to withstand him; but have hit out without precision, have fired at random. Again, we have forgotten our resting-place. The place where we lie down to rest is under the shadow of the Cross. Whilst we remain there, we are perfectly safe and blessed. Return unto thy rest, O straying sheep! Back to the arms of Jesus, where only such frail ones as thou art are safe. I knew a man, who had to bear a thousand crosses belonging to others, and who grieved himself into an illness because others did not love God as He deserves, till all at once his own foolishness and sinfulness struck him to the heart. He could do nothing then but cast himself and them into the endless depths of the love of God; and he ended by having rest in his heart, and a song on his lips. (Meyer, F. B. 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Rest (2663) katapausis

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