The Israelites had come a long way… Through Moses, God had led the Israelites out of Egypt where they had served the Egyptians, building the future of Egypt under the oppression of slavery.

Then, as a result of their fear and disobedience, they wandered in the desert for more than 40 years. An entire generation died in the desert as a result, unable to enter into the promised land, the land of Canaan, because God would not allow them.

Yet Joshua would remain faithful to the Lord and God chose him to lead the Israelites into the promised land where they would then conquer many of the lands of Canaan, driving out the Canaanites who had lived in the land.

Now had come the time for the Israelites to finally rest. God had led them into the land that he had promised them, as far back as the days of Abraham, and now they would rest from all of the struggle and fighting that they had endured for centuries. They would live as God’s people. They would be the nation that represented God on the earth. They would be the people through whom the Lord would do his work to make himself known and represent himself throughout the whole world.

So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Joshua 21:43-45

The writer of the book of Hebrews makes a note of this point in time. He says that there was more rest yet to come. He says that God spoke of another day, another day that would give true rest to his people, a Sabbath rest where God’s people would rest in him, they would rest in God.

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.

Hebrews 4:8-11

He is speaking here of the righteousness that we have received from God. We’ve received this righteousness not because we have become a good person. Not because we have done a lot of good religious activities. Not because we have obeyed all of the rules.

No, instead, the only reason that we have been considered righteous is because of Christ. Through Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection thus defeating death, and we each placing our faith in him, he allows us to enter into his rest. We no longer have to try to cleanse ourselves to be considered to be righteous. We no longer have to be good enough to know God.

No, instead, through our faith in Christ, we can be known by God and he can know us. And as we know him, we enter into his rest. We can rest because there is nothing else that matters more than my relationship with him. If I am found in God, I can be bold and courageous and do all that he has called me to do. I can be the person that he has called me to be. I can find myself within his will, remaining obedient, loving and glorifying Christ.

This is true rest because I have truly known the relationship that I have with God. This is the true representation of the promised land, the ability to enter into the right relationship with God through Christ. He gives me my place and he gives me my identity. It is all found in him because he is truly the one who provides. We, instead, must be found in him, within the promised land of our relationship with him, and in this way, and only in this way, we will find rest.