We Live from Rest to Rest, From Faith to Faith

"And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." (Joshua 5:12)

The word "ceased" in Hebrew is "Sabbath".

How about that?

The cease, the end of manna descending from heaven signalled that God had finished providing the bread from heaven.

The Israelites had arrived in the Promised Land at the right time.

God's Work is perfect. He began raining down manna when needed, to show Himself as the first and final provision for all of us.

When the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land, when they ate the corn which they had gathered and stored from the Land of Canaan, the manna stopped falling.

It ceased. It rested. The work was done.

The Israelites did not have to toil for the manna, but God brought it to them. All they had to do was pick it up and harvest it.

Then God gave them the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Notice that God guided the Israelites to grow in trust, to place their faith in Him in greater measure.

That is what we are called to!

"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

In his letter to the Romans, Paul quoted Habakkuk, who had received a revelation of the Gospel of Grace:

"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

Today, Jesus is our Sabbath Rest (Hebrews 4:9), and He invites us to cease from our works and allow Him to work in us!

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

and also

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)