Seize the Moment – Day 926

Put your Feet Up and Rest!

1 Chronicles 28

 

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 29.

 

“Please, sit down and put your feet up. Rest and stay a while.” Maybe you’ve heard those words from family or friends after a long journey, or you have said them to a valued guest in your home.

 

King David introduces this restful imagery in 1 Chronicles 28:2,
 
“Listen to me, my brethren and my people; I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it.”

 

The unique image is that of a “footstool.” It is used again in Psalm 132:7, “Let us go into His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool” (cf. Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:35). David was charging his son Solomon, a man of rest (1 Chronicles 22:9), to build a resting place for God, so that God could put up His feet and stay a while. While it may sound crass to say it so unpoetically, this metaphor is about “fulfilled promises.”[1] The tabernacle was being replaced by a permanent building.

 

Ultimately, the final “rest” would not come through Solomon’s Temple, or even Herod’s Temple, but through the temple of the eternal kingdom (Ezekiel 40-43; Zechariah 6:12-13). Access to this rest comes through Christ alone, who invites in Matthew 11:28-29,
 
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (cf. Jeremiah 6:16).

 

Seize the moment and trust Jesus to fulfill all the promises of God in your life by putting your feet up and resting the full weight of your life into His eternal embrace (2 Corinthians 1:20).

 

God bless you!

 

If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.

 

YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.

Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
 
 
 

FOOTNOTES:

 

[1] “For the Chronicler ‘rest’ denotes ‘fulfilled promises’ (cf. Is 14:1–3; 66:1; 30:10), for the nation then returned from captivity was ‘at rest’” (Kevin D. Zuber, “1 Chronicles,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham [Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014], 579). Furthermore, the language of a “permanent home” is significant, “The word mĕnuḥâ can also indicate a state of rest, either in general (e.g., 2 Sam 14:17; Isa 28:12) or metaphorically from war and enemies (e.g., 1 Chr 22:9)” (Joshua Joel Spoelstra, “Rest,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series [Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014]).

 
 

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