Hard Labor vs. Rest

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                                       LABOR VS. REST
                                   It's Our Choice, Part One

By Mae Shurow

Do you feel tired all the time? Does it seem as if your life is nothing but drudgery? Do you feel as if you arise every morning, go to work, earn barely enough to get by, and get up just to do it all over again the next day? Do you feel like you work all your life for nothing, only to die in the end? You are not alone, for this is the lot of mankind!

Most of us know that sorrow, pain, and suffering entered the world because of the Fall of mankind. But something else happened as a result of the first couple’s sin. “Hard labor” in futility entered the world! “Man was always meant to work, but God intended for man to enjoy it. Work only became drudgery after the Fall.”^[1]

When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil instead of from the Tree of Life, their desire was for the ability to choose between good and bad – to make decisions for themselves. They wanted to rely on their own resources - they wanted INDEPENDENCE. And when they ate of that tree, God gave them what they wanted. Because they desired to make their own way in this world, God allowed them the freedom to do so! Ever since, mankind has been born with the tendency to trust in the works of his own hands, instead of relying on God as he was created to do.

Sorrow was part of the curse (Gen 3:16-17). It was the beginning of divine chastisement for rebelling against God. It was given to begin to teach us the horror of what had happened and the terrible consequences of our rebellion.

· Genesis 3:16-19 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread...

Sorrow is Strong’s number “6779” and means “pain, suffering, hard work, toil, i.e., labor that is very intense with a special focus on the physical pain that occurs in very strenuous work .”^[2] “The word relates to physical pain as well as to emotional sorrow. Words similar in Hebrew are to writhe, to grieve, to become tired, weary, to be irritated, angry, to be bitter, despairing, to trouble, turmoil. It is a term of physical and mental discomfort. Pain in childbirth is decreed for the woman (Gen 3:16), and pain in manual labor is decreed for the man (Gen 3:17)” ^[3]

Because of his rebellion against God, mankind was to eek out his sustenance by the sweat of his face. And it would not be easy because the ground would not cooperate, instead bringing forth thorns and thistles. “...the way of transgressors is hard” (Pro. 13:15)!

Most of us like to think we have “accomplished something” when we believe we have done a job well. But no matter what WE “do” or feel we accomplish, it will not be fruitful. All our works will eventually fall down, rust, decay, or die, because the whole world is in a state of futility and corruption as a result of the curse!

· Romans 8:20-22 For the creature[creation] was made subject to vanity [futility], not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature[creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

But God is a God of great mercy, and the purpose of this “curse” was not merely to punish mankind. God has not sentenced us to “hard labor” in futility with no possibility of parole. “Hard labor” was given so mankind would see the futility of what could be accomplished with the works of their hands (in their own strength) and perceive their great need of God! It was given to cause mankind to realize the failure of his own efforts so that he would cry out to God.

· Haggai 1:5-7 "Now therefore thus saith the Lord of host: Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag of holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways."

· Haggai 2:17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord

· Psalm 107:13,43 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses....Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even he shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

The Lord began to teach His people about the blessedness of serving Him by establishing a Covenant with them. If they would do things His way – keep His commandments – He would reward them with fruitfulness in their labor.

· Deut. 7:12-13 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: 13And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

God instituted the Sabbath (Sabbath means rest!) as part of His Covenant. The Sabbath was to give a glimpse of the blessedness of life without “hard labor.” It was a picture to help us understand the REST from futile labor that is found only in working with and serving God.

· Exodus 20:9-10 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter...

Keeping the Sabbath was also to be a reminder to the people that the Lord their God is the One who delivered them from the hard labor of slavery and bondage in Egypt. And He is still the One who delivers us from “hard labor” today!

· Deut. 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

A third (and, I suspect, most important!) reason the Sabbath was given was to teach the people to serve God and do His pleasure, refraining from doing their own work. They were to undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, feed the hungry and clothe the naked (Isaiah 58:6-7).

· Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

The Pharisees missed this point completely and misinterpreted the purpose of the Sabbath to be mere idleness on that day.

In His Covenant, the Lord gave the people essentially the same choice that He gave Adam and Eve – life or death, blessing or cursing. The people were to “Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do” (Deut. 29:9). If they would obey God, their labor would not be in vain, but would be prosperous and fruitful.

· Deut. 30:15-19 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy god, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear; but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land...I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

The same choice between the trees is still before us today – life and blessings, death and cursing…choosing to serve and rely on self, or to serve and rely on God…

· Jeremiah 17: 5,7 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departedth from the LORD...Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

· Romans 8:5-6 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

To choose LIFE – to choose to enter the REST of God – is not of “works,” for no man can keep the law in his own strength. If a person is “working” to keep the law (to please God), that person is under the “curse,” for Gal. 3:10 says, “...for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.” Nothing we can do, no amount of self-effort, labor or toil, can give the peace and joy that comes only with reliance on God. Our Deliverer provides REST from futile labor for individuals who will trust and depend on Jesus by faith instead of relying on their own resources!

· Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

· John 6:27-29 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

In Jesus, we are delivered from the curse of “Hard Labor” in futility, for He bore the “curse” we deserve on our behalf. (Gal. 3:13). When we enter into Covenant with Him, we enter into His rest from Hard Labor. And His rest is not merely one day a week, which was but a shadow of things to come. We enter into the reality and fullness of His provision – to cease from laboring for our own purposes to rest in Him each and every day.

· Col. 2: 16-17 “...sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is of Christ.”

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Only He can give us true rest. And we enter that rest when we stop trying to accomplish our own ends in our own strength and come to Jesus. Our Lord said in John 15:5, “...he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.”

· Hebrews 4: 9-10 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

· Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ...purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

One glorious day, when the King of Glory restores all things, EVERYONE who is in the Holy City will eat from the Tree of Life. There will be no more curse, no more working to no avail. All that God’s people do will be fruitful, because we will no longer serve ourselves, but we will serve the living God!

^[1]Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN:
          AMG Publishers.^[2]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (HGK6779). Oak
         Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.^[3]Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Page
         687). Chicago: Moody Press.