Gods Sabbath

S UCCESS AND F AILURES

141

possessions, they were able to fellowship with their families, and the bordering tribes gave them no trouble. This was the rest they expected, understood and loved. But the inexorable law of heaven which no one can successful ly ignore or defy, declares that those who do not know God’s ways will not enter into His abiding rest. The only way that the people who outlived Joshua could have retained the rest which was the blessed fruit of previous obedience, was to continue liv ing by the Sabbath rest principles. When they failed to do this, the outcome was the speedy loss of that rest. It did not take long for the tribes surrounding Israel to build up their strength and invade the land. God’s people were driven from their possessions, their harvests were gathered by foreign ers, their homes were occupied by worshipers of Baal, the sanc tuary service was discontinued, and they were forced to find miserable refuge in mountain caves and retreats. Was this rest? Did these people who faithfully observed every seventh day as the Sabbath, experience true Sabbath rest? They certainly did not, for only those who know and follow God’s ways are true Sabbath keepers. God’s Sabbath rest in volves much more than merely observing the seventh day as the period of cessation from earthly toil. Forced into a position of sheer desperation, with no capacity to save themselves, the Israelites did commit their problem to the infinite Source of life and salvation. This set God free to work for them, for He could do nothing until the problem had been actually given into His hands. As soon as it was, He set in motion forces to restore their freedom. God raised up a series of champions, the first of whom was Othniel. Others who followed between the death of Joshua and the call of Samuel were Ehud, Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Jep thah, Samson, and a few other minor prophets. No matter how evil God’s chosen people became, nor how many times they reverted to their own ways, the Lord forgave them and solved their problems as soon as they turned them over to Him. But after each deliverance, it was never long before the Israelites became self-confident, reverted once more, passed under the power of their enemies, lost their peace and rest, and needed to be delivered again. Throughout these vicissitudes,