The following commentary really touched me and I wanted to share it. It was especially interesting because of Jesus’ final words (Father forgive them, they know not what they do). I’m not sure which translation, but I’ve heard Father translated as Elohim as well as Abba and this just made the whole thing that much more interesting to me.

As a brief bit of background, Living Stream Ministry was something I was involved with when I went to UC Irvine and while I feel they may miss the mark sometimes, I stay subscribed to their daily devotional and am occasionally rewarded with gems like this.

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Jesus is Joshua Bringing Us Into Rest

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt 11:28 Come to Me all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. (29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Genesis 1 we do not find the name Jehovah. We find only the name God: “In the beginning God created….” Elohim is the term for the God of creation. The name Jehovah, which is not used until Genesis 2, is used especially when God relates to man. The name Jesus is something added to Jehovah, that is, Jehovah our salvation, Jehovah our Savior.

Joshua is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus, and Jesus is the Greek translation of Joshua. Moses brought God’s people out of Egypt, but Joshua brought them into rest. As our real Joshua, Jesus brings us into rest. Matthew 11:28 and 29 tell us that Jesus is the rest and that He brings us into Himself as rest. Hebrews 4:8, 9 and 11 also speak of Jesus as our real Joshua.

Today, Jesus is our real Joshua who brings us into rest, the rest of the good land. He is not only our Savior saving us from sin, but also our Joshua bringing us into rest, the good land. Whenever we call on His name, He saves us from sin and brings us into rest, into the enjoyment of Himself. A line in a hymn speaks about saying the name Jesus a thousand times a day. The more you say, “Jesus,” the better. We must learn to speak the name of Jesus all the time. Jesus is our salvation. Jesus is also our rest. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved and enter into the rest.
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Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry, from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, 1986, pp. 60-61. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat 1/2/99)

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