In the time of Daniel, God’s people went through 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Why did this happen? Discipline. Judah had been disobedient to God’s commandments and even though prophets had warned the people numerous time, there was no change.
One of these prophets was Jeremiah. He prophesied long before the time of Daniel that Judah would be captured by a ruler called Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah pointed out the evil doings and idolatrous acts that Judah had committed through several centuries (Jeremiah 25:3-4) and had not listened. As a consequence God’s people would be taken captives for 7 decades.
There was something significant about the 70 years in captivity. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commented that 70 was chosen since it was “the exact number of years of Sabbaths in four hundred ninety years, the period from Saul to the Babylonian captivity; righteous retribution for their violation of the Sabbath (Le 26:34, 35; 2 Chr 36:21)”
God had commanded that every 7 years, on the 7th year the land should be placed to rest. However, God’s people didn’t do that, they didn’t do it for 490 years. If you do the math they had skipped 70 years of rest. They had worked the land continually, with no stops. Our God has given us an ethic of work, but He also given us an ethic of rest.
We pride ourselves for our work ethic, especially in the US. Some would be embarrassed to admit even to rest, finding it shameful even to admit taking a break or a vacation. Some think that admitting rest, would be to admit being lazy. God modeled both work and rest for us in creation (Genesis 2:1-3). God rested. What a thought! That the omnipotent (who doesn’t get tired) stopped… and rested.
Recently, I was talking with a friend who’s a mental health counselor , and he mentioned how sometimes people unknowingly find themselves stressed and tense due to lack of rest. In a sense, it’s humbling to submit to how God designed humanity. It can be humbling to rest. Ultimately, we know through the Scriptures that for our bodies, for our minds, for our souls we have the “Rests of rests” in the person of Christ (Matthew 11:28-29).
Christians need to have both a healthy work theology and a rest theology. If not, like the people of Judah, with no rest, we will pay for it at some point.