Dictionary: Rest
Synonyms: relax, take a rest, ease up/off, let up, slow down, pause, have/take a break, unbend, repose, laze, idle, loaf, do nothing, take time off, slack off, unwind, recharge one's batteries, be at leisure, take it easy, sit back, sit down, stand down, lounge, luxuriate, loll, slump, flop, put one's feet up, lie down, go to bed, have/take a nap, nap, catnap, doze, have/take a siesta, drowse, sleep, lie, be laid, recline, be, be placed, be positioned, support, prop (up), steady, balance, lean, lay, set, sit, stand, position, place, put, be based on, be grounded in, be founded on, depend on, be dependent on, rely on, hinge on, turn on, hang on, pivot on, be contingent on, revolve around, centre on, relaxation, leisure, ease, inactivity, respite, time off, time out, breathing space, break, interval, interlude, intermission, base, holder, stay, prop, brace, rack, hook, frame, shelf, bracket, trestle, tripod, plinth, pedestal, foundation, bed, foot, substructure, a standstill, a halt, a stop, remainder, residue, remaining part/number/quantity, part/number/quantity (that is) left over, others, those left, remains, remnant, remnants, rump, surplus, difference, extra, excess, superfluity, overflow, overspill, additional people/material/things, extra people/material/things, remain, continue to be, keep, persist in being, carry on being, go on being
Antonyms: work, motion, movement, struggle, rage, go mad, have a fit, see red, hit the roof, toil, be active, labor, effort, agony, activity, do, blow one's stack, blow a gasket, do one's nut, go ape, go wild, lose it, drive, action, move
Showing 3301 to 3325 of 5000 results
Teach the Text
Ronald W. Pierce
Big Idea: In contrast to this world’s belief systems, God communicates his sovereignty to powerful leaders through his Spirit in faithful servants. Understanding the Text Daniel 4:1–37 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in two ways. First, it advances the narrative of chapters 1–6, in which the first four focus on Nebuchadnezzar (chaps. 1–2 with historical markers and 3–4 without) and the last two show the transition from Belshazzar of Babylon to Darius the Mede (chaps. 5–6). Second, it ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
Somewhere along the way I saw a cartoon of an elderly man of obvious wealth on a canopied death bed, surrounded by servants, family members, lawyers, and all sorts of “hangers-on”. It was quite clear why most of the people had gathered there, but now the old gentleman is sitting up with his arms folded and a very determined look on his face. One bystander says to another, “Someone just told him he couldn’t take it with him, and so he says he isn’t going.” We chuckle at that. It’s a caricature that is not ...
3303. Serendipity
Matthew 13:44-46
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
My wife is a clown! Wait now—let me explain that. I mean that literally, not figuratively. I don’t mean she’s a clown in terms of being a cutup, an always-clowning-around type of person. I mean she is literally a clown, and she has been involved for about ten years in a clown ministry. Her name is “Serendipity,” given to her by a longtime preacher friend. One thing that name means is “unexpected” and “unsuspected.” The fellow suggested the name because God’s grace comes at unexpected times from unexpected ...
3304. Take Your Job and Love It
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Sermon
King Duncan
A company president was addressing her employees: “I know you’ve all heard that we’re going to be automated,” she said, “and you’re worried that these robots will take over your jobs. Well, I’m happy to tell you that not only will no one be laid off, but you will only be required to come to work one day a week for a full week’s pay. That’s right, you’ll only have to work on Wednesdays but you’ll still receive your full salary!” And then a voice piped up from the back of the room. Someone asked, “Do you ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas drama. Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters. Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play. After much anticipation, the big night finally came. The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this Christmas drama. One by one the children took their places. The shepherds fidgeted in one corner of the stage. ...
3306. The God of Hope
Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 15:4-13
Sermon
King Duncan
There are two basic attitudes toward life--one of hope and one of dread--one of trust, the other of fear--one of optimism, the other of gloom. A misprint of a weather forecast read like this: “There is a five percent chance of . . . today and tomorrow.” I would hope that the odds are better than that! In a “Frank and Ernest” cartoon, you see Frank rousing slowly from his sleep, then looking out at the sun coming up. He says dryly, “Well, the sun is rising in the east . . . so far, so good.” You may know ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
The creation of the world (1:1–2:3) Primitive History (1:1–11:32): The Bible does not begin by attempting to prove the existence of God. It simply assumes this fact. But it does begin by describing God’s creation of the heavens and the earth (1:1–2). This phrase may be an illustration of what is known as merism, the expression of totality through the use of opposites. Thus verse 1 is simply saying that God created everything. This he did in the beginning, which is the Hebrew way of saying, “a long time ago ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
The altar for incense is to be positioned in front of the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (30:6), although there is some ambiguity regarding which side it was on. Possibly it was a second article in the Most Holy Place (cf. Heb. 9:3–4). When the incense was ignited, the cloud provided protective covering (Lev. 16:13) as the high priest went into the Most Holy Place once a year. In addition, incense is burned regularly every morning and evening (30:7–8). Neither profane incense ...
3309. Three Feasts
Deut 16:1-17
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Passover · The first of the feasts is Passover (16:1–8), which is to take place in the month of Aviv (our late March–early April). The name Passover probably comes from the verb “to pass over,” as when God had the death angel “leap/pass over” the houses of the Israelites in Egypt just before the tenth plague of the death of the firstborn in Egypt (Exod. 12:29–31). It is also the time of the barley harvest and the seven additional days of eating unleavened bread (16:3), since they needed to leave Egypt in “ ...
3310. Micahs Idols
Judges 17:1-13
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
17:1–21:25 Review · Chaos in Israelite Society:While the last five chapters have often been referred to as the epilogue of the book, scholars have struggled to understand its connection with what precedes. For unlike the previous section, these narratives feature neither any judge nor any foreign enemy. Instead they seem to concern largely nameless individuals within Israelite society, with the focus being on internal chaos generated entirely from within. Structurally, the cyclical framework that organizes ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Having made arrangements for materials and personnel for the temple project in chapter 2, Solomon now begins construction in chapters 3–4. Second Chronicles 3:1–2 is another of the many summary notes used throughout Chronicles. Here the note identifies the location of the temple with two earlier key sacrificial traditions, which involved the angel of the Lord: the provision of sacrifice to Abraham in order to save the life of young Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22 (see esp. 22:13–14) and the provision ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
The modern reader may wonder why this long list of names is included in the narrative. Why would the original readers be interested in this list? Since Israel, God’s covenant people, descended from Jacob, their family records were always important to them. Here their genealogy is especially important to show they are the continuation of the preexilic Jewish community. Each person wanted to confirm his or her identity as part of the covenant community, which also served to emphasize their separation from ...
3313. Psalm 132
Psalm 132:1-18
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
In a psalm with messianic implications, the author reveals David’s commitment to build a house for God (132:2–5) and God’s commitment to David and his descendants (132:11–12) and to Jerusalem, his dwelling place (132:14–18). Two petitions for God to act graciously toward David (132:1, 10) introduce the main sections, whereas a reference to spiritual clothing closes each section (132:9, 16–18). Repetition of thought abounds, whether in the same verse through parallelism (132:2, 4–5); in consecutive verses ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Mention was made earlier of defiling God’s sanctuary with vile images (Ezek. 5:11). Chapters 8–11 will now spell this out in detail. The timing of this vision is specific: sixth year, sixth month, fifth day—that is, September 592. A problem of interpretation follows: is Ezekiel 8:1–18 a vision, or does it reflect what really happened? Ezekiel is shown at least four abominations that take place inside the temple. He sees these from hundreds of miles away in Babylon. Jeremiah is in Jerusalem around the same ...
3315. The Temple Proper
Ezekiel 40:48--41:26
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Ezekiel 40:5–47 describes the temple area (outer court/inner court). Ezekiel 40:48–41:26 turns to a description of the temple building. Like Solomon’s temple, it has three parts on an east-west axis: (1) the vestibule/porch (NIV “portico”) (40:48–49); (2) the outer sanctuary or the Holy Place (41:1–2); and (3) the inner sanctuary or the Most Holy Place (41:3–4). Note here the increase in numbers. So far we have seen seven steps into the outer court, eight steps into the inner court, and ten steps into the ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Chapter 14 returns to the final siege of Jerusalem. Besides adding some particulars omitted in chapter 12, chapter 14 has a different purpose. Both chapters show that much more is at stake than the defense of Jerusalem and the destruction of the enemy. In chapter 12 the impact of Christ’s coming brings God’s people to repentance and faith. In chapter 14 Christ’s coming is seen in its impact on the world at large, in the establishment of a worldwide kingdom where Christ alone is king. The repentance of ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
The preparation of the Passover in 14:12–16 is reminiscent of the preparation of the entry into Jerusalem in 11:1–6; both show Jesus’s foreknowledge and governance of events as his “hour” (14:35) approaches. “The first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread” technically began at sundown on the fifteenth of Nisan (Thursday evening), but Mark appears to place the beginning of Passover on Thursday afternoon, the fourteenth of Nisan, when Passover lambs were slaughtered in the temple. The mood of expectancy ...
3318. Jesus' Death and Burial
Luke 23:44-49, Luke 23:50-56
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
In 23:44–49 Jesus expires, prompting the centurion to proclaim his innocence. The darkness that covers the land from “about noon . . . until three in the afternoon” could not have been caused by an eclipse, for during Passover there was a full moon. Some have speculated that the darkness was due to a sirocco stirring up the dust, but there is no clear scientific explanation for the phenomenon. The darkness suggests an ominous future for Jerusalem, while the splitting of the veil between the Most Holy Place ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
After introducing the seven in the previous section, Luke focuses on the ministry of one of them. The description of the events surrounding Stephen (6:8–15) before his lengthy speech is significant not only to introduce Stephen the person but also to introduce the issues at the center of Stephen’s speech. In introducing Stephen the person, Luke again points the readers back to his earlier portrayal of Jesus. Like Jesus, Stephen is “full of God’s grace and power” (6:8; cf. Luke 2:40; 4:22), performing “ ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
3:21–5:21 Review · God’s saving righteousness for Gentiles and Jews:Paul describes how God “now”—at the time when Jesus the Messiah came—declares sinners justified as a result of Jesus’s atoning death (3:21–31). Faith in Jesus Christ creates the universal people of God, consisting of Jews, the ethnic descendants of Abraham, and of Gentiles, the families of the earth whom God wanted to bless through Abraham (4:1–25). Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ have peace with God, the hope of sharing the ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
1:1–5 · Salutation:The apostle Paul followed the normal Greek letter-writing form in composing his letters. The normal form was characterized by an introduction that cited the name of the author and those addressed. This would normally be followed by a greeting varying in length and usually determined by the degree of warmth felt between the author and the recipients. We notice here, contrary to his other letters, that Paul gives only the briefest of greetings (1:3). His style is proper and a bit curt and ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
Now Paul attempts to show that one subsequent covenant cannot violate the provisions of a previous covenant (3:15–18). Specifically, another agreement, made some 430 years later (3:17), cannot alter the provisions of the covenant made earlier with Abraham. The NIV’s “let me take an example from everyday life” (3:15) is a rather free rendering of the Greek “I speak as a man”; yet the idea that Paul is drawing an illustration from human relationships is a valid description of these verses. Covenantal ...
3323. False Teaching
2 Timothy 2:14-26
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
2:14–21 · Why to resist false teachers: Their influence is corrupting:Paul continues his discussion from 2:2 about how to train leaders. It is they especially who must learn that “quarreling about words” will only bring ruin to “those who listen.” The warning against quarrelsomeness is important. Paul does not want his militant call (“wage the noble warfare” [1 Tim. 1:18; NIV “fight the battle well”], “no one serving as a soldier” [2:4]) to be taken the wrong way. By contrast with those who distract with “ ...
3324. The Hidden Spiritual House
1 Peter 2:4-12, 1 Peter 2:13-25
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
2:4-10 · Peter began his letter with the themes of God’s elect and his mercy (1:1, 3). He ends this first section on the same note (2:9–10). He also returns to his central theme of hiddenness, though his treatment is different here. In 1:3–9 his thought was angled entirely toward the future, to the coming inheritance and the coming Lord, both now veiled, yet objects of love and joy. But now Peter turns to the past and the present. The hidden but coming Lord was rejected by humankind (2:4), who did not see ...
Sermon
King Duncan
It’s said that in Rome, on New Year’s Eve, there is a tradition of literally throwing old things right out the window, to start the New Year free from the past. I guess the moral of that is, if you are fortunate enough to be in Rome, Italy some New Year’s Eve, you best keep an eye skyward. Somebody might be throwing out a heavy piece of furniture just as you are passing by. That’s their tradition. A pastor named Patricia Farris tells about being in Mexico one year with her husband on New Year’s Eve. They ...
Showing results