“My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Exodus 33.14
It was with these words that God encouraged Moses to lead the people of Israel forward after they had so grievously sinned in making and worshipping the golden calf.
In our study of the rest that God promised His people, it will be well to remember that the promise here recorded is identical with that in Matthew 11.28. Rest was promised, and could be found, only in God’s presence, which was to go with His people. So Christ, who is “God with us” (Matthew 1.23), and who is with us “all the days, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28.20), says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The rest that was offered to the children of Israel in the desert is the very same rest that Christ offers to all mankind, rest in God, in the everlasting arms—for the only begotten Son “is in the bosom of the Father.” John 1.19. “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Isaiah 66.13
But God always was and is everywhere present; why then do not all people have rest? —For the simple reason that as a general thing men do not recognize His presence, nor even His existence. Instead of taking God into account in all the affairs of life, most people live as though He did not exist. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for He that cometh to God must believe that He is.” Hebrews 11.6. This shows that the general inability to please God, and so to find rest, arises from practical unbelief that He exists.
How can we know that God exists? —Ever since the creation of the world, the invisible things of God, namely, His eternal power and Divinity, have been clearly revealed in the things that He has made (See Romans 1.20), so that those who do not know Him are without excuse. It is as Creator that God reveals Himself, for the fact that He creates marks Him as the self-existent God, and distinguishes Him from all false gods. “The Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm 96.4, 5. “The Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King. . . . The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom.” Jeremiah 10.10-12. “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121.2. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124.8. Now since rest is found only in God’s presence, and His presence is truly known and appreciated only through His works, it is evident that the promised rest must be very closely connected with creation.