📖 Biblical Definition
Conquest and Rest is the recurring biblical pattern of God conquering His enemies and giving rest to His people. Joshua led the conquest of Canaan; David completed the rest (1 Kgs 5:4); Solomon's reign was the high-water mark. Hebrews 4 says there remaineth therefore a rest [Sabbath-rest, sabbatismos] to the people of God: the conquest is achieved in Christ; the rest awaits His return.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Biblical pattern.) Conquest of God's enemies and rest for His people; achieved in Christ, awaiting consummation.
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Old Testament conquest: Joshua leads Israel into Canaan, taking 31 cities. Rest follows under David and Solomon (1 Chron 22:9). Israel's sabbath-rest in the land was a foretaste of the eschatological rest.
Hebrews 4 expounds the eschatological rest: Joshua's rest was incomplete (Heb 4:8); a rest remains for the people of God (Heb 4:9); we labor to enter that rest (Heb 4:11). The full conquest-and-rest is Christ's and awaits His consummation.
📖 Key Scripture
Joshua 21:44 — "And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers."
1 Kings 5:4 — "But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent."
Hebrews 4:9 — "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."
Hebrews 4:11 — "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often imagines rest as private peace; Hebrews 4 makes it the eschatological consummation when conquest is complete.
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Joshua's rest was real but partial. Hebrews 4:8 says if Jesus [Joshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. The Sabbath-rest still ahead is the rest Joshua's campaign foreshadowed but did not consummate.
The household's present rest is therefore foretaste, not consummation. Sunday Sabbath, vacation, sleep, peace of conscience — all are real partial rests pointing to the rest that remains. Labor now to enter that rest.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew nuach (rest); Greek katapausis and sabbatismos.
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Hebrew nuach — to rest; same root as Noah (his name means rest).
Greek sabbatismos — Sabbath-rest; Hebrews 4:9's coined term.
Usage
"Joshua's rest was real but partial."
"Sunday Sabbath is foretaste, not consummation."
"Labor now to enter that rest."