What is God’s response in the Exodus story? The response of God to such testing is longsuffering and judgment. God is patient with us but God does eventually respond in justice. Note the dual nature of God’s patience. It allows time for repentance but it also requires perseverance from those already believing. What is “rest”? What is “my rest,” that is, God’s own rest? Genesis 2:1-3 shows how God rested. Exodus 20:8-11 is explicit. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Rest or Sabbath experience is used as a sign of faith. Consider that the Israelites were very vulnerable as they wandered and a day of rest made no sense in normal human thinking. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder to live by faith. The ongoing Sabbath command is an example or symbol of eschatological tension. Although we have rest as a present possession, we do not have it fully. What is “today”? Hebrews 3:18-19 tells us that the rebellious Israelites were not able to enter rest because of their unbelief.