In Exodus 20:11, we read, “ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Rather, God gave them a very specific reason to remember this day. This admonition to remember the seventh day was not arbitrary. As a part of the covenant, the Ten Commandments are given, including the 4 th, “ Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” ( Ex. Later he delivered Abraham’s descendants from slavery in Egypt and called them into a covenant relationship. Starting with chapter 12 of Genesis, we find God beginning the work of restoring humanity. The orderliness of the garden was replaced with a world that will require much effort to survive in. He is experiencing God’s rest.īut in the third chapter of Genesis, Adam rebelled against God and was cast from the garden. ![]() But he is in God’s presence, in the garden, where all is ordered and at peace. And humanity, at our beginning, is at rest with God. God himself is in the garden, walking and talking with Adam. Within the garden he put a caretaker, Adam, to care for the garden. In the second chapter of Genesis, God established a garden in Eden, an ordered paradise. With the chaos of Genesis 1:2 overcome, the cosmos is now very good. So it is likely that for the Hebrews, this passage represents God concluding his work in creation, and taking up management of the ordered cosmos that he had created. But they would have had the same cultural background and ways of thinking. Walton is very clear that the Hebrew’s understanding of God and his creative work was uniquely distinct from that of the people around them. The rest, while it represents disengagement from the process of establishing order, is more importantly, an expression of engagement as the deity takes his place at the helm to maintain an ordered, secure, and stable cosmos.” Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, John Walton “The concept of divine rest can, in turn, be elucidated by ancient Near Eastern literature, which demonstrates that deity’s rest is achieved in a temple, generally as a result of order having been established. Genesis 2:2-3 NIVĪs a westerner, it is tempting to read this passage and visualize God kicking back in his recliner and taking a nap. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Then chapter two starts with a note about the seventh day.īy the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ![]() ![]() The first chapter of Genesis records God’s creative activity during the six days of creation. The Seven Churches of Revelation Studies.
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