Genesis 2:1-3

November 14, 2012

God created everything:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3And God blessed
the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all
his work which God created and made.

The topic we’re going to discuss from this passage is the topic of rest. What does it
mean that God rested?

We find elsewhere in the Scripture that “the everlasting God, the LORD, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary” (Is. 40:28). We also
find Jesus saying, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (Jn. 5:17). So, it’s clear
that God’s rest has nothing to do with being too tired and it doesn’t mean that He
stepped back from creation and stopped all interaction with it.

A few things worth noting here:

(1) Of the six days, God blessed only this one.
The meaning of “bless” is to celebrate and adore. He’s not celebrating the
completion of creation though; He’s celebrating “because that in [day 7] he
had rested from all his work.” The completion of creation isn’t the focus—it’s
God’s rest that we’re looking at here.

(2) Only this day was sanctified.

The meaning of “sanctified” is to set something apart as sacred. Day 7 is
distinctly different from days 1-6. Israel is sanctified from the world. Priests
are sanctified from the Israelites. Day 7 is sanctified from days 1-6.

(3) Nothing but rest is done on day seven.

“Rest” gets a day all to itself. God created more than one thing every day for
the first six days; even man is created on the same day as the beasts. But
only one thing happens on day 7: God rests. The Hebrew meaning of
(shabath) “and He rested” is to cease (Jos. 5:12) and put down (II Kings 23:5).
God ceased from His act of creating and He celebrates that fact.

(4) This last day doesn’t have “a morning and an evening” like the rest of the
days. I don’t want to force anything into the text, so I’m not going to make a
 big deal out of this, but God’s rest is finished and nothing comes after it, so I
can see how this observation might be made to support that fact.

Regardless, like everything in the Old Testament, this day of rest has a purpose,
and that purpose is to point us towards Christ. It’s a shadow of something far
better. To understand what it might be let’s look through the Old Testament to see
how this concept is used:

First, look at Genesis 3:17-19: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou
taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Adam was put in the garden to tend it, but when he sinned work took on a totally
different nature. Sorrow and sweat became his lot in life.

Think of how Israel was in slavery in Egypt but God set them free: “Moses and
Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people
go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2And Pharaoh said, Who
is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD,
neither will I let Israel go. 3And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with
us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto
theLORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 4And the
king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people
from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5And Pharaoh said, Behold, the
people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 6And
Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their
officers, saying, 7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as
heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8And the tale of the bricks,
which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish
ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to
our God. 9Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein;
and let them not regard vain words” (Ex. 5:1-9).

Later God established the Sabbath day as part of the Mosaic Law: “Remember the
sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But
the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any
work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days
the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Ex.
20:8-11).

This Sabbath day is tied to the day God rested and it celebrates the freedom
gained when the Israelites left Egypt: “And remember that thou wast a servant in
the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a
mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded
thee to keep the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15).

Not only that but it served as a sign proving that God had made a covenant with
the people of Israel: “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my
sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your
generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. 14Ye
shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it
shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall
be cut off from among his people. 15Six days may work be done; but in the seventh
is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath
day, he shall surely be put to death. 16Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep
the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual
covenant. 17It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six
days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and
was refreshed” (Ex. 31:13-17).

To reject this Sabbath was to reject God’s covenant and to deny that the Israelites
were set apart from the world.

The land was to be given rest: “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt
gather in the fruits thereof: 11But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still;
that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field
shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
12
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that
thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger,
may be refreshed” (Ex. 23:10-12).

And so were slaves: “Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before
them. 2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh
he shall go out free for nothing” (Ex. 21:1-2).

Canaan was a place of rest from enemies: “But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell
in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth
you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety” (Dt. 12:10).
“And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him
rest round about from all his enemies. […] And as since the time that I commanded
judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine
enemies” (II Sam. 7:1, 11).

Rest is associated with faith: “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as
in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9When your fathers tempted me, proved
me, and saw my work. 10Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and
said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11
Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest” (Ps. 95:9-
11).

Rest is associated with God’s presence: “And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou
sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou
wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also
found grace in my sight. 13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy
sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy
sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14And he said, My presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest” (Ex. 33:12-14).

God’s rest is considered a blessing and a peaceful place: “Blessed is the man
whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; 13That thou
mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the
wicked” (Ps. 94:12-13). “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Ps. 23:1-2).

The promise of rest remained a future hope even at the time of Isaiah: “And it
shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow,
and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
4
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How
hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!” (Is. 14:3-4).

“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool:
where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2For
all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith
the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he
that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as
if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea,
they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
4
I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because
when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil
before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. 5Hear the word of
the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you
out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your
joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the
temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies. 7Before she
travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man
child. 8Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be
made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as
Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 9Shall I bring to the birth, and not
cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the
womb? saith thy God. 10Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that
love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 11That ye may suck, and
be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be
delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will
extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream:
then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her
knees. 13As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem. 14And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your
bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward
his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. 15For, behold, the LORD will
come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16For by fire and by his sword will
the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. 17They
that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in
the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be
consumed together, saith the LORD. 18For I know their works and their thoughts: it
shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see
my glory. 19And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of
them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and
Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my
glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20And they shall bring
all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and
in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy
mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a
clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21And I will also take of them for priests
and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which
I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your
name remain. 23And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and
from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith
the LORD. 24And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be
quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh” (Is. 66:1-24).

“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of
the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Is. 11:10).

We’ll pick back up here next time.

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