The Sabbath - Day 2
“And 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. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3
Think about all that God created in the previous six days. In His love and great power, He created time, space, matter (all the elements He would need for the physical world), light, darkness, atmosphere, water, dry land, plants and trees, sun, moon and stars, water creatures, birds, land animals, and Adam and Eve. In six days? Why did He take so long? He could have created everything in a moment of time, but He did not. Exodus 20:11 says, “For 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.”
This was spoken by God to the people of Israel from Mt. Sinai when He gave them the Sabbath Day command. This gives us some important details. In Exodus 20:19 it says, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work…” which leads to verse 11 quoted above. God said He created everything in six literal 24-hour days. Then He gave us a sanctified seventh day of rest. The Sabbath Day was not given on Mt. Sinai, but in Eden in the seventh day of creation. This provides a pattern for the work week applicable to all creation.
God rested on the seventh day from all of His work of creating. What does it mean that God rested? When I put in a day’s work I need to rest. But does God need to rest? Did He get tired from all that creating? Psalms 121:3-4 says, “…he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” Isaiah 40:28 says, “…the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary…” If God is perfect in all His ways, and He is, He is perfect in power. That means He can never be depleted in any way. He doesn’t lose strength or energy, or ability. He never gets tired and never needs sleep. He doesn’t need anything to sustain His existence. God rested because He was finished with everything He planned to create. He stopped working because His work was completed. God rested from His work, so He gave mankind this gift of rest too, the Sabbath Day. Given right here at the end of the very first week of all time. Take opportunity each week to worship God, and enjoy His wonders.
“Thank you, Father, for giving me a day of rest to praise and worship you! Amen.”
