Episode Details

Remsen Bible Fellowship; 10/22/2023

Introduction

When does God sleep? The answer, of course, is that he never sleeps. Psalm 121:1-4 says,

      1       I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 

      2       My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 

      3       He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 

      4       Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 

But while God never slumbers nor sleeps, we do read in Scripture of God’s rest. We come today to the seventh day of the creation narrative, which concludes the introduction of Genesis. Genesis 2:1-3 reads, 

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 

You may have noticed that though I have titled this sermon, “Sabbath yesterday, today, and forever”, the word Sabbath never actually occurs in the text. Nonetheless, what we find in these verses sets the pattern for what will become a law for the people of Israel in Exodus chapter 20; and here I believe we also see the roots of patterns not only for the people of Israel, but for all of humanity. We will look at Sabbath as completion, Sabbath as blessing, and Sabbath as rest.

The Completed Creation

Notice first of all a word that is in the text: “seventh.” Three times in three short verses Moses uses this word. “On the seventh day God finished his work”, “he rested on the seventh day”, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” Now, if you’ve been reading the Bible a long time, you’ve probably noticed the word “seven” before - it occurs over 600 times in the scriptures and is referred to by some as the “divine number.” The idea of divine fullness seems to be carried in the number seven; so, for example, in Revelation 1:4 we have a reference to the “Seven Spirits of God”, probably referring to the singular Holy Spirit. 

And here, at the end of the creation narrative, we read that there is a seventh day of creation. Creation is full, it is complete. Now, as I’ve said in the previous weeks, there is actually still quite a bit of work to be done. But God has delegated that work to the man and his wife, he’s given the task of dominion to humanity. But the initial work of creation is finished. That word, “finished”, is also repeated in these verses: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished” and “God finished his work that he had done.” 

Why is this significant? I would suggest three reasons: 

* When God gave man dominion over the earth, all that man needed for the task was already present in creation. The creation itself contained what was necessary for man to accomplish the work God had given him to do. God had told man and woman to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. He had formed and filled the world in such a way that they could accomplish, over the course of the centuries to come, what he called them to - if they remained obedient.

* We will examine this more in a moment, but it’s important that God accomplished his six days of work and then rested. Now, we know God wasn’t tired. He had spoken all of creation into existence! But the pattern he sets is a rhythm of work, then rest. This will be made explicit in the giving of the Sabbath command in Exodus 20:9-11 says, 

“9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male