Genesis Day 7, Rest

Jo Helen Cox

Rejoice in creation’s seventh season interpreted by nature! The structured circular poetry concludes in a blessing of rest and contemplation. By removing the overburden of unbiblical perfection theology, the ancient text guides us into the next phase of human development.

Genesis 2

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 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. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens (NIV).

The seventh day is circular. The poet begins with the completion of heaven and Earth from the creed (Genesis 1:1). Then he restates the creed again just to make sure you know who completed what. The day and the entire poem end with a restatement of the writer’s creed, making the whole poem circular. One Creator created everything.

Between the creeds, God rests from his work. The poet says God ceased creating. That does not mean God slept or that natural processes stopped. Just like the continuation of Earth orbiting the sun, life continues as always to evolve. The results God wanted were unfolding, so he waited and watched things change into what he wanted. As always, God interacted gently with creation to further its development. He enjoyed the time spent with his babies.

God blessed and named the seventh-day sacred. This “holy day” is not the Sabbath, a law instituted at Mount Sinai. But like Sabbath, the poet invited the reader to contemplate the loving details of God’s creation in its relationship to their covenant with the Creator. God expects us to take time to understand. He calls this endeavor a sacred time.

Rest. God rested. God set aside one day of the week (Sabbath) for his people to relax and contemplate his creation and his ways. Orthodox Jews still start each day in the evening. This practice originates in Genesis 1. They believe that God asks them to start their day in sleep, do work when the sun shines, then rest before they sleep again. I think we all could benefit from that practice.

Day 7 does not end. Poetically, that means Adam, Abraham, Moses and all the prophets lived in the seventh season God called holy. Not just good, but a sacred time. God set this time aside as incredibly special. His likeness forms during this time. His people grow in understanding him during this time. Biblically, that season died on the cross with Jesus. Because of his death and resurrection, something new started, and we become new creations. We live within the eighth day, the time of new beginnings. We must learn from the past seasons and look forward to the next.

To be continued:

Read More In This Series.

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