Genesis 2:1-3
1:1
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.”
- Or,
“Thus the universe and all its company was completed.”
This
day begins and ends with silence. The
feel is much like the beginning in 1:1,2 but only now the universe is ordered
and full with light.
The
creative word phrase, “and God said. . .” is not used on the seventh day.
The
reference to time “and there was evening and morning” is not used in reference
to this seventh day.
“Completed” is the Hebrew word “kala” which means “to bring to
completion”
The
point of this word is that the universe is no longer in process of being
created.
Everything has been made and established.
The
universe will now function and will continue in this state.
“all their vast array” or “all its company” is the word “saba” which can
refer to these things:
1) an army (Gen. 21:22)
2) the stars (Deut. 4:19)
3) the angels (1 Kings 22:19)
Basically
this word “saba” always refers to an organized and disciplined group.
Here the word “saba” is referring to all the various parts and components of
the organized and ruled universe.
1:2
“By
the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work.”
God’s
“work” is referred to twice in this verse.
There
are two Hebrew words used in the OT for work:
1) melaka – designates skilled labor, work that is
performed by a craftsman or an artisan
2) aboda – labor that is raw and unskilled
Genesis
1:2 uses the first word “melaka” to identify God’s work during the six days.
God’s
work was skilled and he performed as a craftsman or an artisan.
In
mythology according to the Bablylonian Enuma
Elish and also the Atrahasis Epic the gods who were forced to work the
earth after their defeat by Marduk were given “rest” after the creation of man
because man was going to do the menial work of caring for the earth. Once again, the mythological account of
creation and the described elements are not even similar in purpose or in
thought.
2:2-3
in the Hebrew are four lines. The first
three each have seven words and the middle point of each of the first three
lines are “the seventh day.” It would
translate like this if “the seventh day” were left in the middle of each line:
“So God finished by the seventh day his work which he did.
And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he did.
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it
Because on it he rested from all his work
which God created to do.”
1:3
“And
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all
the work of creating that he had done.”
God
called the other days “good” or “beautiful” but he only blesses the seventh
day.
“Holy”
is the Hebrew word “qadas” which means “set apart”
This
day is “set apart” because God set it apart.
God
divided the days into “days” and “holy days” or “time” and “holy time”.
Creation
has already been blessed, now time or the seventh day is “blessed”
“Rested”
is the Hebrew word “sabat” which means to cease or refers to a cessation.
“sabat”
is only used one other time in Genesis and that is 8:22 with reference to the
seasons never ceasing to exist.
The
seventh day set creation into a perpetual rest
God
is not tired but is finished. So the
Seventh day or the Sabbath means finished or complete.
All
the other holy days of
The
seven day work week and the seventh day is not based on anything in the physical
universe. The seventh day or the week is
based on something outside our universe and beyond the physical dimension. The length of the week is based on the word
and blessing of God.
Exodus 16:21-30
The manna was based on the Sabbath
day before the Law of Moses was given.
Exodus 20:8
“Remember
the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to
the LORD your God. On it you shall not
do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day
and made it holy.”
Exodus 20:11
“rested” is “nuah” which speaks of
abstinence as in “he abstained”.
It is not the word “sabat” used in Gen. 1:3 which
refers to ceasing.
Ezekiel 20:12
“Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a
sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.”
Matthew 12:1 – Disciples pick grain on the Sabbath
Luke 13:10 – Jesus heals on the Sabbath
Luke 4:38 – Jews could not come for healing until the sun had set
on the Sabbath
Colossians 2:16
Galatians 4:10
Romans 14:5
Psalm 95:7-11
Hebrews 4:9 (3:7-4:11)
Revelation 20:1-5
The seventh day is set apart from
the rest of the six days of creation.
This may correlate with the days of
man’s time on the earth.
In Matthew 8:29 a demon asks Jesus if he has come before the appointed
time.
If Jesus is to return for the 1000 year reign which
will be the Sabbath rest for the earth that
may
indicate that the other six days correlate with the other 6,000 years of the history
of the earth.
2,000 years from Adam to Abraham
2,000 years from Abraham to Jesus
2,000 years from Jesus until now
(church age)
1,000 years for Jesus reign
on the earth
7,000 total years correlates with 7
days of creation with the final one being rest.