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The word “Sabbath” doesn’t appear in the Bible until after the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt (Ex. 16:23), but the reality of a Sabbath rest existed from the very beginning of time and space.
Look closely at the following verse:
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” – Gen. 2:2
Did you notice that? The first person to enjoy a Sabbath rest was the person of God himself! The Eternal One, the Creator, the Sustainer, the one who does not grow tired or weary – He took a break!
This was not the rest of someone who was worn out; someone who was beaten into the ground. On the seventh day God did not say to himself, “That’s it. I’m beat. I can’t create another thing”. Were Adam and Eve to come looking for God, they wouldn’t have found him napping on the sofa with an old episode of Columbo playing in the background.
They would have found him enjoying the fruits of his completed creation, celebrating something that was as new for God as it was humanity. This verse in Genesis says that “God had finished the work he had been doing”. Having just created man and woman in his own image, God announced that his creation had gone from “good” to “very good”, and with that His work was complete. And with completion came that sweet rest; the rest of one who is at peace with himself and all else around him. According to an Old Testament scholar, this rest of God tells us that,
“God is not anxious about his creation but is at ease with the well-being of his rule.”
The reality of rest finds its origins – its genesis – in the God who is at ease. Rest is a vital part of His character, therefore it is in God alone that we as creatures can enjoy the true rest that the Creator has written in to creation.
“My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.” – Psalm 62:1
Look closely at the following verse:
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” – Gen. 2:2
Did you notice that? The first person to enjoy a Sabbath rest was the person of God himself! The Eternal One, the Creator, the Sustainer, the one who does not grow tired or weary – He took a break!
This was not the rest of someone who was worn out; someone who was beaten into the ground. On the seventh day God did not say to himself, “That’s it. I’m beat. I can’t create another thing”. Were Adam and Eve to come looking for God, they wouldn’t have found him napping on the sofa with an old episode of Columbo playing in the background.
They would have found him enjoying the fruits of his completed creation, celebrating something that was as new for God as it was humanity. This verse in Genesis says that “God had finished the work he had been doing”. Having just created man and woman in his own image, God announced that his creation had gone from “good” to “very good”, and with that His work was complete. And with completion came that sweet rest; the rest of one who is at peace with himself and all else around him. According to an Old Testament scholar, this rest of God tells us that,
“God is not anxious about his creation but is at ease with the well-being of his rule.”
The reality of rest finds its origins – its genesis – in the God who is at ease. Rest is a vital part of His character, therefore it is in God alone that we as creatures can enjoy the true rest that the Creator has written in to creation.
“My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.” – Psalm 62:1
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