The Seventh Day
2/21 Reading Portions: Exodus 4; Luke 7; Job 21; 1 Corinthians 8
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
2/21 Reading Portions: Exodus 4; Luke 7; Job 21; 1 Corinthians 8
Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.
REST
From this seventh day (Gen 2:2a), we get the word Sabbath because the triune God rested (Gen 2:2b) from all the creative work He had done in creating the heavens and earth from nothing, as well as forming and fashioning what He had done during those six days (Gen 2:3). Elohiym God didn’t need to rest—He wasn’t tired—for He is God Almighty, El Shaddai (Ex 6:3). It didn’t mean He wasn’t working during that seventh day, for concerning the Sabbath the Lord Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” John 5:17And while the children of Israel were commanded to observe this seventh day as a weekly Sabbath to YHVH God since the days of Moses (Ex 20:8-11; Lev 23:3; Deut 5:15), this command was meant to establish every holy Sabbath commanded by Yehovah God in the days of Moses: the first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:7-8); on the Feast of Weeks, aka Pentecost (Lev 23:15-22); on the Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25); on the Day of Atonement, aka Yom Kippur (Lev 23:26-32); on the first and the eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles, aka Feast of Booths (Lev 23:33-44); also the Sabbath Year (Lev 25:1-7), as well as the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8-34)—the latter two were never observed by Israel as a nation, even in their miraculous return as a nation in 1948.
The blessing from the creation example of the Sabbath from the triune God was to instill in Israel what a true happiness it is to trust in YHVH God, that He is good to His promises to sustain them through the Sabbath, and what a true joy it is to worship Him without reserve, retreat, or anxiety (Phil 4:6; 1 Pet 5:7).
Yet the overall reason for this Sabbath in particular, and every Sabbath to follow in general, was to point to our Lord Jesus Messiah, who is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). Jesus is only One who has ever truly fulfilled the Sabbath perfectly as a Man; and moreover, He is the very fulfilment of every Sabbath. Therefore, Christ Jesus is the Sabbath rest in all things for every believer who trusts in Him alone for salvation, sanctification, and glorification. For Jesus Himself declared,
“Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
“But, Brother Jon, what about the holiness of the Sabbath and our obligation to it?” some may ask. We’ll take a look at that tomorrow in a meditation upon the third verse in particular.