What most modern Evangelicals undervalue in Gen 1-3 is the role played by the Sabbath. This role, however, is not missed by Jewish readers. Most Protestant Evangelicals figure that Gen 2:1-3 is just an explanation of how we got (or rather how the Jews got) the Sabbath, and that it has nothing special to teach us about Creation theologically. Whoa! Have we got some teaching to do here!
A second fallacy has to do with the nature of what is meant by "rest". God obviously didn't get all tuckered out with the six days of Creation and needed a day in bed! The Hebrew verb shavat denotes "ceasing" from an activity, not recuperating from exertion. God finished His work: He didn't recuperate from it.
Typically, when we finish a big job, we like to celebrate. And if the job we have done is anything important, the celebration isn't just a binge, but an expression of our joy and satisfaction in the completion of a task well done. The handy-man (or handy-woman) stands off a bit from the new deck and admires it, perhaps with a cup of coffee in his/her hand. I like to think that something like this entered into what is described in Gen 2:1-3. At various points in the six days of Creation God pronounced his work "good", and in Gen 1:31 He surveyed the entire project and saw "that it was excellent in every way" (NLT).
But there is still more. God's Sabbath rest wasn't a finite period of time like the six days that preceded it! He didn't have to start back to work on "Monday"! Hebrews 4:1-11 tells us that God's rest from Creation is still going on!
All of this has great significance for believers today. Both God's work of Creation and His work of Redemption are finished works on our behalf. Neither can be appreciated fully except by faith in its Author. The true beauty of the heavens and the earth is only visible to those with faith in and love for the Creator-God (Psa 19:1-4; Rom 1:18-25). And the true glory of Redemption — of sins forgiven, membership in God's family, and assurance of eternal glory in Christ's presence — can only be appreciated by those who love and believe in the Savior-God. On the Seventh "Day" the Triune God "rested" from his finished work of Creation. Today the ascended Lord Jesus "rests" from his finished work of Redemption. The first "rest" was commemorated by the Sabbath (our Saturday); the second by the Lord's Day (our Sunday). On each of these days God's people were to gratefully remember and celebrate God's finished work.
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