Take a Day Off | Genesis 2:1-3
Read Genesis 2:1-3
“This section is not, as thought by some, an alternative presentation of general creation in which, contrary to the previous section, everything is created on one day—and in a different order. Rather, this is a “backtracking” to the last and crowning event of creation on the sixth day—the creation of man.”
--The Moody Bible Commentary on Gen. 2:1-25
God isn’t done instituting His order and rulership on Earth. God has another task to do, another sacrament or order to institute into His perfect creation. God is going to establish and command the sabbath day for His chosen people, the people of Israel.
The Point: God creates a day of rest; humanity must follow God’s example in how to live a balanced life which includes a day of worshiping God while taking a rest from work.
- God created a day of rest and made it Holy. This day isn’t for God but it is a gift for humanity—God creates “The Lord’s Day.”
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your mail or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.”
--Exodus 20:8-10
God is establishing an important command and rule for His people that He will uphold throughout the entirety of the Old Testament. God commands His people to take a sabbath day
“The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, The LORD’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.”
--Leviticus 23:1-3
Clearly, sabbath rest, is very important to God, God has made it a part of this Holy, perfect, created order in Genesis 2:1-3—we must ask a couple of questions when looking at the sabbath day. A) What does Sabbath mean and how is it practiced? B) Who is the sabbath for?
- What is “the day of rest” what is “Sabbath?”
God rested on the seventh day. This word “rested” in the Hebrew:
“God sanctified the seventh day because it was a gift to man for rest and replenishment, and most of all because the Sabbath is a shadow of the rest available through the person and work of Jesus Christ.”
--Enduring Word Commentary
- The day of rest isn’t an instruction for God; it is an instruction for Humanity.
God sets the 7th day apart from the rest of the calendar, God consecrates it, He appoints it to Himself as a day of preparation for the rest of the work week. This is why it is called “The Lord’s Day.”
The Pharisees want to accuse Jesus of “working” on the day of rest but they clearly do not believe Jesus is God. Jesus continues to proclaim that the “Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5). Jesus is clearly showing His authority as God; He is saying that God is the Lord of the Sabbath—the sabbath day belongs to God. Humanity is to rest from their work, from their toil to look upon God, to give Him glory and to worship Him on that day.
- The day of rest is the first institution of worship God instructs for Adam and Eve. God wants to commune and be with Adam and Eve.
God knows the best thing for humanity is to be in community with Him. God is set apart but in Genesis 2:1-3 Adam and Eve are still sinless and set a part (Holy) just as God is. Throughout Genesis 2 we will learn that there is much work God gives to Adam.
The garden of Eden will be the first temple built by God for the worship of Himself—Adam and Eve are the first priests of this temple, their job is to maintain it, Adam is given the job of naming the animals. There is work in this pre-sin world, but the work is beautiful, not tiresome or full of toil which work becomes after sin enters the world (Genesis 2:17b-19)
“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it…The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for Him.”
--Genesis 2:15, 20
God puts Adam to work meaning Adam will have had to observe the Sabbath day in which God has just created, this day will be a day where Adam stops working in the garden to commune with God, to worship Him, in the first temple: The Garden of Eden. God has established the perfect order, the six-day work week with one day of rest, a day called “The Lord’s Day” where He will be worshiped and communed with.
This portion of Genesis shows us that God wants to be in relationship with humanity, it shows us that God is allowing humanity to experience Him, to commune with Him, to walk with Him and to glorify Him. Our day of rest is no longer commanded by God through the mosaic law but we must take a day out of our week to put our eyes on the Lord of the Sabbath, onto Jesus Christ, God Himself—we must rest from our work to commune and delight in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“The sabbath heals us from our compulsion to measure ourselves by what we accomplish, who we know, and the influence we have. Sabbath enables us to define ourselves less by our achievements and more as beloved daughters and sons of God. As we become more aware of how much we are cherished as children of God, we grow in our trust of God.”
--Ken Shigematsu, “God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God.”
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
--Psalm 127:1-2
As Christians, taking a sabbath reminds us of who is in charge, who is in control. This idea that God is working and will do the work of building through us gives us peace as it isn’t ALL up to us. This day of community with God also forms our heart, it changes who we are to be more like Christ who is the Lord of our Sabbath. This is why we must still take the Lord’s Day of worship seriously; we must still practice sabbath as God has set up the week to include a full day of rest where we worship God as the church.
Questions:
- Do you practice the sabbath every week? How does this day look?
- Did you learn something new about who God is today? What is it?
- What challenged you about today’s sermon?