Creation - Day Seven - Rest ...

Wednesday, Aug 14, 2013. The first chapter of the bible, of the book of Genesis, is telling the creation story in seven creation days. Creation takes place in the days one to six. Today, we talk about day seven:

Day Seven …

1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all of his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen 2, 1-3)

It is remarkable, that in this biblical story creation is taking place in seven days, and the last day is a

day of rest!

This rest seems to be part of the work as are the more active days, where “little” things like heaven and earth have been created. Also note that the word “holy” means “taken out” or “special”. And as if this would not be very clear, the message is repeated in our three verses of Genesis 2. On the seventh day God rested from all of his work. He blessed it, he made it holy. Yes he rested on it! He rested from all of the work he had done! Is it clear now? Rest …**

The role of rest cannot be over estimated! That becomes clear to us today, in modern times. But it seems that it has been important every single week of world history. Humans tend to be creative and to do things. They tend to work and to distribute work to those who are dependent on them. There is no limit to our goals, to our targets and to our greed. What is it that stops us from following more and more goals, from keeping us balanced? It is a limit as it is given to us by the seventh day.

You might ask yourself: does God need rest? Perhaps he was tired? Nothing here would indicate something like that. But God is God. He is resting in himself. He is not defining himself by his activity, but he is who he is. He is in balance with himself - and as a consequence, rest is part of the work. Leisure or free time is part of life, as is work. This is already reflected in the first part of the bible, in the creation story of SEVEN days. The rest is part of creation, an important part of it.

Every time I look into these biblical texts with a fresh and sincere view, I learn more about life, about God and about myself. This is fantastic, and I am looking forward to learn more, when we read on … (Roland Potthast) ... more texts