So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.
We are talking about rest. From the beginning of mankind, rest was important. Not only physical rest, but spiritual rest. After God created man, He rested. The Bible does not tell us why God rested and it was not a rest as we would think of rest.
My studies tell me that one of the main definitions of the Hebrew word used for rest, shabat, is “to cease or stop”. When God rested, it was not because He was tired, or “needed” to rest as we think of rest, He simply stopped creating. After creating man, His work was complete.
God also blessed that day and called it holy. That is also why it is called the Sabbath, or a Sabbath rest which would mean purposefully not working for a day. If God was purposeful in His work, and rest, then shouldn’t we as well?
There is a time to work, and a time to rest. May we be focused on God as we rest so He can strengthen us.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think God rested on the seventh day?
- What are things that you do to rest?
- Why did God call the seventh day holy? He knew the need of mankind to rest so part of His creation was being intentional about ending His work, like we need to rest from our work.
End in prayer thanking God for His creation and reminding us of the need to rest.
