“Rest” is a peculiar word because it can mean many different things to many different people. I remember as a teenager, rest to us was sleep. Dad always said we slept our lives away. When older, married and a parent, dad would say that we work so hard we need to rest. The “rest” mentioned in Genesis 2:1-3 relates to the ratio between work and no work.
Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
God presents Himself working for six days during creation and resting on the seventh day.
Before COVID hit the world, some corporates required their staff to be in the office four days a week and work from home one day a week (normally a Friday). Once COVID hit, businesses who did not need their employees in the office to perform their duties, had them work from home. Personally, I found working from home more productive, in fact, working from home saw me work longer hours.
Since COVID … In the United Kingdom they introduced a four day work week with the same salary and the same benefits for the same work load in those four days. They saw their productivity increase to 101%. In Belgium they introduced a four day work week, similar to the United Kingdom, but the hours remained the same. As an example, if they needed to work forty hours in five days, they would be required to work forty hours in four days. On 21 June 2023, Portugal introduced a four day work week using the model 100:80:100, which means, 100% wages and benefits, 80% time and 100% productivity at the very least.
To be honest, how a country or business mixes up the work week does not really matter, the model of God is 6:1. In God’s model it is not working in the market place for six days! He calculated that working to earn an income was part of “work”. There are other duties such as gardening, shopping, organized sport, recreation, house repairs and maintenance that need time and attention. In the Western World, running a calendar that starts on the first day, being Sunday, and ending with Saturday, generally suits most societies. Unless we do shift work, one starts on Monday and ends on Friday, excluding required overtime from time to time. This means we have a Saturday to do all the personal and home things we were unable to do during the work week because of work.
1) The forgotten rest. Most of us forget that we have every evening to rest, be refreshed and recuperate from the work day we just had. With some exemptions, most of us work eight hours a day and after doing some home chores and family requirements are physically tired and need seven to eight hours sleep. A senior clergyman pointed out to me as a new pastor that God created day and night, emphasizing that night time was to sleep.
2) The neglected seventh day. Reading verses 2-3 together we have … By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
(1) We need to see and understand that God rested from all the work of creating. God only rested from “creating”. Imagine if he rested from sustaining creation! Picture Him not doing what He says in Hebrews 1:3 … “sustaining all things by his powerful word”. This is a matter that could easily be overlooked and ignored. God did not rest from everything God does! He only rested from creating. Returning to “work ethic”, we need to understand there are “works” required outside of our working day. Maintaining the home, putting a meal on the table, organizing the family, being mom’s taxi, participating in Church activities and many other matters are required outside of the working day … the six day week.
(2) We need to understand what God means by … God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. This sentence will be lost to our understanding is we miss seeing three crucial points. They are “blessed”, “holy” and “rested from all the work of creating”.
(i) The point of paramount interest for us must be God as Owner, Lord and King of creation. He is the master and all of His creation needs to know and understand His supremacy in designing, crafting and providing an existence, unlike any other part of creation in all of its vastness, with vegetation, animals and humans. The untainted by sin aesthetics, the brilliance of beauty, the complementary nature of all things working perfectly with God Himself known and present forced a willing response of man’s submission and worship, acknowledging God as King and Lord.
(ii) We cannot see this seventh day “blessed” without seeing it as “holy”. The word holy as used here means separated from all the other days. It is different to all the other days. It is “God’s Day” for not only did He part it off from the work week, He blessed it. He gave it a special meaning as He pronounced blessing upon the day.
(iii) The concept of … “blessed”, “holy” and “rested from all the work of creating” must also be coupled to:
Ge 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
Surely “very good”, “completed”, “blessed”, “holy” and “rested” point to worship! It’s like God is saying … stop all your business and quiet your soul and focus upon me your Lord and King on this special day I have set apart. Should we miss this aspect of the seventh day’s separated for rest, we miss the real purpose of true rest because true rest is not being idle. Rather it is resting in God spiritually. Admiring and adoring Him for who He is and what He has done. It is being encouraged by His meticulous forethought, preparation and execution of His creativity. It is seeing Him in all of that which He placed before us … be it fellow human beings, animals in the sea, sky or land. It is observing the beauty of the vegetation all around us such as flowers and shrubs, trees and fruits trees, mountains and valleys, the sun, moon and stars. It is acknowledging the wonder of man’s creation, the way we breathe, eat, hear, and see … how the body functions, how the mind and will are distinct from any of the animal kingdoms. Yet above all this is the glorious fact that as humans we are created in the image and likeness of God. We can know our Creator, serve our Creator and speak to our Creator. We are able to stop on this seventh day and lift our hearts in worship, singing His praises, praising Him in prayer whilst enjoining His presence amongst us. Such God-honoring worship on the Day God set apart for “rest” brings pleasure to God, nourishing our souls and recharges us for the six days of work that will follow.
To You alone be all the glory, for You alone, O God, are the true, living God, who spoke and creation appeared exactly as You wanted and willed, with humans as your prized possession. To You Father, Son and Holy Spirit be all the honor and glory and praise. Amen