Thursday, February 03, 2005
Genesis 2: The Sabbath Day
We read that after all his work, God rests on the seventh day. It is interesting that there is no evidence that God ever took another day off. He is a workin' man. Later he will command the people of Israel to honor the sabbath day and keep it holy, doing no labor on that day but resting. In other words, God is saying to Israel, his "first born" child, "Relax son!" "I will handle this." We see that in the New Testament, Jesus is the very embodiment of this command. Jesus is Israel's (and the nations') sabbath, "come to me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus is the living embodiment of that hymn that goes "It is finished, the battle is over, there will be no more war...I have heard he has fought all my battles for me." The word to us today is the same as it was then, "Relax son!" only now it is even more glorious.
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2 comments:
It seems in this instance, as with 'growth' in the previous verse, that God is not identified with the sabbath, but instead gives the sabbath. God gives growth, as opposed to being growth itself. And God gives rest, as opposed to being rest itself.
It seems there's a subtlety in the New Testament when, as you say, Jesus is the embodiment of the command to rest (if not rest itself). But even in ICor.3:5-7, it's clearly "but only God who gives the growth" and in the quote above "I will give you rest."
I have two questions. First, given the above, what's going on in John 11: "I am the Resurrection and the Life" - this, as opposed to God as a giver of life. I'm interested in instances where God is not the Giver but actually the thing being given. Or does the "the" in "the Life" make it mean something different from "I am life."
Second (an unrelatedly), it seems God does a lot in the early going of Genesis he doesn't do ever again. Specifically, taking a day off and walking in the Garden. It seems ironic that God is at his most human in the early part of Genesis - seeing as how that is when he's at his most godlike as Creator. Or am I mistaken and is God distinctly anthropomorphized throughout the Old Testament? Both walking and resting seem a far cry from being a burning bush, for example.
Wow!
And don't worry about the "Listen, Mr. Goldtoe" bit - altho' I do prefer Goldtoe-san. Or, possibly, the "Right Honourable Goldtoe."
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