WHEN GOD RESTED ON THE SEVEN DAYS

It is already common knowledge that God rested on the seventh day. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 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 2:2-3). But it's also a common misunderstanding to think that God only rested on the seventh day. Because each day of the creation story reveals God’s rest —a truth that invites us to do the same.

If we go back to the creation story, we might not notice the repeated statement: “And there was evening, and there was morning,” followed by mentioning which day it was (Gen 1:5, 6, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Notice that it's not mentioned in reverse, like “And there was morning, and there was evening,” as if referring to the day starting at sunrise. Scholars note that the writer, in using this phrase, obviously was not referring to the day, but to the nightly rest after daily labor. In this nightly rest, God refrains from creating. In other words, it wants to show that God only finishes what He needs to do that is scheduled for that day. He just rests at night and waits for the next day. As if God was saying, “I did well today. I still have time tonight, but I'll do the rest tomorrow.”

The Creator did not wait for the seventh day to rest and appreciate His creation; He paused daily by evening, reflected on what He had accomplished, declared it to be good, and then waited until morning to resume His work.

If you think about it, the Lord doesn't need to rest, because He didn't really get tired, He just finished what He had to do in creation and man came to manage the creation. Also, God doesn’t need several days to create heaven and earth, for He is powerful enough to create anything and everything in an instant. But God did what He did to set an example for us to follow. It's not just the product of creation that is for us—even the process of creation, God made for us! “The creation story taps the human experience of work and rest, patterning the story after a human workweek to illustrate the character of God and his relationship to his creation. At the same time, the story serves to instruct, not just how many days we should work before resting, but on how we should understand and value work, creativity, rest, and worship.” (Davidson and Turner, 2021).

From the very beginning, God wanted man to be productive and have a purpose (Gen 2:15), but that's not all He wants for us. Rest is part of His plan. Work-life balance is not a modern initiative; it was part of the original design even before Adam took his first breath. It was God’s idea from the start, born out of His deep concern to His special creation.

He rested daily.
He rested on the seventh day.
And today, He still invites us to rest.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “ (Matt 11:28).

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀:

Davidson, G., and Turner, K. (2021). “Work, Reflection, and Refreshment.” In 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘯𝘦: 𝘈 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪-𝘓𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩. (pp. 47-48). Kregel Academic.