<\/p>\n
\nGenesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Exodus 20:11<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Exodus 23:12<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSix days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Exodus 31:17<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Deuteronomy 5:14<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Isaiah 58:13<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIf you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>Hebrews 4:4-10<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b> \u00a0For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: \u201cAnd God rested on the seventh day from all his works.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And again in this passage he said, \u201cThey shall not enter my rest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Since therefore it remains for some to enter it,six days and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,\u00a0\u00a0again he appoints a certain day, \u201cToday,\u201d saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, \u201cToday, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.\u00a0\u00a0So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,\u00a0\u00a0for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.<\/p>\n
Colossians 2:16<\/b><\/a><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/span>God did not need rest on the seventh day because He was tired. He\u00a0rested<\/b>\u00a0to show His creating work was done, to give a pattern to man regarding the structure of time (in seven-day weeks), and to give an example of the blessing of rest to man on the seventh day. God\u00a0sanctified<\/b>\u00a0the seventh day because it was a gift to man for rest and replenishment, and most of all because the Sabbath is a shadow of the rest available through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Though we are free from the legal obligation of the Sabbath, we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest. God has built us so we\u00a0need<\/i>\u00a0one. But we are also commanded to work six days. \u201cHe who idles his time away in the\u00a0six<\/i>\u00a0days is equally culpable in the sight of God as he who works on the\u00a0seventh<\/i>\u201d (Clarke). In our modern world of four or five-day workweeks and generous vacation time, surely more \u201cleisure time\u201d can be given to the work of the LORD. The description of each other day of creation ended with the phrase,\u00a0so the evening and the morning were the\u2026 day.<\/i>\u00a0However, this seventh day of creation does not have that phrase. This is because God\u2019s rest for us isn\u2019t confined to one literal day. In Jesus, God has an\u00a0eternal<\/i>\u00a0Sabbath rest for His people. (Guzik)<\/p>\n
\u201cGod, having completed His work of creation, rests, as if to say, \u2018This is the destiny of those who are My people; to rest as I rest, to rest in Me.\u2019\u201d (Boice)<\/p>\n
The seventh day is distinguished from all the preceding days by being itself the subject of the narrative. In the absence of any work on this day, the Eternal is occupied with the day itself, and does four things in reference to it. First, he ceased from his work which he had made. Secondly, he rested. By this was indicated that his undertaking was accomplished. When nothing more remains to be done, the purposing agent rests contented. The resting of God arises not from weariness, but from the completion of his task. He is refreshed, not by the recruiting of his strength, but by the satisfaction of having before him a finished good. (Barnes)<\/p>\n
God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made: not as though weary of working, for the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, nor is weary,\u00a0Isaiah 40:28<\/span><\/a>\u00a0but as having done all his work, and brought it to such perfection, that he had no more to do; not that he ceased from making individuals, as the souls of men, and even all creatures that are brought into the world by generation, may be said to be made by him, but from making any new species of creatures; and much less did he cease from supporting and maintaining the creatures he had made in their beings, and providing everything agreeable for them, and governing them, and overruling all things in the world for ends of his own glory; in this sense he \u201ccontinues working\u201d, as Christ says,\u00a0John 5:17<\/span><\/a>. (Gill)<\/p>\n
There was holy perfection in what God created, even the day of rest assured and promised to it. Before Sin entered the world there was a blessed rest that comes from God. Man will never find this rest on their own though they may cease the work of their hands and find sleep easy and refreshing. This rest is for the body and seeking rest that is for and deep into the soul of man.\u00a0 <\/span>It is in this rest we find purpose, peace, joy, and hope. This perfect rest is found in Jesus Christ and through our complete trust, reliance, belief, and obedience in Him alone. We may try hard to find rest for our weary souls by \u201csleeping\u201d but though we may sleep we wake with anxiousness, confusion, anger, and fear. Why? – Our souls still hunger for the \u201crest\u201d that only Jesus Christ can fulfill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"