Making Sense of God Resting on the Seventh Day

​The Church: Making Sense of God Resting on the Seventh Day
By G. Ward Fenley
M.A. Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary
 
And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created to make.—Gen 2:1-3 
 
There has been much debate over the Genesis account of creation, both among and between creationists and secularists, theists and atheists. The arguments generally surround a cosmological approach to and interpretation of the first three chapters in Genesis. The debate is usually over whether the universe and earth are very old or very young. And while the debate has caused many to delve deeply into the realm of science, origins, evolution etc., it hasn’t served the overall context of the Bible well. In fact, it seems to have distracted the theological/scientific community away from something far more beautiful and significant about the account of creation. 
 
In the late 1990s I began to question not only the literal six-day creation theory; I also began to question whether the creation account in Genesis was dealing with the physical creation at all. The mere observation that the sun was created on the fourth day (Gen 1:16-19), made it clear that whatever the first three days were (or represented), they could not be literal twenty-four-hour days without that sun. For our whole concept of twenty-four-hour days is based upon our relationship to the sun. Not only did that observation make me jettison the literal six-day young-earth interpretation, it was almost instantaneously obvious that it made no sense to interpret the passage to be referring to a literal old-earth creation either. With all due respect to theological liberals and conservatives who approach the text cosmologically, that observation for me thrust me into an area of interpretation that began to make sense of the whole Bible, not from a cosmological perspective but rather from a covenantal perspective. Now, while I grant that there is obvious allusion to the cosmological creation, such an allusion is simply a distant assumption to help explain a far greater and more meaningful purpose for the Genesis account. Certainly the idea of the cosmological creation/origin is a wonderful idea and worthy of pondering, there are plenty of intelligent scientists who will always be attempting to tackle that vast subject, especially with all the modern technology and techniques made available to us in this hyper-modern age. But, alas, the idea that the Genesis account is referring to the creation of a covenant rather than a cosmos might, to some, seem anticlimactic. However, if the material cosmos may now be presented as a beautiful and awesome representation of the spiritual nature of the covenants and kingdom of God, then we can begin to have a far deeper respect and appreciation for both the cosmos and the covenants, both old and new. 
 
For me, the light turned on. I now asked the basic question: What is the Bible about? It is the story of two covenants, old and new. When one reads the Bible cover to cover, they quickly realize that the mammoth book is essentially the history of Israel’s relationship to God. In fact, relatively speaking, references to the cosmos are very rare. Compared to the history contained in between Genesis and Revelation, references to the physical creation are miniscule. The Bible is about history, the history of Israel and her story of redemption. Gentiles (non-Israelites) are a part of that history, but wouldn’t come to be partakers of a covenant until after the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1ff.) Even we have come to partition the Bible into two main parts: the Old and New Covenants (or Testaments. Testament and Covenant are synonymous). It made no sense to me to make the word Genesis (“beginning”) refer to the beginning of the physical cosmos, but rather the beginning of what the Bible is all about, namely, the history of God’s covenant relationship to His people. Genesis is exactly that: the beginning of God’s covenant relationship to His people, not the beginning of the physical universe (or multi¬-verse). The writers of the Bible assumed what was simply assumed among those reading it, that God created the physical heavens and the earth. In other words, the writer of Genesis did not need to prove that or defend it, or even refer to it. For a 21st century Transformers and Star Wars age, which, characteristically speaking, does not read the Bible, upon first approach to the Genesis text we would naturally read it literally. This is primarily because we live in a generation where the existence of God is regularly questioned. The existence of God was a given to historical Israel. That was their culture. There was no reason for them to question the existence of God, therefore there was no reason to prove the existence of God, and thus there was no reason to prove the creation of the physical cosmos and certainly no reason to give a written account of the physical cosmos. One only need to run across a talking and cunning snake, a tree of life, and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil to see that there is something vastly different about the language and genre of the creation account. And based upon the rest of the biblical story, the title, Genesis, appropriately, should mean the beginning of the history of God’s covenant relationship to His people, Israel.
 
Readers will be disappointed to find out that I will not be doing a verse-by-verse exegesis of the creation account. Some may consider this a cop-out. However, I am refraining from this because the “big picture” idea better serves the purpose of this article. I do, however, believe there is rich meaning from the creation account that can find glorious relationship to the rest of the Bible. However, there is so much there that it would detract from the main purpose of this article, which is to look at the big picture of God’s rest (or resting place, as we shall see). 
 
For those relatively acquainted with the Old Testament use of the word Sabbath, they understand that the term means rest. When the Bible says God “rested on the seventh day,” the word for rested is Shabath, where we get our word Sabbath. And from here I will immediately jump to the New Covenant concept of Christ as our Sabbath. Most Christians with a reasonable amount of theological understanding have come to see that Christ is now the rest for His people. Jesus said: “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. (30) For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30) Christ was using a phrase to draw their attention to something that was not attained while under the bondage of the Old Covenant: 
 
Jer. 6:16 So says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.
 
We now know Christ to be that “way” (John 14:6) and Isaiah prophesied of this way:
 
Isa 30:20-21 And Jehovah gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction; yet your teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers. (21) And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.
 
Under the New Covenant, we now “walk in it,” that is, we walk in the light of Christ by grace, and we rest in Him. And the Jewish Christians in the first century were encouraged to walk in this way and this rest of Christ. The writer of Hebrews asserted that through faith they could rest and cease from their faulty works-based idea of salvation: “So then there remains a rest to the people of God. (10) For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” (Heb 4:9-10). 
 
From this last verse we see that we have entered into the rest of Christ, but equally significant is the reference to God resting. Hebrews is referring to the statement in Genesis:
 
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created to make.” (Gen 2:2-3). 
 
Based upon the references to this rest for believers in Christ, we should evaluate the meaning of God resting. For an omnipotent God (Rev. 19:6) there does not need to be a “break time” for God, as if He had worn Himself out or needed to take a breather. As we have already noted, Genesis is about the beginning of God’s covenant dealings with His people. Therefore I will make the sudden assumption based upon what we have seen in Hebrews that the six days of creation are referring to the creation of the Old Covenant and various historical periods throughout that Old Covenant period, but the seventh day is the day of salvation or the day of Christ (Christ said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day”; or David’s “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad *in* it.”). The Genesis account is prophesying of Christ. We already see a prophecy of Christ in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This was fulfilled through Christ’s sacrifice: 
 
Heb 2:14-15 Since then the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same; that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death (that is, the Devil), (15) and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
 
But in particular, we need to examine this “rest” of God. How do we see this seventh-day rest for God?
 
Just as the Bible teaches that the Church is the Temple (2 Cor. 6:16), and that Christ is the Temple (21:22), and that just as we are in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), Christ is in us (Col 1:27), so also, we rest in Christ and God rests in us. Just as Christ is our Sabbath rest, likewise we are God’s Sabbath rest. Under the Old Covenant, God was angry with His people and the law worked wrath in God (Rom. 4:15). The purpose of Genesis was to speak of this future rest:
 
Heb 4:3-10 For we who have believed do enter into the rest, as He said, "I have sworn in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest;" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (4) For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested the seventh day from all His works." (5) And in this place again, "They shall not enter into My rest." (6) Since then it remains that some must enter into it, and since they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief, (7) He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, "Today," (after so long a time). Even as it is said, "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." (8) For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. (9) So then there remains a rest to the people of God. (10) For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.
 
According to Hebrews, this rest is inextricably related to the New Covenant. Zephaniah prophesied that this rest would come through Christ:
 
Zep 3:14-17 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. (15) The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. (16) In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. (17) The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
 
God here is said to “rest in His love.” Though the word for rest is different than Shabath and carries with it the meaning of quietness, the idea is the same. Rest = quietness. This New Covenant characteristic of quietness is assured elsewhere:
 
Isa 30:15 For so says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you shall be saved; and in quietness and hope shall be your strength. And you were not willing. 
Isa 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the service of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever. 
 
God’s Dwelling Place
 
We must remember a very peculiar aspect about God’s dwelling place:
 
Psa_97:2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
 
God is said to dwell in righteousness. Righteousness is His dwelling place. However, while under the Old Covenant law of sin, death, and cursing, God’s people were not righteous, therefore He could not dwell in them. “Habitation” signifies the resting place. After a day’s work, we return to our homes, or habitations, so that we may rest. The Israelites under the Old Testament were under law. Not that they were saved by law but that punishments were exacted for violations of that law. In Christ it is said, “We are not under the law but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14). But while they were under the law, they were transgressors and could not be the dwelling place or habitation of God. That is, they could not be His throne. For His throne is righteousness. Therefore, they had to be made the righteousness of God before they could be considered His dwelling place or habitation. We have now, through the finished work of Christ, become the righteousness of God:
 
2 Cor 5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
 
This great transaction took place by Christ become sin (becoming what we were) so that we would become what He is—righteousness. That is, we have become His dwelling place or place of rest. We are God’s Sabbath day. We are God’s seventh day. God has rested in the Church, His righteousness, His dwelling place, His habitation.
 
The Psalmist prophesied of this New Covenant phenomenon:
 
Psa 132:1-16 A Song of degrees. O Jehovah, remember David and all his afflictions, (2) how he swore to Jehovah; he vowed to the mighty One of Jacob. (3) Surely I will not come into the tent of my house, nor go up into my bed; (4) I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, (5) until I find out a place for Jehovah, a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob. (6) Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah; we found it in the fields of the wood. (7) We will go into His dwellings; we will worship at His footstool. (8) Arise, O Jehovah, into Your rest; You, and the ark of Your strength. (9) Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and Your saints shout for joy. (10) For Your servant David's sake, turn not away the face of Your anointed. (11) Jehovah has sworn to David in truth; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body I will set on the throne for you. (12) If your sons will keep My covenant and My testimonies which I shall teach them, their sons shall also sit on your throne forever. (13) Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling-place. (14) This is My rest forever; here I will dwell; for I have desired it. (15) I will greatly bless her food; I will satisfy her poor with bread. (16) I also will clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
 
Christ is here portrayed as David (which is frequently done in the Psalms, as well as Ezekiel and Jeremiah). Christ says, “Surely I will not come into the tent of my House (the Church) nor go up into my bed (the Church); I will not give sleep (rest) to my eyes, nor slumber (rest) to my eyelids, until I find out a place (the Church) for Jehovah, a dwelling place (the Church), for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
 
Those familiar with this theme of rest as mentioned in Hebrews and Genesis, will immediately connect those contexts with this context in Psalm 132. In vs. 8 God is said to “Arise, Oh Jehovah, into Your rest (the Church). This rest is the Church, containing the priests clothed in righteousness, which righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. And it is because of the blood of Christ that we are made righteous and called priests:
 
Rev 1:5-6 even from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (6) and made us kings and priests to God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. (10) And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.
 
The Psalmist is declaring that the Church is God’s dwelling place consisting of priests. Peter also confirms that we are God’s priesthood. Just as Old Testament priests ministered in the physical tabernacle or temple, so we are now priests ministering in (or to) the spiritual Temple/Tabernacle, which is the Church:
 
1 Pet 2:5-9 you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (6) Therefore also it is contained in the Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner Stone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him shall never be ashamed." (7) Therefore to you who believe is the honor. But to those who are disobedient, He is the Stone which the builders rejected; this One came to be the Head of the corner, (8) and a Stone-of-stumbling and a Rock-of-offense to those disobeying, who stumble at the Word, to which they also were appointed. (9) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
 
A fundamental aspect of this ministry of priests is not just to comfort the people of God; it is also to show forth God’s praises because of Him making us His dwelling place by making us righteous through the blood of Christ. Turning back to Psalm 132, we see this unfold:
 
Psa 132:9-11 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and Your saints shout for joy. (10) For Your servant David's sake, turn not away the face of Your anointed. (11) Jehovah has sworn to David in truth; He will not turn from it; Of the fruit of your body I will set on the throne for you.
 
We shout for joy as a result of becoming the resting place of God. Christ was the promised King (Psalm 89) that would sit on the throne of David. 
 
Psa 132:13-16 Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling-place. (14) This is My rest forever; here I will dwell; for I have desired it. (15) I will greatly bless her food; I will satisfy her poor with bread. (16) I also will clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
 
Whenever Zion is made a reference in Old Testament prophecies, it is always referring to the Church. Hebrews testifies of this:
 
Heb 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
 
There is no mistaking it. Hebrews teaches that in the New Covenant, through the blood of Christ, we are Zion, the City of the living God (The Lamb’s wife of Revelation 21, and so also the Heavenly, or “New”, Jerusalem), and that we have come to the angels (that is, we are in, or have come to, and actually *are* heaven). We have come to God Himself, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. We have come to those spirits made perfect because He has made us perfect by His blood. We are the dwelling place of God just as the spirits of others made perfect are the dwelling place of God. We are heaven itself. Heaven is God’s throne, just as righteousness is His throne. We are His righteousness. God dwells in righteousness. He dwells in us. God dwells in heaven. We are the heavens. He dwells in us. The heavens 
are said to declare the glory of God:
 
Psa 19:1-5 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse proclaims His handiwork. (2) Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (3) There is no speech nor are there words; their voice is not heard. (4) Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, (5) and he comes forth as a bridegroom from his canopy; he rejoices as a strong man to run a race,
 
Paul confirms that “their words” is the Church preaching the Gospel (Romans 10:17-18). Such passages as the passage in Psalm 19 confirm the purpose of the physical cosmos. But Paul concludes that they represent the Church. That is, they testify to us of God and the kingdom. So when we look at the stars, those represent God’s people: 
 
Dan 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the sky; and those who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever.
 
Mat 13:43 Then the righteous shall shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
 
The Church is the heavens and the stars, and now, with the light of Christ has given us through the Scriptures, we can look at the heavens and the stars and understand what we are. We are the dwelling place of God (the “Sun of Righteousness” out of Malachi 4:2), or as the Psalmist describes Him, the “Bridegroom.”
 
Here we get to the crux of our study:
 
Psa 132:13-16 Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling-place. (14) This is My rest forever; here I will dwell; for I have desired it. (15) I will greatly bless her food; I will satisfy her poor with bread. (16) I also will clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
 
So then, God chose this Zion (Heb. 12:22) and throughout the Old Testament He longed (or desired) for it to be His “dwelling-place.” Notice what He says next:
 
“This is My rest forever; here I will dwell; for I have desired it.” We are God’s desire. We are God’s rest. We are God’s Sabbath and seventh day. The Old Covenant period (six days), is past and we are now in the eternal seventh day. As we are now in Christ, who is our rest, so also we have become God’s rest or Sabbath. We are His desired habitation and dwelling place, His home. Jesus said:
 
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
 
The Greek word for “abode” means “dwelling place.” It is the Greek word “mone” which is also used here:
 
Joh 14:2-3 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
 
The word “mone” is translated “mansions.” This has been a sad translation, for it has convinced many that when they die they receive a physical mansion. This is a carnal and self-serving interpretation. What Jesus is conveying is this: We are the House. We are called the house of God in the New Testament:
 
1 Pet 2:5 you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
 
In this House are many “mansions” or “dwelling places.” We as believers are the dwelling places or mansions in whom God dwells and rests. The place Christ was preparing was the Church or the House of God. It is now built and more and more people continue to enter into this House (Or city: cf Isa 60:11; Rev 21:25-26) They enter because Christ has cleansed and entered them. They become dwelling places, or mansions. Ephesians is very clear about this dwelling place of God:
 
Eph 2:18-22 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (19) Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, (20) and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, (21) in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; (22) in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.
 
Many well-meaning Christians continue to say that we are strangers and foreigners. But Paul says we are “no longer strangers and foreigners…” And that we are the “household of God….a holy sanctuary in the Lord…a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.”
 
We are God’s rest, His desired habitation, His righteousness, and His Sabbath. 
 
Jesus prayed about this home:
 
Joh 17:20-26 And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. (22) And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one, (23) I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. (24) Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me, that they may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You have loved Me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father, indeed the world has not known You; but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me. (26) And I made known to them Your name, and will make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
 
Hopefully we are enjoying our rest in Him and His rest in us.
 
G. Ward Fenley
 
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