God Rested, So Should You
Genesis 2:1-3
Do Less to Do More
Do you ever wish you could get more stuff done? Do you ever feel like you’re always behind the 8-Ball and never caught up with work or always worrying about how you’re going to get all the stuff done that you need to get done? Do you ever get so stressed about how much you have to do that you just throw in the towel and binge the latest Netflix series?
God, in his mercy, has actually designed us to get more done by doing less. He didn’t make us to reflect his glory and represent his rule on the earth by being stressed and anxious all the time. He made us to work in a way that reveals his character and blesses his world. But we usually try to do this while neglecting one of the most important things he’s given us to help us do what he made us to do. We try to work without rest.
An Evangelist for Rest
I’ve told several folks that my sabbatical turned me into an evangelist for rest. You don’t know how good rest is until you really rest. And once you’ve tasted the goodness of something, you want others to taste it too.
I didn’t plan to read much on rest when my sabbatical started, but when I asked my counselor if there was one book I must read during my sabbatical, he pointed me to The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero.[1] There’s a chapter on “Practicing Sabbath Delight.” It was by far one of the best things I read during my sabbatical. Let me give you a little taste of what Scazzero says about Sabbath in the chapter:
“(Christian leaders) can’t stop…(because) they’re terrified. They’re frightened to death of what they’ll see inside themselves if they slow down…Something so much deeper is driving them; they just have no idea what it is” (144).
“On Sabbath…for a brief moment in time, we reorient ourselves away from this world in all its brokenness and anticipate the world to come – how things on earth are meant to be. In a very real sense, the practice of Sabbath joins heaven and earth, equipping us not merely to rest from our work but also to work from our rest” (149).
“There are some things God can deposit into our souls only when we unplug completely from work and rest” (163).
“(Sabbath) is the one day of the week I most believe – and live out – a fundamental truth of the gospel. How? I do nothing productive, and yet I am utterly loved” (169).
“If we do not keep the Sabbath, we are incurring a deficit and God himself will stop us, through a crisis, a health issue, an emergency, or anything that gets our attention” (171).
On this point, in his book Reset, David Murray quotes another author, saying, “If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath – our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, our accidents create Sabbath for us.”[2] The point is that not having a routine of regular rest is, as one pastor says, a “deathstyle,” not a “lifestyle.”[3] There are consequences if we decide to live our lives according to our wisdom rather than God’s.
My sabbatical was God’s way of showing me that I’ve consistently neglected one of the most basic commands of God and consistently not received one of the most beautiful gifts from God, namely, a regular routine of rest.
A Rhythm of Rest Woven Into the Fabric of Creation
All of this sounds good in principle, but is it biblical? Is taking a day to rest a modern self-help technique or an ancient God-given gift?
As we continue our study of Genesis, we come to the beginning of chapter 2, where we learn that a rhythm of rest is woven into the very fabric of creation. Verses 1-3 tell us what happens on the seventh day of the world’s history.
God Finishes What He Begins
Verse 1 is a summarizing and concluding statement to chapter 1. This verse echoes 1:1. What God started, he has now finished. God always finishes what he begins. Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God’s work in your life will never stall out. He never quits on the job of making you more like Jesus and bringing you safely home.
A Greatness That Speaks for Itself
It’s amazing how nonchalantly Moses says in verse 2, “God finished his work that he had done.” And in verse 3, “All his work that he had done in creation.” The one, true, and living God has just spoken an entire universe into existence, formed it and filled it, made all of its constituent parts, everything from atoms to Adam, from planets to people, from Jupiter to Junipers, from the Milky Way to megalodons, from supernovas to slugs, from dark matter to dalmatians, from black holes to blackberries, and all Moses says is “God finished all his work in creation.” It’d be like spending four grueling years to get your college degree and your biographer one day summarizes it by saying, “They finished college.”
Commentator Gordon Wenham points out that this brevity is meant to “evoke the silent awe that is appropriate before the grandeur of the work that has been accomplished.”[4] In other words, Moses doesn’t need to say much because the magnificence of what God made speaks for itself. We’re to look at what God made with the same kind of quiet reverence that art galleries require.
God’s power and nature and glory is everywhere seen in what he’s made. Do you see it? Do you consistently put yourself in a position to see it and enjoy it?
Hints of the Sabbath
One way to do this is by setting aside regular time every week to be refreshed by the goodness of God’s creation. This pattern of regular rest is woven into the very fabric of creation, as God punctuated the first week with a day of rest (v. 2).
God didn’t rest because he was tired. He’s God, he doesn’t get tired (Ps. 121:4). God rested on the seventh day out of exhilaration, not exhaustion, out of triumph, not tiredness (1:31). He was so pleased with what he’d made that he wanted to step back and enjoy it. On the seventh day of world history, the Father, Son, and Spirit inhaled the satisfaction of a job well-done.
In verse 2, the Hebrew word for “God rested” can mean “to cease to be,” “to desist from work,” or “to observe the sabbath.” The second sense is clearly the meaning here. God isn’t ceasing to exist and the sabbath isn’t explicitly mentioned.
But the sabbath idea is on Moses’ mind, even if not mentioned by name. The word for “work” used twice in verse 2 and once in verse 3 is the word used for ordinary human work. This is interesting because Moses is using a word to describe the kind of work we do to describe an obviously different kind of work God did by creating a universe out of nothing. Moses may have chosen this word to indicate that man should stop his work on the seventh day.
Because Moses wrote the Pentateuch, it’s safe to say that he has the sabbath in mind when he writes 2:1-3. He says later in the Ten Commandments that the Sabbath idea goes back to creation (Ex. 20:8-11). When God’s people practice sabbath, they’re reflecting and revealing something of God himself.
“Blessed” and “Holy”
In Genesis 2:3, we see two striking statements that suggest that God has the Sabbath in mind for the seventh day. Verse 3 says that God “blessed the seventh day” and “made it holy.” Again, the seventh day isn’t called the sabbath here, but it is blessed and hallowed, or declared holy, both of which are “striking terms to apply to a day.”[5]
“Blessing” is not usually applied to inanimate things like a day. It’s not clear how a day can be “blessed,” but it is clear that God blessed this day. Back in chapter 1, God’s blessing on the animals and humans meant fruitfulness and multiplication (vv. 22, 28).
I may be spiritualizing the text here, but I find it very interesting that since Suzy and I have started practicing a regular sabbath, I’ve been able to get more done in less time. During my sabbatical, my reading, writing, praying, exercising, and family time were all more fruitful. As I leaned into rest, a fruitfulness and multiplication happened in my life.
The day that God stops working is the day that he blesses. It may be “blessed” because it’s
“holy.” Or it may be that God intends to bless those who observe the sabbath.
It’s also unusual for a day to be declared “holy.” God is holy and, in the Old Testament, anything described as “holy” derives its holiness by being chosen by God and given to him in a prescribed way. The seventh day is the first thing to be declared holy. The first thing that receives a status that belongs to God alone is a day. This means that neglecting a regular rhythm of rest is profaning something God has made sacred.
This language of blessing and holiness applied to the seventh day alerts us to a sacredness, a specialness, a uniqueness of the seventh day. Though the sabbath isn’t mentioned explicitly here, there are textual pointers that Moses wants us to see to prepare us for the Sabbath command.
Are Christians Commanded to Keep the Sabbath?
God rested after working, blessing and hallowing the seventh day, which Moses says is the reason for the fourth commandment. But how do these Old Testament principles and laws apply to Christians today? More specifically, are Christians commanded to keep the Sabbath?
God’s Sabbath Rest in Jesus
Interestingly, the Sabbath command is the only one of the Ten Commandments not explicitly repeated in the New Testament. What is made explicit is that Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath laws for us. Hebrews 4:2-3, “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest.” And then verses 8-10, “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
Jesus’ work was for our eternal rest. By working hard to live a perfect life and by laying down his life for our sins and raising from the dead on the third day, Jesus fulfilled the law and grants eternal rest to everyone who puts their trust in him and turns from their sins. Those who know they can’t work their way into heaven are given “God’s rest.”
Remember Jesus’ offer, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).
Jesus’ call for us to come to him for rest comes before his command to go and do for him (Matt. 28:19-20). Jesus calls us to be in him before we do for him.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t ask us if we have a good reason to be tired or not. Maybe it’s our fault we’re so tired and weary and overwhelmed all the time. Even so, Jesus still wants us to come to him. He calls all tired people to him, no matter how or why they’re tired.
So whether you’re working hard to make your life look better than it actually is (“labor”) or finding yourself weighed down by things beyond your control (“heavy laden”), Jesus wants to give you rest. He sees you. He understands what you’re doing, what you’ve done, and what’s been done to you. His heart is tender, welcoming, willing, and open to receive you. All you have to do is be honest with yourself and with him about your need.
You don’t have to pay anything for God’s rest. Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” His rest is a gift, not a reward for good behavior, not a transaction. If you’d like to talk more about what coming to Jesus for rest means, talk to someone around you or me after the service.
The Sabbath is a Gift
While it is clear that God’s sabbath rest is only truly found by coming to Jesus in faith, it’s not as clear what Christians should do with the Sabbath laws of the Old Testament. The two things that are clear in the New Testament about the Sabbath are that it’s a gift from God and that it’s a disputable matter that Christians are free to disagree on.
First, it’s a gift from God. Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for us. Mark 2:27, “And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’” In this verse, Jesus is interpreting for the Pharisees a passage he’d just quoted to them about David eating the bread from the Tabernacle when he was hungry. Jesus is saying that, though they knew the letter of the story, they didn’t understand its spirit, and the same was true of their understanding of the Sabbath. They were making the Sabbath a burden instead of a blessing. So Jesus tells them that the Sabbath is a gift from God, “The Sabbath was made for man.” The rabbis had taken the gift and made it a burden by adding all sorts of regulations to it. The work it took to keep all the regulations undermined the point of the Sabbath. The rabbis’ version of the Sabbath made people tired when God wanted to give people rest.
The Sabbath is a Disputable Matter
The second thing the New Testament says about the Sabbath is that it’s a disputable matter that Christians are free to disagree on. Paul addresses this issue directly in Romans 14:5, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” And Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food or drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”
In other words, Christians shouldn’t judge one another if we have differing views on the Sabbath. For example, some Christians have taught that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, but our church believes that binds the conscience in a way that the Bible doesn’t. So we don’t teach that Sunday is the new Sabbath day. However, if someone believes Sunday is the Sabbath, that’s fine! They just can’t require other church members to believe the same or make them feel bad for not agreeing with them.
Those in Christ are free to not observe the Sabbath laws, free from the specifics of the Old Testament commands. This doesn’t mean that we’re free to ignore the wisdom of the principle of the Sabbath. Pursing a pattern of regular rest is wise, not slavish law-keeping. Adam Mabry says, “If you’re concerned that by embracing regular Sabbath rest you’re in danger of coming under some harsh legalism, simply ask yourself how not observing Sabbath rest is going for you. It’s not rest that threatens to oppress you, but your refusal to.”[6]
When Should We Rest?
When should we sabbath? Whenever is best for you and your family! Find what works for you and your family and your stage of life. Talk to another brother or sister in Christ and see what they do. Suzy and I made a plan for our sabbath toward to the end of my sabbatical and it’s served us really well. It’s not law and we tweak it as we go, but it helps us guard the sabbath.
What Should We Do When We Rest?
What should we do when we rest? Two things. First, do anything that’s not work. This doesn’t mean inactivity. It means do something that’s not part of your regular work. One of the stated purposes of the Sabbath was refreshment. Exodus 23:12, “Six 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.”
God gives us the Sabbath to refresh us. If you’re exhausted physically and emotionally, it may be because you aren’t tapping into the gift that God has given you to charge your batteries. God doesn’t want you to be miserable all the time. He wants to refresh you.
Second, we should worship when we rest. Sabbath is “a time of rest, holy to the Lord.”[7] Sabbath means setting apart time to rest in and with the Lord. This means that you need to open your Bible and pray during your time of rest. The point is to rest with Jesus, not from Jesus. Binging on Netflix on your day off isn’t Sabbathing. Pursue things that will fill your soul, not numb your mind.
You may object that you don’t have time or ability to rest for a whole day. I’m sure there are situations where this is genuinely the case. But for many of us, we can do this, we just don’t know how or don’t think we need to. Perhaps we don’t trust that God will take care of us if we stop working for a day, or we’re desperate to build an identity of success and strength, or we’re convinced that our situation is unique and that these things don’t apply to us.
Friends, please hear me: you will reap what you sow. If you sow a life of incessant work with no routine of regular rest, you will reap a life of exhaustion, anxiety, depression, fatigue, health problems, lower levels of productivity, and a lack of depth with the Lord.
Sabbathing isn’t a self-help technique. It’s a God-given gift to his image-bearers for their refreshment. If you neglect it, you do so to your own peril.
God Will Give Us Rest Even if We Don’t Rest
Even if you choose to ignore God’s wisdom about rest, he won’t remove his promise of Sabbath rest from you. He will bring us home to rest even if we fail to rest here and now. We don’t earn his eternal rest. God gladly gives it.
And like every good Father, he also gladly gives good gifts to his kids. Sabbath is one of those gifts. Sabbathing is our way of responding to his grace and saying to him that he is Lord of life, not us, that we need him and trust him, and that he’s the deepest refreshment of our lives. God rested, so should you.
[1]Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life Will Deeply Transform Your Church, Team, and the World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).
[2]David Murray, Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 100-1.
[3]Ibid., 101.
[4]Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987), 36.
[5]Ibid.
[6]Adam Mabry, The Art of Rest: Faith to Hit Pause in a World that Never Stops (The Good Book Company, 2018), 48.
[7]Ibid., 24.