Lesson 1 - Tuesday: The Sabbath
Regarding Tuesday's nugget (The Sabbath), David Sims wrote:
Amen to the Sabbath. Thank you, God, for the creation of the Sabbath. Gen 1 gives the first 6 days of creation and describes them as 5 x good and 1 x very good (also for very good, Gen 1:31, which says God saw everything He had made, and indeed it was very good). Was the term very good referring only to the 6th day or to all the 6 days of creation described in Gen 1? Blessings. David Sims
Hi David,
Thank you for the great question. Let's look at the text again. Gen 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
The clue is the Hebrew word for all. It's the word "kole" and it means to consider the whole. We would say, "we are looking at the complete picture". In other words, Moses' is telling us that God took a step back, looked at the entire scene and was deeply satisfied because the whole creation together was "very good".
Blessings,
Pastor Bob
David Asks:
As an additional comment/question, I see in Gen 2:2-3 it describes the 7th day as being blessed, sanctified and a day on which God rested. These are the attributes of the Sabbath. However, the term Sabbath is not used, instead it is described as being the 7th day? Why in the English translation of the Bible is the word Sabbath not used in Gen 2:2-3? Is the Hebrew word Shabbat (Sabbath, to rest) used in Gen 2:2-3 in the original language? And finally, is the first use of the word Sabbath in the English translation of the Bible found in Exodus 16:23? David Sims
Hi David,
Another great question. Moses is wanting his readers to understand the origin for the Sabbath as an institution created by God at the end of the creation week. The word used for seventh-day is deliberate in the Hebrew as it follows the pattern of First day, Second - day, Third - day and so on until you get to the Seventh-day. The use of Seventh-day, rather than Sabbath, is deliberate because God wants to leave no doubt in our minds as to which day of the week is blessed and set aside for rest. The word for rest is rooted in the same word used for Sabbath but they are not the same word. Again, God leaves no room for guessing which day of the week He Sanctified and made Holy.
And yes, it appears that the word Sabbath doesn't appear in scripture until Exodus 16:23. Notice however, in verse 26, that God says: Exo 16:26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. Once again God leaves us no room as to which day of the week is the Sabbath. I hope this answers your questions.
God Bless!
Pastor Bob