If God is omnipotent (all-powerful) then, I don’t know about you, but I always thought that He shouldn’t need to rest! I mean, after we’ve had a chaotic week, we need a break, but God? Genesis 2:3 doesn’t actually say that God “needed” to rest; it simply states that He did
God is all-powerful, and for that reason, it means that He never tires – therefore, He definitely doesn’t need to rest! God is the epitome of what we ultimately desire; He’s never weakened…never exhausted…in any way
In Hebrews it says:
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word”
Hewbews 1:3
We need to destroy the image of God, straining under the weight of the world on His shoulders. Scripture tells us that this definitely isn’t the case because the entire universe is simply held together by Jesus’ word. Creation and the upkeep of everything God created is not difficult for Elohim because He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm
The Hebrew word for “rested” gives us a much clearer picture than that of being tired. Sabat means “to cease or stop.” God simply “stopped” His work. In other words, He “ceased” creating on the seventh day. This was because all that He had created was very good, and this meant His work (as mentioned before) was complete
This brings a whole new image to my mind because God did not merely “rest” on the seventh day; He “stopped creating.” It was a purposeful stop. Everything He desired to create had been completed
In the Jewish tradition, the concept of shabat has been carried over as the “Sabbath”. The Law of Moses taught there was to be no work on the seventh day (which is actually on a Saturday). If God ceased from work that day, then the Israelites were to cease from their work on the Sabbath as well. This meant that the days of creation are the basis of our seven-day week as we know it today
Friends, to put it simply, God’s “rest” was not due to Him being tired but because He was finished entirely with His creative work
This brings the old saying to mind:
A man’s work is never done
Which reiterates why God is God, and we are not
Categories: Genesis
