Introduction
Ever since the Reformation, the meaning of the Sabbath
has been a heavily debated topic among Protestants. According to Richard Gaffin,
four general interpretations on the Sabbath have arisen from these
debates. First, the
“Antinomian” view holds, based upon an imposed dichotomy
between law and gospel, that the Sabbath has been abolished in Christ and
should not be observed by the Church.
Second, the “Seventh Day Sabbatarian”
view takes the exact opposite position, teaching that the fourth
commandment is binding to Christians in the same manner as it was to Old
Testament Israel. Third, the “Ecclesiastical”
views hold that the Sabbath was “strictly Mosaic in origin” and
therefore does not apply to the Church.
The Lord’s Day, or Sunday, was established either by the early
Church, the apostles, or Christ, though unrecorded in the Scriptures. Fourth, the “Sabbatarian”
view holds that the Sabbath is creational in its origin and is therefore
applicable to the Church today. However, the observance of the Sabbath
today by the Church is not the same as it was for Old Testament Israel;
it has been “adjusted” by the coming of Christ. Thus, the
Sabbath was moved from Saturday to Sunday.
In keeping with the Reformed tradition, this paper will assume the Sabbatarian view of the Sabbath, though with a
redemptive-historical emphasis.
The Sabbath in the Old Testament has two aspects: the
Sabbath as legislation and the Sabbath as consummation. Both of these aspects exist side by side
in the Old and New Testaments. The
Sabbath understood as legislation is that aspect of the Sabbath that is
mandated by God for man to obey. The
Sabbath understood as consummation is that aspect of the Sabbath in which
Creation is used as a paradigm for the redemption of the world. In the same way that the Sabbath is the
consummation of creation, Sabbath rest is also the consummation of
redemption. The distinction between
these two aspects of the Sabbath is not a sharp distinction; there is overlap
between the two. Yet this
distinction is helpful to understanding the Sabbath as a whole. Sabbath as legislation and Sabbath as
consummation can be thought of as two flip-sides of the same “Sabbath
coin.” Yet both of these
aspects can be traced throughout redemptive-history. The purpose of this paper is to trace the
redemptive-historical significance of both the Sabbath as legislation and
the Sabbath as consummation through the Old Testament, as well as to explore
their fulfillment and continuation in Christ.
Sabbath as Legislation
Origins in Creation
Genesis 2:1-3 describes the ordination of the Sabbath,
stating that, after He had completed all His works of Creation, God
“blessed” and “sanctified” the seventh day, and
“rested from all that He had done” (NASB). God sanctified the seventh day during
creation, before the Fall.
Therefore, the ordination of the seventh day as Sabbath is a
creational structure. Genesis 1:1 -
2:3 describes God’s creative works in a “six and one”
pattern: six days of work for one day of rest. This is parallel to the Sabbath cycle
which is still observed today.
Furthermore, it must be noted here that the Sabbath day was not
consecrated with respect to Himself, but with respect to His Creation and
for the sake of man (Mark 2:27). As O. Palmer Robertson has said,
“it was for the good of man and the whole creation” that
“God instituted the Sabbath.” God rested from His works on the seventh
day, and then sanctified that day for us.
Yet it must not be thought that when God rested on the
seventh day that He rested from all His works. Jesus said with respect to the Sabbath,
“My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working,”
(John 5:17)
implying that both Jesus and the Father work on the Sabbath. Rather, John Murray has shown that when
God rested on the seventh day, He rested from one specific kind of
work—that is, His creative works of Genesis 1. “The contrast is between the work
of creation and what is not the work of creation.”
These creative works were not resumed after the seventh
day. Genesis 2:2 says that God had
completed all His works by the seventh day.
There were no more acts of creation to be done. Creation was complete and finished. Furthermore, the absence of the ending
characteristic of the other six days, “And there was evening and
there was morning. . .,” also indicates that God’s creative
works were not resumed. The seventh
day was the last and final day of creation.
John Murray has said that since the ordination of the
Sabbath was a creational structure, presumably even Adam would have
observed it. Yet according to him, Adam’s
observance of the Sabbath was distinct from the creation mandates. The creation mandates were given as a
“reminder of his relation to, dependence upon, and responsibility to,
God.” The ordination of the
Sabbath, however, was given for two reasons. First,
to teach Adam that his life on earth was “patterned after a
divine example,” for the cycle ordained for man was patterned after
God’s creative works. And
second, it provided “a time for specific worship.” In the same way God’s rest was a
rest only from His creative works, Adam’s rest was a rest from his
providing works in order to worship God.
While Murray’s
view has been accepted by many, it is not necessary to conclude from the
fact that the sabbath is rooted in creation that
the sabbath was therefore prescriptive upon Adam
and his offspring. Exodus 20:8-11
does not claim that people have observed the sabbath
day every week since creation, only that a weekly sabbath
observance is patterned after creation.
There is no prescription to observe a weekly sabbath
until the command at Mt. Sinai.
The Sabbath Day
Old Testament: Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue
(Exodus 20:8-11)
The Sabbath day was instituted after the Exodus from Egypt
in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8-11):
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
. . For in six days the LORD made
the heavens and the 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.” The
institution of the Sabbath day for the nation of Israel
reflected the creational structure outlined in Genesis 1:1 - 2:3. Israel was
to work six days as God had worked, and then rest on the seventh as God had
rested. Thus the people of God were
to imitate God’s creative works, even as Adam was to imitate
God’s works. As Geerhardus Vos has said that
the principle behind the Sabbath “consists in this, that man must
copy God in his course of life.” Also, it appears that this command was
not something new to the Israelites, for the command was to remember the Sabbath day,
presupposing they already knew what it was.
Furthermore, the legislation of the Sabbath was larger than just
rest from work for the Israelite people, for the “sojourner”
and even livestock were to observe the Sabbath.
The Sabbath day was a means of provision for the
Israelite community. It was a command,
but it also a provided a day of rest for the Israelite community. God had told the Israelites that when
they gathered manna on the sixth day, they would bring in “twice as
much as they gather daily” (Exodus 16:5). Thus, by God’s gracious provision,
“seven days of livelihood would come from six days of labor.” God had rested on the seventh day and was
refreshed (Exodus 31:17). In the
same way, the Israelites were blessed with the opportunity to imitate God
and refresh themselves on Sabbath day (Exodus 23:12).
In as much as the Sabbath was a means of provision for Israel,
it was also a means of redemption for Israel. When Adam had sinned, God cursed his
work, saying,
“Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall
eat of it all the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat
the plants of the field; By the
sweat of your face You shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall
return” (Genesis 3:17b-20).
The institution of the Sabbath provided one day of the
week without the effects of the curse on Adam. This also provided a way for the
Israelites to look forward to a time of complete redemption, when no curse
would be found. The Sabbath was a
creational structure, but God used it to provide redemption for His people
as they moved into the land
of Canaan.
New Testament fulfillment
As is the case with all Old Testament themes, the
Sabbath is fulfilled in the New Testament “already and not
yet.” The complex of
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection established a New Creation for
the people of God with a new created order (2 Corinthians 5:17). In this new Creation, Christians have a
new Sabbath in Him. In Matthew
11:28-30 Jesus says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and
you shall find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” In this new Creation, the Sabbath
allows us to approach God, not on the basis of our futile works and toil,
but on the basis of faith (Galatians 2:20). Through this new Sabbath God has given us
rest from our works where we can live a life of faith to God.
The Sabbath is still a creational ordinance and a
command which Christians should observe, but the ordinance of the Sabbath
has been “adjusted” by the coming of Christ. Christ rose from the dead on Sunday,
establishing rest for the people of God apart from our works. For Christians therefore, the Sabbath has
been moved to Sunday in order to celebrate the day when Christ established
rest for His people.
As much as we have received a new Sabbath now, it has
not yet been fully realized. The
people of God as well as Creation still feel the effects of the curse. The labor of providing for the family is
still a frustrating toil. Childbirth
is still painful. Christians still
struggle with sin in their lives.
Yet at the consummation of the kingdom
of God,
when God establishes a New Heavens and a New Earth, the curse will no
longer have any affect on Christians.
No more will there be toil in the work of provision and no more will
the people struggle with sin.
Complete rest from the curse and from the effects of sin will be
realized, but only in the New Heavens and the New Earth.
The Sabbath Year
The Old Testament (Leviticus 25:1-7)
The people of Israel,
when they entered the land
of Canaan,
were to allow the land to celebrate a Sabbath every seventh year (Leviticus
25:2-4). This is distinct from the
Sabbath day in that it was established with an emphasis on the land. The Israelites were to refrain from
sowing in their fields and pruning their vineyards (v. 4). The purpose of the Sabbath year was,
according to Robertson, to “protect the land from abuse” and
“provide refreshment for man” from their labors. This law demonstrated to the Israelite
community that, although they had been given the land as their inheritance,
God was still the primary owner of the land. The land was to be maintained in the
manner God Himself prescribed.
The Sabbath year was similar to the Sabbath day in that
it was a provision for Israel
and for the Israelite people. The
Israelites would receive seven years of sustenance from the land with only
six years of labor. Leviticus
25:20-21 says that if the Israelite community were to doubt God’s
provision, He would bless them so much “in the sixth year that it
will bring forth the crop for three years.” Yet the Sabbath year was also redemptive. God provided Israel
one year without the curse of toil in working the ground. As O. Palmer Robertson has said,
“man was not to be captive to the creation.” One year out of every seven years would
not be affected by the curse. Thus
the Sabbath year ordinance was a good thing and a blessing for Israel.
Yet the Sabbath year was also a command, and
disobedience would result in punishment.
Leviticus 26 implies that if Israel
were to disobey the Sabbath (among other commands), she would be
“scattered among the nations” and her cities would “become
waste” (v. 33). While the
people are exiled, “the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths”
which could not observe while the Israelites occupied the land (vv.
34-35). Hill and Walton have noticed
that “according to the prophet Jeremiah, it was the neglect of the
Sabbatical laws and the consequent rejection of covenant instruction”
which caused the fall of Jerusalem
and the exile to Babylon
(2 Chronicles 36:17-21, Jeremiah 25:8-14). Thus, the seventy years of captivity was
at least in part because Israel
had disobeyed Sabbath. The land
needed ten Sabbaths to recover from the sins of Israel.
Daniel, near the end of the seventy years of captivity,
was concerned about the fact that Jerusalem
had not been restored (Daniel 9:1,2) and prayed to God for forgiveness and
restoration (Daniel 9:3-19). Yet the
Israelites had not yet repented of their sins. Therefore, God’s answer to
Daniel’s prayer described “seventy weeks” yet to come,
standing for seventy times seven years (Daniel 9:24-27). This delay of the restoration amounts to
a prophesy of the coming of Christ.
Although a remnant did come back to Israel,
full restoration did not occur until the coming of Christ. Thus, the eschatological hope for
restoration of Israel
was a “structure. . . along Sabbatical lines.”
New Testament Fulfillment
As stated before, Christ’s death and resurrection
brought a New Creation in the form of the kingdom
of God After Christ’s death and
resurrection, the kingdom
of God lost
its geo-political boundaries.
Gentiles are now a part of the people of God in the Church, which is
the New Israel, and Jews and Gentiles have become one people (John 10:16,
Ephesians 2:11-22). Thus, the
restoration of the land
of Israel
was the establishment of the Church.
Yet the restoration of the land was not a complete
restoration. The earth was created
to be a sanctuary for God. However, sin corrupted the world and was
no longer a suitable temple. The
Jewish temple and Israel
were intended to be a new sanctuary for God, though it was incomplete. Because of His resurrection, Christ has
replaced the Jewish temple with his own body and now he lives in
Christians, so that we are His temples on earth.
This in part fulfilled the ultimate goal of all the covenants: God dwelling
among His people with Him being their God and they being His people (cf.
Ezekiel 27:26-28). However, complete
fulfillment of these goals will not be realized until the Second Coming of
Christ, at which time He will establish a New Heavens and New Earth.
In the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 22, there
will be no temple, “for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are
its temple” (v. 22). Creation
will be completely restored and will once again be a sanctuary for the
Lord, and God will dwell on earth among men; He will be their God, and they will His
people forever.
The New Heavens and the New Earth will also fully
relieve Creation from the effects of the curse. As a result of the Fall and as a part of
the curse, God caused all creation to be “subjected to
futility” (Romans 8:20). The creation today still feels the
effects of this curse. The present
creation “groans,” anxiously longing for its redemption. Yet at the consummation, “the
creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the
freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). A picture of this restored Creation is in
Revelation 22:1-5. It is apparent
from this description that, in the New Heavens and the New Earth, “there
shall no longer be any curse.” (Revelation 22:3).
Year of Jubilee
Old Testament (Leviticus 25:8-17)
Israel
was to “count off seven sabbaths of
years” (v. 8) that is forty-nine years, and after this time had
passed, on the day of atonement, they were to “sound the ram’s
horn” (v. 9) and proclaim liberty through the land. In this fiftieth year, any debts that
Israelites had were to be canceled.
Anyone who had to sell his property to another Israelite would
receive back his property.
Furthermore, the Israelites were not to sow or reap the aftergrowth, but were to “eat the crops out of
the field” (vv. 11-12). The
fiftieth year was to be a Sabbath to the Lord.
Of course, the practical purpose for the year of Jubilee
was to prevent the redistribution of the land among the tribes. God would give each tribe a part of the
land as an inheritance when they entered and conquered the land. These laws prevented one tribe from
taking over another tribe’s land.
Yet beyond this, the year of Jubilee displays God’s care and
provision for those who were struck by misfortune. If an Israelite became so poor that he
had to sell his property, the purchaser who bought his property would have
to return the property to the previous owner in the year of Jubilee (Lev.
25:23 - 28). Furthermore, the
Israelites were not to take other Israelites as slaves. If an Israelite became so indebted that
he sold himself to another Israelite, the indebted Israelite was to serve
as a “hired man” with his purchaser until the year of Jubilee,
but then he would be freed so that he could return to his family and
homeland (Lev. 25:39 - 44).
The redemptive significance for the year of Jubilee is
obvious. On the day of atonement in
the fiftieth year, liberty would be proclaimed throughout the land and all
debts were to be canceled. Israelite
servants would be freed and their property would be returned to those whom
God had given it. Isaiah’s
prophesies, looking forward to Israel’s
restoration from exile, used this Sabbatical imagery and associated it with
the coming of the Messiah (Isaiah 61:1 - 3). The coming of the Messiah would
“bring good news to the afflicted,...
bind up the broken hearted, . . . proclaim liberty to
prisoners,” and “proclaim the favorable year of the Lord”
(vv. 1-2).
New Testament Fulfillment
Jesus Christ, in Luke 4:17-21, quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and
said that He had fulfilled this passage in the hearing of those with
Him. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of Israel’s
Messianic and Sabbatical hopes. From
the time of Adam, humanity has been captive to sin and death (Romans 5:12-21); thus, every man owes
an unpayable debt to God (Matthew 6:12; 18:27, 32; Romans 3:23). Jesus Christ, upon His death and
resurrection for us, has provided atonement for our sins. By His atoning work, Jesus Christ has
proclaimed liberty to captives and has canceled out all our debts which we
have owed to Him (Colossians 2:14). Jesus Christ has given us freedom from
our sins.
Furthermore, Jesus Christ has promised us an inheritance
“which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away (1 Peter
1:4). In the same way the year of
Jubilee restored the inheritance of the Israelites given to them by God
through Joshua, Jesus Christ has given the “promise of the eternal
inheritance” (Heb. 9:15) to those in the New Israel, the Church. The Holy Spirit whom God has been given
to us seals us in Him as a pledge, our guarantee of this eternal
inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14),
which we will receive in the New Heavens and the New Earth.
However, the promise of the year of Jubilee has not been
completely realized. Although our
debt has been canceled and we have been set free from the penalty of sin,
the effects of sin still affect our lives.
Until we are fully redeemed in the New Heavens and the New Earth, we
will continue to struggle to sin. At
the consummation, however, all effects of sin will be completely wiped
away. Furthermore, we have only
received a promise of the
inheritance, which is “reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter
1:4). Although this inheritance is
guaranteed, we will not receive this inheritance until the New Heavens and
the New Earth.
Sabbath as Consummation
During Creation
The Progress of Creation
The Creation account of Genesis 1 describes the process of
God creating order out of chaos.
Genesis 1:2 describes the chaotic state of the pre-formed earth,
saying, “And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over
the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface
of the waters.” This passage
describes chaotic nature of this “pre-formed” earth in two
ways. First, the earth, before God
began to shape it, is described as תֹהוּ
וָבֹהוּ (or tohu wabohu)
-- that is, “formless and void.” Bruce Waltke
has suggested that the intent of this phrase is to say that the world was
“unformed and unfilled.” Second, the passage states that
“darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Both “darkness” and
“the deep” are hostile to life—that is, unfit for human
habitation.
The six days of creation describe the process of forming
and filling the earth in order to make it habitable for life. The first three days of Creation describe
God forming the earth by creating “habitable realms.” This was accomplished by separating
opposites. In day one, God separated
light from darkness. In day two, God
separated sky from water. In day
three, God separated earth from sea.
The second three days of Creation describe God filling the earth
with rulers over the habitable realms.
On day four, God created the sun to rule over the day and the moon
to rule the night. On day five, God
created fish and fowl to rule the sea and sky. On day six, God created animals and man
to rule over the land. By the time
of creation of man on the sixth day, therefore, the world has been fully
formed and fully filled, specially crafted and designed for human
habitation.
God consummated His creation by resting on the seventh
day and sanctifying it. The fact
that God rested on the seventh day signifies that His creation was now
orderly and complete. Thus, the
Sabbath is the consummation and goal of Creation. Creation began in chaos and, by acts of
forming and filling, was completed in rest and order. Table
1 graphically displays this progression of creation.
Table 1: Progress of Creation
|
Acts of Forming
(First Three Days)
|
Acts of Filling
(Second Three Days)
|
|
|
1. Separation of Light
from Darkness
|
4. Creation of the sun,
moon, and stars
|
|
|
2. Separation of Sky
from Sea
|
5. Creation of fish and
fowl
|
|
|
3. Separation of Earth
from Sea
|
6. Creation of beasts
and humans
|
|
|
7. Establishment
of Sabbath (consummation, enthronement, and consecration)
|
|
|
|
|
The meaning of the Sabbath in Creation
Meredith Kline, in his book Kingdom Prologue, states that the Sabbath proclaims God as the
“Omega Consummator.” He
then describes three characteristics of the Sabbath as portrayed in Genesis
2:1-3: consummation, enthronement, and consecration. First, Kline describes the Sabbath as a
consummation of Creation. This has
previously been discussed to some degree.
The Sabbath completed the creation of the world, which was to be a temple
for God. In Genesis 1:1-2:3, God is
portrayed as a Divine Architect, designing and building a house for
Himself. The first six days were
characterized by works of creation, saying at the beginning of each day,
“Let there be.” Yet on
the seventh day, however, God rested over His creation and (hypothetically)
said, “It is finished.”
Thus, Kline says, “As a celebration of the finishing of the
world-temple, the Sabbath proclaims the name of the Creator to be
Consummator.”
Second, the Sabbath expresses the enthronement of God
over His creation. God was not
wearied after six days of creation.
He did not need to “recoup” from His creative works
(Exodus 20:11
and 31:17 are anthropomorphic language).
Rather, “the Creator’s Sabbath rest is much more a
matter of taking satisfaction and delight in his consummated
building.” Since God is the
Creator of the world, His acts of Creation display God as King over
creation. Thus, God’s rest on
the seventh day has a “royal” character to it. Not only was creation to be a temple for
God, it was also to be a “cosmic palace and accordingly his resting
is an occupying of his palace, a royal session.” It should be noted here that
“temple” and “palace” in Hebrew are the same word (הֵיכָל), so the concept of the world
being God’s temple and His palace are very similar concepts.
Third, the Sabbath was the consecration of the seventh
day creation. This concept builds on
the theme discussed earlier that God, in the first three days, formed
habitable realms, and in the second three days, filled those realms with
their rulers. Kline noticed that the
days of creation are organized thematically by Moses in order to bring out
the “hierarchical order” of the narrative. On the fourth, fifth, and sixth days, God
created rulers in a hierarchical manner to rule over the realms He created
on the first three days. The rulers
created on each successive day were given more authority than the day
preceding. Man’s rule was even
extended to cover the whole earth, not just the realm of land created on
the third day. On the seventh day,
God consecrated the Sabbath day “and set it apart as sacred to the
Creator. It belongs to the Lord of
the covenant and witnesses to God’s ultimate proprietorship of the
land and to his lordship over the life of man.” All the works of the six days of creation
were “consecrated to man,” whom God has set as ruler and king
over His creation. Yet man is only a
“vassel-king.” Ultimately, creation and man himself is
consecrated to God, who is Lord over creation, man, and the Sabbath.
During the Time of Noah
The purpose of the Flood of Noah was to bring rest to
the earth from man’s sin.
Genesis 3:1 - 6:8 describes the extent to which humanity had fallen
into sin. Genesis 5:28-29 says that Lamech named his son Noah because he “shall give
us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the
ground which the Lord has
cursed” (v. 29). The word
“Noah” (נֹחַ or
Noach)
comes from the word (נוַּח or
nuach),
which means “rest” in the sense of settlement “in a particular
place. . . with overtones of finality, or. . . victory, salvation,
etc.” William J. Dumbrell
notes that nuach
means “rest” in the sense of “ease” or
“refreshment.” This is not the same word as what is
translated “sabbath” (שָׁבַת or shabbat), which indicates
rest in the sense of “repose.” However, two Old Testament texts use both
these words together with sabbatical significance. Exodus 20:8-11 is a command to
“Remember the Sabbath day” (v. 8) because “in six days
the Lord made the heavens and
the earth. . . and rested [נוַּח or
nuach]
on the seventh day” (v. 11).
Exodus 31:12-18 is also a command to “observe my sabbaths” (v. 13) because “on the seventh
day He [the Lord] ceased from
labor, and was refreshed [נוַּח or
nuach]”
(v. 17).
During the Flood, God caused the created order to
collapse upon itself. In essence,
“God played the tape of creation in reverse.” Genesis 7 describes the progression of
the Flood. Genesis 7:11-12 states
that when the Flood began, “all the fountains of the great deep burst
open and the floodgates of the sky were opened. And rain fell upon the earth.” Thus water came down from above and up
from below, collapsing the two realms created on the second day (air and
sea) together. Furthermore, Genesis 7:19 states, “the water
prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains
everywhere under the heavens were covered.” Thus all the land was covered, collapsing
the two realms created on the third day (land and sea) together. All the “rulers” who lived in
those realms created on the second and third day (birds, fish, animals, and
man) were destroyed. Only the realms
of day and night, and thus their rulers (sun, moon, and stars) were not
destroyed. At the height of the
Flood, the earth became a chaotic sea, formless and void, uninhabitable by
life.
“But God remembered Noah” and preserved his
life. The recession of the Flood in
Genesis 8:1-5 is also reminiscent of creation. God “caused a wind [רוּחַ, or ruah] to pass
over the earth, and the water subsided” (Gen. 8:1). Another translation for רוּחַ is
“spirit.” Perhaps it is
not coincidental that Moses chose to use this word in this context. Genesis 1:2 states that the Spirit (רוּחַ) of God was
hovering over the chaotic waters, from which He formed the world. In Genesis 8:1 it is a wind sent by God
which causes the chaotic waters to subside.
At any rate, this wind continued to restore the realms of land, air,
and sea into their proper order until the ark “rested” on Mount
Ararat (v. 4). The world was restored to its proper
order by a work of “recreation” by God.
Genesis 8:6-12 uses sabbatical imagery to describe the
final waiting period before Noah could leave the ark. Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had
been completely abated, but the dove returned because it found no
“resting place” (vv. 8-9).
Seven days later, Noah sent out the dove again, and it returned with
an olive branch, signifying that the water had receded and life was being
restored to the earth (vv. 10-11).
Seven days later, Noah sent out the dove a third time, and it did
not return, implying that it had found a resting place (v. 12), because
creation was ready for Noah to leave the ark and return to the land. The seven day cycles and the dove’s
resting place imply a sabbatical imagery to the consummation of the flood.
Thus, the restoration of the created order was a
recreation of what was destroyed by the Flood. The consummation of this recreation was
Sabbath rest from the sin of mankind.
Creation was “refreshed” from the sinfulness of
man. Furthermore, Genesis 9:1-2
reiterates the giving of the cultural mandate to Adam in Genesis 1:28,
implying that the restoration of creation was a new creation, a new Eden,
which was to be a place of rest for Noah and his descendents. Thus, in
keeping with the purpose of the naming of Noah, the flood brought
“relief from the toil that he [Noah] should bring” (Gen. 5:29).
From Exodus to Conquest
The Literary Purpose of Genesis 1:1-2:3
As stated before, the historical significance of the
creation account in Genesis 1:1-2:3 is that it describes a progression from
chaos to order. The question must
then be asked, what significance did
Moses intend for this account to have for Israelites in their travels from Egypt
to Canaan? Richard Pratt has suggested that the
meaning of the creation account to the Mosaic audience was to teach them
that “the initial order of the universe was contrary to life in Egypt
but attainable in Canaan.” The lives of the Israelites in Egypt
were characterized by chaos. They
were slaves, harshly mistreated, and greatly overworked. However, Canaan
promised to be a land of rest and blessing—a land “flowing with
milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8).
Thus, literary purpose of the creation account to the Mosaic
audience was to encourage the Israelites to live Egypt
behind them and continue on their journey to the Promised Land.
This understanding of the creation account is evident in
descriptions of both Egypt
and Canaan. Genesis 1:2 describes the pre-formed,
chaotic earth as “formless” and states that the Spirit of God
was “hovering” over the waters.
These two words are found nowhere else in Mosaic literature except
in Deuteronomy 32:10-11. Verse 10
describes the land
of Egypt
as a “howling waste,” using the same word translated
“formless” in Genesis 1:2.
Verse 11 states that the Lord cared for and protected Israel
as an eagle that “hovers” over its young, using the same word
translated “moving” or “hovering” in Genesis
1:2. Here Moses draws a parallel
between the chaotic, formless earth of Genesis 1:2 and the Israelite
captivity in Egypt. He also draws a parallel between the
Spirit hovering over and creating order out of the chaotic waters and the
“Glory-Spirit” hovering as an eagle over Israel. Thus, “Deuterononomy
32 refers to God’s work of redemptive re-creation in the exodus
event.”
In contrast to Egypt,
the land
of Canaan
is pictured as being “Eden
recaptured.” Canaan
is a fertile land , a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut.
8:8-10, 26:9). Canaan
is “a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs” (Deut.
8:7). In the land
of Canaan,
God would bless them above all peoples (Deut. 7:14), provide them with security and
heal them of their sicknesses (Deut. 7:15). Yet, also like Adam in Eden,
the condition for living in the land was to keep the covenant. If this covenant was “irretrievably
breached,” they were to “be expelled from the land.” Dumbrell has
stated that “one can hardly escape the impression that what is being
depicted through such references is Eden
recaptured, paradise recovered.”
Moses repeatedly states that the land
of Canaan
would be a land of rest for the Israelites, especially in the book of
Deuteronomy. The land
of Canaan
is described as a resting place which God will give Israel
(Deut. 3:20,
12:9). The conquering of the land
of Canaan
under Joshua is said to be God giving rest from surrounding enemies (Deut 12:10, 25:19). If the Israelites were to break the
covenant and be exiled, they would find no rest in any other nation (Deut
28:64-65). Thus the land
of Canaan,
when occupied by Israel,
was to be a restored Eden
and a place of Sabbath rest for Israel
in which they could “enjoy the gifts of creation in the way in which
they had been meant to be used.”
Psalm 95:7b-11 is an exhortation not to sin in the way
that the first generation Israelites had in the wilderness in Meribah and Massah. Meribah and Massah are two names for the place where the Israelites
had tested the Lord in Exodus 17:1-7.
The Israelites complained because God had not given them water, but
God produced water from the rock through Moses. God’s judgment that the first
generation Israelites would not enter Canaan
was given later, after the rebellion of the spies (Numbers 13-14). Yet the Psalter considered the sin of Israel
at Meribah
to be one of the sins which led to the final judgment in Numbers
14. He said of the first generation
Israelites, “Truly they shall not enter into My rest” (v. 11). Thus the first generation did not enter
the rest God had promised the nation of Israel.
The Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue
(Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
Whereas the motivation to keep the fourth commandment in
Exodus 20:8-11 was God’s pattern in the creation of the world, the motivation
to keep the same commandment in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 was God’s pattern
in the redemption of Israel from Egypt:
Observe the sabbath day to keep it
holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. . . And you shall remember that
you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of
there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to
observe the sabbath day.
Yet, given the understanding that the redemption of Israel from
slavery was an act of re-creation of the way the world was intended to
be, it is not difficult to see the
reason for this difference in motivation.
Dumbrell states that these two
“applications” are not contradictory; rather, they are
“in fact complementary, since it is the Exodus redemption which makes
the new life in the land, and thus, the Edenic
values recaptured, possible.” Moses and Israel
saw the progression of the Exodus from captivity in Egypt,
through the wilderness wanderings, to the conquest of the land
of Canaan
as the establishment of the rest to which the progress of creation
prefigured. In the same way that the
Sabbath was the goal and consummation of creation, rest in conquest of the land
of Canaan
was the goal and consummation of the Exodus.
During The Monarchy
Joshua 23:1 states that through the conquest of Joshua,
“the Lord had given rest to Israel
from all their enemies on every side.” Thus Joshua established rest for the land
of Israel
by defeating their enemies. Yet the
book of Judges shows that the conquest under Joshua was not complete. In fact, Judges argues that the
Israelites would not be able to complete the conquest until they had a
king. In 2 Samuel 7:1, after David defeated the
Philistines, the text states that “the Lord had given [David] rest on
every side from all his enemies.”
Thus David “achieved what the Judges had failed to do.” As a reward for David’s obedience,
God promised in His covenant with him that He will continue to give him
“rest from all [his] enemies” (2 Sam. 7:11).
There is a parallel between 2 Samuel 7 and Deuteronomy 12. Deuteronomy 12 is an expectation of the
time when all the enemies of Israel
are defeated (vv. 9-10). When this
is accomplished, the Israelites were to make sacrifices to God (v.
11). Yet they were not to go to an
of the old “cultic places” that were previously in the land (v.
13). Rather, they were to go to
“the place which the Lord chooses in one of [the] tribes”
(v14). Thus, God always intended for
Israel to
have a centralized place of worship.
In 2 Samuel 7, David accomplished the goal of rest anticipated by
Deuteronomy 12 and then desired to build a temple for God—a
centralized place of worship for Israel. Although the actual task of building the
temple was left to David’s son, it was David who made all the plans
and preparation for its building and who was the “architect of
rest” for Israel.
According to Hebrews 4:7, David was the author of Psalm
95. As stated before, this Psalm
reflects upon the sins of the first generation Israelites and claims that,
because of their sins, they would not enter God’s rest—that is,
they could not enter the land
of Canaan. However, David lived after the conquest
of Canaan, and using this instance in
the past, he calls the people of his day not to “harden their
hearts” in order that they may enter God’s rest. Therefore, David must have looked forward
to a rest to come, and he must not have considered the conquest of Canaan
to be the final rest for the people of God.
To what rest did David refer?
The New Testament proclaims that Jesus Christ, consummate David is
the final architect of rest for the people of God.
New Testament Understanding
Already
Salvation in Christ is viewed by the New Testament as a
new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation” (NIV) and then claims that
“the old things [have] passed away; behold, new things have
come” (NASB). The things of
the old creation have passed away, while the things of the new creation
have come. John, begins his gospel
in an obvious parallel with the beginning of Genesis, saying,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came
into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come
into being. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men. And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. .
. There was the true light which,
coming into the world, enlightens every man” (John 1:1-5, 9 ).
Here John seems to be giving theological meaning to the
creation of light on the first day of creation. And Paul seems to echo this thought when
he says, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’
is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
In the same way that the goal and consummation of
creation was Sabbath rest, the goal and consummation of this new creation
is Sabbath rest, fully realized in the New Heavens and New Earth. Yet Christ’s work in His first
coming has provided, in part, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Jesus proclaims this rest in Matthew
11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will
give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall
find rest for your souls. For My yoke
is easy, and My load is light.”
Richard Gaffin states that these verses
describe an “eschatological rest already present for
believers.” Philip Hughes has also suggested that
this verse describes a “rest which Christians even now experience in
Christ in the midst of a variety of afflictions.” Thus, in Him we have rest and salvation
apart from the works of the Law, not because He abolished the Law, but
because He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17). The Law was never intended to be a means
of salvation, as the Pharisees had taught.
Jesus offers us salvation, and rest from our works on the basis of
His work for us on the cross.
Not Yet
Although we have rest in Him on the basis of faith,
there is yet a final rest still to come. Hebrews 3:7-4:13 is an exposition
of Psalm 95. As discussed earlier,
David in this Psalm compares the Israelites of his day to the first
generation Israelites in the wilderness.
He wrote this Psalm to encourage the Israelites to not “harden
their hearts” (Ps 95:8) as the first generation Israelites had;
otherwise, they would not enter His rest (v. 11). The “rest” referred to in
this Psalm is entrance in the Promised Land. However, the author of Hebrews argues
that if the conquest under Joshua had given them rest, and if David lived
after the conquest, why did David speak of a future rest? (Hebrews 4:8).
Therefore, the author of Hebrews concludes that “there remains
therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of god” (v. 9) and
encourages us to “be diligent to enter that rest” (v. 11).
The author of Hebrews compares us as Christians to
the Israelites in the wilderness. As Richard Gaffin
has said, “Israel
in the wilderness and believers under the new covenant are in analogous
situations.” Jesus, our superior Moses-Joshua, has
delivered us from our bondage to sin and death, represented by the Exodus,
yet He has not yet led us into “that experience of salvation which is
unthreatened and unchallenged, represented by rest and peace in Canaan.” According to the author of Hebrews, we as
Christians are still in the wilderness.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11, uses this same paradigm
to encourage obedience to Christ. He states that the stories of the
Israelites in the wilderness provide “examples for us, that we should
not crave evil things, as they also craved’ (v. 6). Paul then lists many of the sins of the
wilderness Israelites, and exhorts us to not fall into these sins as the
wilderness Israelites had had. Then
in verse 11, Paul reiterates his statement in verse 6 and writes that the
wilderness stories were “written for our instruction, upon whom the
ends of the ages have come.”
Thus, even though “the ends of the ages” has come upon
us, according to Paul we are still in the wilderness; the Promised Land is
still to come.
In Hebrews 4:3-4, the author identifies the rest attained
by those who believe with the rest which God established on the seventh day
of creation:
For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has thus said somewhere concerning
the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His
works.”
The Garden of Eden was to be a place of rest where Adam
could share in the rest that God had established on the seventh day of
Creation. Yet as a result of Adam’s sin, he
and Eve were cast from the garden and were no longer able to share in that
rest. The author of Hebrews, by
identifying our future “eschatological redemption-rest” with
God’s rest in creation, is stating that God’s goal in
redemption is nothing less than the restoration of mankind to his original
place of rest in Eden. Gaffin states
that the writer of Hebrews “knows of only one rest, ‘my
rest,’ entered by God at creation and by believers at the consummation.” Thus, the New Heavens and the New Earth
will be a cosmic Eden
in which man will experience true rest in the blessings of true fellowship
with God.
The picture of the New Heavens and New Earth given in
Revelation 21:1-22:5 is that of a new, cosmic Eden. In this restored world order, there will
be “no longer any sea” (21:1).
At first, this may seem difficult to reconcile with Revelation 4:6
which refers to a “sea of glass” before the throne of God. However, Revelation 21:1 is a contrast with
Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God was hovering over the chaotic
waters. The chaotic sea was also
the place from where Leviathan came, who was a symbol of all that is evil
in the world, both for the Psalter (Psalm 74:12-15) and for the prophets
(Isaiah 27:1). The intent,
therefore, of saying that there will be no longer any sea is to say that
there will no longer be any chaotic
sea—there will no longer be any or evil. The seas will be seas of glass. Order and rest will be restored to the
earth. All evil will be wiped away
because Leviathan (the dragon or the devil) will have been thrown into the
lake of fire (20:10).
Furthermore, the restored earth will be a place of
restored fellowship with God.
Revelation 21:3-4 proclaims the final realization of the goal of all
the former covenants between God and Israel
(stated explicitly or implicitly) in this formulaic expression:
the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among
them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,
and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no
longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or
pain; the first things have passed away.
There will not be any temple in this restored Eden,
(21:22)
for all sin will be destroyed. God
will dwell freely among men. The
“river of the water of life” (22:1) and the “tree of
life” (22:2) will be present in this restored earth, signifying
eternal life for believers and heightening the imagery of the New Jerusalem
as a restored Eden. Thus, the New Heavens and the New Earth
will be an eternal Sabbath with God in a restored Eden
where no sin and no curse will be found (22:3) and we will once again have
perfect fellowship with God.
Conclusion
Redemption, as should now be well established, is a
re-creation of the present heavens and earth. This re-creation is nothing less than a
restoration of the original cosmic order, which established in Creation and
which was corrupted by the Fall. The
goal of this re-creation, therefore, is Sabbath rest. This rest is realized in part now, but
will only be completely realized in the New Heavens and New Earth. This is true whether the Sabbath is expressed
as legislation or as consummation.
The Sabbath as legislation was established when God
rested on the seventh day of creation and sanctified it. Its legislation to us allows us to
imitate God in His creative acts.
Six days we are to work, while on the seventh day we rest in the
same way God rested. The
Sabbath is a provision for us in
that God will bless our labors so as to provide for a seventh day without
work. Yet it is also redemptive in
that it gives us a rest from the curse.
One day a week there is no need for toil. Yet it will not be until the consummation
that we will experience life without any effects of the curse. Thus the
full realization of the Sabbath as legislation is reserved for the New
Heavens and the New Earth.
The Sabbath as consummation was established in the
progress of creation. The progress
of creation in Genesis 1 was a process of forming order out of chaos and
filling that order with rulers. The
Sabbath on the seventh day was the consummation of this process. Sabbath rest is also pictured as the
consummation of redemption. This is
foreshadowed in the land
of Canaan. Moses and Joshua led the people of God
out of the chaos and bondage in Egypt
into the land
of Canaan,
which was a new Eden—a
place of rest for the people of God.
Yet the author of Hebrews proclaims that Christ is a new and superior
Moses-Joshua who has led us out of the chaos and bondage of sin and is
leading us to the new and superior Promised Land. However, this Sabbath rest is still
future; it will not be fully realized until the New Heavens and the New
Earth.
There is much more that could be said about the Sabbath
as a redemptive-historical theme in the Bible. The following are two topics for further
consideration which could not be addressed here, given the scope of this
paper:
1.
A discussion of the relationship between the progress of
creation and the cultural mandate.
The progress of creation was one of “forming” and
“filling.” The cultural
mandate is a mandate to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis
1:28). The observance of the Sabbath
by man was an imitation of the “rest” of God. Does this mean that the cultural mandate
is a command to imitate God’s creative works? Is there a parallel between God’s
creative works and man’s observance of the cultural mandate?
2.
A discussion of the relationship between Sabbath rest and
the presence of God. The goal of
creation is Sabbath rest. The goal
of creation is also unhindered fellowship with God. The seventh day of creation, the
establishment of temple in Israel, and the New Heavens and the New Earth
are all three expressions of the presence of God on earth as well as
Sabbath rest. Although a connection
between the two is somewhat implied in this paper, a further analysis of this connection would be
fruitful.
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