In Genesis 2: 2-3 we read, "And on the seventh-day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh-day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh-day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
Earlier I noted that the seventh-day is the first thing that God sanctifies, and I wondered what the difference was between blessing something and sanctifying it. The hebrew word for blessing here is "barak", which means invoking divine favor. The hebrew word for sanctified is "qadas", which means to be made holy, to be made sacred, to be consecrated, and furthermore, to be set apart.
In a convesation with Adam, he noted that God blesses the animals and humans as a precursor for propogation. In Gen 1:22 it reads "And God blesses them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'" And then in Gen 1:28 it reads, "Then God blessed them [the humans] and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.....'"
In this context, God's blessing seems to mean that it is favorable to Him that both animals and humans propogate...that the earth may be filled with His creatures.
The sanctification of the seventh-day seems to go beyond a mere blessing to that which is solely sacred and holy. The seventh-day is, in fact, the first divine institution that landmarks God's work of creation. It is set apart to forever commemorate that He is the Creator of the world, and that He is, as Mykal said, "behind all that we see in the heavens and on earth." And the seventh-day, like everything else God creates, has a purpose.
It is a wonder why so many Christians downplay the importance of keeping the Sabbath on the seventh-day. I don't see how an earnest Christian, seeking to be biblical, can ignore it's significance. but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm sure this topic will come up again.
raj
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If we just look at what Genesis 2: 2-3 says, it is clear that the seventh day sabbath was blessed and sanctified, set apart from the rest of the days of the week. My question is how significant is this for Christians today? Is it realistic to believe in the literal interpretation that each Saturday on our modern calendar is a holy day? Can a metaphorical interpretation of the creation week justify seventh day sabbath keeping? What about calendar corrections to account for leap years? How would this affect the cyclical seventh day of rest and what day does the orignal Sabbath actually fall on? Are Christians to be held accountable for such discrepancies? If not, might Christians pick one day a week to commemorate creation and still be within the parameters of God's original plan for mankind? Where do good intentions fit into this whole scenario?
It is difficult to not jump ahead on this issue, and to consider how much is written in the Hebrew Bible about the sanctity of the Sabbath and the importance of keeping it holy. But it would not be fair to this exercise to invoke those texts at this point.
I think what we can say at this point is that the seventh-day being sanctified is something unique in the text, and we can only hope that our further readings will give us more clues on the meaning and purpose of the sanctification of the seventh-day.
raj
I find it very difficult to discern what is meant to be read literally and what is to be taken metaphorically in Genesis. and how you read the text would certainly affect your practice and orthodoxy as a Christian. I think many Christians who hold to a literalist interpretation of the Genesis narrative are often exposed on this issue. they will hold ardently to the position that God created the world in six literal days, yet they seem glib about keeping the biblical Sabbath...which,. according to the Biblical tradition, is on Saturday, the seventh-day.
raj
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