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Creation

Brougt to completion on the seventh day in Genesis 1. It is the only day that does not end with 'there evening and there was morning, the Nth day'

Humans were meant to rest with God in his creation forever, but in their rebllion they are sentenced to work as slaves to the land. The rest of the hsitory of God's people consists of them looking for God's rest, but consistently falling back into slavery/(fallen) work.

Sabbath

Celebated every week on the 7th day. The idea is to live in the eternal rest that God offered in creation.

Jubilee

Every 7 * 7 years is the Ultimate Sabbath - the land is reset (or was supposed to be), everything was returned to the original owner, debt does not persist - everything resets so everyone can rest.

Jesus

Jesus calls himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He claimed to bring the ultimate rest of God. Jesus was crucified at a specific time - on Good Friday, and he rose again on the following Sunday... which is the first day of the next week or the 8th day... the first day of a new age, a new rest, God's ultimate sabbath that is symbolized in the 7th day of creation.

Questions

!!! note "1"

How does the author of Genesis conclude each of the seven days of creation?
Consider the seventh day of creation as an ultimate rest day. What do you
think it would be like to always live in that rest with God?

!!! Scripture "Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31; 2:1-3 5"

5God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was
evening and there was morning, one day.

8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was
morning, a second day.

13There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was
evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Creation of Man and Woman

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2By
the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on
the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3Then God blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work
which God had created and made.

I imagine it would've looked a lot like enjoying the creation... I work at things I love, and that can be restful to me - I find purpose and order in my hobbies and so I bet life would be like that. The work woudl be productive but not toilsome.

!!! note "2"

Read Genesis 3:1-7 and 3:21-24 What were the humans tempted to believe
about God and themselves? How did they act on these beliefs, and how did
this choice exile them from the place of rest? How do you think lies about
God and ourselves prevent us from resting with God today?

!!! scripture "Genesis 3:1-7,21-24"

The Fall of Man

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord
God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall
not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent,
“From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3but from the fruit
of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall
not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4The serpent said to the
woman, “You surely will not die! 5For God knows that in the day you eat
from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one
wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband
with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they
knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves loin coverings. 

21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam
and his wife, and clothed them. 22Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man
has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch
out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever”— 23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to
cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24So He drove the man out;
and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the
flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of
life.

Humans are templted to believe that God is witholding desirableble information they are templted to be like God. They are templted to believe that they would be right to knowing good and evil (ironic since they know it's bad to eat of the Tree of Knowledge anyways)

They acted by listening to the serpent, and to themselves... essentially they chose to not listen and adhere to Yahweh. This choice represents stark and obvious rebellion. Yahweh, I think, sees that his creation are tempted to go their own way, and for their own protection exiles them from the Garden.

It seems like lies haven't changed; ultimately we are still tempted to define good and evil/bad for ourselves. I take action by defining wicked things as good - made obvious by the fact that I choose to sin often, choose to not listen to Yahweh. Actively listening to myself is exhausting. I think there's a lot to discussing "God's rest", but a high and almost trivial level, I am simply less tired when my life is more in step with God's definitions of good and bad

!!! note "3"

God wants to restore humanity to ultimate rest, so he chooses the
Israelites to reenact his seventh-day rest so they can share it with
others. Of all the ways he invites them to practice rest which practice are
you least familiar with today?

!!! scripture "Exodus 20:8-11"

8“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God;
in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your
male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with
you. 11For 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.

!!! scripture "Leviticus 23:1-3; 25:8-13"

Laws of Religious Festivals

1The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and
say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy
convocations—My appointed times are these:

3‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath
of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a
sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

8‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven
times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of
years, namely, forty-nine years. 9You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad
on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall
sound a horn all through your land. 10You shall thus consecrate the
fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its
inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to
his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11You shall
have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its
aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12For it is a jubilee;
it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.

13‘On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property.

!!! note "4"

Jesus comes to restore us to God’s eternal rest! How does Jesus launch his
public ministry? Read Luke 4:14-21, noting that the year of favor refers to
the ultimate Jubilee—Israel’s super-charged Sabbath 

What do you observe?

!!! scripture "Luke 4:14-21"

Jesus’ Public Ministry

14And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about
Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15And He began teaching in
their synagogues and was praised by all.

16And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His
custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the
book and found the place where it was written,

18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

19To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and
the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say
to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

!!! scripture "Leviticus 25"

The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee

1The Lord then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, 2“Speak to the sons
of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give
you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. 3Six years you shall
sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in
its crop, 4but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest,
a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your
vineyard. 5Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes
of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical
year. 6All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food;
yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your
foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. 7Even your cattle and
the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.

8‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven
times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of
years, namely, forty-nine years. 9You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad
on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall
sound a horn all through your land. 10You shall thus consecrate the
fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its
inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to
his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11You shall
have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its
aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12For it is a jubilee;
it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.

13‘On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property.
14If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend or buy from your friend’s
hand, you shall not wrong one another. 15Corresponding to the number of
years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to
you according to the number of years of crops. 16In proportion to the
extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the
fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of
crops he is selling to you. 17So you shall not wrong one another, but you
shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry
them out, that you may live securely on the land. 19Then the land will
yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it.
20But if you say, “What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do
not sow or gather in our crops?” 21then I will so order My blessing for you
in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years. 22When
you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crop,
eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.

The Law of Redemption

23‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine;
for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24Thus for every piece of
your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

25‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of
his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his
relative has sold. 26Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his
means as to find sufficient for its redemption, 27then he shall calculate
the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold
it, and so return to his property. 28But if he has not found sufficient
means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the
hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it
shall revert, that he may return to his property.

29‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his
redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right
of redemption lasts a full year. 30But if it is not bought back for him
within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city
passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not
revert in the jubilee. 31The houses of the villages, however, which have no
surrounding wall shall be considered as open fields; they have redemption
rights and revert in the jubilee. 32As for cities of the Levites, the
Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities
which are their possession. 33What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may
be redeemed and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the
jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession
among the sons of Israel. 34But pasture fields of their cities shall not be
sold, for that is their perpetual possession.

Of Poor Countrymen

35‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard
to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner,
that he may live with you. 36Do not take usurious interest from him, but
revere your God, that your countryman may live with you. 37You shall not
give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain. 38I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of
Canaan and to be your God.

39‘If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he
sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. 40He
shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve
with you until the year of jubilee. 41He shall then go out from you, he and
his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to
the property of his forefathers. 42For they are My servants whom I brought
out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. 43You
shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God. 44As for
your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and
female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45Then, too, it
is out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you that you
may gain acquisition, and out of their families who are with you, whom they
will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession.
46You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a
possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your
countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one
another.

Of Redeeming a Poor Man

47‘Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes
sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as
to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the
descendants of a stranger’s family, 48then he shall have redemption right
after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49or his uncle,
or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his
family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50He then
with his purchaser shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to
him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond
to the number of years. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be
with him. 51If there are still many years, he shall refund part of his
purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52and if few
years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In
proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption.
53Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; he shall not rule
over him with severity in your sight. 54Even if he is not redeemed by these
means, he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with
him. 55For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I
brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

!!! note "5"

What is one specific way Jesus invites us to receive and practice true rest

!!! scripture "Matthew 11:28-29"

28“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.