In chapters 13 Zaspel tackles the Sabbath. It’s no oversimplification to state that one’s view of the Sabbath provides a clue as to how one puts the whole bible together.
Chapter 13 provides something of a thumbnail biblical theological sketch of the Sabbath. In Genesis 2:1-3 we read:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (ESV)
Zaspel notes that the structure of the passage is such that it reaches its high point, not in the creation of humanity, but “in divine contented rest” (p213):
This, God’s rest, is the point to which the passage drives. Put another way, Moses is portraying the fact that creation – human history – finds its goal in God’s rest. God’s creation itself is to enjoy and have a share. (p213)
This note of rest provides something of eschatological anticipation. After man sins we read in Genesis 3:21 of the Lord making clothes of skin for Adam and Eve; God has begun to work again (John 5:17). Zaspel points out that Genesis 2:1-3 is:
intended to be understood as a small beginning of a much larger theme which later biblical writers will progressively unfold. It is a theme that is pregnant with hope and anticipation. (p214).
Zaspel observes that the first record of Sabbath observance appears in connection with the Exodus, prior to Sinai. The people were to collect double manna on the 6th day and rest on the 7th. This is not the Jewish Sabbath as such, notes Zaspel. Only the prohibition to collect manna stands. Yet the prohibition provides “a regular and vivid reminder that rest can only come by God’s provision” (p216).
The Sabbath, enshrined in the Decalogue, became the sign or seal of God’s covenant relationship with Israel (Ex. 31:13; cf Ezek. 20:12, 20). The covenantal significance of the Sabbath explains why Israel’s neighbours, though “condemned for many sins, were never criticized for a failure to observe the Sabbath day” (p218). The reason that such harsh penalties were attached to Sabbath breaking was the fact that to profane the Sabbath was to violate the covenant sign. Zaspel illustrates by noting that a husband throwing his wedding ring accross the room has far more symbolic and serious connotations than if he hurled a plate of food accross the room. In the same way, Sabbath breaking was a most serious kind of sin.
God had given Israel “rest”, and this rest, the very token of the covenant, was to be duly honoured and observed. God’s rest must not be profaned by man’s work (Ezek. 22:26). (p219)
The Sabbath in Deuteronomy 5:12-15, unlike Exodus 20:8-11 (which grounded the Sabbath in God’s creation rest), grounded the Sabbath in God’s deliverance. God had redeemed Israel from their “work” as slaves in Egypt.
This note of labor giving way to rest, and rest as a gift from God, links this to the rest theme introduced in Genesis 2. (p220)
Here we see redemption and divine rest as two sides of the same coin. Indeed, as Zaspel observes, “rest is redemption.” (p221) In the rest of the OT, the rest theme is associated with the land (e.g. Ex. 33:14; Deut. 3:20), deliverance from enemies issuing in times of peace (e.g. Jos. 11:23; 14:15), the presence of God/ark in Zion (e.g. Ps. 132:8, 14; Is. 66:1), and the resurrection (Ps. 116:7-9).
These kinds of notes along the way illuminate the study considerably and confirm that the OT Sabbath looked forward to the reality to be enjoyed in Christ. It was the “shadow” of which Christ is the “substance” (Col. 2:16-17). (p225)
In the next post, I’ll survey Zaspel’s overview of the Sabbath in the NT.
First class.
In Gen 2 the seventh day is a day when God rests, not man. God rests, and can surely only rest, in what is perfect and ‘very good’ (Gen 1;31). There is no ‘evening and morning’ in the seventh day; it is in a sense an ‘endless day’ foreshadowing the eternal rest of God and the people of God in the new creation. With the intrusion of sin the ‘very good’ was broken and God began a ceaseless work of recreation as you point out (Jn 5:17).
Until sin entered I wonder if we are to see Adam and Eve enjoying God’s sabbath rest? Certainly with sin work becomes a burden involving ‘the sweat of the brow’.
Interestingly, apparently Calvin did not view the Sabbath as a creation ordinance.
As you say, just as the rainbow was the sign of the Noahic covenant, and circumcision the sign of the Abrahamic covenant and the Holy Spirit the sign so the sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant.
If the sign of the Mosaic applies to us so too presumably must the sign of the Abrahamic – all males should be circumcised!!!.
Good points there John. Zaspel also mentioned that there was no evening or morning on the seventh day, as you point out.
I’ve heard conflicting views regarding Calvin and the Sabbath.
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