The Day God Rested: A World-Building Perspective

The creation of the world in six days, as described in the Book of Genesis, is a central tenet of both Judaism and Christianity. The seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. However, the Bible does not specify when this beginning occurred or how long it took. The creation story is found in the first two chapters of Genesis, with some contradictions between the two. Genesis 1 describes the creation of light, the sky, dry land, vegetation, the sun, moon, stars, sea creatures, birds, land animals, and finally humans over six days. In contrast, Genesis 2 implies that humans were created before animals and provides more detail about the creation of Adam and Eve.

The six days of creation

Day 1

On the first day, God created light, resulting in night-and-day cycles. He then divided the light from the darkness, calling the light Day and the darkness Night.

Day 2

On the second day, God created an expanse or a division between the water on the Earth's surface and the water above it. He called this expanse Heaven.

Day 3

On the third day, God gathered the waters under the heavens into one place, letting the dry land appear. He called the dry land Earth and the waters Seas. God then commanded the Earth to bring forth grass, herbs, and fruit trees, and it was so.

Day 4

On the fourth day, God made the sun, moon, and stars visible as distinct luminaries from the Earth's surface.

Day 5

On the fifth day, God created aquatic life and flying creatures. He blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the Earth."

Day 6

On the sixth day, God created land animals and humans. He created mankind in his image and likeness, giving them dominion over all other creatures. God blessed mankind and commanded them to "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."

After the sixth day, God rested from his work or stopped creating. He blessed and sanctified the seventh day, making it a holy day of rest, known as the Sabbath.

The seventh day of rest

The idea of God resting on the seventh day is mentioned in both the Priestly source (Genesis 1:1–2:3) and the Jahwist source (the rest of Genesis 2), indicating its importance in the Jewish and Christian traditions. According to Genesis 2:1-3, "And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made."

The concept of the Sabbath is further emphasised in the Ten Commandments, specifically the fourth commandment, which states, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

The Sabbath day is a reminder of God's sovereignty and omnipotence, as well as the divine order He established in the universe. It also serves as a day of worship and rest, reflecting God's presence in the temple and His ongoing work of maintaining a secure and ordered cosmos.

The creation of light

Then, on the first day, God created light by simply saying, "Let there be light", and there was light. God then separated the light from the darkness, calling the light Day and the darkness Night. This marked the end of the first day of creation.

Furthermore, the creation of light is a rejection of the polytheistic creation myths of ancient Israel's neighbours. By creating light and separating it from the darkness, the Bible asserts the monotheistic belief in a single, all-powerful God, rather than multiple deities associated with natural elements.

Finally, the creation of light is a reminder of God's intention for humanity. By establishing light, God provides the necessary conditions for life to exist and flourish. This act signifies God's care and concern for humankind, as well as God's desire for a relationship with humanity, made in God's image.

The creation of the atmosphere

On the second day of creation, God formed an expanse or a division between the water on Earth's surface and the water above it. Genesis 1:6-8 reads:

> "Then God said, 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' Thus God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day."

The word "firmament" comes from the Hebrew word "raqia," which means a solid dome. In ancient near Eastern cosmology, it was believed that the earth was a flat disc surrounded by water above and below. The firmament was thought to be a solid dome that rested on mountains at the edges of the earth.

Genesis 1:1 also mentions "the Spirit of God," which was "hovering over the face of the waters." The Hebrew word for "Spirit" can also be translated as "breath" or "wind."

The creation of land and vegetation

The creation of the world and humanity is described in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. There are two accounts of creation in Genesis, which are regarded as either two separate myths with similar meanings or as part of one continuous story.

According to Genesis 1:9-10:

> "Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear'; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:11-13 further describes the creation of vegetation:

> "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth'; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day."

The relevant passage from Genesis 2:4-7 reads:

> "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every shrub of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground."

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