Bible Study Genesis Part 21-Sanctified Rest Day

God does something surprising in Genesis 2. After six days of staggering creative power, He doesn’t bless the “busy” days. He blesses the day He stops. That single choice raises an uncomfortable question for anyone raised on performance based religion: why would God sanctify rest instead of work?

We walk slowly through Genesis 2:1-3 and press into the details, including why the text insists Creation is finished and why God tells us He rested. Then we sit with the irony that the seventh day is blessed “because” of rest. If the Bible itself highlights stopping, what is it trying to teach us about Salvation, holiness, and how we relate to God?

From there, we connect Genesis to the New Testament with Paul’s blunt warnings and clarifying statements in Galatians 1:8 and 2:16, plus the familiar anchor points of Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5. Our central claim is simple and sharp: we are not redeemed by our efforts, rituals, or religious achievements. We are saved by Grace through Faith, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We also define Sabbath as Shabbat and explain why this theme keeps showing up throughout Scripture.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re doing “enough” to be right with God, this study aims straight at that fear. Subscribe, share this with someone who feels burdened, and leave a review.

Transcript

Why Scripture Demands Your Attention

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Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel. God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries. We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God. We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day. The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold. And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture. Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible. It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision. Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us. It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word. We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death. In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Never treat what God has said lightly. There's truly nothing more important to you. Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

Returning After Thanksgiving Break

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All right, we are back. We took a week off for Thanksgiving. I don't think most people mind when you take a little bit of a break, but we did actually have a little bit of a Bible study. We we called it a Thanksgiving service. It was very nice. We got together, we talked about all of the things that we're thankful for. In case you don't know, we have a little bit of a small class that joins us every Wednesday on a Zoom call, and then we just sort of port all of the video and audio to YouTube. Really, it is the core of what we do at Chapel Ministries. We have decided that we're going to go all the way through God's word, no matter how long it takes us. If Jesus comes back before, that's fine with us. But we're going to keep on going all the way true through the Bible as long as we can. We have already covered the letter to the Ephesians from the New Testament. Then we skipped over here to the book of Genesis. We've been doing it now for a few months. We've covered all of the first chapter. We've just really gotten started in the second chapter. So we are in the second chapter of the book of Genesis. We are going to go all the way through. Hey, only 49 chapters more to go. We're almost

Genesis 2:1 And The Meaning Of “And”

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there, so not bad. So last time we were together, let me switch my source. Last time we were together, we, as you remember, spent some time on verse one. Now it's not been our practice thus far in our Bible studies to spend too much time on review, but I do want to take a moment to go over a little bit of what we covered in our immediately previous teaching session because it's so important to these next few verses and to everything that has everything to do with our salvation. Now I promise this won't take too long. It was only one short verse, but it is jam-packed with important information. In fact, vital information for those of us who are in the business of spreading the gospel. And that, by the way, means all of us who have been saved. Genesis 2, chapter, chapter 2, verse 1. Genesis chapter 2, verse 1. And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Now, the word and at the front of verse 1 tells us that there is a connection between what came before and what is about to be said. Always be on the lookout for that word and or the word therefore or wherefore or any similar words, especially if they come at the beginning of a chapter. Now, just a quick reminder chapter and verse were not in the original. They were added much later, probably during the Middle Ages, as an aid to study. Yes, as hard as it may seem now to believe, there was a time when the church was interested in helping the people understand their Bible. That didn't last long. Anyhow, chapter and verse. In this case, the designation, chapter two, verse one, didn't appear in the original. For thousands of years, the entire Old Testament books, every one of the books flowed from one sentence to another. The way our Bibles are currently structured, we tend to assume that one thought ended in verse 31 of chapter one, and then a new thought began with chapter two, verse one, but not so. Thank God we have this little word and, or do we not know the full impact of this statement here? Thank God for conjunction, junction. Genesis 2, chapter 1. And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Now I'm certain they're all snickering on the call. Now I'm certain that most of you question why I take so much time on little things, but believe me, this isn't a little thing. And is there to make sure we do not get confused about what's being said, and is here to keep us focused. It's a guidepost. And the heaven and the earth, and the heaven and the earth, what about the heaven and the earth? The creation of that. We know God is referring to the work he did in creating the heaven and the earth because the word and is here. You must not get mixed up. The word and and everything else in verse one is here to ensure there is total clarity. This is incredibly important. And the heaven and the earth were finished. The original Hebrew word is referring to a process that is complete. Remember, we said that last time. We referred to the academic resource, and that's what it told us. Kala is the word in the Hebrew, and it means a completed process. And then just to be as clear as possible, as I said, God doesn't want us to make any mistakes. He clarifies what he's referring to. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. Everything God made was finished and was set upon the course God intended for it. This wasn't just making stuff. This was making stuff that was supposed to then do stuff. Now that all the hosts, all the armies of creation are finished being made, they went about obeying God's purpose for them, except one. But we're not there quite yet, though we did touch on that last time. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. The work of creation has ceased. The sixth and final workday is complete. No more work. Are we together on this? Okay, good. Believe me, there are few things

Finished Creation And The Logic Of Rest

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more important to know. So let's move on. Verse two. And the seventh day, God ended his work. Now, God does not mind repeating himself. In fact, he does so with intent. Here in verse 2, he says exactly what he said in verse one. Kind of seems like he has something that he doesn't want us to forget and miss. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Now, here's the reason we must accept that creation is finished. Because he rested. He rested from his work because it was finished. It was complete, it was done, so he rested. And when you think about it, it's actually kind of intriguing. Maybe intriguing is the right word. Intriguing that an inf and it that an infinitely powerful God rested. And by the way, this isn't a break. He isn't on break. This is rest after the completion of a set of tasks. There was no noon whistle, no job boss hanging around looking at his watch, waiting for God to get back to work. There's nothing left to do. He finished, then he rested. And what's even more amazing, and this I believe is the key to all of this, is that he told us he rested. Doesn't that seem unusual? The whole thing seems unusual, actually. But the fact that he took the time to share with us these things is so odd. I know I keep saying that, but I can't help it. I mean, he's God and we're not. He doesn't need to tell us anything. And yet he takes the time to say to us that he rested. Well, the message we should take away from that, the fact that he told us this, the reason he told us that he rested must mean it's important for us to know. Just remember what we've said all along. If something is in this book, then it's important to his story, and we should pay attention to it. I repeat, therefore, since God told us he rested, it is important to know. So important, in fact, that the day he rested became immortalized by him. He immortalized that day. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he

The Seventh Day Blessed As Holy

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had made. Verse three, listen to this. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Once again, here in the creation account, we have a statement that simply oozes importance and irony. Listen to me. Over the previous six days, God creates this masterpiece. Believer and skeptic alike all agree that everything that surrounds us in nature is nothing short of magnificent. Look at the majestic Himalayas, the vast expanse of the Sahara, the Grand Canyon. Stand and take in any of the world's oceans. Pull out a big magnifying glass, kneel down and watch the incredible, nearly invisible ecosystem that is in continuous operation on any forest floor on the planet. All of that happened in those six days. He started all of this in those six days. Simply take a moment or two to contemplate the unspeakable grandeur of what God has done. And if it doesn't humble you, I'm not sure you're human. And listen, you don't even have to believe that God did any of this. If you're a Darwinist, if you believe in the random processes that science says is responsible for all this, fine. But I know it still takes your breath away. And I'm gonna say it again. Fine, don't. But it's still magnificent. In those six days, he did all of that, and yet he decides to bless the seventh day. The seventh day. That was the rest day. He didn't make special any of the other days that he spent doing all that magnificent work, but instead he blessed the day he rested. Doesn't that strike you as strange? In fact, listen to me. Not only did he bless it, he sanctified it. And you know that means he made that seventh day holy. Let me say it again for emphasis. He did neither of those things. He didn't bless or sanctify when the work of creation was going on. Not one of those days did he bless or sanctify. Six working days, no blessing, no sanctifying. Seventh day, no work, and he blesses and sanctifies. The work is done. The rest is happening, meaning he's resting and he blesses that and he sanctifies that. I mean, if you and I were doing the blessing and the sanctifying, I'm sure we'd have picked any of the other days. If you love astronomy like my wife, I'm sure you would have blessed and sanctified the fourth day. If the skies thrill you, this would be your special blessed sanctified day. Genesis 1.14. And God said, remember all this, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. This is incredible. Have you seen the stars? Have you ever seen the Milky Way? It's incredible. And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also, and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. For some of you, that would be the day you think should be blessed and sanctified. If your idea of a perfect vacation is lazing around on the ocean, then the day before that, the third day, might be your choice. Genesis 1 9, and God said, Let the waters under the heaven. Have you seen the mo the ocean? Magnificent. Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he sees, and God saw that it was good. Yeah, it was good, but he didn't bless it and he didn't sanctify it. You nautical people, though, you parrotheads, there's a couple of those on this call, you probably would have. Day three would have been your special day, wouldn't it? But that's not the day God chose. He didn't choose any of them. Not those first six. God blessed and sanctified the day the work stopped. And probably the most incredible part is that he blessed it and sanctified it because he rested. I want you to understand that. Isn't that weird? That's exactly how he said it. Genesis 2, 3 again. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Listen, what I'm trying to communicate is that it's one thing to bless the day you rested. It's quite another to bless the day because you rested. The blessing and the sanctifying were due to the resting, not because of the resting, due to it. Because of the resting, yes, not because of the work before, not the work. He blessed it and sanctified because of the resting, due to the resting. Now you're saying, okay, I get it. Why is that so important? Well, I'm hoping to explain that to you a little later. And then God takes it even further. This resting on the seventh day was so special to God that later on, not too much later, but later on, he even commanded his people to hold this very same rest day in great reverence. And if they didn't, the law said they must die. And the Bible tells us that did happen. This was an important day to God. God told his people that every seventh day must be recognized as significant. And he tells them why. He says, because he rested on that day and blessed it and treated it specially, so must they. Again, not the work days, not the days he labored. The day, the one day he stopped working was the important one. That seems so incredible that it must mean something. And indeed it does.

Rest As The Gospel Not Works

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My friends, this is nothing but the gospel. The gospel. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. Listen to me. The work God didn't want to bless and sanctify. He didn't want to bless and sanctify that. All of the working, it's not even mentioned in this blessing. Nothing could be more clear than the fact that the work had no part of the blessing and the sanctifying. It was all about the rest. It was all about the stopping from work. I'll say it again, though you may think I'm crazy, but I guarantee you this is the gospel. You've heard me say before that the entire Bible has but one theme. You've heard me say before that the Old Testament is just as important to Christians as the new. You've heard me say before that Jesus can be found on every page of this Bible. And here is proof. Everything that God has said to us confirms one thing. Listen to me. It's not our work that redeems us. When we stop Working, we're redeemed, we're set apart, we're blessed, we're sanctified. We are redeemed by someone else's work. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ only. If someone comes up to you and says, Listen, I have to tell you, the only way you're gonna get to heaven is if you light 72 candles, you give me $94, and you take a dive in a holy water pool. If you do those things, I guarantee you God is going to love you and you're going to go straight to heaven. But you have to do those things. If someone comes to you saying the Bible says anything other than what we've already talked about, about the redemption and the resting, then they are liars, or I guess misinformed. If someone comes to you saying that God spoke to them and gave them a personal message, and if that message is not related to the fact that our work must cease in order for us to be blessed and sanctified, if they tell you something other than we are redeemed by the blood of Christ only, then it is a lie or a delusion or a complete misunderstanding of what God did say. John, I can't believe you say things like that. That's so harsh. How dare you? Who do you think you are? I'm nobody, but I'm not the one saying this. God is. Galatians 1, 8. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, what gospel? The gospel of worksless salvation. That's all Paul ever talked about. To him, that was the gospel. And he says, if he changes his mind, or an angel from heaven comes and preaches any other gospel, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be cursed. Now listen, you may not like what I just said, but what Paul said 2,000 years ago in this letter to the Galatians is far more aggressive. In Paul's mind, it's not just an accursed message, it's an accursed messenger. The subject of Galatians 1, 8 isn't what is preached, it's the one who's doing the preaching. That's how bad it is. Paul says the false messenger should be removed. Kick the bum out. Ban him from your presence. In fact, now listen to me. The word accursed in the original is anathema. And some scholars claim that it carries with it the idea of being doomed for destruction, doomed to eternal punishment. God is telling the liars to go to hell. Maybe I shouldn't have been so polite. If the message you're receiving about what the Bible says does not align with Jesus Christ being the only hope for mankind, then you're listening to the ramblings of the condemned and their father Satan. But John, hang on. This is the Old Testament. We're learning from the Old Testament. Do you mean to tell me that when I'm reading Genesis 2, 3, I should assume that God is talking about the redemption that Christ bought for sinning mankind? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And God bless the seventh day and sanctify it because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. From the very beginning, God has been declaring to us the gospel. Now let me hop back to the New Testament for a quick minute. Let's go again to Galatians, this time chapter 2, verse 16. Is any of this getting through? Does anyone, does everyone see how clearly God is trying to tell you to stop working for your salvation? Stop saying, Hail Mary's to be saved, stop lighting candles to be saved, stop telling your minister, great job, so he'll bless you for salvation. There's nothing you can do but rest. If you don't want to be blessed and sanctified, keep on working. Galatians 2, 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. This isn't even a faith in Jesus Christ. This is a faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Resting from work, ceasing to work, that is the key to blessing, sanctification, and justification. That's God's message. It's always been that way. And he started communicating the symbology that leads to that truth all the way back in Genesis 2.2. More proof from the New Testament, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Verse 9, not of works, lest any man should boast. Surely you remember that one. One more, Paul's letter to Titus chapter 3, starting at verse 5. Comes right out with it. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, verse 6, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, grace, as you know, is defined as something you get for free. You can't work for grace. If you work for it, it's something else. If you want to work for your grace, you're gonna, you're not gonna be blessed and sanctified. Verse 7, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. When God blessed and sanctified the seventh day because of rest, God was telling us symbolically of the honor he bestows that will only come once we've stopped working and start believing. Come on, John, aren't you being a little creative? I mean, this all sounds like you're trying to fit into fit your doctrine into something that has nothing to do with it. And I'm sure some of you are thinking that too. Okay, I challenge you. You explain to me what God's getting at. Why did He not only bless the rest day, the rest day, but he made it holy? Nothing was done on that day. That seventh day was quiet and calm and completely uneventful purposely. You think God really needed to rest? He just stopped working. He didn't really need to rest. He's God. For six days, God was busy with miracle after miracle after miracle. There was light for the first time on the earth. The stars were not only set where we can see them, but God illuminated them just to make it a little bit easier. He made the seas and then filled them with great fish and creeping things which had never existed before. He brought life to the earth and even created man and lots of other things. He did all of that on each of the six days of creation. He said it was all good, but he didn't make any of those days holy. He told us each day, or they were the day, remember, was one day, and then the second, he told us about each one of those days. He told us what number they were, but he didn't bless any of them. If it's not related to the work of salvation, specifically grace, which the entire remainder of the Bible speaks of, then you tell me what this could possibly be. And don't forget, not only did he do all of those things, but he told us he did. And he told us why he made that day special. I'm gonna read it again. And aren't you beating this to death? I couldn't, it's not even possible to beat this to death. But this is not the message you're getting from your churches. Your churches want you to work for your salvation, they want you to do something to be saved. Now, don't get me wrong, there's value in doing, but that comes after you're saved. We talked about that in Ephesians. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which we had 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 sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. Resting is the reason it was holy. Not working was honored. What else could it be? And while you're thinking, I'll state my position. Resting from work is the key to our salvation, and it's so important that God gave it its own day. Now, if you think I'm overreaching, in the context of all of Scripture, you tell me why God would bless the not working and not bless the working that He did. It seems so ludicrous to pick that day out of the seven that there must be an explanation. If it's not the gospel, you tell me why God would do something so outrageous. The evidence points to only one possibility. We are saved by grace, not by works. In other words, stop working for your salvation and rest in the completed work, just as

Sabbath Meaning And Closing Appeals

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complete as creation, rest in the finished work of redemption. I'm sure that I failed to communicate this, but I guess that's enough for now. Now don't worry, we're gonna talk more about the Sabbath. That's what the rest day has been called. We'll be talking about the Sabbath many, many more times as we go through God's word. Why? Why are we gonna talk about it so much? Because God does. He talks about it so much, in fact, that the only conclusion one can come to is that the Sabbath, the commemorative rest day, must be very important to him for some reason. And by the way, the word Sabbath is actually a transliteration of the Hebrew word Shabbat, coming from the root word shabbat, which really only means to repose, to rest, to rid of, to still, to put away, to leave. I wish I had some confidence that this got through, but I'm not sure it did. Next time, we'll respectfully move on. See you then.

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We hope this study has blessed you. God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption. It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners. Please join us again soon. New content is being added all the time, so make sure you check back often. For more information on Chapel Ministries, including our YouTube channel and podcasts, please visit www.chapelontheweb.com. And if God has laid it upon your heart to share materially with us, we encourage you to follow the links to our secure giving page. Please note, Chapel Ministries is not an IRS registered nonprofit organization, and your donations to this program are not tax deductible. It's our hope that you do not rely on taxing authorities to decide for you who is worthy of your generosity.