Allow me to share something you might not be used to considering. While Scripture is sacred, the chapter breaks and verse numbering system are not. Stephen Langton, in the thirteenth century was a Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury, is most credited with dividing Scripture into chapters. Rabbis had similar systems, but Langton’s divisions were quickly adopted across Jewish and Christian communities. In the sixteenth century a printer by the name of Robert Estienne, known as Stephanus, organized the chapters into verses. Again the Rabbi’s had a similar system, using letters instead of numbers, but quickly adopted Stephanus’ system due to its ease of use.
To this day we day we have no idea why two highly intelligent men divided Genesis chapter 1 they way they did. When Moses laid out his work it logically ended in what we now call Genesis 2:3. The next verse, Genesis 2:4, clearly marks the start of Moses next chapter. We know this because Genesis 2:4 has begins with a toledot – that is Hebrew for these are the generations – a writing style that Moses will maintain throughout the book of Genesis. As Hughes aptly puts it, “They flat out blew it.”
Chapter 2
v1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
v2 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.
v3 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.
Day 7
God rested and blessed this day.. He created a world where the cycle of rest is is given as a blessing, yet we often struggle to embrace it. On a global scale, few people truly enjoy and practice the Sabbath. Rest, especially with sacred intent, is “holy.” Rest is not laziness, it is a blessed good.
Sabbath In Context
- Moses penned these words in the wilderness. Every Israelite understood the context, the Sabbath pre – dates the laws of Moses.
- This pre – Mosaic law is called a Creation Ordinance, meaning God established certain rhythms at creation and those rhythms are imbedded in the foundation fo the world.
- The Creation Sabbath instructions are surprisingly simple and vague.
- The Sabbath cuts across both Old and New Covenants but does alter course a bit as it does so.
- God rested to celebrate. He is All Powerful (Omnipotent), so he was not exhausted, he was excited.
- The first thing God wanted to enjoy was Adam and Eve.
- There is no phrase morning and evening.
- The phrase seventh day is repeated three times.
- The day is now holy, and is deeply sacred.
- The Sabbath has past, present, and future implications.
Moses’ Sabbath In The Old Testament
Moses recorded two different version of the Sabbath and each beautifully reflects God’s nature and plan. In Exodus 20:8-11 some time after crossing the Red Sea, Moses pens the fourth commandment, which is should be noted, is written by the finger of God.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and 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.
The emphasis here is to celebrate God as creator, and to adore his good works. At the end of Moses’ ministry, he repeats these lines but gives them a different emphasis. In Deuteronomy 5:15 Moses speaks about redemption.
You shall remember that you were a slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
So according to Moses, in the Sabbath the creator is worshipped and salvation and deliverance are celebrated.
Jesus’ Sabbath In The New Testament
What It All Means
Clues
Take note of the phrase “These are the generations.” You will find that phrase repeated in Genesis, and that phrase is a clue to the authenticity of Genesis. “These are the generations” might be short scrolls that comprised the original text. Each mention of “These are the generations” follows with some fascinating descriptions of things long ago. In this instance, more detail is given toward the atmospheric condition of earth, the making of Adam and Eve, the divine boundaries in the garden of Eden, and a drama is forecasted regarding “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
What Nobody Wants To Talk About – Our Black Father
When God made Adam, he made a black man or some form of a black man. The Hebrew word for Adam gives reference to a reddish black man, which makes perfect sense since he was made from the dust of the ground, and the entire human race finds it’s ancestral heritage from Adam’s blood and DNA.
Every biology student knows that it is impossible for a white man to produce a dark-skinned baby, but a black man can produce a white skinned child. Biology moves from black to white, not the other way around.
Adam was a black man with a strong red pigment in his skin, and he is the father of the human race.
Eve was taken out of Adam’s flesh and made by the craftsmanship of God. The glorious couple faced each other, and Adam proclaimed deep satisfaction with his wife, he was no longer alone. Eve was now his “help meet,” a ruling partner on earth, and in sacred marriage, one flesh with her man. The virgin couple “were naked,” and lived a life without shame.
