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Commentary on "The Holiness of God"
Day 3: Monday, January 30, 2012 - To Be Set Apart
Overview
In Genesis two, we are given the first lesson in the meaning of holiness. When creation was done, God set apart a certain 24-hour period and declared it holy. This specific time of rest was given for Adam and Eve to cease from their work and worship God. It is also identical to the Sabbath that Moses gave to Israel at Sinai.
Observations
It is important to understand this passage just as it reads, paying attention to what the author included, as well as what he omitted. Genesis 2:3 says that God blessed the 7th day and made it holy because He rested from all His work. This was God’s day to rest and delight in His work that He had finished. This was not about Adam’s work or his needs. It was about God’s delight in His very good and finished creation.
As Colleen pointed out earlier, the seventh day in Genesis 2 had no evening and morning, as all the other days of creation did. This omission was not an accidental omission, and it reveals that the author’s probable intention to show there was something different about this span of time. The seventh day was about God’s completed creation, which was to be without sunset, without end. Creation was no less complete on the eighth day, or any day thereafter.
There are no commands in Genesis for Adam to rest, for Adam did not work in the Garden. There is nothing here telling Adam to rest or worship. The seventh day was his first day of life, so there would be no need for a rest from tiring work. On subsequent weeks, Adam lived in a perfect garden that supplied all his needs. He did not need to till the ground by the sweat of his brow, nor would he grow weary. Hard toil for survival did not come until after Adam sinned.
Moreover, there was no fluctuation in Adam and Eve’s communion with God during their week. God did not withhold His presence from them on one day so that He could make another day more meaningful. There is no indication in Genesis 2 that before the fall, God withheld any good thing from His people on the other six days. There was no division of time into “Adam’s time” and “God’s time.” Everything Adam and Eve enjoyed belonged to God, and they walked before the face of God continually, living coram deo. His communion with them was never diminished, for His presence was not withdrawn from them until sin. There is nothing in Genesis that indicates that God’s fellowship with man waxed and waned with the days of the week.
The Lesson assumes that we will best understand holiness by observing the seventh day in Genesis 2. What the Lesson misses is that God as a person is the highest example of what is holy, and it was He who worked and rested. Created things, such as times, places, and things, all derive their holiness from God. That is why Paul calls the Sabbath a dim shadow of the reality that was to come (Colossians 2:17). In our quest for holiness, only the ultimate source of holiness will satisfy, so why would we try to find holiness through indirect symbols and shadows? Our greatest rest and satisfaction will come with the fulltime, full strength presence of the living God. Such a rest can only come through faith in the gospel of God’s finished work in His new creation, Christ (Hebrews 4:6-8). As in Genesis 2, the working and resting are already His.
There is a restful wholeness in the lives of those who dwell continuously in God’s presence. The gospel, by the Holy Spirit, brings integrity into our lives and removes all the dingy, shadowy parts that hide us from His presence. What Adam and Eve lost through deceit and sin, we can gain back through faith and trust in the One called, “God with us.”
Summary
- The seventh day had no sunset, and it was all about God’s finished work and his delight in its completion.
- Adam and Eve had no need of a rest on the seventh day, for they did not work and all their needs were perfectly met. The need for rest came with sin.
- God communed with Adam and Eve continually, and did not withhold His presence on particular days, for the purpose of making one day special.
- Our greatest rest and satisfaction in God comes through fulltime communion in His presence.
- The gospel, by the Holy Spirit, brings integrity into our lives fulltime and brings all our days into the light of His presence.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 29, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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