Beloved, I am pleased to share with you today the above theme from Gen 2.1-2 onwards. Indeed, “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Ex 31:15-17). He himself is rejoiced in the joy he has prepared for his creature. In creation, we admire the power of God, able to arrange billions of stars in the vastness of the heavens, to impose limits on the sea, to control the forces of lightning and wind, able also to form a man with a little dust. We also admire His wisdom in measuring times and seasons, determining a balance of all nature, giving laws to plants and instincts to animals (Psalm 104:24-26). But let’s also admire his goodness: he made the heavens, stretched the earth over the waters, established great luminaries… “For his goodness is forever” (Psalm 136:1-9). With the tenderness of a mother who has prepared in advance all that will be necessary for the child she will bring into the world, God places man in ideal conditions, he installs him in a garden of delights where he can participate in the rest of his Creator. By blowing into his nostrils “a breath of life” (v. 7), God makes him – unlike the beast – a living and imperishable soul, responsible before Him.
Two main topics demand our attention in this chapter: “the seventh day” and “the river.” There are few subjects on which there has been as much controversy, and still as many discrepancies as that of the “Sabbath,” although the doctrine of the Sabbath is expounded in Scripture in the simplest and clearest manner for those who wish to submit to God’s teaching. We will examine in its place the formal commandment to “keep the Sabbath” – here it is not a question of a commandment given to man; but we find the simple statement that: “God rested on the seventh day” (v. 2). “And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all theirs armed. And God had completed on the seventh day his work which he did; and he rested on the seventh day. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; for in this day he rested from all his work which God created by doing” (Gen. 5:1-3). These words tell us that God rested, because, as far as creation was concerned, his work was finished: there is no question here in any way of a commandment given to man. He who for six days had worked, ceased to work, and rested. Everything was complete and complete; everything was “very good”; All things were what he himself had made them, and he rested in his work. “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God burst forth with joy” (Job. 38:7).
The work of creation was completed, and God was celebrating a Sabbath; it is the only one God has ever celebrated, if we simply stick to what we learn from the inspired writings. Later, we read that God commanded man to “keep the Sabbath,” and that man did not know how to keep God’s ordinance; but never again do we find these words: “God rested”; rather, Jesus says, “My father works until now, and I work” (John 5:17). The Sabbath, in the literal and exact sense of the expression, could only be celebrated where there really was nothing left to do, in the midst of a pure creation, free from all sinfulness. God cannot find rest where sin exists; And it is absolutely impossible for him to rest and enjoy creation now. The thorns and brambles, along with the thousand other sad fruits of a sighing creation, speak loudly that God must work, not rest. Could God rest in the midst of brambles and thorns, in the midst of sighs and tears, sickness and death, degradation and crimes of a guilty and ruined world? Could God rest and celebrate a Sabbath in the midst of such circumstances?
Be that as it may, Scripture tells us that God has so far had only one “Sabbath,” the one spoken of in chapter 2 of Genesis. “The seventh day” was the Sabbath, and no other. This day demonstrated that the work of creation was completed; but this work was spoiled from then on, and the rest of the seventh day was interrupted: since the fall, God has worked; “my Father works until now and I work”; and the Holy Spirit also works. Surely Christ had no Sabbath while on earth. He has done His work and has gloriously accomplished it, it is true; But where did he spend the Sabbath day? In the grave! Yes, reader, Christ the Lord, God manifested in the flesh, the Lord of the Sabbath, spent the seventh day in the darkness and silence of the tomb. Does this fact not speak very loudly, does it not contain a profound teaching? Would the Son of God have been laid in the tomb on the Sabbath, if that day had been spent in rest and peace, and in the perfect awareness that there was absolutely nothing left to do?
The tomb of Jesus alone tells us the impossibility of celebrating a Sabbath, and this tomb occupied on the seventh day by the Lord of the Sabbath shows us man as a fallen creature, guilty, destitute, ending his long career of sin by crucifying the Lord of glory, and placing at the opening of his tomb a great stone, in order to keep him there, if possible: while the Son of God is in the tomb, man celebrates the Sabbath day! What a thought! Christ is in the grave to restore the interrupted Sabbath, and man tries to keep the Sabbath, as if everything were in order; man celebrates his Sabbath, not God’s: a Sabbath without Christ and without God, an empty form, without power and without value.
But it will be said, the seventh day became the first, and the principles remained the same. I believe there is no scriptural basis for this view. On what authority, indeed, will it be established? Nothing is easier than producing it, if there is one in Scripture. But it is not: and the distinction between the seventh and the first day is, on the contrary, maintained in the most formal way in the New Testament. This is why we read in chapter 28 of the Gospel according to Matthew: “Now, late, on the Sabbath, at the twilight of the first day of the week”. The “first day of the week” is therefore not the Sabbath carried from the seventh to another, but an entirely new day – it is the first day of a new period, not the last day of an old period. “The seventh day” is related to earth and earthly rest; “the first day of the week”, on the contrary, with heaven and heavenly rest.
The difference is immense, both in principle itself and in terms of practicality. If I celebrate the “seventh day”, I refer to myself by this act as an earthly man, because this day, as we have just seen, is the rest of the earth, the rest of creation. But if, through the teaching of Scripture and the Spirit of God, I am led to understand the meaning of the “first day of the week,” I will immediately grasp the direct relationship between that day and the new order of things, all heavenly, of which the death and resurrection of Christ constitute the eternal foundation. The seventh day was related to Israel and the land; the first day of the week is related to Church and heaven.
Moreover, mind you, God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath day; while the first day of the week is given to the church as a privilege she is called to enjoy. The Sabbath was the touchstone of Israel’s moral state, and the first day of the week is significant evidence of the eternal acceptance of the Church; the Sabbath manifested what Israel could do for God; the first day of the week makes known perfectly what God has done for us. The nature and importance of the “day of the Lord,” as the first day of the week is called in Revelation chapter 1, cannot be overstated. This day, being the day on which Christ rose from the dead, publishes not the completion of creation, but the glorious and complete triumph of redemption. The celebration of the first day of the week is not, as we have already said, a slavery or a yoke for the Christian; on the contrary, it is the happiness of the Christian to celebrate this happy day.
So, it’s on the first day of the week that we see the first Christians assembled to break bread (Acts 20:7-12), and the distinction between the Sabbath and the first day of the week is fully maintained at this time in Church history. The Jews celebrated the Sabbath in their synagogues, to “read the law and the prophets”; And Christians celebrated the first day of the week, assembling to break bread. There is not a single passage in all Scripture where the first day of the week is called the Sabbath; while there is abundant evidence of the essential difference between these two days.
Why, then, fight for what has no basis in Scripture? Love, honor, celebrate the Lord’s day; seek to be “in spirit” that day, like the apostle; leave your temporal affairs as much as it is in your power; but, at the same time, give to this day the name and place which belong to him; understand the principles on which it is based; leave it its special character; And above all, do not bind the Christian, as if by an iron yoke, to the observance of the seventh day, since it is for him a happy and holy privilege to celebrate the first. Do not bring the Christian down from heaven where he finds rest, to earth where he cannot find it. Do not require him to keep one day that his Master passed in the grave instead of rejoicing in the blessed day when he left it. Read Mt 28:1-8 carefully; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:19-29; Acts 20:7-12; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; Rev. 1:9-11; Acts 13:13-15; 17.1-4; Col 2:16-17.
We must not believe, however, that we are losing sight of the important fact that the Sabbath will again be celebrated in the land of Israel and in all creation. “There remains rest for the people of God” (Heb 4:9). When the Son of Abraham, Son of David and Son of Man, takes his place in government over all the earth, there will be a glorious Sabbath, a rest that sin will never interrupt again. But now the Son is rejected, and all who know and love Him are called to sit with Him in His rejection, “to go out of the camp out of the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb 13:12-14). There would be no opprobrium if the earth could celebrate a Sabbath; but the very fact that the professing Church seeks to make the “first day of the week” “the Sabbath,” exposes the state into which she has fallen and the very principle of her position, which is only an unceasing effort to return to an earthly state of affairs and code of morality: it is possible that many people do not understand this, and that many Christians very conscientiously observe “the Sabbath day” as such; But if we are bound to respect the conscience of these Christians, and we do not wish to hurt anyone’s, we have the right, and it is our duty, to ask on what scriptural basis such convictions rest. However, it is not with the conscience and convictions of men that we are dealing, for the moment, but with the intention of the Spirit of God in the New Testament; and we ask every Christian reader to be well aware of his position as to the “seventh day” or “Sabbath,” and as to “the first day of the week” or “day of the Lord.”
For let’s only say here, in relation to the Sabbath, that one can do much harm and sorrow to pious brethren, under the pretext of zeal for what is called Christian freedom, losing sight of the true place which the day of the Lord occupies in the New Testament. If Christians, only to show their freedom, engage in weekday work on Sundays, they are there, unnecessarily, in stumbling blocks to several of their brothers. Such a way of acting cannot come from the spirit of Christ. If I am clear and free in this regard, in my mind, I must respect the conscience of my brothers, who do not have the same convictions. Furthermore, I do not believe that those who conduct themselves in this way really understand the true and precious privileges of the Lord ‘s day. We should be grateful to feel delivered from all secular occupations and distractions, rather than voluntarily immersing ourselves in it, in order to show that we are free. In several countries, state law prohibits Sunday work; we think that this is so by an effect of God’s providence, and that it is a grace for Christians, for if it were otherwise, we know enough that the miserly and greedy heart of men would, as far as possible, deprive Christians of the sweet privilege of being able to worship God with their brethren in the day of the Lord. And who can say what would be the deleterious effect of an uninterrupted occupation of the affairs of this world? Christians who, from Monday morning to Saturday evening, breathe the heavy atmosphere of offices, shops, factories or workshops, can form a slight idea.
Let us now deal with the connection between the “Sabbath” and the “river” that came out of Eden. This is the first time the “stream of God” has been mentioned in Scripture (Ps. 65:10), and this topic is introduced here in connection with God’s rest. When God rested in His works, the whole universe received blessing; for God could not keep a Sabbath unless the holy and blessed influence spread over all the earth. But alas! the streams flowing from Eden, the scene of earthly rest, are soon stopped in their course, because sin has come to interrupt the rest of creation. However, and God be blessed, sin did not stop God in His work; it has only opened up a new field of action, and wherever God acts, there too we see the river flowing. Thus, when he leads, with a strong hand and outstretched arms, the armies he has redeemed, passing them through the arid sands of the desert, we see a river flowing in the desert, not from Eden, but from the half-open rock, beautiful and just image of the principle by virtue of which sovereign grace works in favor of sinners and provides for their needs. This is not just about creation, but about redemption. “The rock was Christ” (1 Co 10:1-6), Christ struck for the healing of his people. The half-open rock was related to Jehovah’s dwelling place in the tabernacle; and there is, in this relationship, something morally beautiful: God living in a tent, and Israel drinking the water of the Rock! What expressive language for every open ear, and what instruction for every circumcised heart!
As we move through the history of God’s ways, we see the river following another channel: “On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood there and cried, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and drink. He who believes in me, according to what Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from his belly. (John 7:37-39). We see that the river here comes from another source and flows in another channel; in a sense, the source is always the same, that is, God himself; but in Jesus it is known in God in a new relationship and on a new principle. The Lord Jesus, in chapter 7 of the Gospel of John, is there, in spirit, outside the whole existing order of things, and presents Himself as the source of the river of the water of life, and the person of the believer must become the channel of this river. Eden, formerly, had to spread his waters outside to water and fertilize the earth; in the wilderness likewise, as soon as the rock is struck, it is called upon to give refreshing waters to the weathered armies of Israel.
It’s the same now: whoever believes in Jesus is called to let flow the beneficial rivers of which he is the channel, in favor of all those around him. The Christian must see himself as the channel of Christ’s diverse graces for a poor and miserable world; and the more liberally he sows, the more liberally he will receive: “Such and such disperses, and increases still; and such holds more than is necessary, but has only scarcity” (Prov. 11:24). The Christian is thus placed in a position, where he enjoys both the sweetest privileges, and where he is under the most solemn responsibility. He is called to be a constant witness to the grace of the One in whom he believes and to manifest this grace incessantly.
The better he understands his privileges, the better he will discharge his responsibility. The more he usually feeds on Christ, the more his gaze will be fixed on Jesus, the more his heart will be occupied with the adorable person of the Savior; and his life and character will bear true and unequivocal witness to the grace which has been revealed to him and which he tastes. Faith is, at the same time, the power of service, the power of witness, and the power of worship. If we do not live “in faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20), we will be neither useful servants, nor faithful witnesses, nor true worshippers. We can do much, but without serving Christ; talk much, but without bearing witness to Christ; to parade with great devotion, but without rendering a spiritual and true worship.
Finally, we find again, “the river of God” in the last chapter of Revelation. “And he showed me a river of living water, shining like crystal, coming out of the throne of God and the Lamb.” (Apoc. 22:1.) These are the streams of the river spoken of by the Psalmist, which rejoice in the city of God, “the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High” (Psalm 46:5-6; Ez. 47:1-12; and Zec 14:8-9). Nothing can now alter the source or interrupt the course of its waters. “The throne of God” is the image of eternal stability; and the presence of the “Lamb” indicates that this throne rests on the immediate foundation of a fulfilled redemption. This is not the throne of the creator God, nor that of the God who governs in his providence, but the throne of the redeeming God. When I see “the Lamb,” I know what the relationship of God’s throne is with me as a sinner. The throne of God, as such, would only fill me with dread; but when God reveals Himself in the person of the “Lamb,” the heart is attracted and the conscience is tranquilized. The blood of the Lamb cleanses the conscience from every stain of sin, and puts it in perfect freedom in the presence of a perfect holiness that cannot tolerate sin. At the cross, all the requirements of divine holiness were perfectly satisfied; So that the better we understand this holiness, the better we also appreciate the Cross. The more we value holiness, the more we will also value the work of the cross. “Grace reigns by righteousness, unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:21). This is why the Psalmist invites the saints to celebrate Jehovah by remembering God’s holiness. Praise is a precious fruit of redemption; but before a Christian can give thanks by thinking of the holiness of God, he must consider this holiness by placing himself, by faith, beyond the cross; not on the side of men and death, but on the side of God and the resurrection, if one could say so.
Having traced the course of the river from Genesis to John’s revelation, we will now briefly consider Adam’s position in Eden. We saw Adam already as a type of Christ; We have to regard him not only as a type, but also as a person; we must see him not only as an absolute representative of the second man, “the Lord of heaven,” but also as a position of personal responsibility. God had established a testimony in Eden, in the midst of this beautiful scene of creation; and this testimony was, at the same time, a trial for the creature: it spoke of death in the midst of life, for God had said: “In the day that you eat of it, you will certainly die” (v. 17). A strange and solemn word, and yet necessary! Adam’s life depended on his perfect obedience, the bond that united him to Jehovah God was obedience based on an implicit trust in the truth and love of the One who had placed him in the high position he occupied; only as long as Adam confided in him could he obey. Chapter 3 will show us, in a more developed way, the scope and truth of this fact; but here I wish to draw the reader’s attention to the interesting contrast which exists between the testimony established in Eden and the testimony of the present economy.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped for your better understanding.
The Covenant of Eden:
- Sabbath, general references
Ex 16:23 And Moses said to them, This is what the Lord has commanded. Tomorrow is the day of rest, the Sabbath dedicated to the Lord; Cook what you have to cook, boil what you have to boil, and store until the morning all that is left. Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made: Let it be to us a matter of joy and joy! Mk 2:27 Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, Heb 4:4 For he spoke somewhere like this of the seventh day: And God rested from all his works on the seventh day.
- 7 days
Gen. 2:3 God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because on that day he rested from all his work which he had created by doing it. Gen. 7:4 For another seven days, and I will rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will exterminate from the face of the earth all the beings that I have made. Acts 20:6 For us, after the days of unleavened bread, we embarked at Philippi, and after five days we joined them at Troas, where we spent seven days. Acts 28:14 where we found brothers who begged us to spend seven days with them. And so, we went to Rome.
- Being spiritual
Job 32:8 But in reality, in man, it is the spirit, the breath of the Almighty, that gives intelligence; Prov 20:27 The breath of man is a lamp of the Lord; It penetrates to the bottom of the entrails. Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, who prayed and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! 2 Cor 4:16 That is why we do not lose heart. And even as our outer man destroys himself, our inner man is renewed day by day.
- Husbands and wives, duties of husbands
Gen. 2:23-24 And the man said, This time this time she who is the bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken from man. 24 Therefore the man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Prov 5:18 Thy source be blessed, And make thy joy of the wife of thy youth, Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her, 1 Pet 3:7 Husbands, show wisdom in your dealings with your wives, as with a weaker sex; honor them, as having to inherit with you the grace of life. So be it, so that nothing may stand in the way of your prayers.
From all the above, we note that inEden, while all was life, God speaks of death; now, on the contrary, that all things are dead, God speaks of life: for it was said: “In the day that you eat of it, you will certainly die”; now, on the contrary, it is said: “Believe, and you will live!” But as in Eden the enemy sought to annul God’s testimony, as to the result that was to follow disobedience, the act of eating fruit, so Satan now seeks to nullify God’s testimony, as to the result of faith in the gospel. God had said, “In the day that you eat of it, you will certainly die”; – and the serpent said, “You will not die.” And now that Scripture clearly announces that “he who believes in the Son has eternal life ” (John 3:36), that same serpent seeks to persuade men that they have no life, and that until they have felt, done, experienced all kinds of things, they cannot claim it. If you have not yet believed, with all your heart, the testimony of God, dear reader, I beg you, listen to the Word of the Lord and not the insinuations of the serpent. “He that hearth my word, and believes him that hath sent me, hath eternal life, and not comes into judgment, but hath passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). It should be noted that in chapter 2 of Genesis, the expression “God” is replaced by that of “Jehovah God.” This change is very important. When God acts in relation to man, He takes the title of “Jehovah God” (Jehovah Elohim), but it is only when man appears on the scene that the name “Jehovah” (Jehovah) is introduced. Here are some of the many passages in which this fact we are talking about presents itself in a striking way. “And that which came in, male and female, with all flesh, as God had commanded him, and the Lord (Jehovah) closed the ark upon him” (Gen. 7:16.) Elohim was going to destroy the world he had created, but Jehovah took care of the man with whom he had a relationship. – “And all the earth shall know that there is a God for Israel (Elohim): and all this congregation shall know that it is neither by the sword nor by the spear that the Lord (Jehovah) saves,” etc. (1 Samuel 17:46, 47). The whole earth had to acknowledge the presence of Elohim; but Israel was called to recognize the deeds of Jehovah, with whom it was in relation. At last “Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord (Jehovah) rescued him; and God (Elohim) led them to depart from him” (2 Chr. 18:31): Jehovah cared for his wayward servant; but Elohim, though unknown, acts upon the hearts of the uncircumcised Syrians. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in truth to pray with me:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my personal Lord and Savior. I acknowledge that you died at the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and my faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom by walking according to your ways.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to be baptized by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power and glory, now and for ever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Satan’s Deception and Man’s Fall (The breaking of the covenant).” (Gen 3)
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.