Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
(Genesis 2:1-3)
if i might make just a few observations:
- it doesn't say 'every seventh day' it says 'the seventh day' - what's the implication?
- there's no imperative language here; no command to anyone, just a declaration. if anything is implied by His sanctification of the seventh day, it is applied by implication to "all which God created and made" - the heavens, the earth, all the host of them. if the squirrels still forage on a day, the birds still build their nest, the moon and the planets still course through the sky, is creation in disobedience?
- it seems to have been blessed afterwards ? as in, on the 8th day He blessed the 7th - what's the implication?
- the blessing is tied to the finishing of His work: there is an implicit connection to God's work being complete - that is, there is nothing to be added to it. the heavens, the earth, the host of them: complete. nothing to be added. cannot be further sanctified - He has done it. what then is to be remembered?
- the simple statement 'God rested' is extraordinary - does God get tired? is His endurance limited? the answer to questions like these seems to be obviously, no! so 'rest' here applied to God doesn't carry the same connotations as it does when applied to us mortal beings.