The number seven is significant throughout the Bible, it’s more than just a lucky number.
Out of formless darkness, God created day, night, land, plants, the sun, the moon, stars, living creatures, and humans. Out of nothing, creation was born. The passage tells us that God finished his work and rested on the seventh day. The seventh day embodies wholeness. It's a rhythm of work followed by rest and a celebration of his wondrous deeds.
The significance of the number seven is seen throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, beginning with the creation story in Genesis. It reappears in the command given to Moses, where God commands his people to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. If you read Leviticus, you’ll notice that the number seven is integral to the rhythm of Hebrew festivals. Then, every seven years, the Israelites observed the Sabbath Year, a time appointed for freeing slaves, remitting debts, and allowing the land to rest. This cycle culminated in a festival of Jubilee every seven Sabbath Years, marking a time of celebration and rest. It is in this year that Jesus declared the year of the Lord’s favor, a prophecy fulfilled through his ministry (referenced in Luke 4:18-21).
Don’t miss this proclamation that Jesus shares. God’s original intention was for you and me to delight in the gifts God has given. Through the introduction of sin in our world, our rest and our work became more challenging than they were ever meant to be. The Sabbath command invites us to remember God’s good and complete plan, but Jesus’ sacrifice allows us to work out our purpose from a place of belonging and rest. Jesus is the redemption for all things, even our own work and rest.
God works, designs, creates, and offers the fullness of not only his goodness but also of the goodness of his creation. We were meant to delight in the goodness of all God has to offer. The seventh day of rest is meant to be a small piece of the restoration story we experience.
After all, the Sabbath was made for us (Mark 2:27).
Israel was commanded to practice the Sabbath to remember God’s goodness, but we are invited to practice rest in Jesus’ restoration of creation. Jesus is our rest. How we understand our work and our rest this month should be coupled with Jesus’ declaration of his redemption and invitation to experience eternal delight in God.
Welcome to the month of delighting. We get to delight because we rest in Jesus’ redemption.