We cannot be living in the seventh day

Do you feel that we are living in the 7th day?

No, we know from Scripture that we are not living in the seventh day.  Many who teach theistic evolution or progressive creation teach that the days of creation represent long periods of time and, therefore, we must be living in the seventh day.  However, Scripture does not support this teaching.

Genesis 2:2-3 gives us the account of the seventh day, "And by the seventh day God completed 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."  Note that in these verses not only is the creation referred to in the past tense three times but also God "rested" is mentioned twice.  That is, "rested" is in the past tense indicating a completed action.  We know that this does not mean that God was fatigued or weary in any way but rather it was a pause for Him to delight in His works.  For example, in Isaiah 40:28, "Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable."  Psalm 121:4, "Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."  The Hebrew word for rested "shabat" simply means that he permanently ceased creating; there was nothing more to create.  This, of course, does not mean that he is no longer involved in His creation like a deist might conclude.  Instead, God is continually involved in sustaining and ruling over His creation.

Perhaps the most obvious reason we can use to show that we are not still in this seventh day is seen in verse three, "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it…"  God certainly did not bless the sin of Adam but, just the opposite, He cursed it.  If we are still living in this seventh "blessed" day Romans 8:19-22 does not make sense either.  "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now."  The earth and this time in which we live is subject to the curse imposed because of man's sin. 

The word "sanctified" also refers to "setting apart."  This day was special; it was hallowed just as the Sabbath would be when it was established in the Mosaic Law.  "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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." Exodus 20:11  The seventh day of creation was the pattern that God used to establish the Sabbath and the seven days of creation established the pattern for a seven-day week.  Humanity has always followed the seven-day week.

Some might argue that the since the concluding phrase "and there was evening and morning" appears at the end of every day except on day seven means that this is an open-ended time frame.  To that Dr. Douglas Kelly, Professor of Systematic Theology responds, "Genesis 2:2 seems by the normal rules of biblical interpretation to intend an end just as definite as that of 'and the evening and the morning were the first day.'"  Also, as was previously mentioned, God "rested," past tense indicates a completed work.  Ironically many who claim that the days are long periods of time will point to the lack of this "evening and morning" phrase.  In other words, they consider the phrase metaphorically in days one to six but point to its absence as proof for long ages.

It is clear from the wording of Genesis 2:2-3 that day seven is a completed event just as the six days of creation are complete.  Instead of viewing the time in which we live as the seventh day of rest we should turn back to the Bible and consider the significance of that seventh day.  It was a day that should stand as a memorial to God's glorious creation and the surpassing glory of the Creator.

4/13/02
Page107

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©Tom Carpenter
Originally published in the Rockdale/Newton Citizen