New Beginnings - Part VI. Genesis 2:2-4a

May the mumbling commence!

It’s a time of beginning.  Today, we will finish the first account of creation from Genesis chapters one and two.  It’s a Holy Day – one we should remember always.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

By the seventh day

            God had finished his work.

On the seventh day

            he rested from all his work.

God blessed the seventh day.

            He made it a Holy Day

Because on that day he rested from his work,

            all the creating God had done.

This is the story of how it all started,

            of Heaven and Earth when they were created. (Genesis 2:2-4)

Now read it from the NIV translation:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. (Genesis 2:2-4a)

There is much the same in these two passages from Peterson and the NIV.  Peterson did do some interpretation from the pronoun “it” to day, but that seems accurate for the context.  The only other difference that I see is the inclusion of the last sentence as the end of the first creation account or the exclusion of the last sentence as the beginning of the second account.  In the Hebrew, it’s not clear which account in belongs to. 

But, I do find it interesting that Peterson calls the last sentence as the whole of verse four, while the NIV recognizes it as only the beginning of verse four.  Though, we must realize that the chapter and verse designations are not meant to necessarily divide stories.  Many times these divisions are arbitrary.

This last day of creation is the underscoring of some of the repetition in the poetic narrative.  “It was morning; it was evening.”  There is a cycle of work and rest.  It’s a cycle that we all need. 

Studies during World War II discovered that people would be more productive when they work if they take one day a week off.  Well, duh!  Listen to God.  Follow the example of the Lord.  Work must be balanced with rest.

It’s a call that our 24/7 culture needs to heed.  Rest is essential to our physical, mental, and spiritual well being.

Tomorrow, we will start with the second creation account in Genesis chapter two and three.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out