MOD 1:How Long Was The Seventh Day?

How Long Was The Seventh Day? Supplemental Reading
James Stambaugh, M.Div., M.L.S. IMPACT No. 197, November 1989
An important topic of debate for many years has been the length of the daysin Genesis 1. Some who hold to the standard uniformitarian chronology insistthat the days lasted perhaps billions of years, and point to Hebrews 4:1-11in an attempt to demonstrate that the seventh day is still in progress.Their point is apparent; if the seventh day is a long period of time, thenso are the other days, and the supposed multi-billion-year history of theearth and universe is intact. The issue regarding the length of the seventh day will be examined in twoways: First, the context must be studied. There is an old adage that "A textwithout a context is a pretext." Second, one must understand what is meantby "rest" in this section, and the purpose of the reference to the sabbath.Once these have been examined, the length of the seventh day will be clear. The Context Of Hebrews 4:1-11 Our text, Hebrews 4:1-11, is in the middle of a warning passage (3:7-4:13).There are five such passages in the entire book.[1] The warning passagesgenerally are "concerned with the danger of apostasy. There were some in thereadership who had made a profession of faith in Christ but were seriouslyconsidering returning to Judaism."[2] Each warning is concerned with aparticular issue. The issue in this passage is the superiority of Christ to Moses. "The writerpauses to warn against a similar lapse of faith from Christ, as wasdemonstrated in the days of Moses. The implication is that since Christ issuperior, such a lapse would be all the more reprehensible."[3] Disobedienceand unbelief caused the failure of Moses' generation to enter God's promisedrest. Verses 1 and 11 build perseverance in the readers, and warn them notto return to Judaism. The point of this warning is to stay faithful to Christ. What we do withChrist now determines whether or not we will enter a future rest. "Thepicture that begins to emerge is one where this future rest is entered intoby faith in the historic present."[4] The Sabbath rest of this passage is notpresent, but future. "Rest" In Hebrews 4:1-11 The concept of "rest" in Scripture is multifaceted, yet it is important tothe understanding of this passage. This can be seen in the definitions andkinds of "rest." There are three words used for "rest"; two are from thesame Greek root, a noun and a verb translated "rest," and the word is"sabbath rest," used only here (v.9) in the New Testament. The verb form ofthe former gives the idea of stopping from work; while the noun form may beused figuratively as a place or situation of rest.[5] The concept of"sabbath-rest" will be considered in more depth below. The kinds of rest aretheological interpretations based on the various definitions of "rest."There appears to be at least four kinds used in the whole warning(3:7-4:13): Creation rest (4:4); Canaan rest (3:7-19); Salvation rest (4:1,3a, 8), and Eternal rest (4:10,11) including the "Sabbath rest" (v. 9).[6] The"rest" can also be viewed typically (the land of Canaan), present (oursalvation), and future (the eternal state), with creation rest used as apast analogy. This illustrates the multifaceted use of "rest" in thiswarning passage. The Old Testament concept of "rest" appears to serve as a basis for "rest"in this passage. The Old Testament view is itself multifaceted, where "rest"is used in five ways: "1) literal, physical rest (Genesis 8:4); 2) rest indeath (Job 3:13); 3) psychological-spiritual rest (Proverbs 29:17); 4)physical rest in the land based on God's promise to defeat Israel's enemies(Deuteronomy 12:10; Joshua 21:44), and 5) the theology of the sabbath(Genesis 2:2, 3; Exodus 20:11)." "God intended that man share in thecreation (sabbath) rest, but that Adam's fall occurred and the sabbath restwas forfeited. The way back to this rest is provided in the comingkingdom."[7] God's rest is related to the sinless perfection of the firstsabbath, which was lost when Adam rebelled. This problem is corrected in thefuture "rest" that is promised. Psalm 95:7-11 is quoted in this warning passage and draws our attention to aspecific time of "rest." This psalm occurs in a group of EnthronementPsalms (93-100), and it has been suggested that Psalms 95 and 96 should beviewed together.[8] The distinctive nature of these psalms is that theycelebrate the reign of God. Kaiser observes: "But our Psalm (95:7-11) warns[against unbelief], before it breaks into the triumphant strains of Psalm 96with its announcement in song of the final, universal reign of the Lord."[9]Yet the basic tone of these psalms is that they look to the future.[10] Sowhen Psalm 95 is used in Hebrews 4, it is pointing to the future reign ofGod. Now that we have briefly examined the background and general use of"rest" in Hebrews 4:1-11, let us examine why "rest" is used in connectionwith the sabbath. The problem as it relates to the length of the Genesisdays and the age of the earth is well stated by Newman: "The fourth chapterof Hebrews tells us that the believers can still enter into the rest of Godmentioned in Genesis 2:2. This may be understood figuratively to mean thatwe, too, can someday rest just as God did long ago. But a more literalinterpretation could suggest either that God is still resting (day-age view)and that we are living now in the seventh day, or that God has not yet begunto rest, as the seventh day is still in the future."[11] Archer believes thatthe seventh day is still continuing: "Scripture does not at all teach thatYahweh rested only one twenty-four-hour day at the conclusion of Hiscreative work. No closing formula occurs at the close of the seventh day,referred to in Genesis 2:2. And, in fact, the New Testament teaches (Hebrews4:1-11) that that seventh day, that 'Sabbath rest,' in a very definite sensehas continued on right into the church age."[12] Dr. Kent holds the view thatthe seventh day is future (he also believes in a six-literal-day creation),but also observes: "This does not imply that the seventh day was not aliteral day with an evening and a morning, just as the previous six days ofcreation. However, the author has used the silence of Scripture on thispoint to illustrate his argument that God's sabbath rest has never ended."[13]The author of Hebrews refers back to the creation in Hebrews 4:9, telling usthat there is still this type of rest available. The author is exhorting hisreaders to diligent obedience, with the hope of future rest. Hughes says:"The expression 'sabbath rest' links the concept of the promised rest stillmore closely with the account of creation, in which the seventh or sabbathday was the day on which God rested from his labors."[14] The author wants usto notice that the future "rest" will be like the past "rest" when Godfinished His creation. The Nature Of Our Rest It has been demonstrated that the "rest" in this passage is future, and issimilar to the first sabbath "rest." What remains to be discussed is thefuture nature of that "rest." There are two views on the timing of this"rest": The first is that the "rest" is the millennial rest. This view isheld by some premillennialists. The second view believes that the "rest" isthe eternal state. Most amillennialists and some premillennialists hold thisview. Of the first view, which presents the "rest" as a millennial "rest,"Oberholtzer says: "The sabbath rest interrupted by the fall of Adam will berestored in the coming age. The millennium will be an extension of theoriginal sabbath."[15] This view does handle most of the evidence well. Itobserves that the context of the passage is a warning, and promises futurereward. It accepts the fact that the Psalm 95 quote is ultimately pointingto the future, and that the one who is to reign is Jesus Christ Himself. Italso believes that the fall of Adam will be undone in this time of "rest."It states that men and animals will dwell in complete harmony, and that theearth will be able to produce abundant food supply for mankind. This "rest,"according to this view, will truly be a paradise on earth. However, there isa major problem as it handles the remedy to the fall of Adam. While much ofthe results of the fall are overcome during the millennium, the twoexceptions to this are sin and death. These will remain, because God wantsall to see the incorrigible nature of man. Sin and death are not abolisheduntil after the millennium (Revelation 21:4, 8). In assigning the future"rest" to the millennium, this view fails to take into account the absenceof sin and death in the original sabbath "rest" to which this passagerefers. The second view of the nature of "rest" is that it refers to the eternalstate. This view accepts the context as future "rest," and likewise acceptsthe idea that Psalm 95 is picturing a future reign of God and His Son. Thisview also believes that the fall of Adam will be totally undone, and thatthere will be no sin and death in the ultimate "sabbath rest." This viewhandles more consistently the data of the passage, for the "rest" fromcreation and the future "rest" are analogous. Our ultimate "rest" is stillfuture. Summary And Conclusion This article asked: "How long was the seventh day?" There are some whobelieve that the seventh day of Genesis 2:2 has lasted at least severalthousand years. They base this on the quote in Hebrews 4:4, which seems onthe surface to show that God's rest has still not ended. It was demonstratedthat they have ignored the context of the passage, which issues a solemnwarning and promises a future blessing. It was further demonstrated thatthose who believe in the seventh day as a long time period do not adequatelyunderstand the reference to Genesis 2:2 or the "sabbath rest." The restreferred to in Hebrews 4:1-11 speaks about a time that will be similar tothe first "sabbath rest," in that there will be no sin or death in thecreation. If one desires to make the days of creation more than a solar day,then one must do so from the context of Genesis 1, not Hebrews 4:1-11. Thedays of creation were six literal days, with God resting on the seventh.Although the seventh day does not have the concluding formula, it is relatedto the other days from the context. The seventh day was a solar day, justlike the other six days.
References 1. Stanley D. Toussaint, "The Eschatology of the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews," Grace Theological Journal, 3: 67-80. Return to Text 2. Ibid, p.68. Return to Text 3. Homer Kent, The Epistle to the Hebrews, (BMH Books, 1972), p.68. Return to Text 4. Walter Kaiser, "Promise Theme and Theology of Rest," Bibliotheca Sacra, 130:143. Return to Text 5. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (University of Chicago Press, 1975), pp. 416-417. Return to Text 6. Kent, p.88. Return to Text 7. Thomas Oberholtzer, "The Kingdom Rest in Hebrews 3:1-4:13," Bibliotheca Sacra, 145:191. Return to Text 8. Kaiser,: 142. Return to Text 9. Ibid, p.143. Return to Text 10. Ibid, p.142. Return to Text 11. Robert Newman, Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth, (Baker Book House, 1977), p.65. Emphasis his. Return to Text 12. Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, (Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), p.62. Return to Text 13. Kent, p.82. Return to Text 14. Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Eerdman's Publishing Company, 1977), pp.160,161. Return to Text 15. Oberholtzer,: 193. Return to Text
"Vital Articles on Science/Creation" November 1989 Copyright © 1989 All Rights Reserved

| Summary & Review | Practice Examination | Sitemap |

| Advanced Creationism Home | Biblical Creationism Home|