We need to keep in mind that verses and chapters, as we find them in our Bibles today, have been devised and added to the scriptures by men. These things were added much later, and were not a part of the original scrolls that make up the books of the Bible. Hence, the first three verses of chapter 2 actually belong to the first chapter. These three verses account for the creation of the seventh day, making the creation record one week long. God’s work of creation was finished on the sixth day. So, for six days God labored in creating and forming everything that exists in our universe, particularly those things, which we see on Earth, and in our solar system, which are the focus of the record we have in chapter one.
Nevertheless, God is still creating, when we come to chapter two. However, his creation isn’t a result of his labor, because that was complete by the sixth day. On the contrary, the seventh day is, actually the result of God’s rest (Genesis 2:2)! In other words, in the process of creating time, God caused the sun moon and stars of heaven to govern mankind’s days, months and years. However, nothing governs our weeks! The first week had to have been created specifically, and that was done by God ceasing his labor, and resting.
Thus, when we come to Genesis 2:1, we read that the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, indicating that God’s labor of bringing the universe into existence was finished. This of course, doesn’t mean God doesn’t work today (cp. John 5:17), but his labor of creating the universe and all it contains (cp. Deuteronomy 4:19) was now complete.
At this point, and as the seventh day began, God ended his labor by stopping or ceasing all his labor on the universe and resting (Genesis 2:2). So, for what purpose was this done? Certainly, the rest of God creates the seventh day, but why was the seventh day needed? Why don’t we have a six-day week? After all, God could have ended his creative works and immediately began doing something else. But, he didn’t; he rested. Why? Was he simply tired? There is nothing in the verse that would indicate God was tired, so the seventh day was created for another purpose.
The seventh day was later specifically used as a day of worship or reflection upon what the Lord had done, first pointing to creations, itself (Exodus 20:8-11; 31:15-17) and secondly to point to the fact the Lord had caused Israel’s burdens to cease as slaves in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). Nevertheless, the observance of the seventh day wasn’t instituted with the Mosaic Covenant, it was known by Noah (Genesis 8:6-12) and by the patriarchs (Genesis 29:27-28). If, therefore, mankind was supposed to image God (cp. Genesis 1:26-27) in a manner that reflected God ceasing from his labors in order that he might reflect upon what God had done for him (cp. Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15), then the seventh day was created primarily for mankind to respect and appreciate what God did, especially what he had done during the first week of the universe’s existence, vis-à-vis reflect upon his majesty. Therefore, as the seventh day of creation ended, God blessed it and set it apart from all other days, in that he rested from all the things he had created and made (Genesis 2:3).
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