iThink Biblically | Did Adam Keep The Sabbath Holy? Seventh Day Adventists Exposed @iThinkBiblically | Uploaded November 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
God Blessed the seventh day and made it holy
On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made. Genesis 2:2-3
This passage is often cited by Sabbath Day advocates as proof that God commanded all mankind to rest on the seventh day.
However, there is nothing in this passage that says that mankind was commanded to rest on the seventh day.
All this text says is that God rested on the seventh day.
The concept of divine rest is prominent in ancient Near Eastern literature. Deity’s rest is achieved in a temple, generally as a result of order having been established … The seven-day creation account culminating in divine rest should be understood as somehow parallel to the building of temples for divine rest. This course of analogy and logic results in the understanding that Genesis 1 is framed in terms of the creation of a cosmic temple in which Yahweh takes up his repose. - Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
What about Adam?
Man was created on day 6 and the sabbath was on day 7 so mankind immediately entered into God’s rest.
Adam never did anything, on any day, that was prohibited by the Sabbath Day law.
His entire life, prior to the fall, was a life of rest.
The entire garden of Eden was Adam’s home, so there was no limit to how far he could travel.
He did not work for his food, clothing and shelter.
He never sowed or reaped a harvest because he ate directly from the trees that produced his food.
He did not light a fire to cook meat or vegetables, there were no clothes to wash or dishes to clean.
There were no thorns, thistles or weeds.
There was even a mist that came up and watered the whole surface of the ground.
He was in a state of perpetual rest and fellowship with God everyday.
Objection
Doesn’t the bible say Adam tilled the ground and kept it?
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15
To work it and take care of it. Similar verbs describe the role of the priests and Levites in the Tabernacle and Temple (e.g., Num 3:5-8; 4:21-23; 8:26). These verbs, however, can be translated as “serve” and “guard.” The man has a priestly role to protect the garden sanctuary (Genesis 1:26). When he fails to do this he is expelled from Eden, the task of guarding the garden is given to the cherubim (Genesis 3:24). - DA Carson’s Study Bible Notes.
So, it seems clear that prior to the fall, both God and man were in a state of perpetual fellowship and rest.
It was only after he was banished from Eden that he began to till the ground.
Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:23
Here, Adam is no longer serving and guarding the Garden of Eden, he is serving the ground from which he was taken.
Now he works for his food instead of living in complete rest in the garden of Eden.
The descendants of Adam were awaiting the promised seed who would deliver them from their toil and slavery to the ground and bring them back into God’s rest.
Noah’s father thought that it could have been Noah.
Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son. He named his son Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Genesis 5:28
God Blessed the seventh day and made it holy
On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made. Genesis 2:2-3
This passage is often cited by Sabbath Day advocates as proof that God commanded all mankind to rest on the seventh day.
However, there is nothing in this passage that says that mankind was commanded to rest on the seventh day.
All this text says is that God rested on the seventh day.
The concept of divine rest is prominent in ancient Near Eastern literature. Deity’s rest is achieved in a temple, generally as a result of order having been established … The seven-day creation account culminating in divine rest should be understood as somehow parallel to the building of temples for divine rest. This course of analogy and logic results in the understanding that Genesis 1 is framed in terms of the creation of a cosmic temple in which Yahweh takes up his repose. - Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
What about Adam?
Man was created on day 6 and the sabbath was on day 7 so mankind immediately entered into God’s rest.
Adam never did anything, on any day, that was prohibited by the Sabbath Day law.
His entire life, prior to the fall, was a life of rest.
The entire garden of Eden was Adam’s home, so there was no limit to how far he could travel.
He did not work for his food, clothing and shelter.
He never sowed or reaped a harvest because he ate directly from the trees that produced his food.
He did not light a fire to cook meat or vegetables, there were no clothes to wash or dishes to clean.
There were no thorns, thistles or weeds.
There was even a mist that came up and watered the whole surface of the ground.
He was in a state of perpetual rest and fellowship with God everyday.
Objection
Doesn’t the bible say Adam tilled the ground and kept it?
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15
To work it and take care of it. Similar verbs describe the role of the priests and Levites in the Tabernacle and Temple (e.g., Num 3:5-8; 4:21-23; 8:26). These verbs, however, can be translated as “serve” and “guard.” The man has a priestly role to protect the garden sanctuary (Genesis 1:26). When he fails to do this he is expelled from Eden, the task of guarding the garden is given to the cherubim (Genesis 3:24). - DA Carson’s Study Bible Notes.
So, it seems clear that prior to the fall, both God and man were in a state of perpetual fellowship and rest.
It was only after he was banished from Eden that he began to till the ground.
Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:23
Here, Adam is no longer serving and guarding the Garden of Eden, he is serving the ground from which he was taken.
Now he works for his food instead of living in complete rest in the garden of Eden.
The descendants of Adam were awaiting the promised seed who would deliver them from their toil and slavery to the ground and bring them back into God’s rest.
Noah’s father thought that it could have been Noah.
Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son. He named his son Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Genesis 5:28
