Creation

I've just started reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Dan Allender, called Sabbath.  I'm only in chapter 2 and he's already flipped my thinking upside down and brought up some very strong emotions from the past.  Which maybe at some point I'll write about, but have hardly told anyone because people would laugh at me and think I'm crazy.  We will see when I am brave enough.  This blog, however, is not about that it's about when did God stop creating.  I can remember back in 9th grade when I took a test in ancient history and one of the questions was "Which day did God finish creating?"  or something like that.  I asked the teacher if it was a trick question because God created things in 6 days, but there's the Bible mentions the 7th day as God resting, but that's not creating; right?  The teacher told me it was not a trick question so I circled 6 and got it right.  Now 9 years later, I realized I got that question wrong.  Genesis 2:2 states And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."  It doesn't say that God was finished with His work so He rested, rather He "ended His work."  This may seem like a contradiction to the previous verse, "This the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished."  So what did God create?  The Bible is not exactly clear what God created, but if nothing else He created the seventh day and rest.  This work was not a physical work, but rather a spiritual one (27-28).  Allender translates the word "rest" as "delight".  So God delighted in His creation and thus we need to do the same.  Just as God worked to bring about His delight/rest in creation.  We need to work to find out delight/rest as well.  I want to end by a quote from Allender that really sums up is idea of work on the seventh day.  He writes, "In many ways, God's rest on the seventh day of creation is paralleled by the birthing process and teh period after birth, when the labor is finished yet the bonding begins" (28).  Bonding takes work, but it is a emotional/spiritual work rather than the physical work of labor.

Moving Forward

I've often wondered why God didn't allow Moses to cross the Jordan with the people.  I know that Moses didn't listen to Him in particular circumstances, but we all do that from time to time and still are able to reap God's blessings.  David is a perfect example of that because he would have been killed for committing adultery, brought back to life just to be killed again for murder.  But even though he was found out and guilty, God had mercy on him.  So why is Moses any different?  After all he was the intermediary between God and the people.

I'm my Deuteronomy reading today, I read this, "And he [Moses] said to them; 'I am one hundred and twenty years old today, I can no longer go out and com in.  Also the Lord has said to me, "You shall not cross over this Jordan." The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you...Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said...Be strong and of good courage...for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you.  He will not leave you nor forsake you'" (31:2-3,6).  I think God wouldn't let Moses go because He wanted to make sure they followed Him, though later it shows that He already knew they'd turn away.  God was ready to establish a true relationship with His people in the land He promised them.  He wanted to turn their focus away from the person they had been following and realize God was their leader.  In this passage Moses puts a lot of emphasis on the name of God for this reason.  He wanted to reassure the people that God is God and he was just a man who God was using.  Even more than that though, he wanted to reassure them that even though he was leaving, God would set up someone to go before them and guide them.  Joshua this man.  Emphasis is placed on Joshua's name too.  God wasn't going to make the people go alone, He had another leader planned, but this leader was new and would make the people feel more vulnerable going into the promise land.  The people needed to learn how to trust.  After their years of wondering in the desert, they still hadn't mastered this.  They still complained, which was what got Moses into trouble.  This would be the people's final test.  They were now about to enter hardship and they knew it.  Was God actually going to be there for them?  Should they follow Joshua? Was this even good enough for them?  They must have had questions, but they decided to trust.  How often do I trust even when I'm guided?  Honestly, not very often.

I'll end by pointing out that Moses encourages the people by focusing on the positives.  "Be strong and of good courage.  You know why?  Because God, He is with you.  Not me, I'm only human and will die soon, but God, He is eternal and will never leave you nor will He forsake you."

Alleluia.