Old Testament Theology and the Rest of God

Haydock

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498229975
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Rest is a largely neglected theme escaping Old Testament studies, yet is notably prominent in the text itself, arising at many of the key moments of the Old Testament--the creation, the flood, the conquest and exile of the land, the covenant with David, and the construction of the temple. Haydock explores the ways in which God's rest interacts with the direction of the narrative, noting also its role in shaping both Israel's worship and their messianic expectation.In this fascinating study, Haydock considers the importance and place of rest in the ancient Mesopotamian worldview, arguing that Israel's theology of rest played an important part in their message to the nations. This message of a sovereign and gracious God offering his rest to all peoples contrasts sharply with the nations' false perception of how "rest" was to be experienced and enjoyed.

Chapter 1

Creation and God’s Rest

This chapter will explore the concept of rest in the creation narrative. It is not exhaustive because the proceeding chapters will often take up observations made in this chapter, exploring creation’s relationship with for example the tabernacle or the land. Yet it is necessary to consider Gen. 1–3 on its own merit, namely because it is reasonable to think that the source of the creation narrative has an early date preceding other texts which draw upon it.

God’s Eternal Rest

When considering Gen. 1 it is important to appreciate that “rest” is not just something God does, or the absence of him doing anything on the seventh day. Rest is the culmination and purpose of his creative activity.

Gen. 1—2:3 is a structured account of how God created the world, which displays a significant amount of repetition in language. The first six days in particular fit a common pattern: God speaks, it happens, God sees that it is good and there is evening and morning. This pattern though is broken with the account of the seventh day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By 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 sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Genesis 2:1–3

Whereas the first six days always end with the formula “and there was evening and there was night,” this formula is notably absent from the seventh day. There is no creative activity on the seventh day, but rather God ceases from it because it was finished and he saw that it was very good. Note also that in the account itself, God marks the seventh day out because he blesses it and makes it holy. For this reason it is possible to talk of the seven days being, six plus one.

The six plus one literary- structure, observable in Gen. 1—2:3 has also been observed elsewhere in the ancient world. Notably in the Gilgamesh epic with the flood which lasts for six days, in the Enuma Elish epic where for six days the horns are shining before the seventh and also within some of the Ugaritic epics such as the Aqhat epic where Daniel offers sacrifices for seven days and on the seventh he brings his prayer before the god El. In all of these cases the six plus one literary structure served to emphasize the seventh. It was an ancient Semitic device extending far back into the cultural memory of the region and would have been readily recognisable1. Even still, the employment of it in Genesis is unique, as no other ancient Near Eastern account develops a narrative for each day.2

In looking specifically at the Genesis account, the narrative seems to anticipate the seventh day which is depicted as being the culmination of God’s creative work. For example it has been often noted that the opening, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” is composed of seven Hebrew words. The number seven features prominently throughout the passage in that a number of phrases such as “let there be,” “and it was so” and “and God made” occur seven times. This all culminates in Gen. 2:2–3 where the fact that it is the seventh day is repeated; unlike the other days and that the Hebrew nicely fits four lines of seven words.3

As already noted, the seventh day lacks the familiar ending “and there was evening and there was night.” It has been widely recognized, that in a sense then the seventh day is perpetual, at least until being interrupted by sin.4 This is more than just an argument from silence, the other six days end with this formula and it would provide an obvious conclusion to this part of the creation account, so its absence is justifiably notable. On this matter, there is a natural overlap between the seventh day and the hoped for eschatological rest to come after a recreation, whereby the seventh day in Gen. 2 also serves to prefigure the eternal rest to come. In truth the association of Sabbath with eternity is an ancient one.5 For instance the apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve states that “the seventh day is the sign of the resurrection and the world to come.”6 More importantly though, the Old Testament writings justify such a reading, as shall be noted in the course of the study.

Perhaps for some, an eschatological reading of the seventh day might appear to be speculative, but when consideration is given to the way in which the creation narrative is used elsewhere in the Pentateuch, keeping the eschatological hope on the interpretive horizon becomes not only defendable but necessary for understanding the theology of the Pentateuch as a coherent whole. The land which the Israelites were entering in to possess is painted using Edenic imagery and language and for generations after the conquest is remembered as an event still to come (e.g. Ps. 95:11). The tabernacle and the temple are framed by the story of Eden and point forward to a time when the Lord will come again and bring judgment and restoration. The story of Noah also points forward to a re-creation to come, as shall be seen in the next chapter. These are ideas which must be explored in more detail, yet the cumulative weight of evidence linking rest and the seventh day with recreation after the eschaton, is substantial.

Purpose and Provenance

Gen. 1–11 is not the only primeval proto-history from the ancient world which has been preserved to this day. In addition to Gen. 1–11 there is also the Sumerian king list, the Atrahasis epic and Eridu genesis. These all follow the basic pattern of creation, flood and a new start. The fact is that these kinds of narratives were not constructed after about 1600 BC, so it is reasonable to conclude that Gen. 1–11 at the very least goes back to the patriarchal period.7

The commonly held view that Gen. 1–11 is a redaction combining two sources, “J” which possibly held this triadic pattern of creation, flood and new start, with “P” written significantly later in the time of the exile, is unlikely simply because there is no reason why an exilic redactor should restrict himself to so faithfully adhering to the triadic pattern of “J.”8

Linked to the above discussion is the idea that Genesis actually preserves two creation accounts: Gen. 1—2:4a composed in the exile and Gen. 2:4b—3:24 coming from “J.” The primary reason given for distinguishing between the two is the use of the Hebrew word toledot in Gen. 2:4.9 The word toledot, meaning these are “the generations of” appears eleven times altogether in the book of Genesis; introducing various sections and giving the book its overall structure. It is a mistake though...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Creation and God’s Rest
• Chapter 2: Noah
• Chapter 3: "Rest” for the Nations
• Chapter 4: Sabbath Rest
• Chapter 5: The Tabernacle
• Chapter 6: The Land as an Inheritance
• Chapter 7: Rest in the Book of Joshua
• Chapter 8: In the Days when the Judges Ruled
• Chapter 9: Rest and the Temple
• Chapter 10: Rest and Judgment
• Chapter 11: Purim and the Rest of God
• Chapter 12: Rest in the Book of Chronicles
• Conclusion
• Bibliography