One of the great problems of modern life is workaholism, the compulsion to work long hours. The advancing technology of our age, which had been supposed to make things more convenient, has only resulted in us becoming busier and more preoccupied with mounting tasks; our working hours have become longer. This makes today’s reading especially relevant.

The first three verses of Genesis 2 are really the concluding section of the creation story that began in Genesis 1:1. Don’t let the division of chapters 1 and 2 prevent you from noticing that the God who works to create an awesome universe is also the God who rests upon completing His work. The creation story doesn’t end on the sixth day, when human beings are created; it is complete only when God rests after six days of working.

In fact, this marvellously concise account of creation ends as beautifully as it began. The various authors of the biblical books have a particular attraction to the number seven, and this tendency is rooted in the story of creation, especially in the significance attached to the seventh day of rest.

The opening section of Genesis (1:1–2) is made up of 21 Hebrew words (seven times three); the closing section (2:1–3) of 35 (seven times five). Genesis 2:3, which communicates the central idea that God “rested from all the work of creating”, is 14 words in the original Hebrew (seven times two). Additionally, the phrase “seventh day” is used three times in Genesis 2:2–3 to underscore the importance of this day of rest in God’s “work week”.

While human society determines the length and separation of days, months, and years by the motions of the sun and the moon, the universal definition of a week—seven days—can be traced entirely to the biblical story of creation.

The fact that God took a rest (sabat in Hebrew) from His work (2:3) stands behind His fourth commandment to the Israelites: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy . . . For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day” (Exodus 20:8–11). Sabat means “to cease or stop”. It tells us that God created human beings to follow a rhythm of work and rest.

Christians have traditionally adopted Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection, as our day of rest; it is our way of keeping this rhythm. It is the day of the week when we stop our work to gather and worship God. It’s how we give our bodies, and our relationship with God, time to be restored. He is the provider of meaningful employment, and we dedicate all our work to His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).