Sunday: Time to be Astonished
Have you ever wondered why God chose to give us two harmonious Creation accounts in the first two chapters of Genesis? Genesis 1 recounts the Creation week and the growing wonder of the earth as it is given form and then life, culminating in the creation of man and woman on the sixth day.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Genesis 2 looks at the same account but from a different perspective, with a special focus on the sixth day. Adam is at the center of the picture now, and everything is described as being there for him and the woman: the garden, the rivers, and the animals.
Creation is too deep for one single account. First, we learn of the powerful, artistic Creator who has an eye for perfect beauty. Then we meet the God of relationships, who wants humanity to love and care for each other and the rest of creation.
Read Gen: 1:1-2:25 and then reflect on how the first Sabbath (Gen: 2:1-3) links back to the first Creation story and forward to the second Creation account. How do your conclusions help you understand what God’s blessing of the Sabbath and making it holy might mean?
Imagine yourself as Adam or Eve on that first Sabbath. It’s your first day alive, your first day with your spouse, and your first day with God. What a day of education! You start to learn of the God who could create such beauty. You marvel as you see an elephant one moment and a frog the next, each unique. You smile as you see the antics of the giraffe or buffalo. You are silent in awe of the many colors and shapes, enraptured by the symphony of sounds; you revel in the range of delights in taste and smells and enjoy exploring the delights of different textures. Most of all, you start learning about relationships: responsibility, caring, love. You experience it with your Creator; you start to practice it with the rest of the created.
The first Sabbath could not have been a passive experience for Adam and Eve. It was a God-created opportunity for them to focus on their Creator and the created. It was a time for them to be astonished.
| List the different educational opportunities that Adam and Eve had during that first Sabbath. Which of these opportunities would still be relevant today, even if in a different form? How can they enrich your Sabbaths? |
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I post some of my bird photographs on the local community Facebook page. If I put up a photograph of a very pretty bird like a Rainbow Bee-eater I typically get a couple of hundred likes. However, a plain brown bird like a Large-billed Scrubwren only gets a couple of dozen likes. There is no doubt that colour "sells". But the astonishment of God's creation for us is something that is more than prettiness. One of the things that attract me to the study of birds in their diversity. In our small area, I have photographed over 150 species of birds, each with their own niche in the environment. I continue to be astonished, not only by the discovery of a new species in the area but by the observations of the behaviour of even the common ones. I notice them building nests, bringing up their young, catching fish or insects. defending their territory, eating berries, flying, gliding, zig-zagging through the scrub, and so on.
God has provided us with something good to study and learn about. And in so doing, reveals something of himself in design and purpose. God paints with a diverse palette giving us ample opportunity to be astonished.
Here is some of that diversity that I have photographed this year. Enjoy:
Beautiful Birds 2020 (If you have a large screen smart TV and know how to link to Youtube, this should look pretty good. It is available in HD)
These birds and their habitats are stunning!! Thank you!!
Wonderful, I really enjoyed the video.
Nice photography!
Thank you for sharing Maurice, stunning was the word that came to my mind as well. It truly does show the magnificence of our Creator.
Whenever I see birds live, photographed or videoed I think of how well dressed they are...on a daily basis! I wonder if they can tell each other apart. That is, of the same species. I wonder if they need to see differences in order to be a part of their society. I wonder what they are saying when singing into the morning air. Praises to God would be my first thought. Then calling out where to find the best food. The various distinctive mating rituals, the special nests and care for the young, just the ability to fly... all show the character of a Master Designer and lover of beauty and variety. Thank you for bringing us closer.
Thank you, Maurice, for sharing that beautiful video with us. I did enjoy watching it.
Thank you so much for sharing your bird pictures! They are truley awesome pictures! Pretty awesome what God has given us to enjoy!
This week we are studying how to experience the character of the LORD!
Why? I believe we need the reminder to refresh and deepen our relationship with Him in this whirlwind of drama that we live in.
The fact that the LORD created a space in time for us to spend with Him shows how much He loves us and how essential it is for our relationship!
This week we are looking at aspects of this special time and how they deepen our understanding of the character of the LORD.
What have I learned about His character from nature today? He appreciates beauty and diversity. What about you?
So many things about Jesus time on Earth, as narrated in the gospels, is astonishing. We see Him wash his followers' feet, including Judas. Imagine this from our earthly rulers....a King, a Queen, a President, a Prime Minister, a Commander, a multi-billionaire ... kneeling lovingly in the dust, head bowed, before the poorest and uneducated and at the feet of a known enemy.
Jesus said,
"Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your
servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be
your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
(Matt. 20:26-28)
Jesus counted others more significant than Himself (Phil 2:3-4).
I wonder.....how did God teach the first couple humility?
We believe Adam was created in the image of God. He was perfect, as Lucifer was at his creation. That would perhaps indicate that humility was a part of him and he would not need to be taught. After the fall, things were very different.
James 4:10 says Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
God promises to lift us up once we humble ourselves. We can do this through the methods in the texts you cited.
That James text is another beautiful clue into the character of our God, Priscilla, thank you for sharing!
The lesson writers for today said: "Imagine yourself as Adam or Eve on that first Sabbath. It’s your first day alive, your first day with your spouse, and your first day with God. What a day of education! You start to learn of the God who could create such beauty.....Most of all, you start learning about relationships: responsibility, caring, love. You experience it with your Creator; you start to practice it with the rest of the created."
I tend to agree with these authors, that knowing how to be in a relationship is something learned and not innate. I believe that perfection includes learning and growing in wisdom (Luke 2:52). Jesus was perfect and starting from babyhood, like us, He had to learn from His human parents and from His heavenly Father how to manifest His beautiful traits of humility, compassion, honor, etc. Cross-reference texts indicate to me that God chose Mary to be His mother in part, at least, because she was humble (Luke 1:46-55).
Adam and Eve couldn't understand what "in the day you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen 2:17) meant until they sinned and started to learn. So perfection is not knowing everything. Perfection is trusting God and following His example even in those areas that you don't know or understand. God reveals everything to us in His time and matures His Spiritual fruits in us in His time. Just my thoughts.....
I like to think of God picking flowers and making a crown for Eve to wear, with a wink at Adam to show him how it's done!
The Sabbath has to be a different day in the week. A day for our delight in the presence of God! Although this world is being destroyed by mankind, there are still natural beauties to see! A day to observe creation and its maker! Because Nature mirrors God's wonderful knowledge! Perhaps only a few of us continue to gather in a virtual Sabbath School classes, but another way to obtain a great learning is to see what lessons God can teach us through the Class of His creation!
Special Birthday greetings to you Shirley. May God continue to bless, keep, and shine His face upon you. May Isaiah 40:31 be your testimony, so that as you wait on the Lord, your strength shall be renewed, mounting up with wings as eagles, walking and not being weary, running and without fainting. May His Spirit continue to teach you, guide and empower you to become more and more like Jesus. Please continue to share your insights on His Word. I look forward to those. Happy Birthday Shirley.
Sandra, I am really looking forward to that time when my strength shall be renewed, mounting up with wings as eagles, walking and not being weary, running and without fainting, in the meantime I praise the LORD for keeping my mind active.
I feel so blessed to be part of this SSNET community and appreciate all the kind wishes on my birthday, all praise belongs to the LORD who has looked after me all these years.
Birthday Blessings Shirley!
Love and hugs,
Beth
Could it be that from the first Sabbath in the first creation account to the second account of creation where there is now a Garden of Eden etc., there could have been several Sabbaths that went by? I say this because of several factors: 1. In Chapter 2:4 it mentions Generations of the heavens and the earth and "A day" that God made the earth and the heavens; 2. then in verse 8 it mentions God's planting the Garden of Eden and placing the Man there even before He made Adams' wife, Eve; 3. God brings animals to Adam to name them and lets him feel his need for a woman etc.?
Hello Pete,
I, too, have pondered your question and believe that this was part of God's surprise for Adam. To permit Adam the wonderment of his work, to use his gift of perception and discernment to discover that animals had mates, none were alone. I believe God wanted Adam to sense and feel a need for a partner, to feel lonesome and not quite complete.
As a parallel, I think this is how God views the Sabbath, it is a time to meet and celebrate our relationship with Him, to focus on Him, away from the rest of the world. He is our Partner, our Beloved, and desires the Sabbath day to be one of fulfillment, beauty, and restoration of our hearts and mind. In contrast, when I do not "keep" the Sabbath, I feel lonesome and realize I have missed something of value!
Hi Pete,
There is only one creation account--not 2--chapter divisions came later, put in by man. Where it says:
Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
Generations here is figurative it does not mean several 40 year generations of man, but as a creation/generation.
The use of "day" simply means an age, or a length of time, since we see that it took 6 days for God to create everything--not several weeks--therefore several Sabbaths here as you mention is impossible in Genesis 1 and 2:
Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:
Obviously, everything in Genesis chapters 1, and 2 happened in 7 days--one Sabbath.
By the time we get to chapter 3, when Satan used the serpent as a medium and man fell, we do not know how long that time period was.
blessings!
As I reflect on the first couple's experiencing their first Sabbath , I could imagine their wonderment, curiousity and awe as they wandered around their beautiful home. As They both opened their eyes, the first sight they beheld was the face of their Creator! How awesome that must have been! I imagine that in the hours following their creation they had a lot of questions and everything was a discovery because everything was new to them. They had to learn about their Creator, about themselves and about each other, and then they had to learn about the world around them. That was probably the best spent Sabbath in the earth's history.
I am saddened by the reality that today, for most of us, our Sabbaths are spent on the insides of buildings. While that has its place, I believe that it will serve us well to spend a good part of our Sabbath-COVID-19 or not- reflecting on our Creator, not from pews but among nature itself. In that way(even in our sin-blighted world) we, like Adam and Eve will be able to enjoy the company of our God, have serious questions answered, make wonderful discoveries about Him, ourselves, others and the natural world. We could never remain in one place in our relationship with God if our Sabbaths contain such experiences.
I agree, Sandra. We have tried to spend time in nature as often as possible on Sabbaths since our kids were very young. Now that they are college age and older, they still ask where we are going each Sabbath. We have a few favorite places and also enjoy finding new places to visit and explore God's creation.
What must Sabbaths been like in the garden of Eden between Jesus Adam and Eve? Perhaps Jesus spent the whole day with them? Answering questions? Explaining mysteries? Talking about the Father and Angels? Eating meals together? I'm sure that Sabbath with Jesus was a spectacular thing!
Hi Bud,
I am sure Eden Sabbaths were a delight and can only in the most human way imagine spending the day with Jesus and angels...wow.
Additionally, I believe Adam and Eve spent quiet time, walking through the garden; thinking, pondering, contemplating...using their brains to think back and process conversations. This quiet time permitted the Holy Spirit to guide and direct their thoughts into deeper understanding, deeper love, deeper trust and ultimately enriching their relationship with the Creator!
Hello Beth - I am curious about your imaginations and respectfully ask you if you can point me to a passage in Genesis were I can find that God told Adam and Eve to observe the Sabbath in Eden and how they did this? Thank you!
To my understanding, the Sabbath is first mentioned in the book of the Exodus, when it had become needful to re-introduce the God of the Sabbath, because He was no longer in the mind and heart of the Children of Israel as the ultimate Creator God. There is also no observation of the Sabbath mentioned during Abraham and Jacob's time.
I believe that Adam and Eve do not need to observe the Sabbath the way we are asked to do, because they have not sinned and are not separated from their Creator Father in their works. Their lifes are lived in perpetual acknowledgement of the one-ness with the Father and therefore no distinction/separation exists like it does for us.
We have to decide between works directed by another source of inspiration outside the Father's - selfishnes and pride of life. This is what we 'Rest' from on Sabbath and by this 'resting from our own works' acknowledge the Creator of all that is.
I am aware of the observation of the Sabbath to have been given to the Children of Israel, and in extention to all who believe in the God of Creation, to again remember and commemorate the Creator God on this seventh day.
Check out: Did God tell Adam & Eve to keep the Sabbath?
"Sabbath" literally means "rest." So Exodus 20 asks people to remember the "rest day" which God had made at the end of creation week, as recorded in Gen 2:2-3.
When Gen. 2:2 records that "he rested on the seventh day," it literally says he "sabbathed" on the seventh day.
Note also that "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." If we understand the word "sanctified" to mean "set aside for a holy purpose," it should give us notice that God intended the seventh day to be kept as a rest/Sabbath day right from the beginning of human history.
I believe that's the proper place to begin in teaching others about the Sabbath, rather than the commandment in Exodus.
As always, I am grateful and praise God that He still allows me time to enjoy in my old body the physical and spiritual beauty of this, His Creation; honoring HIM with my redeemed life which I can live because of His Grace and Mercy.
His Plan of Salvation still grants to all mankind redemption until He closes this Dispensation - let us be about our Father's work!
The first Eden Sabbath...here is where my mind went:
1. Be up to see the sunrise from the edge of the ocean.
2. Walk through the garden, petting, and talking to the animals.
3. Pause for breakfast at the Tree of Life- eat a strawberry. Get a cool clean drink of water from the River of Life.
4. Meet for Sabbath School- the angels lead in singing and for Church, The God Head present the sermon.
5. Sabbath meal- a table spread of fruit, veggies, nuts... and filled with angel stories about heaven and the other worlds.
6. After lunch, a quiet stroll through the Garden with Jesus. He allows Adam and Eve to lead the conversation.
7. Naptime under a beautiful tree and soft grass- you can see the blue sky and fluffy clouds through the leaves.
8. After the nap, more time with the angels and visiting other parts of Eden. Lots of singing, lots of laughter/joy, lots of conversation.
9.Supper worship. Popcorn and fruit salad. This is sharing time, personal praising to God, giving thanks, asking questions.
10. Evening time is spent with Jesus watching the sun go down and the moon and stars come out with an astronomy lesson, and along with that the reason for the Tree of Good and Evil.
11. Kisses good night.
That is what I think happened on the first Sabbath...:)
Remove the chapter headings and the verses numbers, and I read one creation story with important elaborations.
One can only speculate how that first Sabbath was spent by Adam and Eve. We do know it took place in a sinless, perfect environment, with God present(which we may enjoy today by faith), and not a pew or parking lot in sight. The music was heavenly, and like nothing we have ever heard. No prayers made for the sick and dying, the lost, or for forgiveness of sin. What a Rest that must have been, and one day soon, will be again.
Hi Brigitte,
The Sabbath as originally given by God on the 7th Day of Creation, has nothing to do with sin. Please notice these verses:
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.
This was well before sin. Verse 3 says that God at first rested on this first Sabbath and after it ended, then He made it holy. He gave an example to Adam and Eve in how to keep the Sabbath--and He showed them His creation.
The Sabbath is a constant reminder of God's creative power and after sin, it became a symbol of redemption. Jesus rested in the grave on the Sabbath and did not rise until Sunday morning.
By the second Sabbath, Adam and Eve knew how to keep the Sabbath by resting from their work and contemplating creation, just as God showed them on the first Sabbath.
It would be a mistake to think that Adam and Eve did not keep the Sabbath because it does not specifically say so.God could not put everything in the Bible because it would be too huge and people would not read it. He's also given us a brain to think with and we do not need to be told every single thing.
As for the Sabbath in Abraham's time:
Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept my charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.
All Ten Commandments are included here--did God say that Abraham kept 9 commandments but broke My Sabbath? No.
By Sinai the children of Israel had forgotten the Sabbath having been in Egypt for 430 years.It says "remember" for that reason:
Exo 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Why would God not require Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath but then change His mind later on and say all of His people must keep the Sabbath? Not so.
Mal_3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
If God had told Adam and Eve not to keep the Sabbath--they would have worked 7 days in a row without a break and would have had no holy time to spend with God and be refreshed. If He had done this, later generations would have had a legitimate complaint against God who punished them for breaking the Sabbath.
The 7th Day Sabbath will continue for eternity in the earth made new, therefore there was never a break anywhere in Sabbathkeeping--God would not do this wrong to Adam and Eve and cause discord among His people--it is Satan who does this--he knew that if he could get people to keep Sunday, a common working day that has no holy blessing attached, then soon they would forget God too.
Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, said the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, said the LORD.
God Bless!
Stephen, I appreciate and thank you for sharing your thoughts with me in your reply. It might help you understand how I came to my findings if you consider what I call the *Spirit of the Sabbath*, the purpose for us to come back into God's Rest.
I believe that truely honoring *God's Rest*, His Sabbath, requires of man to acknowledge that man cannot live outside of His Maker's established law of existence; that he needs to learn to abstaining from "doing his own works' as the means which keep him *alive*..
When Adam and Eve started to do their *own works*, so to speak, they were barred from living in Paradise, the Garden of Eden - the world at that time - and experienced death as a consequence.
Since then, God's plan of Salvation wants to restore in us the essence of true life. Knowing His Sabbath helps us to see that our spiritual essence is not kept alive by our works, but that the essence of our true life is in the Atonement Christ Jesus made on our behalf in order for us again to be able to enter our Creator's rest - Gal.2:20KJV.
Christ Jesus, the Son of God as well as of man, was watched by all to see if He would remain faithful or if He would resort to His own *works* to help save Himself, but He did not - Praise God! He remained faithful, resting and trusting His Father that in Him all things will be adjusted and so, ultimately, reflect His Will for the benefit of all things seen and unseen.
Some people appearing to be alive are considered by Christ Jesus to be dead - spiritually dead. This same end of existence will come to those who refuse to live by the *Spirit of the Sabbath*, by His laws established at the beginning of time.
These eternal laws, this Truth, the believer has to learn to recognize and honor when resting in the completed work of Creation on Sabbath. Or, if he continues to live by his own rules, preferring to live by his own understanding and going about life after his own way instead of the Way of God's Truth and Light, He will be cut off from life.
Man finding himself to be the one responsible to support his material life by relying on his hand's work is a curse, not a blessing! The spiritual essence of true life, one-ness with our Creator, exists in the Rest man experiences when he sees this Truth and *abstaines from his work* as the sole means for his survival, and placing his spiritual as well as material survival into the hands of the Father who created him.