Out of Zion

Dr. Susan Michael: On the seventh day, God finished His work. That is from Genesis 2:2. I thought that God finished creation on the sixth day and then rested on the seventh. So what does that mean? Stick with me, and I want to welcome you to this week’s Shabbat Shalom devotional, where I try to share a little inspiration and bring a little peace to the close of your very busy week.

Let’s read that verse in its entirety, Genesis 2:2-3: "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. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all of His work which God had created and made."

The ancient rabbis taught that just as heaven and earth were created in six days, rest was created on the seventh day. That is an interesting thought. We think of rest in negative terms: that it is the absence of something; the absence of labor and work, the absence of strife and fighting, distrust, or fear. The Hebrew word, *menuha*, means much more than that, and creation was actually incomplete without it.

What is this *menuha* that was created on the seventh day? According to Rabbi Abraham Heschel, *menuha* is a positive term. It is a state of tranquility, of serenity, peace, and repose. It is the essence of a good life. Not only did God create heavens and earth, He created a beautiful state of peace, tranquility, and rest. That is the life He intended for you and me.

This weekend, when you take a little rest, do not just take rest from your labor or your work, but actually enter into that state of peace and tranquility and rest that God created just for you. How can you know this state? How can you enter into true peace and tranquility? It is by knowing the Creator God, being forgiven for your sins and trespasses by Christ Jesus, and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit into your life.

That is when you will enter into the true spiritual rest and the good life. This means that the Sabbath rest was actually a forerunner or a shadow of our state of salvation and even of eternal life. There is so much more that I could unpack there, but with that, I am going to bring this week to a close and wish you a Shabbat Shalom.