Labor, Then Rest

by Terri Kammerzell

Truth of Genesis Ministry Partner

This Monday the U.S. will observe its 140th annual Labor Day celebration, a holiday born out of the need to celebrate overworked and underpaid laborers during the Industrial Revolution, when “the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living.” History.com also explains: “Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.” Working conditions all across the U.S. were so poor, and tensions among workers rose so high, that eventually labor unions arose, and labor laws were made. Nobody knows for certain who gets the credit of the first Labor Day celebration in 1882, but it wasn’t until 1894 that President Grover Cleveland officially signed the holiday into law.[1]

Here’s a question I’m wondering: Why was it a problem for workers to work seven-day work weeks? Hmmm… Could it be that much earlier in history a pattern was established for people to take one day off each week to rest? Indeed! That brings me to this week’s Fun Fact:

What is one verse that tells us both how long it took God to create everything and what He did right after?
Genesis 2:3 tells us that “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work, which God had created and made” (NKJV).

Those six days were very full days. So full that some people have a really hard time believing God could have done everything listed in Genesis 1 in just six days. They try to impose long ages into the text and try to reinterpret the Hebrew word for day (yom) with a meaning other than a 24-hour day. Scientifically, there is no evidence to support long ages, and when you start with a worldview that God works supernaturally, it is perfectly consistent—even scientifically—that all those miraculous events took place in just about 144 hours! Theologically, there are a lot of problems with trying to reinterpret Genesis 1, with implications that not only undermine but even negate the work of Christ on the cross. We’ll talk about these issues more over the next few weeks when I introduce my Gap Theory and Day-Age Theory Fun Facts.

In the meantime, let’s turn our attention back to Genesis 2:3. By the seventh day, God had already finished His work of Creation. Everything He created was good, and He took a day to rest. We see in other places of the Bible (Exodus 20:8-11; Leviticus 23:3; Hebrews 4:4; etc.) that this seventh day, this day of rest, this Sabbath, was important to God. Today, many Christians observe a weekly day of rest, whether on Saturday or Sunday. This Monday, when you take the day off to reward yourself for your past year of labor, remember to make a little time to appreciate the Creator’s labor during those first six days of history, including the beautiful nature around you. Also make time to thank Him for His omniscience in setting the standard for weekly rest.
 
Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/bibleVerses/genesis23.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.
[1] https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day-1