BibleProject

QUOTE

"What Jesus is claiming is that the ultimate jubilee that the prophets pointed to has begun. Here it is. I’m doing it. It’s a massive claim."

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Sabbath was a big deal to Jesus. He and the Jewish religious leaders often disagreed over what observing the Sabbath should actually mean.
• Jesus announced his public ministry at a synagogue on the Sabbath by reading from Isaiah 61, which is a prophecy about a future time of jubilee.
• Jesus claimed that he was fulfilling all that the ritual and symbolism in the Sabbath pointed to. Jesus claimed to usher in a new age of peace and rest.

SHOW NOTES

In part 1 (0-29:15), Tim and Jon review the conversation so far.

Tim shares a quote from Samuele Bacchiocchi and his scholarly work, “Sabbatical Typologies of Messianic Redemption.” His essay examines traits of Genesis 1-2 that are carried forward in Jewish texts of the Second Temple period. One of the things that characterized the giving of the Sabbath laws was man’s relationship to and peace with the animals. Consider this excerpt from the Babylonian Talmud.

“A. A man should not go out with (1) a sword, (2) bow, (3) shield, (4) club, or (5) spear.

“B. And if he went out, he is liable to a sin-offering.

“C. R. Eliezer says, ‘They are ornaments for him.’

“D. And sages say, ‘They are nothing but ugly,

“E. ‘since it is said, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4).’” 

(Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 12a: Jacob Neusner, The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary, vol. 2 [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], 269.)

Tim also shares Bacchiocchi’s findings on the connection between the themes of food, the Sabbath, and material abundance.

Tim shares from 2 Baruch 29:4-6, “the Messiah shall begin to be revealed ... the earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes and each grape produce a cor of wine.”

Abundance through unending food, Tim says, was one of the signs viewed by the prophets as an indication that the Messiah had come.

Tim also shares from Bacchiocchi’s findings on the theme of what he calls “Joy and Light.” Bacchiocchi cites Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Zimra.

“‘For the Sabbath day,’ that is, for the day which darkness did not attend. You find that it is written of other days, ‘And there was evening and there was morning, one day.’ But the words, ‘There was evening’ are not written of the Sabbath. And so, the Sabbath light continued thirty-six hours.”

(The Midrash on Psalms, translated by William G. Braude [New Haven, 1959], p. 112. Quoted in Samuele Bacchiocchi, “Sabbatical Typologies of Messianic Redemption,” p. 159.)

In part 2 (29:15-34:00) Tim and Jon dive into Luke 4.

Luke 4:14-21

“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

“Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”

In part 3 (34:00-50:45), Tim examines the word “release” or “freedom” in the Isaiah passage (Grk. aphesis, “release,” or Heb. deror, “Jubilee liberation.” See Isaiah 61:1 and Leviticus 25:10). This is the common word for “forgiveness” in Luke (Luke 1:77 and 3:3), but the word’s meaning is broader in this instance. It’s denoting release from burden or bondage. The word in Isaiah 61 is rooted in the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25), and it is about release from the social consequences of society’s collective sin—a freedom from debt, slavery, poverty, and oppression.

Tim notes that forgiveness and release are the same word in the New Testament. The guys talk about how Jesus would have viewed “releasing” people from slavery to sin.

In part 4 (50:45-58:30), Tim and Jon talk about the controversy Jesus created around the Sabbath. They note that the conflict was not about whether the Sabbath should be observed but instead about what that observance of the Sabbath entailed in practical terms.

Take for instance this story from Matthew 12.

Matthew 12:9-13 

“Departing from there, he went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’—so that they might accuse him. And he said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand!’ He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.”

Tim cites scholar R.T. France on this passage:

“Fundamental to the rabbinic discussion was the agreed list (m.Šabb. 7:2) of 39 categories of activity which were to be classified as ‘work’ for this purpose, some of which are very specific (‘writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters’) others so broad as to need considerable further specification (‘building, pulling down’), while the last (‘taking anything from one “domain” [normally a private courtyard] to another’) is so open-ended as to cover a vast range of daily activities. The 39 categories of work do not explicitly include traveling, but this too was regarded as ‘work,’ a ‘Sabbath-day’s journey’ being limited to 2,000 cubits, a little over half a mile. These two rules together made Sabbath life potentially so inconvenient that the Pharisees developed an elaborate system of ‘boundary-extensions’ (ʿerubin) to allow more freedom of movement without violating the basic rules. The ʿerub system illustrates an essential element of all this scribal development of Sabbath law: its aim was not simply to make life difficult (though it must often have seemed like that), but to work out a way in which people could cope with the practicalities of life within the limits of their very rigorous understanding of ‘work.’ The elaboration of details is intended to leave nothing to chance, so that no one can inadvertently come anywhere near violating the law itself. Some rabbis spoke about this as ‘putting up a fence around the law.’”

(R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007], 455–456.)

In part 5 (58:30-65:30), Tim and Jon discuss how Jesus didn’t really dispute the validity of Sabbath practice. Instead, he insisted that he was fulfilling all the symbolism that the Sabbath pointed to.

Tim notes that one way to characterize the life of Jesus is as one big jubilee announcement tour. Jesus went around and released people from sickness and death.

In part 6 (65:30-end), Tim and Jon note that Western Protestant tradition tends to separate a social gospel from a proclaimed verbal gospel. This is a false dichotomy that didn’t exist in Jesus’ mind. To proclaim a full gospel of release meant release from cosmic sin and death as well as working to release from physical bondages as well.

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Show Resources:

• Samuele Bacchiocchi, “Sabbatical Typologies of Messianic Redemption.”
• R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• My Room Becomes The Sea by Sleepy Fish
• The Cave Resides Deep in the Forest by Artificial Music

Show Produced by:

Dan Gummel
 

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QUOTE

“Welcome to a fascinating industry in biblical scholarship. What we know is that every Jewish group that left a literary record, whether it’s the Qumran community, the Pharisees, the Zealots, and the early Christians—everyone is is talking about Daniel 9. And you can see why. It sets the clock."

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Daniel 9 and the passage commonly known as "The Seventy Sevens" is one of the most symbolically complex passages in the Bible and also has a wide range of scholarly interpretations surrounding it.
• Daniel 9 is directly related to Jeremiah 25.
• The Hebrew prophets like Isaiah in Isaiah 61 began to see the announcement of a jubilee not only as a practice but also as an announcement for a future time when all of humanity would get a restart.

SHOW NOTES

In part 1 (0:00–8:20), Jon briefly recaps the conversation so far. Tim shares a verse from Isaiah, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). This verse, Tim says, is at the core of the theological claims behind the theme of seventh-day rest in the Bible.

In part 2 (8:20–27:30), Tim turns to the book of 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 36:20-21

“He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.”

Tim says that the author of this passage would have had two prophecies from Jeremiah in mind when writing this. 

Jeremiah 25:11-14

“This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.’”

Jeremiah 29:10-14

“This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.’”

Tim notes that this is a very famous verse in the Bible, but many people aren’t aware of its original context—a promise from God that Israel will return from exile.

In part 3 (27:30–46:45), Tim dives into Daniel 9:20, a passage commonly known as “the seventy sevens.”

Daniel 9:20-27

“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill—while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, ‘Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision: Seventy “sevens” are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.’

“‘Know and understand this: from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: war will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. In the middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’”

This passage, Tim says, maps directly onto the two Jeremiah prophecies.

Tim notes that Daniel would have been heartbroken because he was hoping that this would have been a proclamation of good news that Israel would return from exile. Instead, the message is that Israel has a long way to go in its exile.

There are many ways to read and interpret the 490 years (seventy sevens) in Daniel 9. Tim shares about a study from scholar Roger Beckwith, who has done an enormous study on the various interpretations of Daniel 9 in his paper, “Daniel 9 and the Date of Messiah’s Coming in Essene, Hellenistic, Pharisaic, Zealot and Early Christian Computation” (see show resources for link).

In part 4 (46:45–end), Tim and Jon cover an important prophecy in Isaiah about a coming jubilee.

Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.”

Tim shares a quote from scholar Bradley Gregory in his essay on Isaiah 61, called “The Post Exilic Exile in Isaiah.”

“In Isaiah 40-55, the Babylonian exile is understood as an image of the Egyptian captivity. In the last ten chapters of Isaiah (56-66), the oppressive situation in Jerusalem after the exile has become another symbol. One gets the impression that the author doesn’t see the situation after the exile as any better than the situation in Babylon or enslaved in ancient Egypt. In all cases Israel is shackled because of sin, awaiting deliverance by Yahweh. The prescriptions for the jubilee have been eschatologized—the jubilee is now a metaphor and an image for a future hope. Isaiah has moved the concept for jubilee from a law to a concept of future deliverance.”

Show Resources:

• Roger T. Beckwith, “Daniel 9 and the Date of Messiah’s Coming in Essene, Hellenistic, Pharisaic, Zealot and Early Christian Computation” 
• Bradley C. Gregory, “The Postexilic Exile in Third Isaiah: Isaiah 61:1-3 in Light of Second Temple Hermeneutics”

Show Music:

• Mind your Time by Me.So
• Excellent by Beautiful Eulogy
• Good Grief by Beautiful Eulogy

Produced by Dan Gummel.

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS 

• The land is entitled to a Sabbath rest as a part of the Torah commandments.
• If Israel disobeys the Torah and does not allow the land to rest, they will be punished by God, including being sent into exile.
• Romans 8 is similar to Leviticus 26. The land (creation) is waiting for its release from bondage, which will occur when humans attain their release from their bondage.

QUOTE

“What we call the natural world in the biblical story is an existence with humans living at odds with our real nature and our environment. (The Land) is not ours to do what we want with.”

SHOW NOTES

In part 1 (0-18:35), Tim and Jon review the conversation so far and quickly go over the Jewish festival calendar year to recap how it reflects the theme of seventh-day rest. They also discuss the Year of Jubilee.

In part 2 (18:35-32:40), Tim shares from Leviticus 26 and talks about the “covenant curses” that God pronounces. If Israel disobeys the commands, they will be exiled. Their exile is portrayed an inverted jubilee. Covenant loyalty will result in Eden blessing, freedom, abundance, and security, much like the jubilee.

Leviticus 26:3-13

“If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full (Heb. שבע, seven) and live securely in your land.

“I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land…

“So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm my covenant with you. You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. Moreover, I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul will not reject you. I will also walk among you (cf.  Genesis 3:8) and be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”

Tim says the takeaway from this passage is that covenant violation will result in seven anti-jubilee curses, slavery, poverty, and oppression, which is also portrayed with symbolic seven imagery.

Leviticus 26:14-18, 21, 23-24, 27-28, 33-35

“But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

“If after all this you will not listen to me, I will discipline you for your sins seven times over.

“If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.

“If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over.

“If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will discipline you for your sins seven times over.

“I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.”

Jon notes that Western culture allows us to think that we own land. However, owning land in ancient Israel wasn’t reality. Instead, the land would return to the family originally entrusted with it every fifty years. God considers the land to be his, and Israel is tenants upon it.

In part 3 (32:40-end), Tim finishes Leviticus 26.

Leviticus 26:40-45

“If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against me, and also in their acting with hostility against me… or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them.

“Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.”

Tim notes that the same logic that gives the land rest in Leviticus 26 also appears in the New Testament, when Paul writes in Romans 8.

Romans 8:19-23

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”

Creation will be liberated from its bondage when humans are liberated from theirs.

Show Resources:

Hittite King Suppiluliuma (Wikipedia)

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• Always Home by Ian Ewing
• The Size of Grace by Beautiful Eulogy

Show Produced by:

Dan Gummel

Join the Bible Project!

thebibleproject.com/vision

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QUOTE

“Since it occurred usually only once a lifetime, an impoverished Israelite would spend most of his life anticipating this event of restoration. So when we get to Jesus and the Jesus movement, it was a jubilee movement. Jesus started his mission by reading from Isaiah 61. He said it’s the favorable year of the Lord, the year of release.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25 is one of the most radical ideas in the Bible. Every 50 years, every Israelite was supposed to return to their original piece of allotted land.
• The jubilee would have effectively prevented cycles of intergenerational poverty and create a social and economic parity that would make Israel unique among all nations.
• Jesus announced that he was enacting the Year of Jubilee when he launched his public ministry.

SHOW NOTES

In part 1 (0-7:30), the guys quickly review the conversation so far.

In part 2 (7:30-21:30), Tim dives into Leviticus 24.

Leviticus 24:1-4

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord must be tended continually.’”

Tim shares a quote from Jacob Milgrom.

“There are three kinds of oil. The first when the olives are pounded in order and put into a basket, and the oil oozes out. Rabbi Judah says, ‘Around the basket and around the sides, the oil that runs out of the basket, this gives the first oil…. The first oil is fit for lampstands.’”

Tim and Jon observe that the first oil would be the safest, least likely to smoke. This would keep the soot for accumulating in the rooms where it is burning.

Tim makes several observations about the lamp from Leviticus 24.

• The lamp (מאור / ma’or) is attended to every evening so that its light burns perpetually (“from evening to evening,” borrowing language from Genesis 1).
• The lamp is described with the vocabulary of the sun, moon, and stars in Genesis 1. They are symbols of the divine glory and markers “for signs and for seasons”—that is, for the appointed feasts (Gen. 1:14-16).
• The lamp is a symbol of the divine light that perpetually shines upon Israel, who is represented by the bread. Numbers 8:1-4 tells us that the light of the menorah “will give light in the front of the lampstand” (v. 2), shining in the direction of the bread.
• Leviticus 24:5-9 says that the bread is to be placed directly across from the light. Just as new bread is baked every Sabbath, so Israel is “recreated” every Sabbath. This bread is called “an eternal covenant” (Lev. 24:8), meaning it’s a symbol of the eternal relationship between God and Israel.

Tim shares this quote from Michael Morales:

“The menorah lampstand contains the same seven-fold structure, symbolizing the entire seven-part structure of time provided by the heavenly lights…. Just as the cosmos was created for humanity’s Sabbath communion and fellowship with God, so too tabernacle was established for Israel’s Sabbath communion and fellowship with God “every day of the Sabbath” (Lev 24:8). This ritual drama of the lights and the bread, symbolizes the ideal Sabbath, the tribes of Israel basking in the divine light, being renewed in God’s presence Sabbath by Sabbath.”

(Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord, 189-190 [with embedded quote by Vern Poythress].)

In part 3 (21:30-36:00), Tim dives into Leviticus 25 and the practice of jubilee.

Leviticus 25:1-55

“The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

‘“Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.

‘“In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property. If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

‘“Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

‘“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

‘“If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.

‘“Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

‘“The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.

‘“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

‘“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

‘“Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

‘“If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.

‘“Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”’”

Tim makes a few observations about the practice of jubilee and the Year of Jubilee. Giving people back their ancestral land would prevent the formation of monopolies and land owner dynasties. It would be a consistent (about once a lifetime) check to level the economic playing field of ancient Israel.

Tim also notes that there are no narrative stories about Israel actually observing this Year of Jubilee. This causes some scholars to wonder whether the jubilee ever happened, or whether it was set up as an ideal to aspire to.

Tim says that jubilee anticipates a future restoration. He shares a quote from scholar John Bergsma.

“There is something inherently ‘eschatological’ about the jubilee, long before it was seen as a symbol of the eschaton by later writers. Since it recurred usually only once in a lifetime, the impoverished Israelite—or at least the one projected by the text—would spend most of his life in anticipation of this event of restoration. Also, from the perspective of the entire Pentateuch, the conquest and settlement of Canaan was a kind of ‘realized eschatology’—the fulfillment of the promise of the land of Canaan originally made to Abraham. Leviticus 25—in its present position in the Pentateuch—looks forward to the time when the ‘eschatological’ condition of Israel dwelling within her own land will be realized, and enacts measures to ensure that periodically this utopian, ‘eschatological’ state of Israel will be renewed and restored.”

(John Bergsma, The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran: A History of Interpretation, 81)

In part 4 (36:00-end), Tim and Jon talk about how the jubilee crosses into social, economic, and political views. Tim notes that Jesus launched his movement by declaring that the Year of Jubilee had arrived.

Thank you to all our supporters!

Show Resources:

• John Bergsma, The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran: A History of Interpretation
• Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord? A Biblical Theology of the Book of Leviticus
• Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus, Anchor Yale Bible Commentary

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental: Tents

Show produced by Dan Gummel

Have a question? Send it to us [email protected].

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7th Day Q+R 1

Sam from Ohio (1:55): “I've heard you use the phrase that the Hebrew authors are in conversation with their Canaanite neighbors. In the creation narratives, when the Hebrew authors use the word avodah—for slave labor or work—are they saying something significant to their Canaanite neighbors, who in some of their creation accounts claim that the gods created humans to be their slaves? Is the word avodah tied to a unique claim that the Hebrew authors are trying to make about the relationship between God, work, and rest?”

Laura from Missouri (11:46): “As you were talking about sacred time built into the fabric of creation—particularly how the sun, moon, and stars are indented to mark the days and times for seasons and feasts—would these things still have been the case if the fall did not occur? Were these intended to be part of the people of God regardless of the fall? And if so, what would they be looking back to or forward to?”

Mike from South Africa (22:20): “Is the number seven a divine construct imported into the Israelite thinking? Or is it (or was it) an already established cultural idea that God just adopted to teach something that they would have understood if you spoke in their language?”

Brianna from Wisconsin (32:35): “I have a question about the flood narrative, and what’s going on there with all the uses of time and sevens that keep getting repeated. I’m wondering if all the references to time are supposed to get mapped onto Israel’s calendar and the feast days? And if so, does that somehow tie into Noah and his name meaning “rest?” What are we meant to see there with all the reference to time and sevens and the idea that Noah is rest and bringing rest into the world.”

John from Virginia (43:27): “You mention that the Exodus story participates with days one, two, and three of the creation account. I was wondering if there was anything following that that maps onto days four, five, and six that maps onto the new Eden.”

Show music

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QUOTE

“The Holy One, blessed be He, created seven ages, and of them all He chose the seventh age only, the six ages are for the going in and coming out (of God’s creatures) for war and peace. The seventh age is entirely Sabbath and rest in the life everlasting.” – Rabbi Eliezer

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The seven festivals or feasts in the Jewish sacred calendar are integral to understanding the theme of the seventh-day rest in the Bible.
• These feasts have symbolic meaning connecting back to the creation account in Genesis and the story of the Exodus. They are meant to act as a way to remember and teach.

SHOW NOTES

In part 1 (0-16:10), Tim and Jon recap the conversation so far, including the story of God giving Moses the Ten Commandments and instructions for the tabernacle. Interestingly, Tim notes that he isn’t pointing out all the layers of seven in the Bible, just highlighting some of the significant ones. For example, Moses goes up and down the mountain to commune with God seven times in the whole story of the TaNaK.

Tim moves into the next part of the story. God is now dwelling in the tabernacle, also known as the tent of meeting. Unfortunately, God’s presence is so intense that no one can go in.

In part 2 (16:10-25:00), Tim expands on the theme of Sabbath in Exodus.

Exodus 23:9-12 

Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.

Tim observes that Sabbath rest isn’t just for the Jews. It’s also rest for the servants, the land, and the animals. All of creation is called to participate in seventh-day rest.

In part 3 (25:00-35:00), Tim looks at a passage from Deuteronomy 15. 

Deuteronomy 15:1-6

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

Cancelling debts would sometimes happen in the ancient world when a new ruler came into power as an act of political and social favor. What’s unique about the Jewish idea in Deuteronomy, Tim notes, is that this release from debts is meant to be observed independently of any kingship or political system.

In part 4 (35:00-44:00), Tim goes back to Leviticus to trace out the appointed feasts.

Leviticus 23:2-4

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 

There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.’”

Here’s a simple way to lay out the sabbath and the appointed festivals.

1. Sabbath

The seventh day of each week.

Duration: one day

Restrictions: no work

2. Passover & Unleavened Bread

The first feast of the year.

Duration: one day plus seven days

Restrictions: no work on the first and seventh days

3. Firstfruits

Held the day after the seventh day of Passover

Duration: one day

4. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)

Seven times seven and one days after Passover

Duration: one day

Restrictions: no work

5. Trumpets

First day of the seventh month

Duration: one day

Restrictions: no work

6. Day of Atonement

Tenth day of the seventh month

Duration: one day

Restrictions: no work

7. Tabernacles

Middle of the seventh month (7/15-7/21)

Duration: seven days

Restrictions: no work on the first and seventh days

(Numbers 5-7 are commonly known as "The Days of Awe")

The Sabbath represented a burst of Eden rest into ordinary time. These seven feasts all participate and develop aspects of the meaning of the original Sabbath.

• Passover and Unleavened Bread: redemption from death (new creation) and commitment to simplicity and trust in God’s power to provide food in the wilderness
• Firstfruits and Weeks: celebrating the gift of produce from the land
• Trumpets: announcing the sabbatical (seventh) month
• Day of Atonement: God’s renewing the holiness of his Eden presence among his compromised people
• Tabernacles: provision for God’s people on their way to the Promised Land. They are to act like they are living in God’s tent for a Sabbath cycle. “And you will take the fruit of the beautiful tree, the branches of a palm, and branches of a tree of leaf and of poplar trees by a river, and you shall rejoice before Yahweh for seven days” (Leviticus 23:40). Israel is called to rest in a mini-Eden tent made of the fruit of a beautiful tree for a Sabbath cycle!

The dates of these feasts float independently of the perpetual seventh-day cycle. Occasionally, when a feast falls on the Sabbath, it becomes extra special. For example, passover falls on the Sabbath during Jesus’ week of passion when he is crucified.

In part 5 (44:00-47:45), Tim moves on and discusses the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks / Pentecost.

In part 6 (47:45-end), Tim covers the last three festivals: the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Tim notes that there are lots of overlapping calendars in the Hebrew Bible, and it can be difficult to keep them all straight. In modern times we have calendars like “the school year,” “the financial year,” “the sports year,” etc. All of these years and calendars overlay on our actual year in a different way. This is true of feasts in the Bible as well.

These last few feasts are commonly regarded as “the days of awe and wonder” in modern Jewish life. The Festival of Trumpets is now known as Rosh Hashanah. This is would have been considered the Jewish New Year. The Day of Atonement is the next holiday where a symbolic goat takes Israel’s sins out of the camp. The Feast of Tabernacles is last. This feast is meant to reenact the Israelite wandering and journey in the wilderness. Israelites are expected to not work for seven days and camp out.

Tim quotes from Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer.

“The Holy One, blessed be He, created seven ages, and of them all He chose the seventh age only, the six ages are for the going in and coming out (of God’s creatures) for war and peace. The seventh age is entirely Sabbath and rest in the life everlasting.”

Thank you to all our supporters! Have a question for us? Send it to [email protected].

We love reading your reviews of our show!

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• Lost Love by Too North
• For When It’s Warmer by Sleepy Fish
• Ambedo by Too North
• Shot in the Back of the Head by Moby
• Shine by Moby

Show Resources:

• Michael Morales, Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord, A biblical theology of the book of Leviticus.
• Quote from Rabbi Eliezer can be found in Samuel Bacchiochi, “Matthew 11:28-30: Jesus’ Rest and the Sabbath,” pp. 297-99.

Show Produced by:

Dan Gummel

Powered and Distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

QUOTE

"The Sabbath is to time what the tabernacle and temple are to space: a cathedral in time. On the seventh day, we experience in time what the temple and tabernacle represented in spaces, which is eternal life with God in a complete creation."

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The building of the tabernacle in Exodus 40 has deep connections with the theme of seventh-day rest and the creation account in Genesis.
• The tabernacle is presented as a mini cosmos, brought into being by the seven acts of divine speech by God. When Moses builds this symbolic mini cosmos, seven times over he obeys the divine command.

SHOW NOTES:

In part 1 (0-8:30), Tim and Jon recap their conversation so far. They go over the story of the Passover and review how it reflects the creation account in Genesis.

In part 2 (8:30-22:30), Tim transitions to the story of Israel collecting manna in the wilderness in Exodus 16.

Exodus 16:4-35

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it? For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Tim notes that manna was supposed to be a little taste of the new creation. Manna was a new work of creation that violated normal creation while also fitting within God’s ideal purpose for creation (i.e., within the seven-day scheme). Manna was a divine gift that came from proximity to the divine glory (Ex 16:9-10). This miraculous provision didn’t behave like normal food, and there was more than enough each day, no matter how much was gathered.

Tim also shares that the rhythms of gathering and not gathering on the Sabbath is an imitation of God’s own patterns of work and rest in Genesis 1. Similarly, God announced “good” days one through six and “very good” on day seven. This parallels with Israel collecting manna on days one through six and “double manna” on day seven. Furthermore, on the seventh day God “rested” (took up residence in his temple), and on the seventh day Israel “rests” and Moses “rested” a perpetual sample of manna “before Yahweh” and “before the testimony.”

Tim cites scholar Stephen Geller:

“... manna is presented as a new work of creation that disrupts the established order of creation. In fact, there is a clear parallelism between the creation account in Gen 1-2:4 and Exod 16. In both passages there is a dichotomy between the first six days and the seventh day. In Gen 1, the work of each day is stated by God to be "good," a term that marks its completion. But on the sixth day the phrase "very good" marks the completion not just of the acts of creation on that day, but of the first six days as a whole. Genesis 2:1 states explicitly that "the heaven and earth were completed." Yet, to the perplex­ity of exegesis, the very next verse says that "God completed on the seventh day the work he did and ceased on the seventh day all work he did." The second of these two statements must be viewed as an explanation of the first: God completed his work by ceasing.”

(Stephen Geller, “Exodus 16: A Literary and Theological Reading,” Interpretation vol. (2005), p. 13.)

In part 3 (22:30-36:30), the guys dive into the actual Sabbath command as part of the Ten Commandments, which is given in seven Hebrew sentences. The Sabbath command in Exodus 20:8-11 is expressed in seven statements arranged in a chiastic symmetry. Tim says this is another fascinating layer of the theme of seventh-day rest in the Bible.

Exodus 20:8-11

A – Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

B – Six days you will labor

C – and do all your work,

D – but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God;

C’ – you shall not do any work,

you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant,

or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.

B’ – For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,

the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day;

A’ – therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Tim cites scholar Leigh Trevaskis to make his point:

“The sabbatical rest seems to remind Israel of her covenant obligations as YHWH’s new creation. Though this rest is more immediately connected to the exodus in these chapters, it has its roots in the creation story (Gen 2:1-3; cf. Exod 20:11) and by connecting Israel’s remembrance of her redemption from Egypt with the sabbatical rest, the exodus becomes infused with further theological significance: just as Gods seventh day rest in the creation story marks the emergence of his new creation, so does Israel’s sabbatical rest attest to her emergence as YHWH’s new creation through his act of redemption. And since her identity as a new creation is tied up with the covenant (cf. Exod 15:1-19; 19:4-5), Israel’s sabbatical rests… presumably recall her obligation to remain faithful to this covenant, encouraging her to live according to the Creators will.” (Leigh Trevaskis, “The Purpose of Leviticus 24 within its Literary Context,” 298-299.)

Tim then walks through Exodus 24, which is the start of God giving the tabernacle instructions to Moses. This story is a crucial layer to understanding how the building of the tabernacle (the “tent of meeting”) weaves into the theme of seventh-day rest.

Exodus 24:1-11

Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

In part 4 (36:30-49:50), Tim continues the story in Exodus 24.

Exodus 24:12-18

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Tim notes that the theme of sixth and seventh day is now clearly established. God appears to Moses on the seventh day.

Here in Exodus 25-31, God presents Moses with the plans for the tabernacle. These plans are dispensed in seven speeches by God.

[1] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 25:1]

[2] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 30:11]

[3] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 30:17]

[4] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 30:22]

[5] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 30:34]

[6] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 31:1]

[7] “And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying…” [Exodus 31:12]

The seventh and final act of speech covers the Sabbath.

After this, in Exodus 40, the completion of the tabernacle is given with seven statements of Moses completing the work God commanded him.

Exodus 40:17-18a

And it came about in the beginning month, in the second year, on the first of the month, the tabernacle was set up (הוקם), and Moses set up (ותקם) the tabernacle…

[1] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:19]

[2] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:21]

[3] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:23]

[4] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:25]

[5] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:27]

[6] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:29]

[7] “…just as Yahweh commanded Moses” [Exodus 40:32]

“And Moses completed (ויכל) the work (המלאכה)” [Exodus 40:33b]

Tim cites scholar Howard Wallace to make the following point:

“The structuring of the narrative in Exodus 25-40 binds the Sabbath observance closely with the construction of the sanctuary. Both are tightly connected with the question of the presence of Yahweh with his people…. The Sabbath is a significant element in the celebration of the presence of Yahweh with his people. Just as the tabernacle was built along lines specified by divine decree, so too in the sequence is the human sabbath institution modeled on the divine pattern. Since the tabernacle, which is patterned on the divine plan, reveals the presence and shares in the role of the heavenly temple to proclaim the sovereignty of Israel’s God, so the Sabbath shares in the proclamation of the sovereignty of Yahweh.”

(Howard Wallace, “Creation and Sabbath in Genesis 2:1-3,” 246.)

Tim also shares a quote from Rabbi Abraham Heschel.

“The sabbath is to time what the temple and tabernacle are to space. The sabbath is a cathedral in time. On the seventh day we experience in time what the tabernacle and temple represented as spaces which is eternal life, God in the complete creation.”

(The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel)

In part 5 (49:50-end), the guys finish up their conversation. Tim notes that the cliffhanger at the end of Exodus is that Moses and all of Israel have successfully built the tabernacle (or the tent of meeting) and God then comes to dwell in it, to meet with Israel. But when he does, his presence is too intense, and Moses is unable to go in. So what will happen? Find out next week when we turn to Numbers and Leviticus.

Thank you to all our supporters!

Show Resources:

• Howard Wallace, “Creation and Sabbath in Genesis 2:1-3”
• Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
• Leigh Trevaskis, “The Purpose of Leviticus 24 within its Literary Context”
• Stephen Geller, “Exodus 16: A Literary and Theological Reading”

Find all our resources at www.thebibleproject.com

Show Music:

• The Hymn of the Cherubim by Tchaikovsky
• Nature by KV
• Feather by Waywell
• Solace by Nomyn

Show Produced by:

Dan Gummel

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

QUOTE

"Another layer of Genesis is that the first, the middle, and last day are all designed to show God creating structures of time. In the timing of the middle fourth day, God appoints the sun, moon and stars to rule over day and night, and they are to mark the moadim, the sacred feasts, the annual sacred feasts. So the whole sacred calendar of Israel that you’ll meet in Exodus and Leviticus is already baked into the story at the beginning of Genesis. (This is) sacred time."

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The Jewish sacred feasts are an integral and overlooked theme in the Bible. They are built into the fabric of the original creation story in Genesis 1:14.
• Passover is considered to be the most important Jewish holiday. Many biblical themes flow into and out of the idea of the Passover.

SHOW NOTES

Welcome to our fourth episode discussing the theme of the seventh-day rest in the Bible. In this episode, Tim and Jon look at the Passover and Exodus stories and talk about their importance to the development of this theme.

In part 1 (0-12:30), the guys quickly go over the conversation so far. Tim briefly covers the days of creation and notes how God sets up structures of time on days one, four, and seven. These structures are reflected in the Hebrew calendar.

In part 2 (12:30-19:30), Tim begins to share broadly about the Hebrew sacred calendar. Tim notes that the Jewish calendar is designed to heavily reflect symbolic “seven” imagery.

In part 3 (19:30-37:30), Tim briefly recaps the calling of Abraham that was discussed in the previous episode. Tim notes that Abraham believed that God would bring about an ultimate seventh day. A brief conversation follows about fasting in Christianity as well as a brief discussion on the differences between “hope” and “optimism.” Tim cites scholar Cornel West about the differences between optimism and Christian hope.

In part 4 (37:30-43:00), Tim starts to talk about Passover, which originates in the book of Exodus. Tim says that Passover is the most important feast on the Jewish calendar. The Exodus story is presented in cosmic terms on analogy with the Creation story of Genesis 1.

In part 5 (43:00-56:20), Tim explains the story of the Exodus and how it maps onto the Genesis story. The powers of evil destroy Israel (i.e. new humanity) through slavery (lit. “working” in Hebrew, עבדה), and through the waters of death. But God acts and rescues Israel. The famous story of the ten plagues are inversions of the ten creative words of God in Genesis 1. All of the plagues “de-create” Egypt back into chaotic darkness.

Consider these examples:

The Plague of Darkness


Genesis 1:2-3 

…and darkness (חשך) was over the surface of the deep…. Then God said, “let there be light (יהי אור)….”

Exodus 10:21, 23 

…that there may be darkness (ויהי חשך) over the land of Egypt… but for all the sons of Israel, there was light (היה אור) in their dwellings.

The Plague of Frogs

Exodus 7:28

And the Nile will swarm (ושרץ) with frogs…

Genesis 1:20 

…let the waters swarm (שרץ) with every swarming (שרץ) creature…

The Plague of Locusts

Exodus 10:5 

[the locusts] will eat every tree (עץ) which sprouts (צמח) for you from the field (השדה).

Exodus 10:15 

…fruit of the tree…all vegetation in the tree and green thing (ירק) in the field…

Genesis 1:29-30 

I have given to you for food all vegetation… all the tree which has the fruit of the tree… every green thing (ירק)….

Genesis 2:9 

…and Yahweh sprouted (צמח) from the ground every tree (עץ)…


Pharaoh sends Israel out of Egypt at night (Exod 12:29, 31, 42) and Israel flees to the edge of the Reed Sea where Pharaoh’s army chases them for a night showdown (Exod 14:20). It’s at night that God parts the waters (Exod 14:21), and during the last watch of the night (Exod 14:24), the Egyptians falter in the midst of the sea, and at sunrise (Exod 14:27) the waters destroy the Egyptians while the Israelites flourish on dry land.

Tim says that this story maps directly onto the creation narrative. The passage through the Reed Sea is all days 1-3 together in Genesis.

In part 6 (56:20-end), Tim goes to Exodus 15 to discuss the first “worship song” in the Bible.

Exodus 15:10-13, 17-18


You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;


They sank like lead in the mighty waters.


Who is like you among the gods, O Lord?


Who is like you, majestic in holiness,


Awesome in praises, working wonders?


You stretched out your right hand,


The earth swallowed them.


In your lovingkindness you have led the people whom you have redeemed;


In your strength you have guided them to your holy habitation.

You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,


The place of your dwelling (שבתך / shibteka / Sabbath!), which you have made,


The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.


The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

Tim notes that the English word “dwelling” in verse 17 is a wordplay on the word “sabbath,” because it is composed of the same letters.

Tim then discusses more details about the Passover and why its importance in the Bible. The Passover is on the 14th (2 x 7) and is followed by a seven day festival of unleavened bread (15th – 21st), that begins and ends with a “super sabbath” rest.

In Exodus 12:1-2, the new beginning given by God as he says, “beginning of the months, the beginning it is for you,” parallels with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning….” Passover is compared to creation as a seven-day ritual the restarts the calendar, like a new creation.

Tim then dives back into Exodus 12:14-16, 34, 39.

Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.

So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

Tim makes the following observations:

• 12:15 – “For seven days you are to put to rest (תשביתו) all leaven (שאר) from your houses.” For the resonance of “leaven” שאר with “remnant” שאר, continue reading for the comparison of Passover and the flood.
• 12:16 – “on the first day it is a holy convocation, and on the seventh day it is a holy convocation… all work should not be done on them.” This parallels Genesis 2:1-4. The seventh day is holy, for God finished his work.
• 13:6-7 – “Seven days you will eat unleavened bread (מצת) and on the seventh day it is a feast for YHWH; unleavened bread will be eaten (יאכל) for seven days, and leaven will not be seen for you for seven days.” This parallels with Genesis 1-3: There is a certain food provided (מן כל העך), and a certain food that is forbidden (the tree of knowing good and bad).

Here's a quote Tim cites in his notes for this verse: 

“But why require eating unleavened bread as the special focus of the exodus memorial meal, the Passover? The answer is that unleavened bread was the unique food of the original exodus, the event God wanted his people to be sure not to forget. People everywhere normally eat leavened bread. It tastes better, is more pleasant to eat, is more filling. Leavened bread was the normal choice of the Israelites in Egypt too. But on the night they ran, there was no time for the usual niceties—a fast meal had to be eaten, and hastily made bread had to be consumed. The fact that a lamb or goat kid was roasted for the meat portion of the meal or that bitter herbs were eaten as a side dish was not nearly so special or unusual as the fact that the bread was unleavened, thus essentially forming sheets of cracker. Eating it at the memorial feast intentionally recalled the original departure in haste. Eating it for a solid week tended to fix the idea in one’s consciousness.” (Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2, The New American Commentary, 283)

Consider these points:

• Passover is coordinated with the “wonder” of the parting of the waters and deliverance onto dry land (Exod 14), which parallels Genesis 1 when God parts the waters so that dry land can emerge.
• Passover is about Israel’s liberation from “slavery” (עבדה/עב׳׳ד), which parallels Genesis 1-2 about the creation of humanity as God’s co-rulers who “work” (עב׳׳ד) the land.
• Passover is a reversal of humanity’s exile when Israel is “banished” (גרשו, Ex 12:39) from Egypt, which parallels Genesis 3:22-24 when humanity is banished from Eden into the wilderness.

Tim concludes by saying that Passover and the Exodus are a kind of “new creation” as enslaved humanity is liberated from the realm of exile, death, and darkness and led through the waters of death into the new Eden of the promised land, marked by the celebration of a seven-day ritual (in the month of Abib on the 14th-21st). The liberation brought about at Passover is a new creation. The liberation requires that humans not try to provide their own security or provision (bread) but eat only what God allows and provides. This is clearly in preparation for the manna.

Thank you to all our supporters!

Have a question? Record your question and send it to [email protected]. Tell us your name and where you’re from. And try to keep the question under 20-30 seconds. Thanks!

Show Music

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• Where Peace and Rest are Found by Beautiful Eulogy
• All Night by Unwritten Stories
• Moon by LeMMino
• Supporter Synth Groove
• The Pilgrim by Greyflood

Show Resources:

• Judith Hertog, “Prisoner Of Hope: Cornel West’s Quest For Justice”
• Richard H. Lowery, Sabbath and Jubilee
• Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2, The New American Commentary

Show Produced by: 

Dan Gummel

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Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

QUOTE

“So once [the fall] happened, we go to Genesis 3, and all of a sudden the ground that was the source of humanity’s life as a gift from God—‘cursed is the ground because of you.’ So all of a sudden, we’ve lost the seventh-day ideal and not attained it.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• After the fall, there was a change in the fundamental nature of humanity’s work. Before the fall, it was enjoyable by default. After the fall, work becomes a task done for survival.
• God calls Abraham in Genesis 12 with a seven line poem. This is a symbolic use of the number seven and meant to tie in with the Genesis creation narrative.
• In Genesis 2:15 a keyword is introduced to the story. That word is nuakh, “rested him” (וינחהו / nuakh) and it is meant to portray an act of full abiding residence. Humanity was meant to be fully present and abide in the garden that God created.

SHOW NOTES

Welcome to episode three in our series on the theme of the seventh-day rest in the Bible.

In part 1 (0-21:45), Tim comments on Genesis 2:15.

Genesis 2:15

Then the Lord God took the human and ‘rested him’ (וינחהו / nuakh) into the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

God “rests” the human in the garden so that he can “work” it. Tim notes that this is the first appearance of the Hebrew word nuakh in the Bible. This becomes an important word in the theme of seventh-day rest. Tim says that this word can be understood as “to dwell,” or “to abide and rest in.” Humanity is to be fully present in the garden (Heb. nuakh = “to take up residence”).

Tim also says that this abiding rest is conditional. Will humans obey God and not take of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad? Answer: no. So what happens? Humanity rebels and is exiled from the heaven and earth Eden mountain, sent to “work/labor” the ground.

Genesis 3:17-19

Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.

Tim says that this is a change in the nature of our work. The work is no longer enjoyable by default; instead, work becomes a task done for survival.

In part 2 (21:45-33:20), Jon asks how this idea fits with God’s call for humanity to tend and maintain the garden. Wouldn’t ruling and subduing creation take work?

Tim responds by talking about two different types of work. Humanity was created to work, but the original work they were destined for was fundamentally different from the post-fall, post-eden work. Tim quotes from Abraham Joshua Heschel, a famous 20th century Jewish rabbi and his book The Sabbath.

“We are all infatuated with the splendor of space and the grandeur of the things of space. Thing is a category that lays heavy on our mind, tyrannizing all our thoughts. In our daily lives we attend primarily to that which are senses are spelling out for us. Reality to us is thinghood, consisting of substances that occupy space. Even God is perceived by most of us as a thing. The result of our thinginess is a blindness to all realities that fail to identify itself as a thing. This is obvious in our understanding of time, which being thingless and unsubstantial appears to us as having no reality. Indeed we know what to do with space but do not know what to do with time, except to make it subservient to space. Most of us seem to labor for the sake of things of space. As a result we suffer from a deeply rooted dread of time and stand aghast when compelled to look into its face. Time to us is sarcasm. A slick treacherous monster with a jaw like a furnace incinerating every moment of our lives. Shrinking therefore from facing time, we escape for shelter to things of space.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, prologue)

In part 3 (33:20-40:45), Tim focuses on Psalm 90.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place

in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You return man to dust

and say, “Return, O children of man!”

For a thousand years in your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

like grass that is renewed in the morning:

in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger,

and your wrath according to the fear of you?

So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord! How long?

Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants,

and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!

Tim notes that in verse 14, the English word “satisfy” is the Hebrew word for seven. So the writer is asking God for a completeness that only he can give.

In part 4 (40:45-49:30), Tim looks at the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12. Tim says that this is a seven-lined poem, and there are five promises of blessing which match the five curses earlier in Genesis 3-11. Jon notes that the conversation is actually looking at new creation through the lens of the sabbath and seventh-day rest.

In part 5 (49:30-55:45), Tim dives into a story about Abraham in Genesis 21.

Genesis 21:22-34

Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do; now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.” Abraham said, “I swear it.”

But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized. And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it until today.” Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well.” Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days.

Tim notes that this story is symbolic on many levels. Tim notes that the Hebrew word sheba can be translated as both “seven” and “oath.” So the story represents Abraham making a “seven” oath with Abimelech, who symbolically represents the nations. This oath results in peace and abundance for all people involved. Tim and Jon both agree that once you start to look for it, the themes of seven, completeness, and seventh-day rest are all over the Bible.

In part 6 (44:45-end), Tim and Jon recap the episode and preview the next part of the story, which is Israel’s enslavement in Egypt and the Exodus story.

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• Ocean by KV
• Blue VHS by Lofi Type Beat
• Levitating by Invention
• Mind Your Time by Me.So
• The Truth About Flight, Love and BB Guns by Foreknown

Show Produced by:

Dan Gummel

Show Resources:

Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath

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QUOTE

“Genesis 1 isn’t just telling you about what type of world you’re living in; it’s showing you, as a Israelite reader, that your life of worship rhythms are woven into the fabric of the universe.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The idea of resting and the number seven are intimately connected in the Bible.
• In Genesis 1, the word or number "seven" has two key symbolic meanings: seven represents a full and complete world, and getting to seven is a linear journey from one to seven.
• The rhythm of practicing sabbath or resting every seventh day is one way that humans can imitate God and act like they are participating in the new creation.

SHOW NOTES

Welcome to our second episode tracing the theme of seventh-day rest in the Bible!

In part 1 (0-18:30), Tim shares some of the numeric symbolism in Genesis 1. The opening line of Genesis 1 has seven words, and the central word, untranslated in English, is two Hebrew letters, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet: aleph and taw.

When one isolates the theme of time in Genesis 1, another design pattern emerges that provides a foundation for all of Israel’s rituals of sacred time.

Tim points out that there are many other ways the number seven is symbolic in the Genesis narrative: there are seven words in Genesis 1:1, and fourteen words in Genesis 1:2. There are seven paragraphs in Genesis 1:1-2:3 marked by “evening and morning.” The concluding seventh paragraph in Genesis 2:1-3 begins three lines which have seven words each (Gen 2:2-3a).

In part 2 (18:30-28:30), Tim summarizes a series of details about the literary design of Genesis ch. 1 from Umberto Cassuto's commentary on Genesis:

"In view of the importance ascribed to the number seven generally, and particularly in the story of Creation, this number occurs again and again in the structure of our section. The following details are deserving of note:

(a). After the introductory verse (1:1), the section is divided into seven paragraphs, each of which appertains to one of the seven days. An obvious indication of this division is to be seen in the recurring sentence, And there was evening and there was morning, such-and-such a day. Hence the Masoretes were right in placing an open paragraph [i.e. one that begins on a new line] after each of these verses. Other ways of dividing the section suggested by some modern scholars are unsatisfactory.

(b–d). Each of the three nouns that occur in the first verse and express the basic concepts of the section, viz God [אֱלֹהִים ʾElōhīm] heavens [שָׁמַיִם šāmayim], earth [אֶרֶץ ʾereṣ], are repeated in the section a given number of times that is a multiple of seven: thus the name of God occurs thirty-five times, that is, five times seven (on the fact that the Divine Name, in one of its forms, occurs seventy times in the first four chapters, see below); earth is found twenty-one times, that is, three times seven; similarly heavens (or firmament, רָקִיעַ rāqīaʿ) appears twenty-one times.

(e). The ten sayings with which, according to the Talmud, the world was created (Aboth v 1; in B. Rosh Hashana 32a and B. Megilla 21b only nine of them are enumerated, the one in 1:29, apparently, being omitted)—that is, the ten utterances of God beginning with the words, and … said—are clearly divisible into two groups: the first group contains seven Divine fiats enjoining the creation of the creatures, to wit, ‛Let there be light’, ‘Let there be a firmament’, ‘Let the waters be gathered together’, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation’, ‘Let there be lights’, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms’, ‘Let the earth bring forth’; the second group comprises three pronouncements that emphasize God’s concern for man’s welfare (three being the number of emphasis), namely, ‘Let us make man’ (not a command but an expression of the will to create man), ‘Be fruitful and multiply’, ‘Behold I have given unto you every plant yielding seed’. Thus we have here, too, a series of seven corresponding dicta.

(f). The terms light and day are found, in all, seven times in the first paragraph, and there are seven references to light in the fourth paragraph.

(g). Water is mentioned seven times in the course of paragraphs two and three.

(h). In the fifth and sixth paragraphs forms of the word חַיָּה ḥayyā [rendered ‘living’ or ‘beasts’] occur seven times.

(i). The expression it was good appears seven times (the seventh time—very good).

(j). The first verse has seven words.

(k). The second verse contains fourteen words—twice seven.

(l). In the seventh paragraph, which deals with the seventh day, there occur the following three consecutive sentences (three for emphasis), each of which consists of seven words and contains in the middle the expression the seventh day:

And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which

He had done.

So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.

(m). The words in the seventh paragraph total thirty-five—five times seven.

To suppose that all this is a mere coincidence is not possible.

§ 6. This numerical symmetry is, as it were, the golden thread that binds together all the parts of the section and serves as a convincing proof of its unity against the view of those—and they comprise the majority of modern commentators—who consider that our section is not a unity but was formed by the fusion of two different accounts, or as the result of the adaptation and elaboration of a shorter earlier version."

U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Part I, From Adam to Noah (Genesis I–VI 8), trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1998), pages 13–15.

Tim says all of this numerical symbolism is completely intentional. The authors want us to learn that seven represents both a whole completed creation and a journey to that completeness.

In part 3 (28:30-41:00), Jon asks why the number seven became so symbolic in ancient Hebrew culture. Tim says the origins of the number seven being associated with completeness is likely tied to the lunar calendar of moon cycles. The biblical Hebrew word for “month” is “moon” (חדש). Each month consisted of 29.5 days, and each month consisted of four 7.3-day cycles, making a “complete” cycle of time. However, the sabbath cycle is independent of the moon cycle, and sabbaths do not coincide with the new moon. It is patterned after creation, and stands outside of any natural cycle of time.

Tim then makes an important note on Hebrew word play. Seven was symbolic in ancient near eastern and Israelite culture and literature. It communicated a sense of “fullness” or “completeness” (שבע “seven” is spelled with the same consonants as the word שבע “complete/full”). This makes sense of the pervasive appearance of “seven” patterns in the Bible. For more information on this, Tim cites Maurice H. Farbridge’s book, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism, 134-37.

In part 4 (41:00-52:30), Jon asks what it means for God to rest?

In response, Tim says there are two separate but related Hebrew concepts and words for rest.

The Hebrew word shabat means “to cease from.” God ceases from his work because “it is finished” (Gen 2:1). Compare with Joshua 5:12, “The manna ceased (shabat) on that day….”

The Hebrew word nuakh means “to take up residence.” Compare with Exodus 10:14, “The locusts came up over the land of Egypt and rested (nuakh) in all the land.” When God or people nuakh, it always involves settling into a place that is safe, secure, and stable. 2 Samuel 7:1 says, “Now when King David dwelt in his house, for Yahweh had provided rest from his enemies….”

The drama of the story, Tim notes, is the question as to whether humans and God will nuakh together? All of this sets a foundation for later biblical stories of Israel entering in the Promised Land, a land of rest.

In part 5 (52:30-end), Tim asks what it means that God blessed the seventh day?

Tim cites scholar Mathilde Frey:

“Set apart from all other days, the blessing of the seventh day establishes the seventh part of created time as a day when God grants his presence in the created world. It is then his presence that provides the blessing and the sanctification. The seventh day is blessed and established as the part of time that assures fruitfulness, future-orientation, continuity, and permanence for every aspect of life within the dimension of time. The seventh day is blessed by God’s presence for the sake of the created world, for all nature, and for all living beings.” (Mathilde Frey, The Sabbath in the Pentateuch, 45)

Tim says in Genesis 1, the symbolism of seven is a view that the “seventh day” is the culmination of all history. Tim cites scholar Samuel H. Balentine.

“Unlike the previous days, the seventh day is simply announced. There is no mention of evening or morning, no mention of a beginning or ending. The suggestion is that the primordial seventh day exists in perpetuity, a sacred day that cannot be abrogated by the limitations common to the rest of the created order.” (Samuel H. Balentine, The Torah’s Vision of Worship, 93)

Tim also cites scholar Robert Lowry: “The seventh-day account does not end with the expected formula, “there was evening and morning,” that concluded days one through six. Breaking the pattern in this way emphasizes the uniqueness of the seventh day and opens the door to an eschatological interpretation. Literarily, the sun has not yet set on God’s Sabbath.” (Richard H. Lowery, Sabbath and Jubilee, 90)

Show Music:

• Defender Instrumental by Tents
• Optimistic by Lo Fi Type Beat
• Kame House by Lofi Hip Hop Instrumental
• It’s Ok to Not Be Ok by Highkey Beats
• Hometown by nymano x Pandress

Resources:

• Maurice H. Farbridge, Studies in Biblical and Semitic Symbolism
• Umberto Cassuto, From Adam to Noah: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis
• Mathilde Frey, The Sabbath in the Pentateuch
• Samuel H. Balentine, The Torah’s Vision of Worship
• Richard H. Lowery, Sabbath and Jubilee

Show Produced By:

Dan Gummel

Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.