The Seventh Creative Day

THE SEVENTH DAY, OR “space of time,” referred to in the Genesis account of Creation is usually thought of as the one on which God rested, and properly so, for as we are informed “he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” (Gen. 2:2) The beginning of this same verse states “on the seventh day God ended his work.” Young’s Literal Translation of the next verse explains that God rested from all his work that he “had prepared for making.” This implies that there was a further making, or finishing, of the creative work that was to be accomplished on the seventh day in which the Creator himself would not be directly active.

Hebrews 4:10 reads, “He that is entered into his [God’s] rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” The “rest” of faithful Christians is in the finished work of Christ, not an entering into a state of inactivity. It is a trust that, through Christ, we can be justified before God without our own works of righteousness. (Titus 3:5) As Paul indicates, this rest from one’s own works that they may be accomplished by another is the sense in which God ceased from his works at the close of the sixth creative day. The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “rested” in Genesis 2:2, is repose, or by implication, to desist from exertion. The thought simply is that the carrying out of the great design of the Creator from the close of the sixth day forward was to be entrusted to another, even to his own beloved Son, who had worked so faithfully with his Father up to this point.

The Creator did not “rest” from his work because he was tired. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?” (Isa. 40:28) From this verse it is clear that the Creator did not rest from his work because he was weary. It is equally certain that his originally designed objective in the creation of the earth had not been completed by the close of the sixth creative day. This purpose was that the earth be filled with a perfect and happy human family in harmony with the Creator’s laws, and enjoying the blessings of a worldwide earthly paradise.

It was the Creator’s will that his human creatures, made in his image, should be given freedom of choice with respect to his laws. God did not want the earth filled with mechanical beings that obey him by compulsion. Furthermore, God knew in advance that, lacking experience, our first parents would disobey his law and bring upon themselves the sentence of death. With his infinite wisdom and ability, the Creator could know this without causing his human creatures to sin. He permitted sin to enter into the world because he knew that the eternal happiness of his human creation would be enhanced by having experienced the result of disobedience, turning therefrom, and with full understanding, dedicating themselves to him and his laws of righteousness.

Certainly mankind could never be secure against the temptation to disobey the Creator without a knowledge of what the result would be. There are four principal ways of obtaining knowledge. One is by intuition. God alone possesses intuitive knowledge. Another way is by being informed, and God did inform our first parents that transgression of his law would result in death. One can also learn by observation. However, if God’s human creatures were to observe the result of sin and thereby learn of its terrible results in terms of suffering, it would have to be experienced by others. God knew what many of his human creatures have since learned—that experience is the best teacher—so he permitted man to sin, knowing thereby he would experience for himself the terrible results of disobedience.

In our opening text God says, “Man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.” The pronoun in the expression “one of us” refers to God and Jesus. By intuition, God knew both good and evil. Jesus, his Son, having implicit confidence in his Father, consequently believing his every word, and possessing a superhuman intelligence with powers of perception far beyond anything we can imagine, would also know both good and evil. Besides, Jesus would, by now, have already seen the beginning of human suffering resulting from the sin of our first parents, for fear had already taken hold upon them.

God said that man had now come to “know good and evil.” This does not imply that Adam and Eve had already learned all there was to know about good and evil but, having partaken of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they now were to know and learn both by observation and by experience. Not only they, but all their progeny were also to experience the terrible results of disobeying divine law. For a brief period in Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed God’s blessing, and thus for a limited time experienced good; but this would not be true of their progeny, every one of whom would now be born in sin and “shapen in iniquity.”—Ps. 51:5

RESTORATION

The only way in which the human race as a whole could ever have an experience with good, under conditions favorable to learning the advantages of righteousness in contrast with the baneful results of unrighteousness, would be to awaken them from the sleep of death in an environment suitable for this purpose. We ask, though, how could this be done since the Creator had justly imposed the sentence of death upon Adam, and, through heredity, upon all his children?

Motivated by love, and through the operation of divine wisdom, a way was found by the Creator whereby fallen mankind might enjoy a future experience with good. Thus, having then experienced both good and evil, each member of God’s human creation would be able to decide intelligently whether to choose the good, and live forever, or to continue in evil, and be cut off eternally in death. (Acts 3:22,23) The way which God chose to accomplish this was through his “only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) God’s plan was for his son, “the Word [Greek: logos],” to be “made flesh” for the purpose of dying as man’s Redeemer, and later return to restore to life those for whom he died. (John 1:14; Matt. 20:28; Acts 3:20,21) Thus the Creator could “be just,” and at the same time “the justifier” of all who, when the opportunity is given, return to him through Christ.—Rom. 3:26

Having created man in his own image, and knowing that through lack of experience he would transgress divine law and thereby plunge the whole race into death, God knew that if Adam and his offspring were to survive they would have to be restored to life by another; for in his righteousness he could no longer deal with man. This work of restoration was to be accomplished by his own beloved Son. Thus God “rested” from his work, while his Son has been carrying it forward to completion, the arrangement for this including the permission of evil, and man’s instruction in the meaning of this experience. This has involved a long nighttime of sin and death, in which each generation has suffered and died. The divine purpose in the creation of man was that they should “multiply” and “fill the earth” with his human creation. (Gen. 1:28; 9:1, International Standard Version) Thus, God’s plan in connection with the permission of evil embraces enough time for the birth of a sufficient number to properly fill the earth. Meanwhile, during this same long period of time, the divine arrangements for dealing with the people when awakened from the grave have progressed steadily.

WORLDS AND AGES

The Scriptures indicate that this seventh day, during which the creative design of God pertaining to the earth is being completed, is divided into shorter periods of time called worlds and ages. The period prior to the Flood is described by the Apostle Peter as the “world that then was.” (II Pet. 3:6) Paul speaks of the period from the Flood to the establishment of Christ’s kingdom in the earth as “this present evil world.” (Gal. 1:4) In Hebrews 2:5 we read of “the world to come.”

In a broad sense we might speak of these three worlds as the past, present, and future, and to understand God’s plan it is essential to realize that what the Bible may say concerning one of these worlds might not necessarily be true of the others. Failing to recognize this, many have concluded that the Bible contradicts itself. Just as an architect’s specifications for each floor of a three-story building would differ according to the manner in which each floor was to be used, so the scriptural references to each of these three worlds differ, because the arrangements of God, as they progress from period to period, are not always the same.

One basic fact, however, is true throughout both the first and second worlds mentioned in the Bible. It is that in both of them evil predominates. Malachi 3:15 reads, “Now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” This was true in the world before the Flood. (Gen. 6:5) It has also been true throughout this “present evil world.” There have at all times, of course, been varying degrees of wickedness. The remnants of the image of God with which man was endowed at Creation have, throughout the ages, prompted many gallant efforts of reform. There have been noble individuals who would rather die doing good than in any way injure another. Yet evil has predominated.

On the other hand, the Bible speaks of a time when the “righteous shall flourish.” The Prophet David explains that this will be in “his days,” that is, the days when Christ is King. (Ps. 92:12; 72:7) Texts of Scripture like these cannot be harmonized with human experience at the present time, nor do they harmonize with texts which describe the reign of sin and death with which mankind has been plagued since the transgression in Eden. Their harmony and beauty are seen only when we realize that they are descriptive of conditions in a future period of the divine arrangement.

That will be a time when the world will have a new ruler, even Christ. Jesus spoke of Satan as the “prince of this world,” and Paul described him as the “god of this world.” (John 16:11; II Cor. 4:4) This explains why the “present evil world” is so entrenched in sin. It is because the archenemy of God and of righteousness is its ruler. By contrast, the fact that the “world to come” will be ruled by Christ, of whom it is written that he “loved righteousness, and hated iniquity,” means that then the forces of evil shall be destroyed and that truth and righteousness will prevail.—Heb. 1:8,9

The fact that thus far evil has predominated in the experience of the human race does not mean that God’s plan for the recovery of man from sin and death has not steadily progressed. It has, and through periods outlined in the Bible that we shall call ages. During the “world that was” before the Flood there was little progress in the divine plan aside from the testing of the faithfulness of a few individuals such as Abel, Enoch and Noah, to prove them worthy of being among the “princes in all the earth” during the age to come. (Ps. 45:16) It was after the Flood that the plan of God began more particularly to unfold and progress.

For more than six hundred years after the Flood, God’s favor was shown and promises made to certain individuals whom we may refer to as the patriarchs, or fathers, of what later became the Jewish nation. The promise to Abraham was that through his seed “all families of the earth [would] be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3; 22:18) This promise was reiterated to Isaac and to Jacob. (Gen. 26:1-4; 28:10-14) No effort was made at that time to evangelize the world. While these wonderful promises were made to the patriarchs, they were not instructed to proclaim the message to others. This was an age, in other words, when God’s dealings were exclusively with these faithful individuals. Thus it may be designated the “Patriarchal Age.”

THE JEWISH AGE

With the death of Jacob a change occurred. The twelve sons of Jacob became the nucleus of a nation chosen by God—the nation of Israel. (Gen. 35:10-12) The period that followed of more than eighteen hundred years, during which the divine dealings were with this nation, we call the “Jewish Age.” As a people, under the leadership of Moses, they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. God’s Law was given to them, epitomized in the Ten Commandments. They were, through the priesthood established by God, called upon to offer sacrifices, which pointed forward to the sacrifice of Christ.

Throughout the Jewish Age we are presented with a national picture. The whole nation was blessed or cursed together, largely according to the measure of obedience on the part of its leaders. (See Deuteronomy chapter 28) The promised reward for keeping God’s Law was a blessed one, “which if a man do, he shall live in them.” (Lev. 18:5; Neh. 9:29; Ezek. 20:11; Rom. 10:5) In other words, this one little nation was given an opportunity of gaining life by keeping the divine law. However, they failed.

God, in the exercise of his foreknowledge, knew that no member of the fallen and dying race was capable of keeping his perfect law inviolate. The Jewish people, however, did not know this; nor would any of the human race have known it unless it was demonstrated. Paul refers to God’s Law given to Israel as a “schoolmaster” which teaches the necessity of Christ as the Redeemer in God’s plan. (Gal. 3:24,25) We see then that one of the important lessons to be learned by the permission of evil was that there was no way of escaping the penalty of death except through Christ, the Redeemer from death, and the ultimate Restorer to life.

Had the Jewish people been faithful to God, they, as the natural descendants of Abraham, would have inherited the promise made to him that through his “seed” all the families of the earth would be blessed. The final test came upon them when Jesus presented himself to the nation as the promised Messiah. Sadly, as a nation, they rejected their Savior and Redeemer. In the divine economy, however, their persecution of Jesus unto death resulted in the redemption of the world.—Acts 2:22-36; 3:12-18

Not all of the Jewish nation failed this final test. John informs us that while as a nation “his own received him not,” as many as did receive him he gave power—the right or privilege—to “become the sons of God.” (John 1:11,12) Among those of the Jewish nation who accepted Christ were his apostles. Paul also speaks of “above five hundred brethren” who saw Jesus after his resurrection, and at Pentecost three thousand Jews accepted Christ under the preaching of Peter. (I Cor. 15:6; Acts 2:41) Doubtless these had been somewhat prepared prior to this through their contacts with Jesus and their faith in the Old Testament promises.

THE GOSPEL AGE

The foreordained number to be with Jesus as the promised seed of Abraham was one hundred and forty-four thousand. (Rev. 7:4; 14:1,3) The number of Jewish people who accepted Jesus was far short of this, so the Gentiles were then given an opportunity. This involved the work of another age in the divine arrangement, which we can properly speak of as the Gospel Age. It is called the Gospel Age because during this period of time the work of the Lord is accomplished through the preaching and drawing power of the Gospel, or “good tidings.”—Luke 2:10,11; Rom. 1:16; I Cor. 15:1

During the Jewish Age, a whole nation was given the opportunity to qualify as the Messianic seed, but this arrangement ceased with the coming of Christ Jesus. With the failure of Israel as a nation to qualify for this high position in God’s plan, the invitation was extended to individuals—first, for a short time, exclusively to individuals of the Jewish nation. Then it was extended to any of the Gentiles who, as individuals, responded to the drawing power of the Gospel of Christ, and dedicated themselves to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, to suffer and die with him. Nationalities count for nothing in this arrangement of the Gospel Age. Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”—Gal. 3:28,29

This work of the Gospel Age has continued throughout the past twenty centuries. Although millions have claimed to be followers of Jesus, only a few in each generation have actually qualified through faithfulness to live and reign with Christ. Indeed, the vast majority have been more pleased to passively follow the dictates of church leaders, without striving in a personal way to live a life of sacrifice and service, as Jesus had instructed his followers.—Matt. 16:24; Rom. 12:1; John 13:12-15; Gal. 5:13

WHEAT AND TARES

In his parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus gave a preview of what would happen throughout the Gospel Age. The parable relates that in the beginning of the age good seed was sown in a field. Then an “enemy came and sowed tares”—imitation wheat. However, the householder would not permit the tares to be uprooted, saying that both should be permitted to grow together until the harvest. Then the tares were to be bound in bundles and burned, and the wheat gathered into the barn.—Matt. 13:24-30

In Jesus’ explanation of the parable, in verses 37-43, he said that the “good seed” represented the “children of the kingdom.” These are those begotten of the glorious Gospel of the kingdom, and inspired by it—inspired to suffer and die with Jesus that they might prove worthy to live and reign with him in his kingdom. The “tares,” Jesus continued, are the “children of the wicked one.” These are the offspring, so to speak, of the false teachings that man, by his own efforts, can establish the kingdom of Christ and bring everlasting peace and righteousness upon the earth. These church systems, together styled Christendom, were Satan’s attempt to counterfeit Christ’s true kingdom. Those systems, as such, will soon pass out of existence, but the viewpoint of a kingdom of righteousness without Christ still prevails. Few indeed today are looking to Christ to establish his long-promised kingdom. The majority of his professed followers still believe that whatever the Lord does for the world will be done through man’s imposing systems and leaders.

Jesus explained that in the “harvest” at the “end of the age” there would be a separation of the wheat from the tares. (Matt. 13:39, ISV) The tares would be destroyed, and the wheat would “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (vs. 43) Bible prophecy reveals that the Gospel Age comes to an end in a “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21) The “furnace of fire” in the parable of the wheat and tares is symbolic of this same destructive trouble. In it are destroyed the great systems and institutions which have constituted imitations of Christ’s kingdom, while the frustration and disappointment of their adherents is symbolized in the parable by the “wailing and gnashing of teeth.”—Matt. 13:42

Developments in the world today clearly indicate that we are in that period of trouble and dissolution. The age-old systems that constituted the bulwarks of Christendom are crumbling. Churchianity is on the defensive everywhere, and much confusion and disagreement exists as to religious, moral, and ethical principles. In a few cases, fear of what is coming upon the earth is producing a fervor of religious excitement, leading in some instances to increased church attendance. However, the newcomers, as well as the old, have little or no conception of the true teachings of the Bible, and the people are not being taught to expect the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.

EXPERIENCE ENLARGED

Thus the preparatory features of God’s plan for human salvation from sin and death have continued to progress throughout the various ages. Meanwhile, as mankind in general have come into contact with the Lord’s people whom he has been preparing to be the personnel in Christ’s kingdom, they have profited. Some have been encouraged to live better lives. Others, however, unwittingly, have lent themselves to join in the persecution of the righteous, thus having an opportunity to learn even more clearly the terrible results of disobedience to God’s Law.

In the divine economy, the permission of evil has accomplished much. It has served to test the fidelity of those whom the Lord will use in high positions in the Messianic kingdom. It offered an opportunity for the Logos, the beloved Son of God who participated in all the works of Creation, to prove his obedience and zeal for his Father’s plan for him to redeem fallen man from death by his own death, and later restore to life those for whom he died.—Heb. 5:8

Satan said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isa. 14:13,14) By Satan’s attempt to accomplish this ambitious scheme, the world has been filled with sorrow and death; but Satan himself will eventually be destroyed. (Heb. 2:14) Jesus, on the contrary, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. God has highly exalted him, and through him the suffering and dying world will be restored to life.—Phil. 2:7-11

Christ must reign, Paul tells us, until all enemies are put under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death. (I Cor. 15:25,26) It will be during the thousand years of Christ’s reign that mankind will have their first real experience with good. The earth will then be filled with a knowledge of God and of his glory. (Isa. 11:9; 40:5) Of that time Isaiah wrote, “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” (Isa. 33:24) They will then learn that the love of the Creator provided redemption and forgiveness for them through Christ Jesus, and because of this, there will then be no need for them to suffer any longer.—John 3:16,17

God’s original plan for the earth to be subdued and made like the Garden of Eden will be accomplished under the righteous administration of the Messianic kingdom laws. Then the people will “build houses and inhabit them,” and “plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” It will be then that all mankind will “long enjoy the work of their hands.” None shall “hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”—Isa. 65:20-25

EVENING AND MORNING

Man thinks of the day as beginning in the morning, but those long periods of time referred to by the Bible as the days of Creation, began in the evening. The “eve” of any special event is its beginning. How appropriate this is when considering the creative days. While the evening is properly, and scripturally, the beginning of the day, it is also a time of darkness and obscurity, and so was the beginning of each of the seven days of Creation. Each began in obscurity, and not until the morning of the closing of the day, was its full purpose recognized.—See Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31

This is particularly true of the seventh day. With the fall of man into sin and death a cloud of darkness settled down over God’s human creation. Man was to learn both good and evil by experience, but how could he now thus learn good? The seed of the woman was to bruise the serpent’s head, but what did this mean, and how was it to be brought about? (Gen. 3:15) God’s design for the seventh day is to be carried forward to completion by Christ, and the earth filled with a perfect and happy human family, rejoicing in their knowledge of good through actual experience, as they also will have known evil through their contact with it throughout the time when darkness covered the earth.

Then God’s purpose in the creation of man will be fully realized by all. The obedient and restored world, freed from sin, sickness, pain and death, will stand at the threshold of an eternity of joy and life, in a global paradise in which there is every tree pleasant to the eye and good for food. (Rev. 21:4; Gen. 2:9) A postscript to the Genesis account of Creation can then be written, reading, “The evening and the morning were the seventh day.”