The Old Testament is a storyline that covers hundreds of years of the history of God's people, the Israelites. But they were not even called that in the days of Abraham. The style of their worship developed over those hundreds of years, just at the Christian mode of worship has changed in the hundreds of years since Christ died. The Ten Commandments were only given to God's people when, after coming out from the influence of the Egyptians, they seemed not to understand that God expected them to worship only him, and have a greater respect for one another. They had picked up some really bad habits while on Egyptian soil. Again, not that Egyptians are "bad" people, but that in the 3 -400 years since Joseph was a prince in Egypt, a great conflict had developed as the children of Joseph's family became slaves to the world of the Egyptian Pharoahs. The people of God were lost in more ways than being physically away from their homeland. They were lost about how to worship God.
God's own people had lost a sense of his provision and blessing, and they were full of pent up frustrations, fear, and discoragement. They lacked a sense of faith, and their situation had robbed them of making choices that honored God. Escaping Egypt had taken a great deal of courage, but they had no idea that they would find themselves lacking in so many areas. Many which took the courage to make their own choices, on how to actually live with one another, without the hand of Pharoah guiding their every move. Moses found himself needing to become an instructor of discipline, so he sought God for guidelines. And God obliged beginning with the 10 commandments.
This need for self-discipline is recurrent through out history. The very word Disciple comes from the root word of Discipline. Or is it the other way around? To be a disciple of Christ we must make choices of self-discipline. One of the first elements of self-discipline established in Scriptures came long before the 10 commandments era. It began with God himself. It is making a choice to rest. When God had spent 7 days of making our world he chose to rest. He took a break to reflect and also to look forward to the plan he had that would give us an opportunity to know his full love for us, and become one with him. Because he had given us the gift of choice. Something that exudes freedom, and is a major element in his own character.
As with many discussions, there are differences in the beliefs of how long those "seven days" took to occur. Scripture tells us that a Day in the Lord is as a thousand years. Within the description of *1000 years is a symbolism that it was in God's time frame, not ours. And man's understanding, early in the story of historical mankind, had little concept of a thousand years, much less the emmenseness of God's time frame. So I really don't care if God actually made the world in the seven day time frame as we know it. (Although I believe he could have.) I even doubt that God intended us to see it as a literal 7 human days, because at one time early in creation, day and night as we know it, were not even created yet. So, if it was in God's framework of thousands of years, I am satisfied that God is less concerned that we know how long it took, as that, even in his timeframe, (not even a literal 7000 years,) there were set aside times to start and stop. Time itself began with God, and an operating funtional framework of time allowed God to begin to teach us a lot about himself. As he named the time he created for us - evening and morning were invisible markers for beginning a clockwork for setting boundaries. Within it, God knew we could function and find the rest our bodies would need. So the earliest "law" that he demonstrated to us was taking an extra break, beyond our daily sleep, to rest from our labors, and the number 7 was his number of completion for that "week." Thus establishing a definite period of time, but also a number upon which to formulate many more cycles of life. Numbers became one of the earliest formats upon which God began to help us understand his designs,and the structure upon which all the universe functions.
I was recently rebuffed by an non-beleiver concering the timeframe in which God was said to have created our earth. He was mocking the ridiculousness of all of earth's history being under a human 6 day creation time. This person never considered that he actually didn't have any idea what I actually believe about creation. He also was not even recognizing this underlying concept of time and numerics and boundaries based on math, and light and units of "time: as being far too much a part of the existance of the universe to not have a basis for their existance. Those very things that "scientific" thinking individuals use to discount God's existance are the very things that prove to me he exists. The vastness of the knowlege conveyed to men who barely understood the basics of it's workings, much less the true mathmatical truth upon which we now build the rockets that get us into space for instance. And yet we are so small in our knowlege of it, we can barely get past the moon, and assume that all that keeps the vastness of all we do not know is not based upon a power we do not fully understand? I call that amazing power, GOD. He is so much greater than we can percieve, that I am humbled that He even cares about us at all. All the universe, no matter how big or small, cannot be an accident with all of the controls in place that make it disciplined within itself, so much so, that I can count on day and night, and year after year, just because it happens to be the unique sequence that was needed for me to exist. I believe that we are not the only ones in the universe to be the recipients of that kind of love, but that there is enough distance between us that we will not know of others in God's design until we become a part of his world. The Spiritual World. One of my questions when I get there, if I could take questions with me, would be - Why does God even establish times of rest for himself? I imagine the answer to that question will be nothing I even dream of. But I rejoice that he began the Book of Genesis by guiding its writer to include early in the verses the concept of numbers, and that the number seven indicates a place where we stop, to find rest.
The number seven means complete, finished, a time for rest, done, pause, contemplate, seek God, and about anything that brings us to a place where we must take time to prepare for a new beginning.
Til next time. When we discuss the number 8.
Thank you, Jesus that the first number you helped me understand beyond the numbers one and 3 which obviously were symbolic of you - as one God, and as a triune being- was the number 7. The number of working through to a point of completion. Helping me to know that there could be a pause in life, each and every week to stop. To regroup, to seek communtion with you, to rest from work. I love all the implications both to life and to my interpretation of the scriptures this concept brings. Bless my study of the deeper things in the word, that knowing that you also began by establishing this as the first number with which to start this study. YOU gave me the number 7 as a place to begin understanding the deeper things pertaining to Grace and Holy blessings. And to becoming one with your Spirit. AMEN
*For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. Psalm 90:40
*But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. II Peter 3:8
In Revelation, chapter 20, the reign of Christ on earth is discussed as a thousand year reign 3 verses in a row. These verses define death and resurrection in those days as Satan being detained for 1000 years, bound by the power of Christ, unable to interfere in Christ's interaction with mankind. Symbolic of the 3 days of Christ's rest time in the tomb, followed by Christ victory over death due to his resurrection; it is also a reminder that symbolically, Satan is allowed to rule the earth til the morning of the 3rd day since Christ died. But then Christ once again returns to defeat Satan's work on earth which embattles Christians in their daily walk. Makes a strong case for us nearing the end of this AGE. We are in the morning of the third day.
In all three of the above, a thousand years is only a day in the Lord's time...
In God's timing we are in the day of Atonement. Year number 10 in the 1000s of years of the "Story of Mankind." 7 plus 3 is the day of Atonement. In human years and in God's time. Not only symbolic, but definitely in our world and his.
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