The Day of Rest and the Seven Day Week
by Owen Borville
August 23, 2019
Bible
According to the Book of Genesis, God created the Earth in Six Days and rested on the Seventh Day.
It is unique that the Judeo-Christian world today still follows this calendar and observes a day of rest to honor the seventh day that God reserved for rest.
If God did not create the Heavens and the Earth in Six Days and reserved a following day of rest, then where did our calendar come from?
Where did the idea come from to have a seven day week including one day of rest?
The idea must have come from the Book of Genesis and its description of the Creation Week.
It is interesting that throughout the world today even in non-Christian cultures that a seven-day week is observed and at least one day of rest is a common tradition on the weekly calendar.
Where did this tradition come from?
Even those cultures today who do not follow the Bible do follow a seven-day week schedule.
It is evident that we are all a product of the Creation Week, all humans on Earth, regardless if particular cultures on Earth today do not follow the Bible.
Maybe there is something special about a seven day week: Ten day-weeks are too long and five-day weeks are too short.
There is something unique about working six days and resting on the seventh day.
Could this be God's Design? Certainly so.
Secular historians credit the ancient Babylonians for starting the seven-day week based on astronomical observations.
However, Genesis 1:14 states that the stars that God had created during Creation Week would be used to count the days, seasons, and the years.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. Genesis 1:14 KJV.
The Babylonian week is based on the phases of the moon and the full lunar cycle of approximately 28 days divided into four weeks of seven days each based on the seven observable celestial objects: the sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter.
The Babylonians also had a seventh day of rest, just like the Biblical adherents did, and even considered it a Holy Day in their pagan religion, which is interesting.
Despite not adhering to the Bible, the ancient Babylonians saw the merit and value in the seven-day week.
The ancient Greeks also used a seven-day week based on the celestial bodies that they could observe.
The ancient Romans attempted to use an eight-day week for several centuries but gradually this system was replaced with a seven-day week by Emperor Constantine several centuries later upon the adoption of the Julian Calendar.
The Hindi calendar also uses the seven-day week.
So does the Thai calendar.
While a year is based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the month time frame is based on the lunar cycle, it is clear how many non-Biblical cultures around the world recognize these time slots.
However, there is no astronomical or celestial significance of the seven-day week, other than from the Biblical tradition found in the Book of Genesis.
In other words, where did the tradition of the seven-day week come from so that even non-Biblical cultures around the world use this time frame?
It could only have come from the Biblical tradition.
One significant event in history that is mentioned in the Bible is worth mentioning: The Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 11:1-9).
Before the Tower of Babel incident, all humans on had one language and culture, but God confused their language so that there were multiple languages and cultures and the people spread out around the world based on their particular language and culture.
However, as the people spread out, they likely kept some traditions, such as the seven-day week that was known from the beginning of Creation, just as the Book of Genesis explains.
There is something unique and special about a seven day week, a system that God ordained and that even secular and non-Biblical cultures value.
by Owen Borville
August 23, 2019
Bible
According to the Book of Genesis, God created the Earth in Six Days and rested on the Seventh Day.
It is unique that the Judeo-Christian world today still follows this calendar and observes a day of rest to honor the seventh day that God reserved for rest.
If God did not create the Heavens and the Earth in Six Days and reserved a following day of rest, then where did our calendar come from?
Where did the idea come from to have a seven day week including one day of rest?
The idea must have come from the Book of Genesis and its description of the Creation Week.
It is interesting that throughout the world today even in non-Christian cultures that a seven-day week is observed and at least one day of rest is a common tradition on the weekly calendar.
Where did this tradition come from?
Even those cultures today who do not follow the Bible do follow a seven-day week schedule.
It is evident that we are all a product of the Creation Week, all humans on Earth, regardless if particular cultures on Earth today do not follow the Bible.
Maybe there is something special about a seven day week: Ten day-weeks are too long and five-day weeks are too short.
There is something unique about working six days and resting on the seventh day.
Could this be God's Design? Certainly so.
Secular historians credit the ancient Babylonians for starting the seven-day week based on astronomical observations.
However, Genesis 1:14 states that the stars that God had created during Creation Week would be used to count the days, seasons, and the years.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. Genesis 1:14 KJV.
The Babylonian week is based on the phases of the moon and the full lunar cycle of approximately 28 days divided into four weeks of seven days each based on the seven observable celestial objects: the sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter.
The Babylonians also had a seventh day of rest, just like the Biblical adherents did, and even considered it a Holy Day in their pagan religion, which is interesting.
Despite not adhering to the Bible, the ancient Babylonians saw the merit and value in the seven-day week.
The ancient Greeks also used a seven-day week based on the celestial bodies that they could observe.
The ancient Romans attempted to use an eight-day week for several centuries but gradually this system was replaced with a seven-day week by Emperor Constantine several centuries later upon the adoption of the Julian Calendar.
The Hindi calendar also uses the seven-day week.
So does the Thai calendar.
While a year is based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the month time frame is based on the lunar cycle, it is clear how many non-Biblical cultures around the world recognize these time slots.
However, there is no astronomical or celestial significance of the seven-day week, other than from the Biblical tradition found in the Book of Genesis.
In other words, where did the tradition of the seven-day week come from so that even non-Biblical cultures around the world use this time frame?
It could only have come from the Biblical tradition.
One significant event in history that is mentioned in the Bible is worth mentioning: The Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 11:1-9).
Before the Tower of Babel incident, all humans on had one language and culture, but God confused their language so that there were multiple languages and cultures and the people spread out around the world based on their particular language and culture.
However, as the people spread out, they likely kept some traditions, such as the seven-day week that was known from the beginning of Creation, just as the Book of Genesis explains.
There is something unique and special about a seven day week, a system that God ordained and that even secular and non-Biblical cultures value.