Creation may be “very good,” but it is not yet complete. Creation ends with God’s rest and a special blessing of the seventh day, the Sabbath. “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

The Sabbath is part and parcel of God’s creation. In fact, it is the culmination of Creation. God makes rest and creates a space for community where humanity (in those days the core family of Adam and Eve) could stop their day-to-day activities and rest side by side with their Creator.

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Unfortunately, sin entered this world and changed everything. No more direct communion with God. Instead, painful births, hard work, fragile and dysfunctional relationships, and on and on — the litany of woe that we all know so well as life on this fallen world. And still, even amid all this, God’s Sabbath remains, an enduring symbol of our creation and also the hope and promise of our re-creation. If they needed the Sabbath rest before sin, how much more so after?

Many years later, when God frees His children from slavery in Egypt, He reminds them again of this special day.

Read Exodus 20:8-11. What does this teach us about the importance of the Sabbath as it relates to Creation?

With this command, God calls us to remember our origins. Contrary to what so many believe, we are not the chance products of cold, uncaring, and blind forces. On the contrary, we are beings who are created in the image of God. We were created to share fellowship with God. No matter that the Israelites had been treated like slaves with little worth. With each Sabbath, in a special way they were called to remember who they really were, beings made in the image of God Himself.

“And since the Sabbath is a memorial of the work of creation, it is a token of the love and power of Christ.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 281.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Rest. The word used most frequently in our Sabbath School Lesson pamphlet this quarter. “Thou shalt rest, Thou shalt rest!” These are words repeated each verse of
Hymn 387 – Come, O Sabbath Day, our theme hymn for this quarter.

We could add to the theme
Hymn 529 – Under His Wings. Each week of study this quarter, gives more and more of showing God’s deepest care for us, His children. As God’s children we find out about the Biblical family growing pains, and this still happens today. Yet, we are still “under His wings”.

The Memory Text tells us of the beautiful Sabbath God blessed for us:
Hymn 40 – The Dawn of God’s Dear Sabbath,
Hymn 381 – Holy Sabbath Day of Rest,
Hymn 385 – Crowning Jewel of Creation,
Hymn 387 – Come O Sabbath Day,
Hymn 388 – Don’t Forget the Sabbath,
Hymn 390 – We Love Thy Sabbath, Lord and
Hymn 393 – Lord of the Sabbath.  And, then the theme of creation in
Hymn 320 – Lord of Creation and again
Hymn 385 – Crowning Jewel of Creation.

Sunday’s study leads us to
Hymn 2 – All Creatures of Our God and King.

The Sabbath hymns for the Memory Text are again in force for the Monday’s study time and on into rest of the week.

Tuesday shows that
God Will Take Care of You – Hymn 99. We find manna is the substance that God provides for all. This is in
Hymn 405 – O God, Unseen, Yet Ever Near.

“We find in the Sabbath a symbol of both Creation and Redemption” (Wednesday) and this is sung in
Hymn 394 – Far From All Care, especially in the last verse.

Blessings for a wonderful week ahead.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing, but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Key Thought: The Sabbath bids us to behold the glory of the Creator in His created works. As we come close to nature, Christ makes His presence real to us and speaks to us of His peace and love.
August 28, 2021

1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 1:10,12,18,25,31.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What did God’s evaluation indicate about Creation?
3. Personal Application: How close and personal was God’s creation of man and woman? How close did He want their relationship with each other to be? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I don’t believe woman was made from a man’s rib. That would make her secondary. God is more likely a woman, and man came from her. The Bible was written during a patriarchal society. We have overcome those sexist and superstitious teachings that shouldn’t be propagated or believed.” How would you respond to your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Exodus 20:8-11.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How important is the Sabbath as it relates to Creation?
3. Personal Application: What is the purpose of remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy? What does remembering it do for you? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why do you worship every week on the seventh day? Aren’t we supposed to worship God every day? Do we need to go to a church building to worship? Can’t we worship God in our own homes?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Exodus 16:14-31..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What are some reasons God gave manna in the desert in the manner He did?
3. Personal Application: Is keeping the Sabbath a reminder of what God has done for us in the past, or a reminder of what He will do for us in the future? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “It doesn’t matter what day we keep. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. We rest in Him. So trying to keep a particular day each week is not resting in Jesus every day. We are not under the legalistic old covenant anymore.“ How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 58:13; Psalm 92…

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What atmosphere should we create and promote on the Sabbath day?
3. Personal Application: What are some positive things you get by keeping the Sabbath day? How has it been a blessing to you?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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God was there at the beginning. The Lord God spoke, and it was. Light divides day from night; firmament, sky, and seas are spoken into existence on the second day; dry land and vegetation follow on the third. God forms the basic framework of time and geography, and then He fills it during the next three days. Lights govern the sky by day and by night.

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Different from the stories of most ancient cultures, the biblical Creation account makes it abundantly clear that the sun, the moon, or the stars are not deities. They enter into the picture only on the fourth day and are subject to the Creator’s word.

Moses’ description of days 5 and 6 (Genesis 1:20-31) is full of life and beauty. Birds, fish, land animals — they all fill the space prepared by God.

What does God’s evaluation indicate about Creation? Read Genesis 1:1-31.

This is not just any space that God has created; it’s a perfect place. Teeming creatures fill the earth. Like the refrain of a catchy tune, God keeps saying that it was “good” after each day.

What is different about the creation of humanity from the rest of the created world? Read  Genesis 1.26-27 , Genesis 2:7,and Genesis 2:21-24.

God stoops and begins to shape mud. Humanity’s creation in God’s image and likeness is an object lesson in intimacy and closeness. God bends down and breathes life into Adam’s nostrils, and there was a living being. Eve’s special creation from Adam’s rib adds another important element to Creation week. Marriage is part of God’s design for humanity — a sacred trust of partnership between ’ish and ’ishshah, “man” and “woman.”

This time, when God looks at everything He has made on day six, the refrain sounds different: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, italics supplied).

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 1:1-31, Exodus 20:8-11, Exodus 16:14-31, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Psalm 92:1-15, Isaiah 58:13.

Memory Text: “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3).

Who can imagine what the acts of creation — light amid darkness, oceans brimming with life, birds suddenly taking flight — must have been like? And the supernatural creation of Adam and Eve? We can’t even begin to grasp how God did it.

But then, after all of this active creating, God turned His attention to something else. At first glance, it did not seem as spectacular as leaping whales or dazzling feather displays. God simply made a day, the seventh day, and then He made it special. Even before humanity would dash off on our self-imposed stressful lives, God set a marker as a living memory aid. God wanted this day to be a time for us to stop and deliberately enjoy life — a day to be and not do, to celebrate the gift of grass, air, wildlife, water, people, and most of all, the Creator of every good gift.

This invitation would continue even after the first couple was exiled from Eden. God wanted to make sure that the invitation could stand the test of time, and so, right from the beginning, He knit it into the very fabric of time itself.

During this week, we will study God’s wonderful invitation to enter into a dynamic rest, again and again, with every seventh day.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 28.</

Sunday–>

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