Discovering the New Covenant by Greg Taylor - exAdventist Outreach

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DISCOVERING THE NEW COVENANT
making too many assumptions. First, there is no “evening
and morning” mentioned in this text. All the other Creation
days conclude with the phrase “evening and morning.”
Each of the first six days concludes with a clear reference
to this 24 hour time period. But the seventh day does not
contain this phrase. I had to ask myself “Why the change?
That is not to say that this was not a literal day, but there is
a unique aspect of this day that is implied. This was no
accident by the author. It was not an oversight by Moses.
He was always careful to record in detail. So why was the
“evening and morning” motif suddenly omitted? Could it
be that God intended that the rest He had established would
have a continuing quality? Could it be that it was intended
that it would have remained as a daily experience had it not
been for the incursion of sin? Would this rest have been a
perpetual reality had it not been for sin?
Second, the word Sabbath is not mentioned. There is
no mention of this being a Sabbath. In fact, we do not find
the word Sabbath mentioned for at least 2,500 years. If this
was the establishment of a required Sabbath observance,
would it not have been called such? Would there not have
been some command associated with it. We find the
command for unity and faithfulness in marriage clearly
given in Genesis 2:24.
Third, there was no need for Adam and Eve to rest
because they had not worked. This was clearly a reference
to God’s rest, or stopping His act of creating. He rested or
ceased from creating and blessed the day and set it apart.
This could have been a one time day of blessed celebration.
There is no indication that this was to be a weekly ritual or
event.
Finally, there is no record that anyone ever kept the
Sabbath from that time until God taught the people about it
in the wilderness. It is first mentioned after they were
delivered from Egypt. The marriage institution, on the other
hand, is mentioned repeatedly throughout that entire time
period. There is much evidence of it being part of the way