#12 Day Six, The Zenith Double

A time to gather

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:24-31

Day six of the creation story is simply full of complex new life. First mammals in all their varieties, suitable for various purposes, terrain, intake and life cycles. Then of course the creation of humanity itself, created to take charge, or rule over all that had been created.

Here is an interesting thought: Is it not unusual to have an ecosystem so complex created and then bring in the ruler or overseer? Much has been made of the human, being made in the image of God but think of his lack of knowledge and understanding. Having been just been created, human had no part in the six days of creation and now with complete ignorance, he is put in charge.

Can this mean anything other than God wanted an ongoing moment by moment, day by day relationship with his final created being?  I think not!

For us who are finishing up a sixth, be it a day, month, year or a set of seven years the lesson seems to be that all the pieces are in place. One can begin to understand fully what the “echad” unity of day one was trying to communicate. In some ways our work of these six has yielded beyond our expectations and yet likely along the way we have suffered loss. Some of our dreams have developed beyond our wildest hopes, while others where lost amid the waves of days one and two or died for lack of new life in day four or where bitten in day five or even day six.

Notice that all these new creatures of day six, just like the day five creatures, have “chay nefesh”. (Vigorous bodies with self-determination, mouths and teeth for communication and biting) If we have figured out how to handle the creatures of day five, then day six critters can be managed in similar fashion with some adaptation. Day six should show great progress for the works of our hands. Day six should be full of good surprises.

Here the manna story of Exodus 16 comes into play giving us some instruction.

²² Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³ then he said to them, “This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” ²⁴ So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.²⁵ Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” Exodus 16:22-26

Day six, it turns out is not just a great day for progress but is also a day of preparation for day seven, “the day of rest”. Gather double and prepare it, seems to be the direction.

Here then is another counter intuitive moment. Having just seen everything improve so greatly, the call to prepare to cease building seems rather strange. After all the struggle, after all the loss. We now find ourselves with a fine, working system and now the instruction is to prepare to stop!

Here again is a moment for faith. Remember we are not the Creator only the created, made in the Creator’s image. We need to learn from him how his creation works and tomorrow, day seven will be our first day of intense training … or should I say a day of rest.

The fundamental lesson he wants all of us to learn is that REST is to be first in our lives followed by six days of work. So also for months, years and sets of seven years.

Always remember man was made last on the sixth day and he was put in charge of all of creation, crowned as the ruler and his first day was a day of rest.

If we somehow find ourselves successful or “MADE” in a sixth segment of time, now we know the purpose is to develop a place, ruled by the gracious time line of rest first and then work in the six prepared ahead for us.

Can you hear Ephesians 2 in the Genesis story?

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10

Grace or rest must be first in our lives, then the works of our hands follow. Since they are prepared ahead for us, it would also be wise to acknowledge how clueless we are and our great need for divine wisdom for our new role.