The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day

The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day is by Sigve K. Tonstad, published by Andrews University Press in berrien Springs, MI, 2009.

The idea which touched me the most was that the sabbath is a "relational marker" (32) between God and the creation/humankind. It is God enjoying intimacy, feeling the world, recognizing, loving, and being affected by the created (34-5).God is expressing commitment to being with us as a priority, as a beginning. "The Sabbath brings a message of togetherness instead of separation...God's presence...wholeness instead of disintegration, other-centeredness instead of arbitrariness...." (514)

Also appealing is the idea that the sabbath interrupts clock time and returns us to observing the natural light (382), resetting our priorities from productivity and consumption to reconnecting to God, community, and the earth (384-5). "The need for belonging, the necessity of rest, and the encounter with something larger than oneself all find expression in the blessing of the seventh day" (505). It is "a missing zone of quietude and community, a time protected from commerce and commotion...." (502-3).

Finally, "entertain the possibility that God was singing at Creation" (515), especially as God "blessed the seventh day and hallowed it."