On the Seventh Day God ceased from work and drew breath” Ex 31.17
What an interesting and dramatic thought. In the Genesis account it says that on the 7th day God rested but then in Exodus 31:17 we read that He “ceased” and then He drew breath.
There is a sense of inhaling, deep breath, resting, labour, sigh, joy. To stop, cease from all and Be.
Imagine the silence, echo of that silence, emptiness, yet the welling of something from deep within.
He ceased from His labours and drew breath. He closed His eyes and heard the murmur of creation. He could hear an through time an echo of all the blessings, pleadings, joy, laughter, sorrows, and prayers of every creature He had ever created. That through “Adam” He would generate. He heard an echoe of creation in travail, in awe, in joy. He heard the dawn break through the darkness. He heard the light crown the day. He heard the winds caress the trees and the waters shimmering over pearls.
On the seventh day He ceased from His labours and drew breath and in the silence between the breath, He heard the stream of creation parade in all its glory. In the silence of breathlessness He heard the footsteps of Man. In the silence of the seventh day He heard an echo of need and said “Let there be light” and there was “Let there be Life and there was.” On the 7th day He ceased from His labours and drew breath and saw His work transformed from His heart and vision into concrete reality. On the seventh day He ceased from His labours and remembered Shabbat.
The day to stand and hear the stillness and in the Act of stillness to Hear Him and worship Him. On the seventh day He ceased from His labours and drew breath and returned to the centre of His being for there was no more to do. No more originals needed. He has created the works of His hand.
It was now Shabbat.
