DIVINE REST

Since I have always read the short account of God's rest on the 7th day of creation fairly literally, it has always puzzled me.

Was He worn out? Did he need a tall glass of lemonade to sip while He reclined under one of the trees He created?

In reading up on Old Testament background recently, I came across an interpretation that makes a lot more sense to me. 

Some scholars take "resting" to be a divine activity reserved for temples. In other words, God creates the earth for the purpose of inhabiting it as a deity inhabits a temple.

So He isn't resting in a hammock. He's on a throne.

This would explain why days 1 through 6 end with "And there was evening and there was morning", but that phrase does not reappear for day 7. God continues to this day to "rest" in this deeper sense.

That makes sense. 

So that means the command to observe the Sabbath is more than the cessation of work. It's about humans joining God in His rest, acknowledging His presence and His rule. 

Intentionally.

At least once a week.