Sabbath

... It can be inferred from the creation narrative that the Sabbath is a day to recognize and celebrate the significance of time. We are not just creatures of space but also creatures of time. As Heschel observes, “Technical civilization is man’s conquest of space. In technical civilization, we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we attain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence.” Participating in God’s rest gives us significance as we reflect on what we have done and allows us to participate in something eternal.

In the imitation of God’s rest, we find our sustenance in God and the true meaning of our labor and God’s good creation. Again Heschel comments, “To disparage space and the blessing of things of space, is to disparage the works of creation. the works which God beheld and saw ‘it was good’... Time and space are interrelated.... What we plead against is man’s unconditional surrender to space, his enslavement to things. We must not forget that it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is the moment that lend significance to things.”

This is taken from:

Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) 73

Quotes:

A. J. Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986) 3