{Bereishis, 2:1-3]
Day seven: Heaven and Earth are finished, and all their array
On this the seventh and last day of Creation the work is deemed finished. There is no further continuation or embellishment on that which was done, and because He completed His work, He abstained from doing more work. On this day, instead of doing more work, the work was blessed and sanctified by Him (2:3). This day is for the purpose of Blessing and Sanctification. It’s not as if there were only six days of the work of creation but rather there is a deliberate seventh day mentioned here; this day is devoted specifically to the refraining from work and in its place is, as it states, comes the blessing and sanctification of the work – Creation, that which is of the work of Creation, and all involved with Creation. This purposeful lack of work for purpose Blessing and Sanctification is to reveal an awareness, acknowledgement, and appreciation of the intention of the work, to let it be on its own in its completion as of its intention.
The whole of creation was for its making. The making is the completion, or the “to make” (2:3) is the completion. For all that work which “G-d created to make” (2:3), now that it is deemed complete, is the intentional abstaining from more work and in the abstinence of work there is Blessing and Sanctification to ‘seal’ it in its ‘holiness’ and establish the connection to its reason for existing, to appreciate the work in letting it be on its own accord. The making of the work is now given a chance to reveal itself, and in its state of completion, is no longer there as an element of work but rather the culmination as an element in the process of Creation. In the place of work is Blessing and Sanctification.
The blessing and sanctification on the work of Creation comes on the 7th day, a day dedicated to the abstinence by G-d from doing work on what was already done, which G-d created to make. The creation is there for its own sake, having been done by Him. The creation itself is set in place to make, from creating, on its own. The last line of the text, reveals another three-part palindrome of G-d/work/G-d, as it’s structure is organized around the phrases “G-d blessed,” “His work,” and “G-d created.” From ‘G-d’ we get the ‘work’ and then are lead back to ‘G-d’ (Inspiration/work/revelation, perhaps). These three phrases hinge around the one phrase “He abstained” which comes between “G-d blessed…” and “…His work.” There is the blessing and sanctification on this day which comes about because “He abstained,” and, then also from the abstaining we get the space that is there for the purpose of the work, for it to be in its making. The creation leads back to itself, it is there for the reason of its own existence. With the making, the creation can sustain itself and make on its own, by being of G-d it is only the continual reflection of G-d, the source of creation. As humans we are blessed with the commands to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the Earth fill it and rule, and be progenitors in the continual process of Creation as established here in these seven days (as in “G-d created to make,” the making is for the continuation of making.) By taking a day to abstain from more work and keep it for Blessing and Sanctification, Creation as a process ceases to be about work and in its place is the coming to be of its own becoming.
The making is the completion, the doing of G-d’s will of Creation. We are in a continual Shabbat, the 7th Day. G-d blessed and sanctified His work and there are no more days of creation mentioned. We are now suspended in this Day as we are the making of G-d’s creation. The days of the creating of the Heavens and the Earth (1:1) lead up to now. Our day, day six, as humans, is the most recent before this, and the preceding days unfold until we get back to the beginning. It is all of the same source.
From emptiness (space – a blank canvas on which all are to exist), darkness, and unformed waters we get the creation of the universe as we know it. The separation of Light from Darkness, the formation of Heaven, the appearance of the Earth from amidst the waters and then the sprouting of vegetation all occurred by the creative process of extraction, separation, and emergence. G-d did not ‘create’ these entities but instead spoke “Let there be” and they came forth from elements already in preexistence. From inert non-energies is the becoming of emergence that is the process of Creation, and the creative act is this spark that is the making, the doing. The vegetation upon the Earth is then giving the ability to procreate, the ability to continue this process of Creation that consists of division, extraction, emergence, and then further reproduction. From amidst the Heavens, the Luminaries appear to “shine upon the Earth” and emerge from within the emptiness of the darkness that is the void of the Firmament, and here further expressing the distinction between Light and Darkness. On the fifth and sixth days we have the first instances of ‘creation,’ with the making of living creatures. These living creatures are placed upon the Earth also with the power to procreate and continue the cycle of Creation. Man, the ultimate living creature, is made in the image of and after the likeness of G-d, thereby establishing humans as having the essence of the image of G-d in their creation, and from knowing themselves as a reflection of this image and after this likeness there is the way of connecting back to the source Itself. We are given the command to be caretakers of the Earth for the continuation of the generations, to ensure that this cycle of Creation can continue. The universe was created with this process of extraction, separation, and emergence, and the creations upon the Earth are there to maintain its existence and for them to know themselves as the products of Creation which are linked directly with the source. In the completion of the work is the setting aside of work itself in recognition of the purpose that caused it to be, the creative spark that set it in motion, and the how (the celebration, perhaps) of it as a lead to and expression of the original source that initiated it in the first place, in the process of Creation, for purposes of Blessing and Sanctification.