Day 7 - When Did God Rest?
Genesis 2
 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
When did God rest? In Day 6 - When did it end?, I suggested that the creation of Homo Sapiens Sapiens was a reasonable date for ending Day 6: 200,000 years ago. So then, when did Day 7 begin? And when did it end?
Personally, I believe there is scientific reason to believe God “rested”, that is, His Sabbath began 200,000 years ago. Why is that?
My reasoning is that Adam was created after Day 7 was over, Adam was alive at or after the beginning of agriculture, and that was around 10,000 - 12,000 years ago. Therefore, Day 7 probably ends just before then, around the beginning of Agriculture.
What other reasons? Well, there was no more human evolution after 200,000 years ago, just human advancement, in response to God’s blessing that Homo Sapiens subdue the earth. I have broken these advancements in several sections. It should be noted that while Evolution appears (to me) to be impossible without God’s direct involvement, the following events are not unreasonable to imagine happening while God “rested”:
Out of Africa
Homo Sapiens started in East Africa 200,000 years ago, but finally started leaving Africa around 60,000 years ago. Things really picked up in the Upper Paleolithic, about about 40,000 years ago until about 10,000 years ago, defining the main period of time when during which Homo Sapiens really subdued the earth. It’s a strong argument for including 40 kya - 10 kya in Day 7. However, it did start 60 kya, so I would start Day 7 at least 60,000 years ago.
Marginalization of other Homo-related species
Modern Homo Sapiens began to marginalize archaic varieties 70,000 years ago in Africa. By the end of Day 7, when Homo Sapiens had spread throughout the world, only Homo Sapiens remained. For me, this indicates mankind living out his blessing, hence placing God’s Sabbath at least 70,000 years ago.
The Last Glacial Period… leading to Bering Land Bridge
The last glacial period was 110,000 years ago until 12,500 years ago. I believe this to be in response to God’s blessing, that mankind subdue the earth. Why? Because the Bering Land Bridge later formed as a result, allowing mankind to cross over into North America 16,500 years ago. As a reaction to God’s blessing in Day 6, I believe the glacial period itself actually happened in Day 7… hence pushing Day 7 back to 110,000 years ago.
Societal Advances
Relics such as Jewelry and Mining appear to date back to 110,000 years ago, suggesting they go back even further. How much further? Well, the archaeological record is rather quiet from what I can find from about 200 kya to 110 kya, but clearly mankind progressed. With no way to currently narrow down the morning of Day 7 any further, I will settle for a range of 200 kya to 110 kya. Perhaps this span is the night between Days 6 and 7?
- - -
In the end, I am content not having a firmer timeline for Day 7. The fact there is so much human development that happened — with no further evolution necessary — between the appearance of Homo Sapiens and Adam satisfies me that there was in fact a period of time for God to “rest”.
And so ends the week of Creation!
October 23rd, 2010 at 9:36 pm
I’ve updated my thinking on when God’s sabbath began. Read here: http://www.geocreationism.com/2010/10/10/dating-the-flood-part-7-methusalah%e2%80%99s-bar-mitzvah-was-after-god%e2%80%99s-sabbath/ Following that post is a series discussing it in more depth.