At the beginning of Genesis 2, God rests.
Genesis 2 v 2-3
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
This seems a reasonable thing to do. After all, He worked very hard and made the whole of Creation. If I had achieved what He had completed, I would be worn out too and would need a rest.
This would be the straightforward modern interpretation of that verse. However, to a Bronze Age Israelite, this had a vastly different meaning.
Creation as God’s Temple
Genesis 1 is similar to other ancient temple texts. A temple text gives details about how a temple was constructed, along with the ceremonies and rituals involved.
Ancient near-Eastern temples where often created in sevens.
The Hebrew Tabernacle took seven days to consecrate in Exodus 39-40. It took seven years to construct the Temple in Jerusalem under King Solomon (1 Kings 6).
The Sumerian Gudea Cylinders tell how a temple was established over a seven day consecration ceremony.
When God makes Creation, He does so in seven days. He is building a temple for Him to reside. He is building it, so He can share Himself with humanity and the rest of Creation.
God Rests
In Babylon, the chief god, lived in a temple on a ziggurat. In his temple, Marduk had a bed and a throne. The temple was where he rested.
Beds and thrones were common types of temple furniture in paganism.
Notice how different the Holy of Holies is in Solomon’s Temple. The only ‘furniture’ in the furthest part of the Holy of Holies is the Ark of the Covenant. No bed or throne were present.
There are also other arks found in the tombs of Egypt. These normally had the god standing on the lid of the ark. In the case of the Ark of the Covenant, there is no image of God. The Children of Israel were commanded to make no image of Yahweh, so consequently, no idol was placed on the Ark.
Isaiah 66 v 1
This is what the LORD says:
“Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of rest be?”
God rested in His temple, which means, He entered His Creation. The Heavens became His throne and the Earth became His footstool.
[I need to point out that God’s presence fills Creation, but not everything is God. That would be Pantheism, which is a heresy.]
Slaves to the gods
In Babylonian myth, the reason the gods made people was so they didn’t have to work and could use humanity as slave labour.
In Egyptian beliefs, humanity were also slaves and expected to not only work every day of their lives, but even after they die, they had to continue working for the gods.
A Royal Priesthood
Humanity was created by God to share in His Creation, and live within His temple.
1 Peter 2 v 9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
God does not have slaves, He instead has a family of royal priests, who occupy and carry out priestly functions in the Earth.
What to do with Paul's statement that he is a bondservant of Christ? Could you expand on the slave/not slave aspect of your article? Is it that we get to rest as well. Forgive me if you are writing on this in posts to follow...I will wait to read.