Body Cycles and the Sabbath

God’s creation is filled with cycles. Within the human body, we see aging cycles, cycles that relate to fertility, and even a seven-day cycle on which the human body operates. For decades, science has understood that the body operates on a seven-day cycle. Scientists have hypothesized that this rhythm impacts many different biological functions and could even be used to create more effective drug treatments and surgery schedules (Ricerca in clinica e in laboratorio, April 1982). Many health problems spike on Mondays, including “high blood pressure, infectious disease, myocardial infarction, sinus tachycardia, and stroke” (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, July 2014). While some believe these spikes are related to social events like the beginning of a new workweek, other scientists disagree.

However, many chronobiologists who study these cycles fail to understand why the cycles exist in the first place and why they are embedded in the human body’s genetic code! Controlled research conducted on humans and insects that excludes environmental, social, and other time cues still identifies the seven-day time cycle (Chronobiology International, August 24, 2016). This cycle (called a “circaseptan rhythm”) is also found in algae, fish, plants, birds, insects, and other mammals.

To date, scientists have been unable to determine why these rhythms began. Because they seem to be regulated at the DNA level, scientists believe the cycles may have originated within the body and are not a reaction to a seven-day week of supposedly human creation. However, this explanation overlooks the obvious: The Creator God who designed and created the human body also designed and created the seven-day week in which the body functions. Scientists have long known that the body needs one day a week to rest and repair. The Bible tells us why this is. To learn about the awesome reason God created us so “fearfully and wonderfully” (Psalm 139:14), read or listen to What Is the Meaning of Life?