brought to our attention? lf you understand the perfection of the number six,
Book IV 257
God's resting on the seventh day means he stands in need ofno other good
16, 27. This point too is to be noted, that God's resting by finding bliss in himself ought to suggest to us the right way to understand how he is also said to find rest in us; he is only said to do so when he bestows on us rest in himself. God's rest therefore, to those who understand it correctly, means his being in need of no one else's good; and for this reason his resting in us is certainly in himself, because we too find bliss in the good which he is, not he in the good which we are. To be sure, we too are something good, deriving our being so from him who made all things very good, ourselves included. Accordingly, besides him there is no other thing that is good which he himself did not make; and thus he stands in need of no other good besides himself, seeing that he does not need the good which he made. This is his resting from all his works, which he made.
But what good things could he thus creditably not have needed, if he had not made any? Because in this way too, you see, he could be said not to be in need of any good things, not just by resting in himself from what had been made, but quite simply by not making any. But if he was unable to make good things, it would be a failure of power, while if he was able to and yet did not, it would be a serious case of envy. So then, because he is both omnipotent and good, he made all things very good, while because he finds perfect bliss in the good which he is himself, he rested in himselffrom all that he had made—with the rest, of course, which he had never ceased to enjoy. But were he actually said to have rested from making things, this would inevitably be understood to mean that he did not make any, while unless he were said to have rested from what had been made, he would not be so clearly shown to be in no need of the things he made.
28. And so on what better day than the seventh could this properly have been brought to our attention? lf you understand the perfection of the number six, about which we have spoken above, you will recollect that it was suitably applied to the perfecting of creation. Now if creation was to be perfected in the number six, as in fact it was, and that resting of God was to be brought to our attention as demonstrating that he did not need even perfect creatures to make him blessed, then obviously the day to be sanctified by making this point was the one that follows the sixth, the one on which we were to be aroused to long for this rest, so that we too might find rest in it.
Our rest is to befound in God
17, 29. Nor would we be making ajust and loyal comparison, if we wished to be like God in such a way, that exactly as he rested from his works in himself, so we too should rest from our works in ourselves. What we are meant to rest in, surely, is a certain unchangeable good, which is what the one who made us is for us. This therefore will be our supreme rest, wholly without pride and truly reli