Why Did God Rest?

In Genesis 2:3, it states: "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made," (Genesis 2:3 NASB1995). Some use this passage to claim God is not omnipotent for he had to rest; however, this misunderstands the passage. The passage is not stating God literally slept, but that he ceased his actions.

The Hebrew word used is "שָׁבַת֙" or "sabat", and it does not merely mean "rested". In Isaiah, it is written: "that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased!" (Isaiah 14:4 NASB1995). Unless one is to argue the oppressor slept, we must conclude this word has a larger semantic range than just the action of sleeping.

Later in Isaiah, we again read: "The gaiety of tambourines ceases, The noise of revelers stops, The gaiety of the harp ceases," (Isaiah 24:8 NASB1995). Instruments do not literally sleep; rather, they cease their sound.

In Lamentations, we read: "The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned into mourning," (Lamentations 5:15 NASB1995). Their hearts are not literally sleeping; instead, their hearts are ceasing their joy.