Day 645: God of light - Genesis 1 vs 1 - 5

1-2 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3-5 And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Genesis 1:1-5 English Standard Version (For words used in the Orthodox Jewish Bible)

These verses describe how time began and earth and space came into existence. God, however, existed before these things. Moses said to Israel: “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27) The prophet Isaiah spoke of God as one who is “lifted up, and who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.” (Isaiah 57:15.) The Hebrew word used for God in these verses signified someone powerful.

The Bible doesn't tell us when angels were created, but there's an interesting verse in the Old Testament where God challenged a man named Job who’d been saying a lot of things about God. God said to Job “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars  sang together and all the sons of God  shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7) The implication is that God had already created the spiritual realms. (I'm open to thoughts and comments on this matter.)

As Moses lived in regions that were mostly dry, it's unlikely he could've imagined for himself that the earth started as a mass of water covering all land. This was revealed to him by God. Many thousands of years later the apostle Peter said of people who were sceptical that Jesus will return one day, that “they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.” (2 Peter 3:5) The Old and New Testaments are consistent. But what is the surprising, even puzzling, thing in vs 3-5?

God created light before He created the sun. This is in contrast to the creation stories of the Egyptians, Greeks and even the Chinese. Again, it's a testimony to God making something known to Moses. After all, God was the one who was there when it took place. The source of this light was not revealed to Moses, but it's interesting that the apostle John wrote: “This is the message we've heard from Christ and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) While that may be speaking more in a moral sense, he later wrote of the new heavens and earth and of a city that comes down from heaven, and said: “the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”  (Revelation 21:23)

While this is a mystery to us, it reminds us that God is Himself the true source of all that exists. He ultimately doesn't depend on the sun to give light. We'll see later in Genesis that the sun, moon and stars were made for our sake rather than God's. The fact that there was 'an evening and a morning' suggests that God had set the world rotating. We read that God saw that the light was good. Ever since that day this has been true in a moral sense too. The Bible often uses light as a picture of what is good, and darkness as representing deeds that are evil.

In closing, read again those words that God put to Job. That's a challenge to anyone who rejects a Creator, or finds fault with what God has done. Many who see themselves as intellectuals scoff at the idea of a Creator. God says to them: “Were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Our response should be that of Psalm 95:6 which says: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! “

Footnote. I'm grateful for the many insights on Genesis 1-11 of David Charles Cunningham Watson (1920-2004) in his book “Myths and Miracles”.