Light and Lights in Genisis 1

Genesis Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness

 was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God

 moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God

 divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness 

he called Night. And the evening and the morning

 were the first day.

In the beginning, in verse 3, God created light.

It was on the fourth day that God created the Sun.....or “the larger light to rule the day”. 

There was something that God knew, that caused Him to seperate the earth from void and darkness that was spoken of in that beginning created and ruled by God. It was not the plan and purpose of God for this lack of light.

The Spirit of God moved or hovered over the earth without form and void, and the darkness. 

His Spirit moving,  was beginning the process of God’s will on earth, and it is clear, that void and darkness is not what God intended for the earth as a rule of fact.(Neither for the God follower )

How can it be that God created light on Day 1, but the sun, moon, and stars on day 4?

Where did that light come from if there was no Sun? 

Another question would be why?

Look in verses 3 and 4, the original word for light, has a specific meaning. This word does NOT mean an object that emits light.....like the sun or the moon or the stars, or a lamp. 

It is a light different from the light of the sun or moon or the light emitting objects our eyes can detect and see.

It is very possible, that the light spoken of in day 1 illuminates things the Spiritual sees and discerns....and is a signal of Good verses evil and goodness of God for man and the world.

In Scriptures, Light is used to symbolize God, faith or holiness.

     John 1:5.                    Isaiah 60:1.           1 John 1:5

     John 8:12.                  Psalms 27:1

     John 12:35-37.           Acts 13:47

     Luke 11:34-35.           Matthew 5:14

     1Peter 2:9.                 Daniel 2:22

     Rev 21:23.                 Luke 12:3            

     Ecclesiastes 2:13.     Ephesians 5:8

The light and darkness from this point do not mix......God’s order is set and settled. God’s purpose is done. A very important truth that we should not ignore nor forget. Keep it in light as we study Scriptures.

So the first light mentioned in Genisis, I believe carries a meaning of illumination to seperate light from dark, or spiritual  enlightenment is set by God and for that purpose. It is very well possible of a twofold purpose.

In order to eliminate void and darkness of the earth, a “light” was needed which can only be brought about by the Spirit of God, and that Spirit did move upon the face of the waters in Genisis.

In proper place, the Bible says God is “light” (1 John 1:5)

This word  or concept of light is closely associated with life and joy and good.  It also attaches a work of the Spirit of God.

In fact when we read about the 1st day notice, that it says God created the light, AND SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD 

Then this light was divided away from the darkness. Only the light is called “good”, the darkness is not. 

This light is not the sun nor the moon, but a light designed by God to perform the seperation of void and darkness.

A note also, We see the first mention of SEPERATION of God and by God.

It is no reasoning in our human minds,  It is the purpose and will of God and none other.  Serious Bible students will see and understand this move of God, and not seek to label these things as “conflicts”. Sadly many do see this as conflict.

Genisis 1:14-16 Now lets move down to verse 14 when it starts to talk about there being lights in the sky to divide day and night, and in verse 16 when God says he created the larger light (the sun) to rule the day and the smaller light (the moon) to rule the night. 

God has purpose for these lights. He says they are for signs, seasons, days, and years.  This light also gives light the eyes can see on the earth . 

So the Scriptures declare light in two places in the Genisis account of creation, but these were two different lights.

My only conclusion is that darkness was an unsatisfactory state to God. Otherwise God wouldn’t have created light. There would have been no need. This seperation is not accidentally configured that only a sun or moon can seperate it.

At the least darkness was apparently not capable of supporting life; and as we’ll find as we get into the later parts of Exodus and then Leviticus, things that go against, or inhibit, or terminate life are considered as against God.

 So  when God created “lights”, He created illumination and enlightenment, a basic requirement for life.

Note the difference in light of verse 3 and the lights in verse 14.

When God created “the lights”, He created objects that emit light waves. Light waves of a certain type that allow humans and animals to use their light sensors. (their eyes) and for plants to engage in their method of sustaining life, photosynthesis.

In the Book of Revelation we’re told that when God destroys the old earth, and then creates a new one, there will no longer be light emitting objects like a sun or moon) but instead God will be our light, our illumination

It is also good to note that in Zechariah 14:6-7, a light similar is put into place when the sun, the stars, and moon fall from the heavens and there is neither dark nor light.

It’s this same type of “godly light” that is being spoken of here in verses Genisis  3 and 4, but another kind is referred to in verses 14-16.

Note also that in a short time span, God is going to create beings on this earth, that need both types of light. In my thought, Adam had the “light” to make the decision of obedience or disobedience to God and therefore that available light or knowledge holds him accountable.

Conversely let’s look at the word “darkness”. This word is the opposite of illumination. It carries in it the sense of a lack of light. But also many places in the scriptures declare of use darkness to mean opposite of good and denotes evil

The word darkness  has a  meaning of  something that leads to death and destruction. This is not a word that is the opposite of day. It is not a word that describes the natural, and good, phenomenon of nighttime. 

It carries evil spiritual overtones with it.  So one word of darkness speaks  of Night,  which is simply the opposite of day. It is neutral; it carries no negative.

But also darkness can carry a negative value, to add also a dual meaning of that word darkness evil.

John 3:19-20              Romans 13:12

Matthew 6:23.            1 John 1:5-6

Luke 11:35.                1 John 2:9-11

Isaiah 29:15.               Psalms 82:5

Ephesians 5:11.          Ephesians 6:12

Proverbs 2:13.            Romans 1:21                        

2 Corinthians 6:14.     Ephesians 4:18

John 12:35.                 

(Just a few verses to substantiate the point)

So let us be clear: in verses 3 and 4 what God created was illumination and enlightenment of which HE was the source; but it was also divided and separated away from what was the opposite of those things: darkness, blindness and falsehood.

 What exactly was this illumination and enlightenment?

 It could well have been the essence of God that we call the Shekinah, or Shekinah glory; this mysterious illumination, or glory, of God (sometimes visible, sometimes not) that we read of in several places in the Bible. 

Exodus 13:21.          1 Kings 8:10-11

Exodus 40:34.          Revelation 21:23

Luke 2:9.                   Habakkuk 3:4

Isaiah 4:5.                 Revelation 21:11

(Just a few in the Scriptures)

The illumination that is suitable for us to see by, and apparently NOT necessary when the new earth is formed, will come from God Himself. 

While I cannot be sure I see no reason not to suggest that the light of Genesis that was in the 1st day of Creation is the same light that is in the 1st day of the NEW creation as revealed in Revelation 21 and 22 (you can go read it for yourself). 

And it is also interesting that the spiritual counterpart of light which is darkness, will be absent in the NEW creation. 

In its purest spiritual sense the, light is goodness and darkness is wickedness.

We’re told that in the new creation there will be ONLY good and wickedness will no longer exist.

 So  in the new creation we find the complete absence of darkness; instead there is only light. But as certain as I am that what I have told you is correct, I readily admit that there is some amount of speculation involved with it.