Most everyone who has read the Bible is pretty sure they know how the Genesis record of Creation goes. Yet, I think there are always some things that can be both surprising and very educational when we take a closer look. It is a common mistake to come to God’s Word thinking we already know what it says. To be effective Bible students we need to allow the Scriptures to teach us in a very real way, that is, pay attention to every context, every sentence, and every word. Quite honestly, there is a world of information we will miss simply by not reading thoroughly. Let me give you an example of what I mean found in Genesis chapter one.
Let’s start with verses 3 through 5; “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” OK, this makes perfect sense to us, the light God called “Day” and the dark He called “Night”. We continue this pattern in our everyday lives; it is a universally accepted method of referring to the 24 hour single revolution of the Earth upon its axis; “day” and “night”. Notice, also, that in verse 5 the record says, “So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Next read verses 14 through 19; “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” Did you notice anything strange? If not, read it again carefully. What are we being told about in these verses? The placement of the sun, the moon, and the stars in their respective positions. The Sun, the “greater light” of verse 16, fulfills the role of giving light during the day and the Moon, the “lesser light”, its role is to reflect the sun’s light upon the land in the night. Again, that is not unusual, we are quite aware of these things. By these appointments day and night are defined. Yet, are we not told in verse 5 that the “evening and the morning” were the first day, and also in verse 8 for the second day, and verse 13 for the third day? How could there be “days and nights” at all if the Sun had not begun its work by which night and day are defined until the fourth day? The answer is in how spiritual principles are being reflected in our natural surroundings.
So how does this apply to the question of “day” and “night” in Genesis 1? The lesson is that God is the creator of light itself, the One who divided the darkness from the light, the One who has determined the reason for this arrangement; therefore the Sun, the Moon and the stars are simply expressions of the principle of light, these celestial objects don’t create the principle. God provided the light upon the face of the Earth prior to the fourth day and has continued to provide that light through the appointed means, meaning the Sun and the Moon, ever since. And although it does not appear that the Earth began to rotate until the fourth day, thus creating the cycle of day/night, nor was it rotating around the Sun until the fourth day, thus creating the “seasons” and “years” of Genesis 1:14, nevertheless the Creator began the process of darkness (night) divided from light (day) prior to the work of the fourth day in order to establish a very important principle. We need to take our thoughts a step further in order to understand what that principle is.
The Apostle John gives us a hand in understanding this in his first letter, chapter 2 beginning at verse 5; “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” What is the “light” here that John is talking about? It should be obvious that he is not talking about natural light (like from the sun or a light bulb). He is referring to the “enlightenment” that God provides, and that we, if we say we are enlightened by Him, but do not act in a manner consistent with His principles, then we are hypocrites. Think of it this way, what effect does light have on darkness? Light chases darkness away, darkness simply cannot exist where light is. That is what God’s Word does; it chases away the darkness of ignorance and teaches us how we must live. But that light is not natural to us, it is provided by God for us, He is the source of enlightenment, of understanding, of wisdom.
Therefore, in Genesis 1, in the Creation record, the principle is established that God is the true source of light (spiritual understanding). This thought is “hidden” in the record in such a way that we have to read carefully and ask a simple question in order to find what God has put there for us. That is one of the beautiful things about God’s Word, not everything is right there on the surface. We have to be willing to take the time and make the effort to allow it to teach us and avoid the trap of thinking “we know what it says”. Now go back and read Genesis 1 again and see if there are any other things about the record that you might have missed before.