Genesis Study: Week 12 - 1:17-19

Guardians of the Light

Genesis 1:17–19 LSB

And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

These verses are effectively a restatement of the statements made in 14-16.

“And God was giving them over to the possession of the heaven of the heavens for the indefinite purpose of shining upon/brightening the earth.”

The word here for “placed” is the Hebrew word “yitten” (נָתַן) which carries the meaning of “to give”, “to place in the possession of”, “to put”, “to place” which all ultimately mean effectively “to give over to something”. when we “put” something somewhere, we give it over to the location rather than being in our own possession.

The word here for “them” seems to clearly indicate all of the objects which were in our purview throughout verses 14-16, but if we were to be limiting in what we believe this sentence applies to (which i don’t think we need to be) it would be at minimum limited to the Sun and Moon (Greater and Lesser lights) since they are the dominant forces “brightening/giving light to the earth” in physical reality.

Genesis 1:18 LSB

…and to rule the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness…

the continuation of verse 17 happens in 18 which gives us “…for the indefinite purpose of… dominion of the day and the night and to divide/separate the light from the darkness…”

In the earlier verses Light (or) was expressly given the name “Day” (yom) by God, and the Darkness (hosek) he expressly gave the name “Night” (laylah). He created an eternal, intentional divide or separation between them in the beginning. And here we are finally given the explicit manner in which He chose to do this: through Day and Night as governed by the “maor” (the agents of the Light).

— ASK EVERYONE: Can anyone think of how this can be restated given all the things we’ve talked about in the last 2-3 weeks? —

“The Light (or) God called Day, and the Darkness (hosek) He called Night. He divided the Light from the Darkness. God made the agents of The Light (maor of or) for the purpose of dominion over the Day (yom) and Night (laylah), and also for the purpose of dividing the ‘Or’ from the ‘Hosek’ (The Light from The Darkness).” So these Agents of the Light are the method and means by which God keeps the Light separate from the Darkness. They are guardians of the Light and the boundaries between the Light and the Dark. (Throne Guardians if “The Light” is God??)

Genesis 1:18 LSB

…and God saw that it was good.

“And God was seeing that it was pleasing/beautiful/morally good.”

Genesis 1:19 LSB

And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

“And evening was given its being, and then morning was given its being, a fourth day.”

The word here for “there was” is the participatory Name of God again which gives the evening and the morning their being. Even after creating these, God is the one that continues to bring them about and sustain them. His Name and their participation in It is enough to keep them going.

— HAVE SOMEONE READ: Acts 17:28 —

Acts 17:28 LSB

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’

— HAVE SOMEONE READ: Hebrews 1:3 —

Hebrews 1:3 LSB

who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

— HAVE SOMEONE READ: Romans 11:36 —

Romans 11:36 LSB

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

— ASK EVERYONE: What language do you guys think Acts was written in? (Greek) Who remembers the words that we studied in the past sessions and can see what might be in play here? —

in Acts, the word for “exist” is “Eimi” which is the same phrase that Jesus uses when He says, “…before Abraham was, I AM.” — “Ego eimi”. in this passage, this is leveraging the same root word that is used by Yahweh to Name Himself in Exodus to Moses in the Greek Septuagint.

— ASK EVERYONE: Who or what is Hebrews 1:3 talking about? What does that imply about Him and how does it connect to the Genesis passage? —

— ASK EVERYONE: How do you guys see the Romans 11:36 passages relating to this study? —

— ASK EVERYONE (Still Romans verse): Where does Creation come from? How is it made? —

John 1:1–5 LSB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.