Genesis 1:3-5 Day One: Creation of Light
The first step in remedying the dark earth was God’s command to bring forth light. “The divine word shatters the primal cosmic silence and signals the birth of a new cosmic order.”
And God Said
The ordering of creation begins with the spoken word.
Speaking is the revelation of thought; the creation, the realization of the thoughts of God
Speaking is the revelation of thought; the creation, the realization of the thoughts of God
Speaking is the revelation of thought; the creation, the realization of the thoughts of God
The Hebrew community understood that God’s creative word was the same authoritative word by which he brought about the affairs of human history and the nations. Just as the word created the universe, the word created the community of Israel.
“Let there be light”
The first thing created by the divine Word was “light,” the elementary light, or light-material, in distinction from the “lights,” or light-bearers, bodies of light, as the sun, moon, and stars, created on the fourth day, are called.
Light was the first thing called forth, and separated from the dark chaos by the creative mandate, “Let there be,”
God creates light before the creation of the sun (Gen 1:14–18). This reflects an understanding of the world, common in the ancient Near East, that held that the sun does not serve as the source of light.
and there was light
light is the only item created by fiat alone (1:3–5). Everything else in Genesis 1 is created by fiat plus some divinely instigated type of activity.
The source of creation’s first “light” is not specifically stated. Since it is not tied to a luminating body such as the sun (vv. 15–16), the text implies that the “light” has its source in God himself
Like the luminous cloud of God, witnessed by Israel in the wilderness and in the tabernacle (cf. Exod 24:15–18 w/40:38), this primal light indicated the divine presence.
Light, which has lent its name to all that is life-giving (John 1:4), truth-giving (2 Cor. 4:6), gladdening (Eccl. 11:7) and pure (1 John 1:5–7), appropriately marks the first step from chaos to order; and as it here precedes the sun, so in the final vision it outlasts it (Rev. 22:5).
The prophets and apocalyptists attributed to the coming “day of the LORD” terrestrial and cosmic transformations when the eschatological light will have its source in the Lord, not in the sun or moon
This “light” on the first day then is indicative of the presence of God both at creation and among his people Israel
without light and the warmth which flows from it no plant or animal could thrive.
And God saw
God’s seeing is not a mere expression of the delight of the eye or of pleasure in His work, but is of the deepest significance to every created thing, being the seal of the perfection which God has impressed upon it, and by which its continuance before God and through God is determined
that the light was good.
God calls His handiwork good seven times in ch. 1 (vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The Hebrew word used here, tov, has a broad range of meaning but generally describes what is desirable, beautiful, or right. In essence, God affirms creation as right and in right relationship with Him immediately after He creates it. The material world is good as created by God.
The creation of light, however, was not annihilation of darkness, not transformation of the dark material of the world into pure light, but a separation of the light from the primary matter, a separation which established and determined that interchange of light and darkness, which produces the distinction between day and night.
Note that the darkness is not called “good,” and that there are sources of light in the universe (day 1) besides sunlight (day 4).
“Good” expresses the contrast of God’s work to the chaos of which darkness is an element.
Also “good” as a double entendre indicates that God as Judge of the universe distinguishes between what is morally “good” and morally evil
And God separated the light from the darkness
caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness The division of time into day and night represents one of God’s first acts in the ordering of creation.
To some of the ancients, day and night suggested warring powers; to modern man, merely a spinning world. Genesis knows nothing of either conflict or chance in this: only of the watchful Creator who assigns to everything its value
The idea of ‘dividing’ is specially prominent, both here (cf. 6, 7, 14, 18) and in the law (e.g. Lev. 20:25)
God called the light Day
and the darkness he called Night
God showed his superiority over both the light and the darkness by naming them “day” and “night.” The act of naming is an important feature in the creation account, indicating the existence (“being”) of the element named and also God’s authority over his creation. This divine prerogative of “naming” is extended to the first man, who names the animals and his companion “woman” (2:19, 23; 3:20).
And there was evening and there was morning
The expression “evening and there was morning” specifies the length of a “day” (yom, in Hebrew). While the author may have meant a 24-hour day, less specific interpretations are possible.
the first day
The Hebrew word yom can refer to a 24-hour cycle, the daylight hours, or an unspecified future “someday.” The meaning of the word, though, does not settle the debate over whether the passage references a literal six-day creation or symbolic days
The analogy between the creation week and the Hebrew work week is specifically drawn in the Fourth Commandment (Exod 20:10–11). By this the Hebrews tied their sacred calendar to the foundations of creation itself (Exod 23:12).
Early Jewish and Christian interpreters were troubled that it took God seven days to create the world, whereas modern interpreters are puzzled by the brevity of creation in light of geology’s testimony to the age of the earth.
the seventh day does not have the concluding refrain “evening and morning,” which suggests its continuation for some period and thus its nonliteral nature
Conclusion
Speaking is the revelation of thought; the creation, the realization of the thoughts of God
The light at creation was the first word, the word that is indistinct from God’s personal presence
Light is the great beauty and blessing of the universe. Like the first-born, it does, of all visible beings, most resemble its great Parent in purity and power, brightness and beneficence
Paul paralleled God’s creation of light that shines “out of darkness” (4:6) and the light that has revealed the glory of God in human hearts. This glory is in the “face of Christ,”
Paul paralleled God’s creation of light that shines “out of darkness” (4:6) and the light that has revealed the glory of God in human hearts. This glory is in the “face of Christ,”
Light, which has lent its name to all that is life-giving (John 1:4), truth-giving (2 Cor. 4:6), gladdening (Eccl. 11:7) and pure (1 John 1:5–7), appropriately marks the first step from chaos to order; and as it here precedes the sun, so in the final vision it outlasts it (Rev. 22:5).