“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.” Genesis 1:4-5
For this podcast, I will not argue the different opinions between scholars regarding the time between the days of creation. Verses four and five demonstrate that God created the realm of Day and Night on the first day. Later on, we will see that God created the realm of the sea and sky on the second day. On the third day, God created the realm of the land. On the fourth day, God populated the realm of Day and Night with the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day, God populated the realm of the sea with sea creatures. And the realm of the sky with the birds. On the sixth day, God populated the realm of the land created on the third day with people and animals. Finally, on the seventh day, God rested.
It is interesting to see God’s method to create the first day by communicating an action of speech. These verses keep proving that God loves order.
We see three clues in verse four; God saw…, God divided…, and God called.
Many believed that night and day were conflict powers or forces in the ancient world, such as the idea of Chinese mythology, the yang, and yin. For modern atheists, the world is just spinning around. However, for those who hold monotheistic views, such as Christianity or Judaism, this story is not about conflict or by chance, but we give credit to Elohim, the Creator assigning Day and Night to their proper value, place, and meaning.
One of the scientific pieces of evidence of this divine design that makes it possible for life to exists today here on this earth is that “If the rotation of the earth took longer than twenty-four hours, temperature differences would be too great between night and day. If the rotation period were shorter, atmospheric wind velocities would be too great.”
Even science supports the evidence of a divine design that, as Christians, we know and have the answer that God created Night and Day.
Again, God saw, God, divided, and God called.
When God saw, He conceived and examined the light, and Elohim says, “it was good”. The phrase it was good, God will utter these words six times in the creation because everything that Elohim created so far was good. This phrase shows that God is expressing blessings, delight, and pleasure with what He is seeing. Even more, God was making a qualitative judgment which is an opinion that God expressed after thinking carefully or basing it on personal observation after His accomplished work of the day.
After God saw and expressed pleasure, then God divided the light and the darkness. If there were no division, then there would be no distinguishment between the light and the darkness. So, God causes the light and darkness to separate to distinguish the purpose of each form. After the separation, then God names light Day and names darkness Night. God gave Day and Night a defined function. We do not see God eliminating darkness. Instead, God establishes His authority and giving Day and Night a specific role. By God naming these elements, God is giving them each a mark or a seal of God’s sovereignty. In the ancient Near East, the people believed that naming something was a mark or a sign of power or lordship. They believe that names were not labels but provided descriptions with some force to them.
God saw God divided, and God called.
When we look at the trajectory of biblical characters, many of them experienced how God saw them, how God separated them, and how God called them for a specific purpose.
While the earth was full of wickedness, God saw, separated, and called Noah for a purpose. Another example is the story of Abraham. God saw Abraham, and separated Abraham from his pagan family and pagan nation and called Abraham to become the father of many nations. God saw Moses, separated Moses, and then God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian oppression. So many other biblical characters were God saw, separated, and called them. God saw humanity that needed redemption of sins, so God separated His own Son, Jesus, and through Jesus, we are called to receive salvation and redemption of our sins.
I leave you with this thought; today, God still has His eyes on humanity. God sees everything, and still, God divides light from the darkness. So, those that want to walk in the light of Jesus let me remind you that God is still calling people to do His will. Even more, God is still calling people for a specific purpose. God continues to call men and women to be part of this great family called Christianity.
Until next time, may God continue to bless you more!
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