Let There Be Light

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day. 

Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.” And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. God called the dome “the sky.” Evening came, and morning followed–the second day. 

Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear.” And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. God called the dry land “the earth,” and the basin of the water he called “the sea.” God saw how good it was. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it.” And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the third day. 

Then God said: “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth.” And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day. (Genesis 1:1-19)

The first part of Genesis is intriguing.  Who heard what God said?   We humans had not yet been created according to the Genesis pattern of creation.  Perhaps it was the Word as described by John in his Gospel: “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 to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Perhaps it was Lady Wisdom who according to Proverbs (8:22-36): “The LORD begot me [Wisdom], the beginning of his works, the forerunner of his deeds of long ago. From of old I was formed, at the first, before the earth, when there were no deeps, I was brought forth…When he made firm the skies above; when he fixed fast the springs of the deep; when he set for the sea its limit…then was I beside him as artisan. I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing over the whole of his earth, having my delight with human beings. Now, children, listen to me; happy are they who keep my ways…For whoever finds me finds life and wins favor from the LORD. But those who pass me by do violence to themselves; all who hate me love death.”

“Let there be light!” appears to step #1.  According to Genesis, “earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss.”  Light shines in darkness, and we are all supposed to represent light shining to extinguish lies and evil.  

According to Margaret Nutting Ralph in her 1992 book Discovering Old Testament Origins: The Books of Genesis, Exodus, and Samuel: “The Bible teaches us the truth about God’s nature, our own nature, our relationship with God and what we should be doing to build up God’s kingdom rather than to tear it down.”  Ralph concluded: “The story is a very serious attempt, and a very successful one, to teach the truth about the reality of all that exists. God made all that exists, and everything God made is good.”  I would add that Lady Wisdom guided God, “the forerunner of God’s deeds.”

Wisdom reminds us that God made two great lights with our night lights being stars in the dome of the sky.  Stars fascinate us and guide us.  On cold, clear-sky, winter nights they form constellations we imagine to represent figures and other patterns.  I and many others are Pisces – the fish.  We are reminded not to reside in the sea’s dark abyss, but to rise to the shallows where there is light.  

With a little luck, we might flop into Jesus’ boat.  Being a deacon, I’m supposed to be there already.  Admittedly, I do find myself circling and eyeing his boat.  The truth about my nature is I sometimes throw the hook he casts.  Fortunately, he never tires of casting.  He is like a typical Cape Cod fisherman. 

Deacon David Pierce