Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness“

Genesis 1:4

In verse three God called Light forth, but here in verse four He declares His will. He actualizes the potential He had thought of and declared (vs 3) by decreeing for it permanence (vs 4). He brings things into existence by calling them (Romans 4:17), and then gives them permanence by SEEING them and establishing their nature.

‘the light‘ in the Hebrew has a numerical value of 613, the number of commandments in the Law.

‘the light, and saw that it was good‘ in the Hebrew gives an interesting clue to the nature of this Messianic Light (Jesus). The last letters of the Hebrew phrase form the acronym ‘brit’, which is the Hebrew word meaning ‘covenant’.

‘Good’ has two meanings. Either that something is good for the goal which it is needed for, or that it really is in and of itself good. The ordeal of the cross was not good in and of itself (a horrific way to die), but it WAS good for the goal which it was needed for: paying the price for Sin (Romans 6:23). Here God is declaring Light as definitively good. In both senses of good, for God to call something good it must be directly beneficial for humanity from His point of view. God knows what is good and is intent on providing it. In the same way, anything NOT pronounced good is therefore not good – which is why Adam and Eve didn’t NEED knowledge of evil. They could have gained that knowledge organically by learning more and more of what was good. God doesn’t prevent us from getting knowledge, He makes sure we get the GOOD knowledge by which we learn of everything else. In this case, the light was good for humanity – providing physical light to see by, heat, photosynthesis, etc – and also inherently GOOD as Divine Jesus (Mark 10:18; Psalm 27:13). The Father established this goodness – in both senses – right from the beginning.

Dividing or separation also has two meanings. A partition between two alike or unalike things, or a spiritual separation between two things that appear the same to the human eye – like the separation between something pure and impure. God divides Light and darkness by naming them separate. Light IS, darkness is what remains when light diminishes. This is not usually a firm line which separates them, then. Usually, it is a gradual process. This is what humanity practised – and still practises – after the Fall. They gradually turned from His Light and began to consistently dwell in the darkness. Turned from Truth to embrace ignorance. Releasing it to embrace deception. Because that turn was gradual, humanity was able to tolerate the difference. This is why we are told to keep His Word before our eyes (Proverbs 7:2). This is why Jesus was against compromise (Matthew 6:24; Luke 10:27). This is why we are instructed to be firm in our thinking, our words, and our actions (Colossians 3:5; Proverbs 25:28; 2 John 1:7-11).