Title: 13
Author: JBG
Last saved by: Matthew C. Lawson
Company: Auth CO

01-03-04-A.JSH-447 / 

© 2001  Joe Griffin

The Inscrutable Question: The Difference between Light and Lights, Gen 1:14; Adam & Ishah’s Priority List in the Garden: Doctrine First!
26-	Next up on the agenda is the Forth Day of restoration found in:
Genesis 1:14 -	[NASV] Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
Genesis 1:15 -	and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
Genesis 1:16 -	And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
Genesis 1:17 -	And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Genesis 1:18 -	and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:19 -	And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
1-	During the first three days of restoration, the earth was provided light by the Shekinah Glory and not from any light-bearing bodies.
2-	We have already noted from the Written Record the difference between these two light sources.  The word for “light” in the first three restorative days is the Hebrew word, or.
3-	Now that we are in the Fourth Day we find that the word used is the Hebrew maor and it refers to “light bearers,” e.g., the sun, moon, stars, and planets.
	4-	We also have a creation verb used in verse 16:
		hcu / asah / - “to create something according to a pattern.”
	5-	These luminaries were created ex nihilo in verse 1, as is indicated by the creation verb found there:
		arB / bara / - “to create from nothing.”
6-	Therefore, the creative activity in verses 14-19 has to do with restoration of light to heavenly bodies that were functional luminaries in Genesis 1:1.
7-	These heavenly bodies became nonfunctional in verse 2 when the entire universe was blacked out under divine judgment.
8-	The light from these luminaries is not restored until the Fourth Day.  The Lord distinctly points out the purposes for the sun, moon, and stars.  We’ll examine the Fourth Day one verse at a time.
Genesis 1:14 -	Then God said, Let there be lights [ maor: plural; emanations from light-bearing or ‑reflecting bodies ] in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years.
1-	The word “separate” is the Hiphil infinitive of ldB / badal /: to separate; to divide in order to cause a distinction between things.
2-	This word is used twice in the context.  First it draws a distinction between “day and night” in verse 14 and between “light and darkness” in verse 18.
3-	Therefore light from a multiplicity of sources will distinguish these two concepts: (1) day from night and (2) light from darkness.  The first is the separation of day and night.
4-	Each of these entities has a source of light.  In verse 16 and 18 the sun is said to rule the day while the moon rules the night.
5-	The light of the sun sustains the biological life of plants, animals, and people.  God is light.  The Shekinah Glory is the light of Christ.  The Lord describes Himself in John 8:12 as the Light of the world.  His Glory was the light of the universe in Genesis 1:1 and was the light source for the first three days of restoration.  In Genesis 1:4, God says that light is good.
6-	The moon on the other hand rules the night.  Its light is a reflection of the sun into a darkened world.  Thus the moon becomes a type for the church in general and the believer in particular.  The Church and the believer have no light of their own but they have the opportunity and privilege to reflect the light of Christ.
7-	Occasionally, the world comes between the sun and the moon and causes an eclipse.  This is a warning that the things of this world occasionally blot out the light of Christ in our lives and cause all to enter into darkness.
8-	On Day One of restoration, light was the first thing on God’s agenda and the result of His first mandate in Genesis 1:3.
9-	From that point on, God refurbished the earth in a step-by-step process so that it would become a place of habitation for new witnesses.
10-	In doing so, the Lord systematically revealed the order of the universe and presented the mechanics for the management and harnessing of time.
11-	The first duty of the new witnesses was to learn about Him, believe in Him, and then follow Him.
12-	However, as in every case of divine creation, God always starts with perfection.  Once restored, the world was perfect and our original parents were the residents of a perfect garden called Eden.
13-	Adam and Ishah were created perfect and imputed perfect life but not eternal life.  Their perfect life and environment were theirs to enjoy so long as they maintained perfection in their souls.
14-	These perfections could only be lost by the violation of one negative divine mandate: “From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” Genesis 2:17a.
15-	Thus Adam and Ishah had to become organized for the purpose of serving God.  True organization starts with the efficient management of time.
16-	The first priority of the first couple was their spiritual growth (Genesis 3:1-8); followed by the management of the animal kingdom (Genesis 1:26-28); cultivation of the crops of the Garden (Genesis 2:5b, 15); development, management, and utilization of natural resources (Genesis 1:28b); avoidance of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17); and finally, whatever else they wanted to do.
17-	In order for them to grow in grace and become efficient stewards of their environment, they had to be given a means of managing their time.
18-	Therefore, we see in the six days of restoration plus the Seventh Day, the development of a system of time keeping and time management. 
19-	Further, the Lord in His omniscience knew that man would use his volition to fall and that the witnesses that would appear by means of procreation would need to be taught the doctrines of reconciliation and redemption which were to be learned through ritual.
20-	Therefore, in verse 14 we see four things that are to be determined by mankind’s observance of the light-bearing bodies: signs, seasons, days, and years.
21-	However, what we have here is not as obvious as it may first appear.  On the surface it seems to be a statement regarding the development of a calendar by observation of the sun and moon.
22-	This is obviously a way the luminaries were to be used and were.  But there is a much more important reason for observance of the movement of the earth with relationship to the sun and moon and that is the establishment of a system of worship through ritual.

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