Transcript
Walking the Old Paths, Episode 12 transcript
Summary
This podcast episode discusses the first day of creation in the Book of Genesis. JP also discusses the symbolism of light and darkness in the Bible and how it relates to righteousness and sin; and repeated phrases such as “God said,” “God saw,” “God made,” “God created,” and “it was good,” and the spiritual significance of the number of times we see them repeated. The episode ends with a message for listeners to follow Jesus and be light in the world.
Transcription
Now, in verse three, we come to the first recorded spoken words of God. Let there be light. Now we notice that when God speaks, it is executive in nature. God said, let there be light, and there was light. There is no argument from his creation, no difficulty in performing what he spoke. He said it and it happened.
Welcome to the Walking the Old Paths podcast. I’m JP, your host on this journey through the Bible. Each week we embark on a systematic study of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. [John 1:1-3]
Now we come to the section of the creation week in which God gives form to the earth, making it habitable and filling it with all plants and trees and with all manner of living creatures. And finally, as with a mighty crescendo, God makes man created in his own image.
As we start out into this creation week, I first want to point out from the verses I read in John one that there in the beginning was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word. He is identified as being with God and is God.
Our Lord created all things. There was nothing made that wasn’t made by him. Colossians 1:16-17 says, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
As we look at this creation account, let us keep in mind that the speaker here is the Lord Jesus. He gave us a habitable place to live and fellowship with him. It was created perfect in the beginning.
Everything that follows from that first chapter to the last chapter of the Bible, all the evil and wickedness in the world, is due to our sin and rebellion against God. I have heard too many times from people while I’ve been out witnessing. They blame all the suffering in the world on God.
Oh, how wicked is man to blame God for the condition that we have created? When God looked upon all that he had created, he said it was very good. Man is the cause of all our suffering. What wretched people we are! How great is our God who did not leave us in our lost condition, but gave us a way to be reconciled unto him?
Before we take a look at each of the days of creation, I want to point out some things to observe here in chapter one. As you read through the account, you will no doubt notice that there are some phrases that we see repeated throughout. For example, we see God said is repeated ten times. God saw is repeated seven times. God made or God created is repeated seven times. The evening and the morning are repeated six times. After his kind or after their kind is repeated ten times. It was good, or very good is repeated seven times.
Did you notice something there? We see the numbers six, seven and ten associated with these repeated phrases. Is there some significance to that? Though I couldn’t say with any sort of authority that God intended it that way. It is not easy to ignore that we do see certain numbers come up in Scripture that seem to have some sort of meaning to them.
Remember, God is a math master mathematician and a master linguist, so had not surprised me in the least that he did intend for meaning in the numbers we see in Scripture. I mentioned this in a previous lesson. This is the study of numerology in the Bible. It is just something that is interesting to think about.
God is a wonderful, creative God whose creation is marvelous to study. So let’s just take a moment to explore the possible meanings behind those numbers six, seven, and ten that we see in these repeated phrases.
With the number six. The phrase the evening in the morning are repeated six times in chapter one, once after each day of work that God did in creation. It ends on the sixth day, the day that God created man who is the only part of the creation that was created after his image. Thus, we see that the number six in Scripture is associated with man’s number.
What other associations do we see in Scripture in regard to the number six? Here are a few to think about. God said that six days would mark the number of man’s labor. The sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, deals with man’s most egregious sin against fellow man. There are six words used for man in the Bible adam, ish, geber and enash in the Old Testament, and anthropos and aner in the New Testament.
There are many multiples of six that we see as well in the Scripture that all point to man. The number of the beast in the book of Revelation is six, six six. The hours of the day and the months of the year are multiples of six. The wicked man Goliath, who defied the armies of the living God, was six cubits tall and wore six pieces of armor, and his spear’s head weighed 600 shekels of iron.
Nebuchadnezzar’s idolatrous image was 60 cubits high and was six cubits broad, and there are six musical instruments listed that sounded the time to worship his image.
When God destroyed this earth with the flood due to the wickedness of man, it was in the 600th year of Noah’s life.
Next we see the number seven. There are three phrases that we see repeated seven times in chapter one. God saw, God made or created. It says God made three times. It says God created four giving a total of seven. It was good or very good. Good was listed six times and very good once, giving a total of seven.
So we see in chapter one that seven times God made or created something, and each time he saw what he created, he and said it was good or very good. The number seven is joined to divine fullness and perfection.
What other associations in the Bible do we know with the number of divine fullness and perfection? Well, consider these within the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, we actually see many combinations of seven. There are seven Hebrew words that form verse one. These seven words have 28 letters, or four times seven. The first three words have 14 letters, the last four words have 14 letters. The fourth and fifth words have seven letters, and the sixth and seventh words have seven letters.
The seventh day was set apart by God for himself. Later we see that the seventh day, the Sabbath was set apart for Israel. The Hebrew word for seven comes from a root word meaning to be full or satisfied.
Naaman the leper had to dip seven times in the Jordan River to be cleansed. Christ spoke seven words from the cross. There are seven better things in the book of Hebrews: covenant, promise, substitute, hope, sacrifice, word, and resurrection. There are seven miracles performed in the Gospel of John. The word agape, which means love, occurs seven times in the Gospel of John.
The phrase a new song occurs seven times in the Old Testament, and is always given in connection with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. In Psalm 29, the phrase the voice of the Lord is found seven times.
The last book of the Bible, Revelation is full of sevens. There are seven churches. There are seven candlesticks. There are seven seals. There are seven trumpet judgments. There are seven vials. There are seven personages. There are seven dooms. There are seven new things. The word Jesus is found seven times in revelation. The words Jesus Christ is found seven times in revelation as well.
Now the number ten. Here we see two phrases in Genesis one that are repeated ten times. God said, and after his or their kind, God spoke ten times here in chapter one. And we see that when God created the living creatures and vegetation, that he created them by kinds, indicating that their genetic code is limited, thereby denying the theory of evolution as contradictory to the special work of God.
The number ten, therefore, is one of the perfect numbers in Scripture and denotes completeness in divine order. Once again, let me give you some examples of the number ten in Scripture.
God gave us ten commandments that give us the complete duty toward of man, toward God and his fellow man. In the Old Testament, we see the duty of man in giving to God is the tithe or 10%. God sent ten plagues upon Egypt as complete judgment upon that nation. Abraham’s faith was tested and proved in ten trials.
Noah was the 10th of the antediluvian patriarchs. In Psalm 119, there are ten words used which are descriptive of the Word of God: way, precept, commandments, testimonies, law, sayings, statutes, judgments, righteousness, and word.
There are ten clauses in the Lord’s Prayer. There are ten virgins in the parable of our Lord that represent the whole nation of Israel.
In the Bible there are ten people who said, “I have sinned”: Pharaoh, Balaam, Achan, Saul, David, Shimei, Hezekiah, Job, Micah, and Nehemiah.
In Romans 8:39 and 40 [Romans 8:38-39], Paul gives believers a ten fold security. He says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Okay, let’s take a look at day one. Henry Morris said concerning the creation account in Genesis one, and I quote, “The only proper way to interpret Genesis one is not to interpret it at all. That is, we accept the fact that it was meant to say exactly what it says.” End quote.
In other words, instead of coming at Genesis one with our preconceived thoughts as to how God created the universe, we simply read what he wrote and believe it as it is.
As we had discussed last time, our problem with Scripture would be a lot less difficult if we wouldn’t try and force upon Scripture our interpretation based on our worldview.
When we simply read Genesis 1:1-5, we see that God created the heaven and the earth on day one. It was his first act of creation, and it was just the elements needed to form it into the heavens and the earth that we have today.
Now, in verse three, we come to the first recorded spoken words of God. Let there be light. Now we notice that when God speaks, it is executive in nature. God said, let there be light, and there was light. There is no argument from his creation, no difficulty in performing what he spoke. He said it and it happened.
You will notice, though, that the light he just spoke into existence is not the light of the sun. The sun was not created until day four. So what exactly is that light? Some think that it was perhaps angels, but that seems improbable. Though we are told in Psalm 104:4 “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire”. But that no way means that it was meant here in Genesis 1:3.
Remember how the Book of Genesis finds its complement in the Book of Revelation? We begin here in Genesis with light but no sun. And in the final book of the Bible, revelation, we are told that in the new heaven and earth that will be created, there will be no need of the sun.
Revelation 21:23 says, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
In Revelation 22:5 it says, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
Psalm 104:2 tells us that God is clothed with light. It says, “Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.”
Isaiah 60:19-20 foretells the time when we will no longer need the sun or moon for light. We just previously talked about that in Revelation. In Isaiah says, “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,”
If you remember in Matthew 17 at the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was transfigured before them, and says, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. For this brief moment during his earthly ministry, Christ revealed himself to Peter, James, and John in his glory, and he did shine as the sun.
With these Scripture references in mind. I believe we can attribute the light that God called into existence as the glory of the Lord.
I began this podcast reading from John 1:1-3, where we see that Jesus is God and that he is the voice that we hear ten times in Genesis one speaking everything into existence. But I want to point out one more thing from that opening chapter of the Gospel of John that further connects the light we see here in verses three through five in Genesis and John 1:4-9, it says “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Just as in Genesis, so to hear we see the contrast of light and darkness. In the Bible we see light and life are associated with the Lord Jesus, while darkness and death are associated with Satan and sin. Jesus said concerning himself in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Friend, do you have the light of life? Jesus is the Creator God who not only created this world for us, but knew when he did, he would have to sacrifice himself in order for us to be reconciled unto God. We have not yet got to the sixth day when God created man. But it is my belief that when God created Adam, he clothed him in light. He was righteous before God because he was created in the image of God. It wasn’t until sin entered this world that Adam realized he was naked. The light that covered him was gone. He was now in spiritual darkness, and so is everyone born into this world.
We are born in darkness, yet we see that the Lord leadeth every man that cometh into the world. Each of us has enough light to see our need of the Savior. Oh, won’t you come to him? Won’t you put your faith and trust in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Jesus said, if you follow him, you will no longer walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Come to him today.
And you, Christian, that say you love the Lord, are you following him? The only way you can do that is by reading and studying His word and walk in it. Jesus said to us, why do you call me Lord, and do not the things that I say? Follow him, dear friends, by obeying his voice.
Now, continuing on in verse four, we see that God sees the light. It was good. And we have our first division, that of light and darkness. You will notice that the first three days God is preparing the earth for the creative work of life through separation or division.
On day one, he divides the light from the darkness. On day two, he divides the waters to create a firmament for life to exist in. And on day three, he divides the sea from the land.
What is interesting here is that even though the earth has light, which we discussed is from God Himself, there is still darkness. He does not remove it completely, he simply divides it.
Whereas we see in the new heaven and earth with its new city, Jerusalem, there will be no night there, no darkness. Why is there no darkness there when there is still darkness here? Well, I think the obvious answer is that God foreknew that through man sin would enter the world and plunge it into spiritual darkness. The supernatural processes that once sustained the earth would now be put into a state of decay and destruction. The necessity of the sun, moon and stars in all the physical processes of our earth would be needed to sustain life until the end, when a new heaven and earth would be created, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
The new heaven and earth that is still yet to come will never see sin or rebellion. It will be kept in its perfect condition, just as it was when it was created new.
In contrast to the universe that is now God foreknew, he would, it would lose its perfect condition. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”
Now in verse five we read, “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
We see here two things that God defines. First, he defines day and night. The light he calls day and the darkness he defines as night. As I mentioned, light is associated with God and that which is good. Whereas darkness in the Bible is associated with the devil and with sin.
Jesus made a statement concerning day and night in John 9:4. He said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
By order of natural processes here on earth, most of us work during the day, that is, during the hours of sunlight. The night is when we rest or sleep. By order of spiritual application, we work during the time of having the protection and blessing of light. The night is when evil comes out to play. Ephesians 5:11 tells us “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
Go sometime down by the bar area of your town and observe what it is like during the day, to what it is during the night, and you’ll see the difference. I know from firsthand experience the unfruitful works of darkness, evil, and sin love the cover of darkness.
I tell my teens at church that nothing good happens after dark. They will be wise to avoid it and have no fellowship with it.
I was in England this summer and we decided to go up to the top of the Shard. That’s the tallest building in London, and we wanted to do it in the evening time to see the lights of the city. After we were done, we walked back to where we were staying and had to pass through the streets of London in the dark.
We passed by several pubs were earlier where earlier was all normal, but now in the darkness those same streets were crowded with people intoxicated with alcohol. The unfruitful works of men love the cover of darkness.
Well, friends, I’m going to wrap it up here for the week. Next week I will finish out verse five and talk about the Hebrew word for day. And then we will continue looking through the days of creation.
Until then, I pray you would continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Stay faithful to your church and ask God what he would have you to do to be a witness and a light to those around you.
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Thank you brethren for your prayers and your support. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.