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“And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.  And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” - Genesis 1:5

This is a key verse to understanding the events recorded in the Creation account.  It builds on the context presented in verses 1 to 3, adding just enough detail for us to understand what actually constitutes a “day” of Creation.

We know that in Genesis 1:1 the terrestrial bodies and the earth were initially created; scientifically, we know this to be 4.5 billion years ago (Ga).  We know that in Genesis 1:2, the earth had not yet undergone the “formation” of God’s pronouncements, and the earth had no life.  We also know that the earth was covered in water, that the water was covered in darkness, and that Jesus was with the Holy Spirit, hovering over those waters; scientifically, we know this to be 3.9 billion years ago, and that conditions existed that prevented the darkness from permanently leaving, large meteors, to be specific.  We know that in Genesis 1:3, at God’s command, Jesus stopped the meteor onslaught, to “let there be light”.  As the atmosphere formed, now unencumbered by large meteor strikes, and sunlight scattered throughout the sky, God saw that light, and saw that it was good.  Finally, we know scientifically that only half the earth was in the sun’s view at any one time, and in fact Genesis 1:4 records there was a separation between the light side of the earth and the dark.  And then we come to Genesis 1:5, which practically says as much, noting the God’s separation of the night from the day.

Traditionally, the creation of light is thought to refer to the invention of light itself.  But were that the case, Proverbs and Job would not have described that creation with such accurate physical descriptions of the line between night and day through which the earth perpetually rotates.  As it happens though, not only does that line exist, but there was a time when the sky was dark, even beneath the sun.  It was when there was water covering the earth, and there was a hindrance to the formation of a day and night sky.  And Genesis 1:1 to 1:4 describes these conditions quite accurately, if incompletely.

“And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
And so we know that the evening and morning are marked by the same mechanism that separated the day and night skies from each other… therefore the evening is the setting of the sun, and the morning is sunrise.  Apparently, in Genesis 1:5 God experienced sunset and sunrise for the first time.

To be continued…

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 17th, 2006 at 10:18 am and is filed under Day 1, Bible Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.