Overview
The first chapter of Genesis introduces the account of how God created the world. It is a very easy chapter to read but contains a plethora of scientific nuggets. These 31 verses itemize what was created on which of the six days at the beginning of time.
Controversy
The creation account used to be considered by mainstream scientists in the western world as irrefutable truth, the basis of all scientific inquiry. Then came the 1700s, a period non-Christians have named “The Enlightenment,” during which philosophers emerged as the dominant influencers of the culture, reminiscent of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the Greek philosophers of the 300s BC.
Thinkers of the so-called Enlightenment era began to push back against the claim that kings and rulers were especially anointed with God’s power, a concept known as “received authority.” Although these monarchs acted in ways that were not God-honoring, they justified their actions by claiming immunity as God’s anointed. Understandably, this created discontent among the people, which the philosophers of the day capitalized on. Instead of calling the rulers to account before God, the philosophers put God on trial for the conduct of immoral rulers, finding Him at fault. Then they made a concerted effort to remove God from all spheres of life outside of the religious arena.
Following this era, in the 1800s, Charles Darwin began his scientific studies. He wrote in a letter once that “I do not believe in the Bible,” so it is not surprising that he crafted an alternate theory for the creation of the world and put forth his hypothesis of evolution. Ever since, there has been a schism in the scientific community between those who believe in the Biblical account of creation and those who believe in the theory of evolution. Dozens of books and articles have been written about the scientific support for the creation account, and interested readers can start their deep dive at www.AnswersinGenesis.org.
Night-Day Sequence
Now, aside from the question of origins, what can we learn from a quick scan of this first chapter of the Bible that can be applied to modern day life? Among the many options, let’s focus on the night-day sequence. Verse five states the following: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” (King James Version). That last sentence is unusual because it seems backwards. Why isn’t the first day itemized as “the morning and the evening” instead?
The ancient Hebrew people also noticed that the creation account referenced a day as consisting of the evening and the morning (not vice versa) and so they observed sundown as the end of one day and the beginning of the next. In fact, modern Jews today still begin their religious holidays at sundown, not at sunrise.
When Jesus was alive on earth, the Jewish people maintained this night-day sequence, as evidenced by the account of Jesus’ crucifixion. It was at the end of the day, around 3pm, that Jesus appeared to be dead. At sundown, the holy day of Passover would begin. Since an Old Testament law (Deuteronomy 21:22-23) prohibited leaving an executed person on a tree overnight, a Roman soldier at the scene pierced Jesus’ side with his sword (John 19:33-34) to verify that He was indeed dead. When this was confirmed, His body had to be removed from the cross and buried “that day,” meaning, before sundown.
Today, wherever you are in the world, a new calendar day technically begins at midnight. Nevertheless, modern culture revolves around the idea of a day as a morning and then an evening, sunrise and then sunset, light first and then darkness. This informal re-ordering of the times directly opposes the creation account in Genesis 1, which outlines a different order: darkness first and then light, night first and then day. Since God is deliberate in everything He does, we can assume He purposefully ordered the darkness to come first and the light to come last. But why?
One hypothesis is that God intended the act of creation to mirror the miracle of physical birth, another type of creation: darkness in the womb, light at the other end of the canal. This principle also mirrors spiritual birth, as darkness turns into light at conversion.
Consider the order of the words in the following verses:
- Psalm 30:5. When King David talks about the qualities of God’s anger and favor, he says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
- John 8:12. When Jesus Christ talks about salvation, He says, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:12. When the Apostle Paul talks about heaven, he says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face.”
These verses reflect the night-day sequence given in Genesis 1. Darkness and opacity are at the beginning, but light and clarity come at the end.
Other times, Biblical events are actually described in the day-night sequence (not the night-day sequence of the creation account). These events are typically followed by a very good result. For example:
- Noah and his family were in the ark while it rained “forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7:12). What happened after this time period ended? The sun came out, the waters began receding, and God promised never to flood the whole earth again.
- Moses was at the top of Mount Sinai for “forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:18). What happened at the end of that time period? God wrote the 10 commandments on two tablets of stone, creating the foundation of legislation and holiness that continues to this day.
- Jonah was in the belly of the whale for “three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). What happened afterwards? The inhabitants of Ninevah repented and turned to the Lord.
- Jesus was in the tomb “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40) and what happened afterwards? He arose!
Contrary to opposing the creation order, these examples actually provide a higher level of the night-day sequence: bad thing happens (three days and three nights in the tomb), then good thing happens (Christ is resurrected). The light always follows the darkness.
In fact, the entire Bible itself is a night-day sequence. It begins with “darkness was upon the face of the deep” in Genesis 1:2 and ends with “and there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light” (Revelation 22:5).
Questions to Consider:
- Why do you think the night-day sequence has been reversed in modern times?
- How might the day-night approach lead to depression and anxiety?
- How might the night-day approach lead to hope and peace?