Meditation Text: Genesis 1:3–25 | Suggested Reading: Deuteronomy 4:15–40

So far we’ve been examining Genesis 1 as if it was written for us. It was, of course. The Holy Spirit inspired Moses to give all God’s people throughout the ages a revelation of himself. Still, Moses’ first readers would have been the Israelites as they were waiting to cross the Jordan to battle the Canaanites and take possession of the Promised Land. It is helpful to think of their situation, for Moses knew their predicament. He also knew their many weaknesses. And if we sometimes wrestle with doubts and uncertainties about God and faith, Israel did too. So, as Moses wrote to instruct them about the Lord and strengthen their trust in him, we can benefit by putting ourselves for a moment in their shoes.

Out of Egypt

The Israelites had been wandering around in the desert for forty years and were now eagerly waiting to enter their new homeland. The Lord had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, freeing them to worship him, but the people didn’t know their God that well. They had spent four hundred-plus years in Egypt, taking in Egyptian culture and religion. They had learned to think, speak, and act like Egyptians. Moses had seen the people make a calf idol in thestyle of the Egyptians (Exod. 32). Over and again he had heard them crying out to return to the “better” life in Egypt rather than stay with the Lord and put their trust in their God (Num. 11:4–6; 14:2). It turns out that you can take the people out of Egypt, but it’s a whole other thing to take Egypt out of the people. And yet if anyone can do it, it is our God, the Maker of heaven and earth. Let’s return to Genesis 1:3–13 and read them as recently liberated Israelites. Suddenly, in the darkness of the formless and empty earth, light appears. God calls the light “good” but not the darkness. In a world without sin, “good” means that something is fitting, appropriate, and especially useful for its intended purpose. Like a pen without ink is useless or not good, so darkness by itself is not fitting, not good. Mere darkness is not useful for the life God has in mind, but light is, and that’s why light is good.

Into the Promised Land

Over days 1, 2, and 3 we learn three things: God creates light and separates it from the darkness; God creates the sky and separates the waters above from the waters below; and God shapes the earth so that dry land appears and the waters recede into oceans, seas, lakes, and other places. If you were an Israelite preparing to cross the Jordan and face down the giant Nephilim as well as all the armies of Canaan, what message would you find in these details? Surely one stands out: Don’t be afraid! If your covenant God has the kind of power it takes to create all lands everywhere and all living beings on the whole earth, why would it be a problem for him to give you the small area called the land of Canaan? And can a tribe of giants or any human army even so much as slow him down? Your God is master of creation, and so he is invincible.

My friend, drink in the same encouragement as you face your fears. Your God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there’s nothing your God cannot do. You might be in trouble right now. A crisis might be looming in your health, your marriage, your family, your work—throw yourself upon your God in prayer and trust your Creator, your covenant God, and do not let fear paralyze you, for he is with you. Sometimes there seem to be powers at work in high places to rob us of the freedom we have to serve Christ, and we can feel utterly helpless. Don’t despair, for your God marches on ahead of you. Even the last enemy, death, cannot cut you off from his love. If physical darkness has to give way to light at God’s command, then whatever spiritual darkness is trying to descend upon us will not be able to snuff out God’s light either. Jesus is the light of the world, and the darkness has not and cannot overcome it (John 1:4–5).

Mover of Lights

We are meant to take courage in our God. He is before all and above all, and he set out to shape all creation so that it might teem with life for his glory. That’s what takes place over the final three days: by the end of day 6 there were all kinds of things moving and shaking on the earth and in the heavens above.

Moses’ account of creation is written from the perspective of someone standing on the earth looking at what God was doing. We read that on day 4 God created lights in the sky. Moses says further that “God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars” (v. 16, English Standard Version). Before this the sky above had been empty, except for perhaps the clouds created on day 2. But now there is a sun moving across the sky, sun up and sun down. And at night the moon can be seen gracefully arcing overhead. And suddenly in the background there are smaller lights up high forming shapes and patterns in the night sky, the twinkling stars. To a person looking up, the heavens have come alive with moving lights everywhere.

And God, your God, is in total control of all these heavenly spheres. It is even so that he created light separate from the sun, moon, and stars—did you notice that? Light was created on the first day, but the sun, moon, and stars came into being on the fourth day. Some people think that’s a reason to believe that this isn’t history, but why should this be a problem for the omnipotent Creator? He created light from nothing and evidently caused light to shine forth from his very being, so God truly is the light of the world. Doesn’t that fit with what Scripture says about how on the day Jesus returns the sun and moon will be retired and the Lamb of God will light up the world for one eternal day (Rev. 21:3)? God only used the sun, moon, and stars as instruments to regulate the cycle of morning and evening—who is like the Lord our God?

No God but the Lord

Subtly yet clearly our passage is saying to the Israelites under Moses and to us today: there is no other god beside the Lord, so worship him alone. In Deuteronomy 4 we read how Moses warned the people again and again not to worship false gods like all the nations around them were doing. They weren’t to make images and bow to them like the pagans did. He then gives some examples that echo the wording of Genesis 1: don’t bow down to the likeness of any animal on the earth or winged bird in the air or any fish in the water under the earth. Don’t look to the sun or moon or stars as divine beings but remember that “the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day” (Deut. 4:20).

The Egyptians worshipped the sun god Ra and the Chaldeans worshipped the moon, but the Bible says the Lord created the sun and the moon as mere servants, so don’t be in awe of them. Many pagans believed that the waters of the seas and oceans were directed by mighty gods and were even inhabited by powerful monsters, and they lived in terror of them. But the Holy Spirit says that on day 5 God created “the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm” (Gen. 1:21)—so, my people, you don’t need to be frightened of them. The Philistines and Moabites had their Baals and Asherah idols which they believed represented gods who controlled the rains and the soil and thus the fertility and growth of all living things. But what does Genesis 1:22 reveal? “And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’” The Lord God and he alone gives growth and fertility and new life. His point is clear: Don’t be tempted, my people, to put your trust in the imaginations of men, in the lies of foolish people, but look to me your Maker, your God.

It’s a message still for us today: don’t look to government as your savior, and don’t imagine that scientists or brainstorming engineers or genius inventors or your own clever investments and planning are going to provide you with health and wealth, peace and prosperity, happiness and comfort. Human beings and their ideas are the gods of our times, but like the ancient idols they are all powerless to save. Look to the Maker of humans, to the Creator of all things, to the God who has drawn near and says to you, “I created you. I love you. I have rescued you in my Son, and I promise to look after you while I fulfill my plan to redeem and restore my fallen creation. Trust me!”

Unstoppable Plan

For our text shows plainly that God has both a plan and a timeline. This is where history starts. It is truly God’s story. Unlike the pagans of old or the mystics of today (e.g., Hindus) who imagine time as something that moves in endless, purposeless cycles, Scripture says that history is linear. In those six days God made a beginning and moved toward an end, taking the earth from a dark world unfit for life to a lit world teeming with life and love. And this same God is now, in Christ Jesus, recreating the cosmos, taking the world from spiritual darkness and rebellion to a world lit up by his love and joyful submission to him; from a place of rust and rot and death to a place of wholeness and healing and life.

This awesome Master of creation is also your invincible Redeemer, so why then be afraid? Why be anxious? Go about your business serving the Lord—and leave the outcome of all things in his hands. What can go wrong with the plan when this God, your God, is in control?

Rev. Peter H. Holtvlüwer is the minister of Ancaster Canadian Reformed Church (ON) and editor of Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms.