The theme of darkness and light is present in scripture
from the first chapter of B’reshit (Genesis) to the last chapter of
Revelation. Based on how that theme is
presented, and on our own life experiences, we have come to understand that, in
our lives and in our walk with YHVH Elohim, we progress FROM darkness TO light. Even the concept of going from being lost to
being found holds within it the idea of darkness and light: once we were lost (in darkness; blind,
hidden, and vulnerable), but now we are found (in the light, we can see and be
seen).
Just a few illustrations:
B’reshit (Genesis) 1:2-3,
“The earth was unformed and void, darkness
was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of
the water. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 9:2,
“The people living in darkness have
seen a great light; upon those
living in the land that lies in the shadow of death, light has dawned.”
Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 60:1-3, “Arise, shine, for your light
has come, and the glory of Adonai has risen over you. For although darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples; on you Adonai will rise; over you will be
seen his glory. Nations will go toward
your light and kings toward your shining
splendor.”
1 Kefa (Peter) 2:9, “But
you are a chosen people, the King’s cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to
possess! Why? In order for you to
declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Romans 13:12, “The
night is almost over, the day is almost here.
So let us put aside the deeds of darkness
and arm ourselves with the weapons of light.”
Revelation 22:5, “Night
will no longer exist, so they will need neither the light of a lamp nor the
light of the sun, because Adonai, God, will shine upon them. And they will reign as kings forever and
ever.”
In all of these verses (and many others) the clear
progression is FROM darkness TO light, until ultimately, when we are with YHVH
forever (depicted in Revelation), there is ONLY light; no more night
forever. Darkness is the condition from
which YHVH rescues/delivers us. Living
and walking “in the light” is the benchmark and the goal, which we can see
demonstrated to us in nature every day.
As I mentioned in the previous entry, the traditional Jewish
understanding of the twenty-four hour cycle of day and night begins at sunset
(technically, when three stars are visible in the sky); i.e., when it is well
and truly DARK outside. This is based on
how the days are described in B’reshit. “…there
was evening and there was morning, one day.”
The measure of the day seems to begin when darkness arrives.
I will concede there is some debate about this
interpretation, but this way of seeing it has endured for several millennia, so…
pretty convincing, I’d say. For Jews,
the evening prayer, maariv, is
actually the first prayer of the day (although, of course, you will usually see
it referred to as the third prayer, after morning and afternoon, because, hey,
the world’s interpretation of the daily cycle is prevalent).
One of the reasons I am willing to accept this
extraordinary perspective, besides the fact that Israelites/Jews have seen it
this way for thousands of years, is that I believe, when we think about it, it
is an utterly natural way to see it. Don’t
get me wrong. I have not personally
managed to put this interpretation into true daily practice; but I am working
on it! A lifetime of being out of step –
and being surrounded by a world that insists on keeping it that way – makes it
seriously difficult to behave differently.
Each day begins when the darkness arrives (again). How can this be a natural way to view
this? Because it is a daily reminder
that we move FROM darkness TO light. Our
starting point is darkness. THEN we come
to the light. We are drawn out of
darkness into light. That is what YHVH’s
instructions (Torah) tells us repeatedly.
That makes this perspective a command, actually. How eloquent is that?
Let’s face it. Our
accepted standard is that each day ‘begins’ at midnight. Do we really operate that way? I’d venture to guess that most of us feel
like our day “begins” when we get out of bed in the morning. For most of us, that is usually five to nine
hours after the ‘calendar day’ began at midnight. Or maybe we feel like the day begins when the
sun comes up. It might even be that some
of us don’t feel like our day begins until we are “at work” or until we have
had our first cup of coffee or when we receive that first phone call or greet
the first customer. See? We spend most of our time “in the light” wondering. In truth, we are out of synch.
I believe we are actually kind of confused about when the
day begins. I know this is essentially a
subliminal phenomenon. We go through our
days, doing what we do, not consciously concerned about “when” the day started,
so to speak. Nevertheless, I am convinced
(admittedly, I am speaking from my own experience, so this is ‘anecdotal’) that
we could attribute at least some of our social fatigue (which, from what I can
tell, nearly all of us have to one degree or another) to the idea that we are
operating outside the rhythm of YHVH’s kingdom, even in our daily existence.
I am honestly not quite sure how to incorporate the idea of
“day begins after the sun sets” into our daily patterns of life. But I think if we can figure that out, it
will help us begin to see kingdom truths more clearly. So, please stand by. I am working on it. At the very least, I am starting with trying
to remember to take a moment every day after the sun sets to acknowledge the
beginning of a new day.
Let’s see where that leads.
Meanwhile, we can learn to sing “The
Bedtime Sh’ma” on our way to sleep each night.
Shalom!
שלום
