#3 The transition from seven to one, darkness to light.

The transition from seven to one, darkness to light.

Publicly writing your private meditations is a bit disconcerting but I want to do it in hopes of encouraging others to process these things in their own way and open the opportunity for us all to grow in our understanding. I believe deeply that this subject must be approached with great humility and I hope to demonstrate why by the end of this piece.

^“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2

The second verse of Genesis one represents the earth before the seven day week and in particular the Sabbath. In my view, it is also our eventual situation if we don’t follow day seven instructions. The clearly defined events of the six days of work have brought order but failure to follow the instructions for day seven will bring about degeneration and return us to the chaos of verse two. The prescribed antidote is to pull back and disengage from the normal work of our hands.

Again the instructions for day seven is different than the instructions for month seven which is also different from the instructions for the seventh year and for the seventh set of seven years or the Jubilee.  However in each case a shift away from what had been during the previous six is evident and the pattern holds regardless of which set of sevens we are discussing. This brings me to the words of Genesis 1 verse 5.

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

Here may be the first example of the concept that rest is first, before work. As I pointed out last week, the seventh day was man’s first day since he was created last on day six thus his first day was a day of rest. Likewise on the very first day the Creator separated light from darkness and set evening as the beginning of the day, therefore setting darkness and by implication rest and sleep, before morning light and work.

But what I really want to highlight from this verse is the last two words “one day” or in the Hebrew “yom echad”. Yom is the Hebrew word for day but the use of echad (Strongs H259) seems to be giving us some guidance. It should be noted that echad is used here rather than the word “ri’shown (Strongs H7223)  

Ri’shown is used in the below passage to indicate Esau is born first.

^“Now the first (Ri’shown) came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.” Genesis 25:25

Ri’shown clearly is the word for first in line but echad has a different sense to it. While it is also used in many case as one or first, echad also has a characteristic of unity or harmony. A good example is below from 1 Chronicles.

“All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one (echad) mind to make David king.” 1 Chronicles 12:38

This verse demonstrates the harmony factor of echad, many minds obviously, but all agreed or were in unity (echad). Therefore by using echad rather that ri’shown, the Genesis writer is showing us that while indeed the day of light is the first day, it also has a unity factor which I suspect tells us that what happens on day one, or year one (or whichever sequence of seven you are studying) has a unity or harmony with the other six which will follow. Again, thinking out loud, day one “yom echad” seems similar to a fertilized egg growing to its completed gestation by the end of day six. If this is the case, then greatest attention needs to be given to the events and characteristics of day one. For what we observe on day one, will likely have some unity, with what we will experience throughout this particular set of seven.

One more thought; the Jewish writers of the New Testament clearly saw that light on day one was not the result of the sun, since the sun was only created on day four. In many ways and at many places they tell us they that they believed that the LIGHT of “yom echad” was Yeshua (Jesus) none more so than John at the beginning of his gospel. Consider his rhythm and flow compared to Genesis one.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ⁵ The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John1:1-5

Following the instructions for the seventh as a way of preparing for the LIGHT of one, is much more than a business strategy. To be prepared for the LIGHT of the world “full of grace and truth” John 1:17 is a profound opportunity we should not miss.

I can’t think of anything more terrifying than to arrive at year one tight-fistedly. I humbly submit that the real reason for Sabbath is so we do not worship the works of our hands and if we do worship the works of our hands, we can expect the LIGHT of yom echad to expose it to the world.