Daily Devotional: BE!
Day 3: Be Light
Genesis 1:1-5 [NKJV throughout]
1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”
KEY: God Separates Light from Darkness
Job 26:1-14
1 “But Job answered and said:
2 ‘How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many?
4 To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?
5 “The dead tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
6 Sheol is naked before Him, and Destruction has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it.
9 He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud over it.
10 He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke.
12 He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His understanding He breaks up the storm.
13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
The Prophet Jeremiah also saw a glimpse of the chaos during the time before God said “Let there be Light!”
In Jeremiah 4:22-26, God speaks, and then shows Jeremiah the distant past, just like God sees all things. History is cyclical in nature because the devil has the same methods no matter the time period. When Satan was thrown out of heaven, he began destroying what God originally created in the earth, and the result was the chaos we see described in Genesis 1:2.
“For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are silly children,
And they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”
23 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the Lord, by His fierce anger.”
In Job 38, God speaks to Job about the things He created, and in verses 12-15, God shares what He did when the wickedness of the first creation abounded, and was utterly destroyed.
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It takes on form like clay under a seal, and stands out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld, and the upraised arm is broken.”
King Solomon writes, in Proverbs 13:9,
“The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”
According to the Midrash, in the Sefer HaYashar, Job was in Egypt at the time of the Children of Israel, and he experienced the plague of darkness, and I perceive that this is why he wrote so much about the light of life, and the darkness of the shadow of death, which he experienced when his body was covered in boils.
Job 18:5
“The light of the wicked indeed goes out, and the flame of his fire does not shine.”
We see that event recorded in Exodus 10:21-23, when God sends Moses to Pharaoh.
21 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.”
22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
When the Children of Israel were leaving Egypt for the land promised to them, the Angel of the Lord went before them to separate them from their pursuers.
Exodus 14:19-21
19 “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.”
Once they were in the wilderness, God instructed Moses to make lamps for the Tabernacle.
Exodus 27:20
“And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually.”
2 Samuel 23:1-4
1 “Now these are the last words of David.
Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel:
2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.’”
The Prophet Isaiah also speaks of the tenderness of the One God sent to reign over us in chapter 53:1-2
1 “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."
Job 12:5
“A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; It is made ready for those whose feet slip.”
I am reminded of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Only five had oil in their lamps., whereas under the Law, the lamps were to be keep perpetually lit.
The Psalmist says, in Psalm 119:105,
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
KEY: God does not want anyone to live in darkness, by implication, surrounded by evil, by Satan and his demonic kingdom, or by death.
In Matthew 4:15-17, a prophecy is quoted from Isaiah 9:2
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
KEY: The preaching of the Good News, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, brings great joy, and light.
Jesus said, “I AM the Light of the world.”
John 8:12
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
KEY: Light is equated with good deeds, and darkness is equated with evil deeds.
God’s commission to the Apostle Paul was very clear.
Acts 26:17-19
17 “‘I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”
KEY: God’s light gives us knowledge of His Glory, which separates us from evil.
2 Corinthians 4:6
6 “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 6:14
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
And in verses 16-18, Paul writes:
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
The Apostle Paul writes to the Church at Colossae, in Colossians 1:9-14
9 “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
We have a Heavenly High Priest Who lives to intercede for us, for our good.
Hebrews 7:25-26
25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless [innocent], undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 Who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
So Let us also Pray the Word
Father, may we all be filled with the knowledge of Your will, in all wisdom and Spiritual understanding.
May we walk worthy of You, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in ever good work.
May each one of us increase in the knowledge of Who you are and how good You are to us.
May we be strengthened for patience, perseverance, and joy. May we be grateful for what You are doing in our lives to qualify us for the inheritance promised the saints in the Light.
Thank You Father for delivering us from the power of darkness and conveying us into the Kingdom of the Son of Your Love.
Thank You Father for forgiveness and redemption through the Blood of Jesus.
Father, I ask that our light, which we receive from You, will represent You well in all we do for Your Kingdom.
May it be as the difference between night and day to those in our sphere of influence.
In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
And this is our Homework for today, and hereafter:
And in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus teaches us
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Go in peace, and go light your world today.
