I received the Cepher in the mail and decided to start at the beginning. I couldn’t get past the first 18 verses without rereading them several times. I am perplexed and the “light” referred to in verses 1-5 (1st day) in comparison to the lights placed in the expanse of the heavens (4th day). In the past I had always assumed that the light created on the first day was the same as the sun and moon. It appears they are not. Can anyone expand on this?
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Hello Honey I will give it a try. First the Names. RUACH = Spirit and ELOHIYM = GOD. So the Spirit of God after creating the earth found it was void and dark so he said "Let There Be Light" then divided the darkness and the light, whether this means the earth began spinning giving us day and night or the sun was created and with the combination of both we have day and night. I cannot answer definitively but I believe it would be what we have today. I am still new at this too but I believe if we can all come back to the table under one belief, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior all the other petty stuff aside we can have meaningful fellowship and discussions on all of this. I hope in some way I helped with your question.
It seems to me that the “light” mentioned on the first day is not the same “light“ (sun and moon) mentioned on the 4th, that is what I am curious about.
I have been studying this for quite a while. If you look at the original Hebrew words for light and darkness it's more than just literal light and darkness. It can be concrete (literal light), or not concrete (figurative light). I believe it to be both. Since God contemplated the end from the beginning the end... ( Isaiah 46:10 ) he understood what would be light (good) and what would be dark (evil) and thus divided them in understanding. And He decided to do as he pleases because He (and only He) knows how all of this (sin) can be fixed... Notice he called the light good but didn't the darkness?
I have a couple of examples...
Example #1 - 1 John
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomea it. (Or did not understand it in some translations)
Notice what light means in 1 John? It's the life through Yahusha (The word) that gives light to men (and gives life). God loves a humble contrite loving heart. It is because of the light of men that God created in the first place (This includes Yahusha since he became a man). He knew there would be darkness/chaos that would come about because of free will, but he also knew that it was worth it to create because he saw that it was (Again... Isaiah 46:10) from the beginning.
Example #2 - ´Book of History´ compiled by Confucius
"Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five elements (planets) had not begun to revolve, nor the sun and the moon to shine. In the midst thereof there existed neither forms nor sound. Thou, O Spiritual Sovereign camest forth in Thy presidency, and first didst divide the grosser parts from the purer. Thou madest earth; Thou madest man. All things with their reproducing power got their being."
Many people don't know this but the ancient (very ancient) Chinese were monotheistic at their beginnings. They believed in One God who they called Shang Di (Which means "The Heavenly Ruler"). They even had a cleansing ceremony once a year for the nations sins with a sacrifice of a bull. That being said... As you can see this text is very much like Genesis 1. So close in fact you might think... "Did they just swipe it (translate it) and use it?" The answer to that is no... Confucius just compiled it... he did not write this more ancient text.
http://www.cps.org.rs/Innerpeace/Creation/china.html
" This reads just like a summary of the Creation account in Genesis chapter one, but is, in fact from the Chinese ´Book of History´ compiled by Confucius (b 551 BC). It is part of a border ceremony dating back to the Emperor Shun in 2230 BC, immediately following the dispersal of the nations from Babel."
More on Shang Di and the connection to Yahuah:
https://ancientpatriarchs.wordpress.com/2017/01/02/%E4%B8%8A%E5%B8%9D-the-original-unknown-god-of-china/