יוצר אור ובורא חשך Is. 45:7

[Isaac Fried]

which is after Gen. 1:4
וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ

Without חשך, 'darkness, shade', light absorbency, there would have been no vision. Only total transparency and see-through.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Galena]

You had me thinking there for a moment Isaac. In the light of what you just said (pun intended) a number of points force me to query the logic of this thought though - sorry:

1. God created the light before there was a sun;
2. The eye sees only reflected light created by the sun, (forget light bulbs for a minute), without the sun objects would not reflect the different wave lengths of light colour from objects;
3 God is light, not a light, but Light itself;
4. God created light but did NOT create darkness, this is noteworthy, He only separated the light from the darkness after creating Light;
5. Unless God's Light exists there could be no sun, no life, it was His Light that needed to exist before the onset of order and vision and birth and creation;
6. Although Isaiah 45 God said He creates Light and Darkness, I believe the darkness in this case metaphorical;

In view of the above ideas I do not see that the darkness of Gen 1:4 anything other than what exists as a result of the absence of God's life-giving words, the Spirit of God upon the darkness, not amongst the darkness is what the hebrew stresses, hovering over it while no breath of life was yet formed in it, nor could there be until God said: Let there be Light, His personal light.

So the light that enables us to see Him, is His personal light, but the light that enables us to see with our eyes is the Sun He created.

Any thoughts?

Kindest regards
chris

[Isaac Fried]

Chris you are right. Light, space traveling electro-magnetic waves, were created on day one, before the sun was even contemplated. This, before-the-sun, special pure light אור גנוז will be released back to us when we are found to deserve it.
You are also correct in stating that God did not "create" darkness. What He created is the blocking of light by matter (which like space itself was created on day one). It is dark here now because earth does not allow the light of the sun to travel trough it.
Still, this darkness is what allows as to see. Had God permitted light to go unhindered through all matter (as through glass) there would have been no vision.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Isaac Fried]

Indeed, as per Isaiah 30:26
וְהָיָה אוֹר הַלְּבָנָה כְּאוֹר הַחַמָּה וְאוֹר הַחַמָּה יִהְיֶה שִׁבְעָתַיִם כְּאוֹר שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים
where, I think, שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים refers to the seven first days.

And Isaiah 60:19
לֹא יִהְיֶה-לָּךְ עוֹד הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לְאוֹר יוֹמָם וּלְנֹגַהּ הַיָּרֵחַ לֹא יָאִיר לָךְ וְהָיָה לָךְ יהוה לְאוֹר עוֹלָם וֵאלֹהַיִךְ לְתִפְאַרְתֵּךְ
KJV: "The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."

Isaac Fried, Boston University