And It Was Evening and Morning

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

Why does Creation start with evening before morning, moving from formless to form, darkness to light? September 25^th began the New Year of 5783 on the Jewish calendar. And with it, rewinding of the scroll to read Genesis’ account of a world covered in primordial water and blanketed in darkness. But into that tohu v’vohu (formless and void) the Spirit of God hovered. If you have read this far, you are close to discovering a powerful truth evident in Hebrew but often lost in translation. A truth with implications for your world today.

Evening’s Chaos – Morning’s Order

At Creation, light and darkness were mixed. How such co-existed according to physics is a mystery. And yet, the first seven days were each punctuated by, “And it was evening, and it was morning”. These statements, like waves, crashed upon the shore of Creation, bringing chaos into order, separating day and night, land and water, male and female.

In his book “The Science of God”, Jewish Physicist Gerald Schroeder describes the Hebrew words for evening and morning from a Jewish perspective.

“The Hebrew word for evening is erev. The root of erev is disorder, mixture, chaos. The Hebrew word for morning is boker, its root being orderly, able to be discerned…the Bible described a step-by-step flow from disorder (erev) to order (boker); from the plasma of the big bang to the harmony of life.” Dr. Gerald Schroeder

This understanding is not new; Jewish exegetes have long discussed the fuller definition of erev as a mixture of light with darkness in Genesis. As commentaries note, the Hebrew word for the place where the sun sets, the west, is “ma’arav” from erev! And as all drivers can attest, the con-fusion of light and darkness at evenings twilight is the most dangerous time for accidents.

As we enter this new Jewish year, we see the enemy’s attempt to confuse Creation by mixing good and evil and distorting the natural order. However, be encouraged, “God is not the author of confusion but of peace”. (I Corinthians 14:33) Adonai is still discerning, dividing, and bringing definition to our lives. His boker of morning rays brings clarity, and His Spirit still hovers over our darkness to bring healing and restoration.

May you know that clarity and peace from the Holy Spirit indwelling your life.