S. L. Jacob
No. 5 — The Fourth Day
14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days, and years:
15. And let them for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth,
18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
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The truth embodied in the fourth day’s work did not come into manifestation early in the history of God’s dealings with men, nor is it early in a soul’s history that it enters into the same. The light of God must in some measure be received at the start, but this falls short of heaven’s order and rule. Christ is, when this is received, seen as the sun — the center of the moral universe according to God. He becomes in actuality the Head; He gives light and heat to all; He governs and He controls; and all in that universe takes character from Him.
The moon, too, whether we look at it as Israel (one figure) or as the Church (another figure), is closely connected with the sun, derives all her light from him, and can only shine upon the earth as she turns her face to him, and in that measure. Hence she may be very light, or may be very dark and not shine at all, and generally is part light and part dark. How suggestive is all this as picturing what actually exists.
There is here, as it were, a second division between the day and the night, and the lights are “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” On them depend God’s periods, they tell us whither we have arrived in the dealings of God with men. They give us summer and winter each in its due time and season, for there is the summer and winter as well as day and night.
It is still the world’s winter, as it was in John 10:2222And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. (John 10:22), and the world yet waits for the passing of its winter — when the time of the singing birds shall come and the fig tree shall put forth leaves and green figs, and the voice of the turtle shall be heard in the land (Song of Sol. 2:12, 1312The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. (Song of Solomon 2:12‑13)); for this the earth must wait, until the Jew repents and turns to God, and thus gets Christ back, and with Him the times of restitution of all things (Acts 3:19-2119Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19‑21)).
But the Christian need not wait for that day of glory, for he that has the Spirit, and can hear the voice of Christ, is allowed to anticipate the coming day and enter by faith into its glories beforehand; and however much the Church may have failed in that which was committed to her, every blessing and joy is still open to him who overcometh. God grant us to understand the place that Christ has as the mighty Sun of Righteousness who will one day arise to shine for this world; and understand, too, His place as the Center and Head of all things; and the place of the Church also, as associated with Him, that we may walk in the power and reality of these heavenly things in our own souls, even though heavenly order is not yet publicly realized on earth.
Hebrews 12:22-2422But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22‑24) brings before us some of these heavenly realities. Heavenly rule is the source of great blessings; without it we are lawless; with it we are in attachment to Christ, we abide in Him, we do not practice sin, we are kept in the Father and in the Son, and this is the promise He has promised, even life eternal.: His commandment is life eternal.
But just as on earth, so in the heavens, there is variety. The earth revolves round the sun, yet its distance from the sun varies from day to day. Everywhere there is variety, everywhere there is change, but the sun maintains its sway, and the moon still gives its light when its face is turned to the mighty sun. One star differeth from another star in glory. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.
It is a great day in the soul’s history when divine order is thus in measure apprehended. As always the evening has to precede the morning; the time of exercise, the time of longing desire, the time of waiting, must come before the time of entrance into blessing: this is always God’s way. He creates the desire and He satisfies the longing, He leads the soul along and fills the hungry soul with goodness, He brings His people out of darkness and the shadow of death and breaks their bands asunder. May our souls wait for the Lord for His mornings, more than they watch for the (literal) morning; then shall we be blessed indeed.
We cannot get redemption in this chapter, yet the fact that darkness and night are portrayed therein points to the necessity of it, and is in a way a prophecy that it must be. We know that no one can be brought out of his evil plight unless the Creator take His place among His creatures and enter into his condition, which Jesus did in all its reality (sin apart as to His nature, and yet being made sin upon the cross) in order to bring men out of all that sin had plunged them into; so that between the lines we read how all creation cries out for its Deliverer to put all upon a new footing. The world pictured here is a world over which darkness passes and which looks for the light, a creation which cries out for Christ.
Till 400 years ago it was almost universally held that the earth was the center of the universe, yet in this creation chapter the sun’s controlling place is clearly given, and that 6000 years ago. How knew Moses these things? The civilized world recognizes today that the sun is the center of the visible universe (that is, this solar system with all its attendant planets, etc.), yet how few acknowledge that Jesus is the Sun and Center of all the moral universe according to God, and that till He gets His right place as Head of every man, Head of all principality and power, Head of His body the Church, Head over all things to the Church, nothing can be right, for it is only in right relationship to Him that anybody (or anything) can be right, yet it is all portrayed here in a figure for him who has eyes to see.
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Prayer
In London an enterprising newspaper has a private wire connecting with Edinburgh, in order to command the latest and freshest news from the Scottish Athens. One night the clerk who had been out to collect local items, returned late and could not get in — he had forgotten to take his night key. He thought a moment. It was of no use to knock at the door — the only other fellow-clerk in the building was too far away to hear him. He stepped around to a neighboring telegraph office and sent a message to Edinburgh: “Tell — that I am down at the street door and cannot get in.” In twenty minutes the door was unfastened and he was at his desk in the office. The shortest way to get at the man in the fourth story was by way of Edinburgh!
How long will it take us to learn that our shortest route to the man next door is the way of God’s Throne! God has no greater controversy with His people today than this, that with boundless promises to believing prayer there are so few who give themselves to intercession. This is represented as being a matter even of divine wonderment “And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee” (Isa. 64:77And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. (Isaiah 64:7)).
Prayerless work will soon slacken, and never bear fruit.
If you would stand straight in the presence of sin, bow low in the presence of God.