And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
If there is no darkness in or with God, where did the darkness that He separated from the light come from in the beginning of time when He was starting to create things? Was it possible it was after Satan was cast down from heaven and thats where it came from?
Hi, JesusMyOnly.
I'm going to give a fuller citation from Genesis chapter 1 in order to hopefully help to answer your questions:
Genesis chapter 1
[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
[3] And 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] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
In verse 1, the creation of heaven precedes the creation of the earth and such a creation of heaven includes the creating of angelic beings. Yes, we know that the angels were created before the earth was created because they are depicted as rejoicing while they were watching the LORD create the earth in the book of Job. We read:
Job chapter 38
[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
[2] Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
[3] Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
[4] Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
[5] Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
[6] Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
[7] When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
[8] Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
[9] When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
[10] And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
[11] And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
In verse 7, "the morning stars are singing" and/or "the sons of God are shouting for joy" as they are watching "the LORD" laying the foundations of the earth or creating the earth. Both "morning stars" and "sons of God" are referring to angels (and this can easily be proven from scripture), so, again, we know that the angels were created by God before He created the earth or that their creation was part of the aforementioned creation of heaven. Why am I bothering to mention this? Well, I'm mentioning it because not only do we read elsewhere in scripture how that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5), but we also read how God "makes his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire" (Psalm 104:4). Yes, angels themselves are also regularly depicted as being radiant beings ("flames of fire" - Hebrews 1:7) in scripture, so we know that PRIOR TO this "darkness" that we read of in Genesis 1:4 there were already two sources of "light" in existence, God and angels, and both sources of "light" were spiritual in that both God ("God is Spirit" - John 4:24) and angels ("makes his angels spirits" - Psalm 104:4) are Spirit/spirit beings. IOW, at this juncture in time, there was no natural source of light in that the Genesis account states that the sun and the stars weren't created until the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19). Well, seeing how both "God" Who "is light" (I John 1:5) and angels who are "flames of fire" (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:7) were witnessing the creation of the earth and seeing how both are sources of Spiritual/spiritual light, where the heck did this "darkness" come from which was "upon the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:2)? The answer is in the text which we previously read from Job chapter 38. Again, we read:
Job chapter 38
[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
[2] Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
[3] Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
[4] Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
[5] Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
[6] Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
[7] When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
[8] Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
[9] When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
[10] And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
[11] And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
While describing the birthing ("when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb"), figuratively speaking, of "the sea", the LORD, sticking with the same figurative language, said that He "made the cloud the garment thereof, AND THICK DARKNESS A SWADDLING BAND FOR IT". I mean, you recall how Jesus was "wrapped in swaddling clothes" when He was born, don't you? Well, figuratively speaking, when "the sea" was born or "when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb", the LORD clothed it, figuratively speaking, by "making the cloud the garment thereof, AND THICK DARKNESS A SWADDLING BAND FOR IT". IOW, the LORD Himself created the "darkness", so it wasn't the result of Satan's fall which leads me to this...
Biblically speaking, Satan still has access to heaven even as I type. This can be proven in more ways than one and I'll now prove it in two ways myself. For starters, the account of Job transpires on this side of Noah's flood or at least 1,700 years AFTER the creation account. There are many indicators of the same within the book of Job, but I'll just give one of them right now. Please consider what Eliphaz asked Job:
"Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:" (Job 22:15-16)
There's pretty much universal agreement amongst Bible scholars that this "flood" is referring to Noah's flood. Anyhow, there are several other internal witnesses in the book of Job which indicate that he lived on our side of the flood. How is this relevant to your questions? Well, it's relevant in that we read:
"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:6-7)
Again:
"Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 2:1-2)
LONG AFTER the "darkness" of Genesis 1:4, Satan still had access to heaven and he came with the other "sons of God" or he came with the other angels "to present himself before the LORD" IN HEAVEN. Furthermore, in the book of Revelation, we read:
Revelation chapter 12
[1] And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
[2] And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
[3] And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
[4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
[5] And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
[7] And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
[10] And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
[11] And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
[12] Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Here, we see Satan depicted as being "a great red dragon" whose "tail drew THE THIRD PART OF THE STARS FROM HEAVEN and did cast them to the earth" (Revelation 12:3-4). Again, these are NOT literal "stars", but the word "star" or "morning star" (Remember what we read in Job chapter 38?) is regularly used in scripture in relation to ANGELS. IOW, in a YET FUTURE battle between "Michael and his angels" and "the dragon" or Satan "and his angels" (who are a third of the angels), Satan and his angels will be "cast out into the earth" and when such occurs it will trigger what the Bible calls "the great tribulation". IOW, the actual timeframe for Satan and his angels losing their access to heaven WHICH THEY STILL HAVE hasn't occurred yet and when it does occur it will be a fulfillment of what both Daniel and Jesus prophesied. Here is a link to a post that I made a few days ago on another thread which shows that this "casting out of heaven" of both Satan and his angels has NOT occurred yet:
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/104781-war-heaven.html#post1822372
Anyhow, when the time comes that both Satan and his angels are actually "cast out of heaven", then the "heavens" will "rejoice" (Revelation 12:12), but there will be great "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil will come down unto us, having great wrath, because he knows that has but a short time" (Revelation 12:12)...and that "short time" is the 3 1/2 years of "the great tribulation". Anyhow, right now, as I type, Satan is still "the accuser of the brethren who accuses us before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10) even as he was doing in the book of Job. As such, the "darkness" of Genesis 1:4 was NOT caused by him somehow being "cast down from heaven", as you inquired, or the "darkness" was NOT the result of what is commonly known as "the gap theory". Rather, as we read in Job, God Himself created the "darkness", but why? Well, I offer the following possible explanation:
II Corinthians chapter 4
[3] But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
[4] In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
[5] For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
[6] For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Verse 6 is clearly alluding back to what we read earlier in the Genesis account:
Genesis chapter 1
[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
[3] And 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] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
It seems to me that Paul was saying that in the same manner in which "God commanded the light to shine out of darkness" back in Genesis, He was similarly calling each and every one of us out of SPIRITUAL "darkness" and "into his marvellous light":
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" (I Peter 2:9)
IOW, it's quite possible that "the LORD" Himself created the "darkness" (Job 38:9) to teach us all a SPIRITUAL LESSON in that we all need to be "called out of darkness and into His marvellous light" even as the original creation was. After all, we are to be "new creations" or "new creatures" in Christ, aren't we?
Anyhow, in any case, this "light" ("Let there be light") of Genesis was obviously NOT natural in that the sun and the stars weren't created until 3 days later, so I'll briefly address what I presently believe to be the significance of the same. We read:
Revelation chapter 21
[23] And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
[24] And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
[25] And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
There is coming a time in "the new heaven and new earth" and in "the new Jerusalem" in which there will be "no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God will lighten it and the Lamb will be the light thereof"...and I personally believe that this is the same exact source of "Light" we originally read of in the book of Genesis before the sun and the stars were created 3 days later. IOW, I believe that the original "Light" was "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 4:6) even as Paul seems to have suggested.
Anyhow, I hope that something which I've presented here is of some help to you.
Have a blessed day in the Lord.
