LIFE-STUDY OF GENESIS MESSAGE FIVE: THE FOURTH-DAY LIGHTS (A PARENTHESIS)

Before we study the creation of man, we need to consider, as a parenthesis, the matter of the fourth-day lights. In Genesis 1, it is recorded that on the first day of restoration God summoned the light. The first day was a day of light and that light may be called the first-day light. On the fourth day, God did something further regarding light. He made the light bearers—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The Bible does not tell us what kind of light was present on the first day, and there is no need for us to guess. The light of the first day was not very solid, strong, or definite. It was not given a specific designation; it was simply called "light." However, the lights of the fourth day—the sun, the moon, and the stars—were definite and solid, strong and available.

If we pay attention to the record of Genesis 1, we can see that God's restoration with His further creation was accomplished in six days. These six days were not for God's original creation. God's original creation was accomplished in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. After creation, there was a great change which occurred somewhere in chapter 1, verse 2, and God came in to judge the universe. After that judgment, there was a long period of time. Then, God came in to restore and to have some further creation. This restoration with its further creation was accomplished in six days which may be divided into two sections: the first three days considered as the first section; the last three days considered as the second section. Each section begins with a day of light. The light of the first day was the first-day light; the lights of the fourth day were the fourth-day lights. On the first day, God called for the light. On the fourth day He restored the sun, the moon, and the stars. This is very meaningful.

These days of light mark the beginning of God's creation of life. According to the revelation of the whole Bible, light is for life. Once again, we see that God's creation is completely focused on life. All that God created and made was focused on life and was for life. Thus, there is the need for light. Light and life always go together. On the contrary, darkness and death always go together. Before God's restoration, darkness covered the death waters, meaning that darkness and death were one. Death is abstract and no one can see it. Therefore, the Bible uses water to signify death. The deep water of the ocean is a picture of death. Before God's restoration, there were only two things—darkness and death.

God is life and light, the exact opposite of death and darkness. The very God of light can never tolerate darkness, so He came to dispel it. Also, the God of life can never tolerate death, so He came in to swallow it up. When you read the Bible, don't take a scientific view—take God's view. If we read the Bible from God's point of view, every line will be full of light and life because the Bible is a record of the Divine Being who is light and life. The God of light and life came in to eliminate darkness and death.

On the first day, God commanded the light to come and light came. Then, God divided light from darkness. That division was a limitation to the darkness. The God of light seemed to say to the darkness, "Darkness, listen to Me. You have been prevailing for a time and you have filled the whole universe. Now, My light comes in to limit you. You can only prevail during the night. There is no room for you in the day. I limit you. I divide light from you. Never again can you occupy the whole universe. For at least half the time the universe must belong to Me." Hallelujah!

This was good; however, it was only half good. A certain amount of darkness remains. God is still working to eliminate this dark part until we arrive at Revelation 21 and 22 where there is the declaration, "night shall not be there" (21:25b). Hallelujah! One day there will be no more night.

God limited the darkness on the first day and, in the same principle, He limited the death waters on the third day. In Jeremiah 5:22 we read that God limited the death waters with sand, the smallest particles of rocks. God told the death waters, "This is your limitation. You cannot go beyond it." Thus, the dry land appeared, making a separation between the land and the sea. After the first day of God's restoring creation, it was half light and half darkness; after the third day, it was half land and half water. God is still working to eliminate the second half of the night and the second half of the death waters. In the new heavens and the new earth, there will be no more sea (Rev. 21:1); in the New Jerusalem, there will be no more night (Rev. 21:25b; 22:5). This means that both darkness and death will be completely eliminated.

Check with yourself. How much darkness do you have? How much death do you have? You need to answer to the Lord. If in your Christian life, you are constantly growing in the Lord's presence, one day you will be able to tell Satan, "Satan, I have no night. My day is twenty-four hours long. There is no death water with me. In my whole Christian life, everywhere, in every corner and on every avenue, there is dry land. There is no more sea." We all must be like this.

To be like this we need the fourth-day lights. The first-day light only eliminates half of our darkness and half of our death. The fourth-day lights will bring us to another world where there is no night and no sea.

All the truths in the Bible were sown as seeds in the book of Genesis, especially in the first chapter. Genesis 1:14-18 is a wonderful seed of the light revealed throughout the Bible. According to the principle of life, the fourth-day lights are not for generating life; they are for the growth of life. On the third day, perhaps at the last part of that day, after the Lord called out the dry land and the land emerged out of the death waters, life was generated. By that time there were light, air, and land—three elements necessary for generating life. After the dry land appeared, plant life was generated. Although God was not happy at the end of the second day—He did not say that it was good—He was surely happy at the end of the third day when He saw the light, the air, the dry land, and all the plant life. God saw the grass, the herbs, and the trees, and said that it was good. Before that time, there had been no created life on the earth.

Starting with the plant life, life was generated. But that was the lowest life, the life with the lowest consciousness, unable to walk, unable to talk, and unable to understand God. God may speak to a lily a thousand times, but the lily cannot respond to Him because the life of a lily is too low. Although life was present, it needed to grow. The fourth-day lights were needed for the growth of life. The first-day light was for generating life; the fourth-day lights were for the growth of life. On the fourth day the solid lights were prepared; no other work was done.

Many of you young people have received the first-day light, but I doubt very much whether you have entered into the fourth-day lights. The fourth-day lights are different from the first-day light. The first-day light was indefinite; the fourth-day lights are definite. Now we need to see what the sun, moon, and stars prefigure in typology.

 

I. THE SUN—CHRIST AND THE SAINTS

The sun indicates Christ and also the saints who will shine as the sun in the kingdom. Malachi 4:2 says that Christ is the sun of righteousness. In His wings (that is, His shining) there is the healing of death. Without His shining, there is death; when His shining appears, death is healed. Luke 1:78-79 says that the birth of Christ was the real sunrise for humanity. Matthew 4:16 tells us that when Christ came to the sea of Galilee, He appeared as the great light. The people who sat in darkness saw a great light. Light shone upon those who were sitting in the region and shadow of death. That light was Jesus. Matthew 13:43a tells us that the overcoming saints will shine as the sun in the future kingdom. Although we may be a star today, it is too early for us to shine as the sun. For that, we must wait until the day of restoration. In the kingdom, many saints will shine as the sun. Today Christ is the sun; tomorrow the overcoming saints also will be the sun.

 

 

II. THE MOON—THE CHURCH

The moon is the church. In Joseph's dream, his father was likened to the sun, his mother to the moon, and his brothers to the stars (Gen. 37:9). The church is the bride, the wife of Christ. Therefore, the moon is a figure of the church (cf. S.S. 6:10).

Revelation 1:20 tells us that the local churches are lampstands. Lamps are needed in the nighttime, not in the daytime. Revelation 1:20 proves strongly that the church age is not the daytime, but the nighttime. As a lampstand the church shines in the night. However, the lampstand itself does not shine; the lamp does. The seven lampstands are in Revelation chapter 1 and the seven lamps are in chapter 4. The seven lamps are the seven Spirits (Rev. 4:5). The church is the lampstand and the Spirit is the lamp held by the stand. If the church lacks the Spirit, the church is a lampstand without light. It is then a stumbling block. But, the lampstand with the shining lamp is wonderful. We may have the church as a lampstand, but what about the lamp? We need the lamp. Some may say, "I have the Holy Spirit as the lamp. I don't care about the lampstand." If you say this, you are wrong, for the lamp is on the lampstand. If today, during the church age, you are going to have the light of the seven Spirits, you must have the churches. The seven lamps are on the seven lampstands.

During the church age it is night, and during the night we cannot get the sunlight, the light of Christ, directly. We need reflection. We need the moon to reflect the sunlight; we need the church to reflect the light of Christ. Without the church it is hard for us to see the light of Christ. When we come to the church and the church is not waning, we will surely receive light.

According to history, there was a long period during which the church was on the wane. While the moon is on the wane, that is the best time for the stars to shine. During the Dark Ages the stars shone. Martin Luther was a star. Before and after Luther, many other great stars were shining because the moon was on the wane. Two centuries ago, Zinzendorf and the so-called Moravian brothers were practicing the church life. Although their moon was not full, it was at least a crescent moon, reminding people that the church was there. A century later, the Brethren were raised up in England and the crescent was increased to nearly a full moon. Philadelphia, the church, was there. However, it didn't last very long. There is a proverb which says that when the moon is full it begins to wane. Within a period of seventy years covering the last part of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth, we can see some other stars such as Andrew Murray, Mrs. Penn-Lewis, and A. B. Simpson. During that time, there were stars, but no moon—there was no church life. The moon was on the wane and the stars shone.

Praise the Lord! Today, if we don't have a full moon, we at least have a full crescent. In the churches, we should not expect to see spiritual giants. If there are giants, this means that the moon is waning. As long as the moon is waxing, is growing, the stars should not be so evident. I don't want to be a big star, just a small brother. When we have the moon, we have little need for the stars.

If we go to the sun and ask for light during the nighttime, we are foolish. The sun will tell you, "Don't come to me. Go to my reflection. Go to the church if you want the light which comes from me. The church reflects my light." We must remember this is the night; the day has not come. We need the church. The Spirit speaks to the churches. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 3:22). We must go to the churches and get the light of the sun indirectly.

Many dear Christians say, "I don't care for the churches—I only care for Christ." I can guarantee that whoever says this will not grow. Those who say such a thing may have the first-day light, but they lack the fourth-day lights. If you check with many saints, they will tell you that they did not grow until they came into the church. When we sincerely turn our heart to the church, we receive the proper light of Christ indirectly.

As many can testify, whenever we were bothered by the church and turned our backs to the church, we were in absolute darkness. When you turn your back on the moon during the nighttime, your face will be in darkness. However, when we turn to the church and are one with the church, the shining comes immediately.

Some may say that we stress the church too much and neglect Christ. But how can the moon shine without the light of the sun? Without Christ, the church has no light. The shining of the moon in the nighttime is simply a reflection of sunlight. The light of the church is altogether the reflection of Christ. People who talk so much about Christ without contacting the proper church will find it difficult to obtain the real and practical light for the growth in life. For the growth of life we all need the moonlight, which is a principal part of the fourth-day lights. The more church life we have, the more Christ we gain, the more light we receive, and the more growth in life we experience.

 

III. THE STARS—CHRIST AND THE SAINTS

The stars are Christ and the saints. Although Christ is the real sun, He does not appear as the sun during this age of night. He shines as a star, as the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16b). Christ Himself is a star. All the overcoming saints are also stars. Second Peter 1:19 tells us to take heed to the sure Word until the morning star, which is Christ, arises within us. Revelation 1:20 not only tells us that the churches are the lampstands shining with the Spirit, but also that the angels, the leading ones or the messengers in the churches, are the shining stars. Daniel 12:3 says that those who turn many from the wrong way unto righteousness will shine as stars. Matthew 5:14 says that the believers today are the light of the world and Philippians 2:15 says, "among whom you shine as lights in the world." All these verses show that the saints who are in the proper way and have the proper standing are stars.

 

IV. TO RULE FOR DISCERNMENT

These fourth-day lights rule for discernment. Discernment comes from light. Without the fourth-day lights, it is difficult to discern anything. We all need this discernment for the growth in life. Young people need discernment regarding where to go and where not to go, what to say and what not to say, what to do and what not to do, what is of God and what is of Satan, what is in the spirit and what is in the soul. Even the junior high young people need discernment concerning their schoolmates, which classmates to contact and which ones they should never touch.

Discernment comes from light. When the light shines, the light rules. If I am in a room without light, I will stumble. Without light there is no direction, no ruling, and no discernment. However, if I am under the shining of the light, I can discern which way I should go.

You junior high students are different from all other students in school because you are children of the day. The others are still in darkness. When you speak with your teacher, you know what you should say. You have discernment. The best way for parents to take care of their children is to cast them into the hand of the Lord. Then, they will have the light, and the light will be their ruling. This ruling of the light will give the children the best discernment. They would never be tempted into drugs. Discernment is the biggest protection.

Again I say, this discernment comes from the shining, and the shining of the light is just the ruling. If you read and pray over Genesis 1:14, 16, 18 and Ephesians 5:8-11, 13-14 until these verses get into you and the light shines upon you, you will know what you must reprove and what you must accept, what you should receive and what you should reject. Also, 1 John 1:5-7 is a good portion telling us that God is light, that if we have fellowship with Him we are in the light, and that when we walk in the light we know the difference between darkness and light. We have the ruling with the discernment.

 

V. FOR SIGNS—MAINLY FOR MOVEMENT

The sun, moon, and stars are signs. These signs are mainly for movement. In the ancient time, sailors navigated according to the stars. Today, we drive our cars according to traffic signs. Thus, signs are for movement.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to the Lord Jesus, asking Him to show them a sign from heaven (Matt. 16:1-4). The Lord said, "Foolish people, you know the signs of the sky. When the sky is red in the evening, you say that the weather will be fine. When the morning sky is red and lowering, you say the weather will be stormy. You know the signs in the sky, but you don't know the signs of this time. I am the sign—I am just like Jonah. You don't see the sign because you don't have the light." The disciples also came to the Lord on the mount of Olives and asked Him about the sign of His coming, the sign of the end of this age (Matt. 24:3).

We not only have these verses, but also a great sign in the universe found in Revelation 12:1—the sign of a woman with the sun, the moon, and the stars. In order to move properly in this universe, we have this woman as a great sign. This woman is something related to the church. I do not say that the woman is the church, but that the church is a great part of this woman. If we are to move and behave and act in this universe, we must know this woman.

She originates in Genesis 3. The Bible is a book of women. Satan entered the human race through a woman, and the Lord Jesus also entered the human race through a woman. Eventually, the Bible consummates with the New Jerusalem, which is a female, the bride of Christ. Hallelujah! We will all be a part of that woman. So, we all must know the woman in Revelation 12. She is a biblical woman, a universal woman covering the whole Bible. Strictly speaking, she began in Genesis 2 with Eve, not in Genesis 3, and then proceeds from Genesis 2 to Revelation 22. If you know this woman, you know the signs. She is a very prominent sign. She is a sign for God's people to know whether they must go on or stop. Because many Christians lack this woman, they don't know what to do. They have no way to go on. We need a sign, a sign which comes from the fourth-day lights.

 

VI. FOR SEASONS—APPOINTED BY THE MOON,MAINLY FOR GROWING

The signs are for moving and the seasons are for growing. The words of the Lord Jesus regarding the harvest show that the seasons are for growth (John 4:35). Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us that there is a time to sow and a time to pluck up the harvest. These are seasons. Seasons are for growing. If you are a farmer, you must know the seasons. Would you sow the seed in the winter time or rest in the summer time? The seasons tell us when to plow, when to sow, when to reap, and when to rest. Revelation 22:2 says that the tree of life bears fruit every month. The seasons are appointed by the months, and the months are decided by the moon.

We need to read several verses in Leviticus in this regard (Lev. 23:2, 5, 6, 24, 27, 34, 39, 41). These verses tell us that every year in the first month the people had a feast. A feast is also related to the seasons. The feast in the first month was the feast of Passover. Following that came the feast of unleavened bread, then the feast of the firstfruits and, following that, the feast of the seven weeks, called the feast of Pentecost. These four feasts came during the first half of the year. On the first day of the seventh month, there was the feast of the blowing of the trumpet, and on the tenth day of the seventh month was the feast of atonement. Also, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month was the feast of tabernacles. All of these seven feasts were held according to the months.

Without a time for growing, you could never have a feast. If there is no growth, what are you going to feast on? At the time of the feast, the people of Israel brought their riches—cows, lambs, grapes, all the produce which came from the growth. The feast of tabernacles, especially, was a feast for the enjoyment of the harvest. The Lord said that we must come together in His presence and enjoy the harvest—that is a feast. The feast is the result of growing, and this growing is very much related to the moon, the church. If we don't have the church, we lack the element of the feast. Very few Christians have the feast because they don't have the moon. They don't have the full enjoyment of Christ as a feast because they don't have the church. We need the church to appoint the seasons for growing and feasting.

Numbers 28:11 speaks regarding the new moon, and Numbers 29:6 says something about the month. These verses are for the months.

Jeremiah 8:7 tells of the stork which knows its appointed flying time. It also speaks of the turtledove, the crane, and the swallow which all know their time, their season. The Lord said of His people that they have no season. This is the situation today. Christians don't have summer time or spring time; they don't have the first moon, the last moon, or any moon. They have no seasons: no spring, no fall, no summer, and no winter. In a sense, every day is the same. Therefore, they have no way to grow and they don't have a feast—all because they are short of the fourth-day lights.

However, once we are in the proper church life, the church will appoint the months, the months will bring in the seasons, and the seasons will give us the feasts. We will have all the feasts.

 

VII. FOR DAYS—SET BY THE DAILY ROTATIONOF THE EARTH FOR NEW STARTS

Both days and years are related to the sun. The earth makes two kinds of movements in relation to the sun—the daily revolving and the yearly revolving. The daily revolving is called rotation; the yearly revolving is called revolution. We all know that the earth's daily rotation makes a day and the earth's yearly revolution makes a year. The phrase "for days" (Gen. 1:14b) means that the earth is continually rotating to create new starts. Hallelujah! Every day is a new start, for every day we have a sunrise. Every day we have a dawn. As the sun, Christ gives us a new start day by day. Every morning, morning watch should be our dawn, a time when the daystar arises within us for a new beginning.

Numbers 28:3-4 says that every morning we must present some burnt offerings. Every day is a new start. Lamentations 3:22-23 says that the mercies and compassions of the Lord are new every morning. First Thessalonians 5:4-8 says that we are not children of the night, but children of the day.

 

VIII. FOR YEARS—SET BY THE YEARLY REVOLUTIONOF THE EARTH FOR GREATER BEGINNINGS

The yearly revolutions around the sun bring in greater beginnings. This is really wonderful. We are in Christ and we are in the church. Therefore, we have the sun and moon to give us seasons, days, and years.

When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, the Lord told them it was the beginning of a new year (Exo. 12:2). When we were saved, that was also the beginning of a new year, the year of our rebirth, a real revolution in our life. My first revolution was in 1925, the year I was saved. The second was in 1931, the year I was revived. Less than a year later, in July, 1932, I had another revolution—I saw the church. That revolutionized my whole Christian life. In my Christian life, I have had many other new years besides these. Year after year, Christ as the real sun gives us a new beginning.

No crops can grow without the seasons, days, and years. All the crops grow by the lights of the fourth day. On the one hand, we are God's crop; on the other hand, we are God's farm. We need the moon to appoint the seasons for us and we need the sun to appoint the days and the years.

Genesis 8:13 tells us that Noah returned to the land on the first day of the first month. He had a new start on the first day of the first month, a new start on the new land. Exodus 40:2, 17 tells us that the tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month, another new start. Why didn't God tell the people to raise up the tabernacle on the twenty-ninth day of the fourth month, but on the first day of the first month? It was for a new beginning. Second Chronicles 29:17 and Ezekiel 45:18 both tell us that the people cleansed and sanctified the temple on the first day of the first month. According to Ezra 7:9, the return from Babylon started on the first day of the first month. Every Christian needs these four new beginnings: coming to the new land, raising up God's tabernacle, cleansing God's temple, and returning from captivity. All of these are new beginnings in your Christian life for your growth in Christ and they must be on the first day of the first month.

 

IX. SHADOWS OF CHRIST

All of the days, signs, seasons, and years are shadows. Christ is the reality (Col. 2:16-17). Christ is the holy day, Christ is the new moon, Christ is the sabbath day, Christ is the beginning of the year, Christ is everything. Christ is your new beginning—a greater beginning as a year and a smaller beginning as a day. Christ is the new moon.

 

X. LIGHTS STRENGTHENED

During the time of the millennium, the age of the kingdom, the light of the moon will equal the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like seven days (Isa. 30:26). The Spirit of God intensified becomes the seven Spirits; the sun intensified becomes the sevenfold sunlight. This will happen during the age of the kingdom, the time of restoration when God will heal His people. However, we can have a foretaste today. With some of the saints, the moon is as bright as the sun. To me, the church life is just like the sun, much stronger than the ordinary moon. I have a bright moon, as bright as the sunshine and the sun has sevenfold, intensified sunlight.

XI. ULTIMATELY THERE WILL BE NO MORE NIGHT

In the New Jerusalem, there will be no night (Rev. 21:23, 25b; 22:5). In that city there will be no need for the sun or the moon or any lamp because the Triune God will be the light. If we read Revelation carefully, we will see that outside the New Jerusalem, outside the city, there will still be day and night, but inside the city there will be no night. We will have our Triune God as the perfect and unique light shining over us. The days will be twenty-four hours long.

Today, however, we need the fourth-day lights. We especially need the moon and the stars to reflect the light of the sun. This is the way for us to grow. I hope that the Lord will speak to you concerning your growth, that your growth in life is with the fourth-day lights. The first-day light was good for generating life, good for your rebirth. But, for your growth in life you need the fourth-day lights.