The Second Day

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Genesis 1:6-8

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

 
 

Once you see the pattern in Genesis Chapter 1, you’ll never unsee it: God creates through separation (and it’s a separation of increasing complexity):

  • Light from Dark;

  • Waters from Waters;

  • Waters from Land;

  • Land from Plants;

  • Etc.

It’s elegant in its simplicity and power.

 
 

When God begins to create, all that’s there is a watery mess of nothingness—chaos. So, after he creates Light on Day One, God begins to bring order to the waters of chaos, and he does so by first separating the waters into upper waters—”sky” or “heavens”—and lower waters, which (we learn on Day Three) are covering the land. He separates the waters above and the waters below with a “firmanent”—a strange Hebrew word that means a hammered-out, flat, hard thing. (Think huge manhole cover or piece of hard glass, like a gigantic car’s windshield, or the dome of a gigantic snow globe.) So, the ancient Israelites believed that the sky was this hard firmament which got its blue color from the waters above it. From time to time, the firmament’s windows would open and would release the waters above onto the land below (which is uncovered on Day Three)— in other words, rain.

Now, we “know” that the sky is not hard, and that the space beyond our atmosphere is not actually liquid, but Genesis is not trying to provide what we might call a “scientific” understanding of reality, but a moral and theological understanding (which I believe is more valuable anyway, but that’s a topic for another day).

So, think about it: the amazing thing about the universe is not only that it exists, but that is has a form and a shape and is intelligible—it has meaning. That’s what God did—he made something out of nothing, and gave it a meaningful order. Today, no matter where you are in the universe, the laws of physics still apply. That consistency and intelligibility doesn’t have to be there, but that’s how God made things to be.

Today, he still does that. Why not pray that God makes this day meaningful to you?

 

The First Day

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Today marks the beginning of our Genesis reading plan. Readings are Mondays-Friday, all the way up to Thanksgiving. As we begin, the readings are fairly brief; they will get longer as we move further into Genesis. I’ve written brief commentary to go with each day’s reading in an attempt to help you understand and appreciate what you read. If my commentary is helpful to that end, great. If it isn’t, skip it and just focus on the words of the scripture instead!

Let’s go.

 
 

Genesis 1:1-5

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

 
 

There is one God, and he made everything.

There is nothing that God did not make. In ancient times people worshipped sun, moon, stars; in modern times we worship sex, money, success. This is foolish, because everything we can see has been created and is therefore not worthy of worship; only God should be worshiped. If you worship something created rather than the Creator, it will not go well with you. To worship something is to make it your source of strength and hope; that which you most admire—that’s what you worship. What or whom do you need to put in its appropriate place in your life?

 
 

And what this God does is bring order out of chaos.

When God begins to create, note that the Bible starts to describe God working, not with literal nothing—absolute non-being, which is im- possible for humans to understand, both then and now—but with the basic building blocks of reality—a wild waste, a deep churning chaos, a swirling ocean of the blackest night. Even in the Bible, the true beginning of everything is shrouded in mystery. So here, it’s not that there is nothing but rather that what’s there is unformed. It’s like saying you are in the middle of nowhere—the something that’s there has not yet been turned into anything useful, so we call it nothing. God takes the wild waste of chaos and begins to make it into something. God’s activity is always to bring order out of chaos—think of the healings of Jesus, who brings order and stability into crazed, wild minds. God takes messes and brings meaning out of them.

What mess do you need to ask God to make into something meaningful?

 

P.S. Know anyone who would benefit from receiving these daily scriptures over email each morning? Subscribe here. Each day’s reading gets posted on my website at 3:30 AM CDT and is emailed to everyone on my Daily Bible list at 4:00 AM CDT.

 

Creation by Separation

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Genesis 1:3-19

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to-gether into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yield-ing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

 
 

Once you see the pattern, you’ll never forget it:

God creates through separation.

Each division brings order and complexity to Creation:

  • light from dark;

  • day from night;

  • water from water;

  • land from sea;

  • plant from dirt;

  • sun from sky;

  • etc.

 

Two quick thoughts:

  1. God brings order out of chaos; he does it at Creation,
    Jesus does it in his healing ministry—order to chaotic minds and bodies—and the Holy Spirit is doing the same thing today.

  2. God loves even the darkness! I love that detail.

 

Question for the Day:

Where do you need God to bring order out of chaos this Advent season?

The Beginning (Advent Reading Starts Today)

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2021 Advent Reading Plan

Advent is the 4 week season of preparation that precedes Christmas. Christmas is an event of joy and feasting, but if we don’t learn the reason for the celebration it can become superficial and materialistic.

This year we need the joy of Christmas more than ever—let’s take the time to prepare so that our celebrations are as rich and joyful as the grace of God can make them.

 

Reading Plan Details

Readings are Monday-Friday, beginning today and ending Friday, 12/24.

Munger is a Bible-reading church. We believe that the Bible tells a unified story that leads to Jesus; many of the readings in this plan come from the Old Testament to help us understand the story of which Jesus is the fulfillment.

Each day, I’ll provide a brief commentary about that day’s reading, and include a reflection or question or prayer focus or thought to help connect the reading to our everyday lives.

Of course, feel free to do your readings at any time, but I strongly encourage you to develop the habit of the First 15: spending the first 15 minutes of each day in silence, prayer, and scripture.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

 
 
 

I like to pray early in the morning this time of year, just sitting in my chair under the light of the Christmas tree. Where’s your spot?

 
 

The Beginning

My goal is throughout this Advent reading plan is to trace the whole story of salvation starting from The Beginning, because the entire Bible tells a unified story that leads to Jesus, and we rarely take time to see it. Christmas is great, and preparing for it makes it even better. Let’s do this.

 
 

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

 
 

The Lord, like a master artist, brings beauty and purpose out of nothingness.

 
 

Prayer for the Day:

A great prayer to pray during Advent 2021:

“Lord, can you make something beautiful out of all of this?”