בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ:

Beresheet bara elohim ayth hashamayim ayth haaretz
In the beginning, God himself created the heavens and the earth. 

These could be the most important words in all of Scripture. Why, you ask? Because everything else depends on them. If you do not believe that God himself created the heavens and the earth, than Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Mary, and Jesus are irrelevant. If God didn’t make the earth, any covenant, promise, prophecy, or sacrifice doesn’t matter. The rest of Scripture hinges upon faith in these seven (Hebrew) words. Actually, the entirety of Scripture hinges on these words.

Sidenote: Notice that the foundation for faith in God in Scripture is laid in seven words. Creation is completed in seven days. Jacob serves Laban for seven years to be able to marry Leah, and then Rachel. Pharaoh dreams of seven fat oxen and seven starved ones. The Menorah at the Temple has seven branches. Destruction of Jericho after seven days of marching. There are many more instances of seven- suffice it to say that seven appears to be God’s favorite number.

After laying the foundation for our faith, what does Scripture do next? It sets out God’s priorities:“Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness.” (Gn 1:3-4)God’s first priority is to separate light from dark. Why? Because God likes order. His approach to Creating could be generalized as: make the space, fill the space.   

Day 1: Light vs. dark   

Day 2: Sea vs. sky   

Day 3: Land vs. sea   

Day 4: Sun, moon, stars (fill the space made by Day 1)   

Day 5: Birds and fish (fill the space made by Day 2)   

Day 6: Animals and humanity (fill the space made by Day 3)   

Day 7: Shabbat- time to rest

God goes farther, though. He is not just interested in Kon-Mari-ing the universe. He says that the light is “good.” So light isn’t just light as opposed to dark. Light is good. In this statement, God establishes that there is a morality- there is good and there is bad. Not only does good and bad exist, but He is the judge of what is good and what is bad. All subsequent morality is judged by Himself as the ultimate in moral authority.

So why does separating light from dark make the top of God’s To Do List? St. Paul offers some insight in the reading today: “let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Rom 13:12) Darkness is where sin and evil live and thrive. That is why God says the “light is good.” God wants us to live in the light, surrounded by the light, inspired by the light. Jesus tells us “the lamp of the body is the eye. if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.” (Mt 6:22-23) God gave each of us a soul. That soul is intended to be a light to the world. It is intended to bring the goodness of God into the world. When each of us came into being, God again said, “let there be light,” and that light was the soul that He gave to each of us. If we allow the light of God that is within us to be disfigured into darkness, then we will be surrounded, without and within, with darkness. Total darkness- darkness around us and darkness inside us.

But how do we “put on the armor of light” and keep the light within ourselves?

In Isaiah, we see a vision of the time when God’s promises of a Savior are realized: “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.” A French rabbi from the 11th century, Rashi, interprets this passage to mean that the miracle performed on this mountain will be greater than the miracles that occurred on Sinai, Carmel, and Tabor. Why is this miracle so great? Because the whole world will “stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’” The miracle that will occur on this mountain will draw the entire world. It will inspire people to go and learn from God how they should walk, so that they can walk with God. God will teach us and we will journey with that instruction. 

Once again, God is creating light. But this time, the light is God’s truth and God’s wisdom. 

But how can we see God’s truth and God’s wisdom? And what will happen to this light after God has created it? “from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” – And like light, it will emit from a source (God) outward in all directions. We hold in our hands God’s truth and wisdom in “the word of the Lord.” That is to say, Scripture and Christ. It is our responsibility as the people of God to take this word of the Lord, and Word that IS the Lord into the world, in all directions. We must take it as we go forth from Zion into the world.

This is our armor of light: Scripture and Christ.

Let’s get this armor on and get out into the world!!

Take it to the Kitchen Table:

In Jewish households, the celebration of Shabbat (the day of rest) begins by lighting two candles. There are many interpretations as to where this tradition originated, and the symbolism. Here’s my favorite:

• In the lighting of the two candles, we have God in three places: in the soul within me, represented by one candle, in the soul within you, represented by the other candle, and in the space between.

Make it Yours:

This can easily be embraced as a representation of the Trinity: God the Father gave us our souls (the flames), Christ the Son embraced our humanity (the candles) and the Holy Spirit is in the space between our souls and the light and heat that comes from them.

• Light two candles and watch them in silence.
• Notice how the flame changes but is constant at the same time.
• The flame of the candle is always in transition, working to change everything around it. 
  • How am I working to change?
  • How am I allowing the light that God has given me to lighten up the entire room?
  • Am I using the light within me to bring good to my family/ world?

Teach it:

• Light a candle and ask your family to sit and watch it in silence for 2 minutes. At first, this is really hard. Especially if you are used to having music, TV, screens etc. on in the background.
• But just sit. In. Silence.
• Afterwards, ask each person, “What did God say to you?”
  • God is in the still small wind- the small voice. But we have to practice listening.
• The more you do this, the more you (and your family) will feel comfortable in the silence.
• The more you do this, the more you (and your family) will be able to hear what God is speaking into the silence of your heart.

Complete Hebrew text available: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165