“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” (Genesis 1:16).

On the Fourth Day of Creation Week, the Lord Jesus had formed the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven. There had been “light” on the first three days, but now there were actual lights! Not only would the earth and its verdure be a source of beauty and sustenance to man, but even the very heavens would bring joy and inspiration to him. Furthermore, they would guide his way, and keep his time.

But instead of the stars of heaven turning man’s thoughts and affections toward his Creator, they had been corrupted and identified with a host of false gods and goddesses. Furthermore, instead of creating a sense of awe and reverence for His majesty, they had bolstered the humanistic belief that the earth is insignificant and meaningless in a vast, evolving cosmos. Perhaps thoughts such as these troubled the mind of the Lord that night as He lay on the mountain gazing at the lights He had long ago made for the darkness.

When morning came and Day Four of Redemption Week began, He returned to Jerusalem, where many were waiting to hear Him. He taught in the temple (Luke 21:37,38), but the synoptic gospels do not record His teachings. This lack is probably supplied in the apparently parenthetical record of His temple teaching as given only in John’s Gospel (12:20–50), because there He twice compared Himself to the lights He had made. “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you” (John 12:46,35). He who was the True Light must become darkness, in order that, in the new world, there would never be night again (Revelation 22:5). HMM