God is Himself light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). His first words in creating the heavens and the earth were ‘Let there be light!’ (Gen.1:3) In Milton’s paraphrase of Psalm 136, which delights in the mercies of God: ‘He, with all commanding might. Filled the new made world with light.’ The world was created for light. So when God makes Himself known, He speaks in those same terms.  His prophetic word is likened to ‘a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts’ (2 Pet.1:19). 

Light is a concept we naturally consider as good and beneficial, while its absence – darkness – is alien and threatening. In the days of landlines and six young children sleeping at home, the manse phone once started ringing about midnight. In my rush to get to it – to speak to a fellow pastor who apparently lived the life of an owl – I thought I could save time by not bothering to turn on any lights. After all, I knew the lay-out of the house well. Not as well as thought I did, evidently, for I kicked a skirting board and broke my little toe. By the time I reached the phone, the toe was throbbing, and I was left grimacing but pretending all was fine. In the scale of tragedies, it does not rate, but it was a painful reminder for a week or two that light is a good thing.

God is Himself light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). His first words in creating the heavens and the earth were ‘Let there be light!’ (Gen.1:3) In Milton’s paraphrase of Psalm 136, which delights in the mercies of God:

‘He, with all commanding might

Filled the new made world with light.’

The world was created for light.

So when God makes Himself known, He speaks in those same terms. His prophetic word is likened to ‘a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts’ (2 Pet.1:19). God promises that He will come to those who fear His name as ‘the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its (or His, if Charles Wesley has it right) wings’ (Mal.4:2).

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