God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
God established a regular turning of days and nights by withdrawing the light; the day consists of evening and morning together. Moses reckons by the custom of his nation, beginning with evening, not to bind us to this order but to speak plainly to his people. The world was made in six days, not an instant; to claim otherwise is violent cavil against the plain text.
AI summary
Light was the first visible being God created, not for His own sight but for ours, that we might see His works and His glory. It is the great beauty of the universe, most resembling its Parent in purity and power, next to spirit itself in nature. In the new creation, the first thing wrought in the soul is also light: the blessed Spirit enlightens the understanding, and those that were darkness by sin become light in the world by grace.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 1:3-5
The evening and morning made one natural day of twenty-four hours. Moses uses evening to mean the whole night and morning to mean the whole day, both together constituting what we call a day. Jews and many ancient nations alike began their reckoning from the preceding evening, this was the received custom.
AI summary