Titles of the Father – The Light
Titles of the Father – The Light.
“Then Manoah, father of Samson, asked the Angel of Yahweh, ‘What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?’ The Angel of Yahweh replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It is a name of wonder. It is unknowable, and too wonderful for you to understand!’” (Judges 13:18).
Trying to determine a list of God’s titles in the Hebrew Bible can be a tricky business, a daunting task. For one thing, the differences between a name and a title are unclear and they often overlap. There are times, too, when one is tempted to consider a common noun or adjective or metaphor to be a title if it happens to reference God. And there are plenty of times when we read of a character description of God, or a unique ability of God, and we find ourselves turning them into titles. So the titles of the Father that I will highlight in this series is a list, not the list. For all I know, there may not even be a definitive list of God’s titles. I aim to provide varied glimpses of God the Father in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament… who He is, what He can do, what He represents, what He has done. Most importantly, I pray the readers of these titles are able to maintain the Jewish tradition of using God’s titles as ways of addressing the Almighty. As we address God in prayer and worship, may we feel free to put a capital letter at the beginning of each title, making the title an aspect of His identity. In that way each title could be another way to honor God and recognize His greatness.
“And God said, ‘Let there be light!’ and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, suitable and pleasing, and He approved it; and God separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4).
God spoke the light into this world’s existence through His Word. The darkness that had once been on “the face of the deep” and enveloped the earth is now dispelled by creation’s first light. God speaks and it appears. One wonders if another way of saying “God said” is that God the Father inspired the Word, His Son and Co-creator, and between them and their Holy Spirit they made creation a group project? It is reasonable to claim that creation was an act of the holy Trinity. The early church leaders believed that this was indeed the case, believing that the Father made heaven and earth through the Son Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. The Trinity spoke the Word, and creation happened.
As the poets have said, light is the first creature. This makes profound sense, since we know that God consists of light, He is made of light. As 1 John 1:15 declares, “God is light.” When God’s glory, the weighty splendor of His presence in our world, is revealed on earth, it is manifested as light, supernatural light. Scripture is clear about this… God is the “Father of lights” (James 1:17); God “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16); God “wraps Himself in light as with a robe” (Psalm 104:1); “Yahweh God is the sun” (Psalm 84:11). “God is my light” (Psalm 27:1). And when Job asked his wonderful question, “What is the way to the dwelling place of light?” (Job 38:19), it was the mystic Daniel who answered, “Light dwells with Him.” (Daniel 2:22). John’s vision in Revelation reveals that God’s glory will be the source of light in the new heaven and the new earth. Once we reach the end of the age and the beginning of the new one, His glory will fully and finally be unveiled and will illuminate the entire universe. There will be no need for sun in the transformed world, because it will be “lit by the radiant glory of God.” (Rev. 21:23). There is no question about this… Inherent in God’s nature is a furiously dazzling light that is well beyond anything we can fathom or experience, until the end of days.
So it follows that if God is composed of light, and He is eternal, then the world He is in must have been full of light before creation. His world must have been full of uncreated light. Light was nothing new to God, then, before creation. I wonder if the created light in our world finds its source in the uncreated light of God. Maybe when God brought light into our world from His, He graciously granted elements of His light from eternity. Perhaps God took beaming rays from His glory, and He lit up our world that way. An exceedingly evident character quality of God is that He is a Self-Giver. He is willing and able to sacrifice Himself to whatever degree is needed, and still remain almighty God. The first act of creation, light, was to give of Himself, providing the light that initiated and maintains the world. God is the original Light-Bearer, and in His first act of creation he became the first Light-Giver.
What if the creation of light in this world is actually a continuous process, the first substance which is also imbedded into all the further aspects of creation? Light, a material with which all things are made? The Hasidic rabbi known in Jewish circles as a mystic, Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, said as much when he said God’s first words were not just a declaration, but also a mandate for the rest of creation, that everything will be impregnated with light in its own way. Light as a substance in all creation, light as the inherent stuff of life on earth. Rabbi Freeman said God’s first words were “strange.” “What’s the point of turning on the lights when there’s nothing yet to see, and no one there to see it? When God was about to create heaven and earth, before God even started, He set a mandate: ‘Let there be light.’ He set the purpose and meaning of everything about to be created. That it should become light. And each creation has its own unique way to shine that light.” All creation, in other words, includes a measure of light, and is destined to shine that light.
If everything has light in its makeup, then it just may be that a purpose of creation is that God’s light is to shine throughout the world. The noted Christian writer Agnes Sanford once wrote, “God’s light is the foundation of the being of all created things. In the beginning, He used the energy of His own Being, which is light shining with a greater intensity than any light that we can see or imagine. That light was the basic material of all stars and planets, and of the infinite variety of things that move upon them. God’s light is in the fields and the forests, the mountains and the rivers and the seas. His light is in the very earth.” (Creation Waits). The problem is that the presence of sin in nature has dimmed those lights. That’s why all of creation groans for full redemption to occur.
Isn’t it fascinating to realize that all biologists agree that virtually all living creatures emit light. The lights emitted from nature’s creatures may be weak, and they may be invisible, but light literally exists in every living thing on the earth. As we study creation, it is easy to discover the unlimited number of ways that God has invested His light in nature. The various lights built into all creation point directly to God and His creative genius, God who is the source of all light in the universe. Let’s have some fun and look at a few more obvious and whimsical examples of how God has shared light in nature:
(1.) The Flashlight Fish. These fish have special pouches of glowing bacteria under their eyes. They can turn on their lights by simply lowering the folds of skin below each eye. Their primary protection from predators is called the “blink and run” strategy. When they sense trouble, they turn on their lights and swim in one direction. Then they quickly turn off their lights and swim in the opposite direction. The predators lose them in their confusion and give up.
(2.) The Fire Plants. There are microscopic plants in every ocean that are called “bioluminescent” plankton. These are extremely tiny marine plants that glow like swimming fireflies. They are able to absorb sunlight and then emit the stored light whenever the “mood” strikes them. Some say they light up when they sense pollution, or even when a large wave hits them under water. Unbelievably, these fire plants are able to glow blue, green, red or orange. Eyewitnesses report that it is an astoundingly beautiful sight to behold.
(3.) Fireflies. These common insects twinkle during summer evenings, as most of us have seen. They emit light from a tiny organ on the underside of their abdomen called a “lantern,” when a biological reaction takes place. Each firefly is able to generate this light whenever they please. Every species of firefly has a unique twinkling pattern, so that the mates are able to identify their own species. One might say these fireflies have been given by God a “twinkle feature” that allows each species of firefly to flourish.
(4.) The Bermuda Fireworm. This marine animal produces its own light through the mixing of chemicals in its body. It produces what is called a “cold light” which doesn’t give off any heat, for the protection of the animals.
(5.) The Blue-Ringed Octopus. When disturbed or alarmed, this species of octopus will flash fluorescent blue circular rings all over its body. They are able to absorb and then store light from its environment, including the sun, and then emit that light if a predator approaches.
(6.) The Human Being. The human body also absorbs, stores, and emits light. We absorb sunlight through various pigments on the skin, which then travels through the blood system. The human eye is especially sensitive to absorb light through the light’s radiation. Because the human face tends to receive the most sunlight, the face tends to glow more than the rest of the body, invisibly of course. Humans absorb primarily violet-blue light from our environment. In fact, we can absorb light and then turn it into energy… When we warm ourselves in the sun, we actually reduce our need to burn calories in order to maintain the correct body temperature. We are then able to emit waves of electromagnetic radiation, or thermal radiation. This light we emit can be seen on infrared cameras. Remember that strange story of Moses having to wear a veil, because He shone so brightly with God’s light that his people were uncomfortable? The story is in Exodus 34:29, and it reads, “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant because he had been talking with Yahweh. It was so radiant that they were afraid to go near him… So he put a veil over his face.” This story doesn’t seem so strange now. The human body is able to absorb and emit light, and there was Moses, with sustained exposure to the Source of all the light in the universe. So, naturally, his face absorbed some of the divine light and then he emitted outwards.
What an awesome truth… Everything we see is “illumined” in the light of God, including us! For as David says, “In your light, we see light.” (Psalm 36:9). What is our ultimate destiny as “children of the light?” (Ephesian 5:8). What is all this light leading up to in the end? The light is leading us to this: Our full destiny is to be united with the glory of God’s light, in whom there is no darkness. Our little flame will be touched by the Holy Fire. We will wear light like a robe as we finally live in unapproachable light, no longer seeing through a glass darkly. No longer will we need to put on an armor of light (Ro. 13:12), but instead slip into our luxurious robe of light. In the meantime, though, becoming full of light, enlightening the world with God’s light, is a process, in which “the path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Prov. 4:18).
Jesus, who is for all eternity “the light of the world,” gave us a couple of sneak previews of what awaits us when the “full light of day” arrives. “There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.” (Matt. 17:2). And in Revelation 1:14-16, when “His eyes were like blazing fire,” and “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” That’s what we can confidently look forward to, the time when we will be filled with light, when “the righteous will shine like the brightness of the sun in the kingdom of the Father.” (Matt. 13:43).
I offer you three songs about light… This first one is a traditional gospel song with about the best gospel organ you’ll ever hear, about walking in the light of Jesus, who is the light of the world. The second song is produced by an old friend of mine from Rivendell School, Ryan Holladay, a student in my humanities class who is now successfully a studio producer and a wonderful musician. He sings about the light, “coming on slowly, but right on time.” The third is a rousing version of an old tune with a gospel twist, performed by one of the preeminent gospel singers, Jessy Dixon. Hope you enjoy it.