What is the light mentioned in the beginning of the book of Genesis [duplicate]

Question

I know for sure that the light created after heaven and earth was created is not the sun. Why is this? Because the sun was created on the fourth day. The greater light according to the understanding of men is the sun and the smaller light is the moon where the greater light rules over the day and the lesser light rules over the night. What is this other light God commanded into existence after establishing the foundations of the world? Is it the light from his throne?

Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

I think this light is the same light Paul talked about, the light emanating from the dwelling of God 1 Timothy 6:16

who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Is the light in Genesis this light that cannot be approached? and if that is so, how did God use that light as an object of measurement for marking creation days, is the day as a result of that light the same as the day as a result of the sun?

Answer 1

John answers this question here:

John 1:1-9

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

John 8:12

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I believe the Light was/is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the "creator of all things in heaven and earth", had to come before His creations.

Colossians 1:14-17

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Answer 2

Astrophysicists generally believe that the first light in the universe came from "photons," a term coined by Professor Gilbert N. Lewis at the University of California at Berkeley in 1926.

So, let's consider the ancient Septuagint translation of Genesis, which literally begins like this:

In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was unseen and unready; and darkness was upon the abyss. And the Spirit of God bore upon the water. And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. – Genesis 1:1 (ABP)

Next, let’s compare this text with a Wikipedia description of the early chronology of the universe, the initial “cosmic dark ages” that are believed to have lasted several hundred million years:

Before decoupling occurred, most of the photons in the universe were interacting with electrons and protons in the photon–baryon fluid. The universe was opaque or "foggy" as a result. There was light but not light we can now observe through telescopes. The baryonic matter in the universe consisted of ionized plasma, and it only became neutral when it gained free electrons during "recombination", thereby releasing the photons creating the CMB [Cosmic Microwave Background]. When the photons were released (or decoupled) the universe became transparent.

Thus, according to current scientific theory, the universe was initially dark and fluid. Then, the universe went through an inflationary stage or two, changed from opaque to transparent, and light became visible. All this occurred before any stars were formed just as stated in Genesis.

Imagine that! People used to mock Genesis, asking how light could have existed before the sun, moon (reflected), and stars. And now science has the answer, but it's incomprehensible to 99.9% of all humanity.

In February, 2024, a paper was published in Nature theorizing that the source of free photons were dwarf galaxies, based on recent observations from the Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescopes:

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-what-turned-on-the-lights-at-the-dawn-of-time

Finally, science is catching up!

Answer 3

This light is the light projecting from the presence of God. When God gave this command, he was commanding his presence into the created earth and his movements to the earth caused a morning or day effect and his movement back to heaven caused the darkness to come back in hence a night effect. I have been researching this light and I had previously mistaken it for Jesus Christ but it is the light projected by the presence of God when he approached the created world. It requires a mind with wisdom to understand these things.

Support for the argument that God made movements to and fro the earth

Everyone knows that for most of the created world, God ordered them into existence by word of His mouth but there are some aspect of creation he personally had to create and the perfect example is Adam and Eve, he came and formed them out of the dust of the earth, this shows he left heaven and came down and formed us personally out of the mud and if God came personally to form us out of the mud and the brightness of his glory is ten times brighter than the sun then this light overshadowed all other lights and created a morning effect and then after God had worked enough, he would go back to heaven with his light or glory and darkness would come back in, hence night

Answer 4

• When God "created the heavens and the earth", in Genesis 1:1, the original Hebrew uses the word "bara" (H1254), which means to create the essence from nothing.
• When God said "Let there be light", in Genesis 1:3, the original Hebrew uses the word "hayah" (H1961), which means "to transform" or "to have become".
• When God said "Let there be lights in the firmament", in Genesis 1:14, it also uses "hayah".
• When God said "Then God made two great lights", and "He made the stars also", in Genesis 1:16, it uses "asah" (H6213), which means "to complete".

Clearly:

• The Sun, Moon, and stars were created from nothing in the beginning.
• God transformed something to allow the light to be seen on the earth's surface (e.g. thinned the cloud layer).
• God transformed (e.g. removed more of the cloud layer) again, to allow the sunlight and moonlight to be more visible.
• God completed the process by making the Sun, Moon, and stars directly visible.

The light at the beginning of Genesis was from the Sun, which had already been created before God said "Let there be light" thereby causing the light to become visible on the Earth's surface. The days and nights were simply the result of the Earth's rotation, just as it is now.