“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” — Mark Twain

HOLY SEPARATION

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness . . . water from water . . . day from night (Gen. 1:4, 6, 14).

Genesis 1:1 tells us that in the beginning, whenever and wherever that was, “God created.” The fact that God created was not an accident. Our being here was not a the result of molecules coming together and then exploding apart in a loud bang to form the universe, wherein God looked up and said, “Hmm, what’s going on down there?” The creation of the universe was an intentional work of God, not a series of fortuitous events that ultimately led to the diverse world that we know today.

As part of His plan for creation, Genesis says God separated like items: light from light, waters from waters, woman from man. And all these works He called “good.” It is good for day and night to be separate, for there to be a sky and an ocean, animals and vegetation, a man and a woman (Ps. 104:19-30).

The rationale behind these separations was to fill the void and formless earth. God expanded His creation, filled in the gaps, left nothing without a place or a purpose. For example, God separated the woman from the man so that Adam would no longer be alone, but be filled and fulfilled, by his uniting with Eve. In the economy of God, separation brings fulfillment, completion, and unity. But with man it is a different story.

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