וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִי־א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר
Above are the four most consequential Hebrew words ever said. They translate to:
'And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light."
Yehi" (יְהִי) is Hebrew for "let there be." Ohr (אוֹר) is the Hebrew word for "light." So Yehi Ohr (יְהִי־א֑וֹר) is translated as "let there be light."
Let's be clear from the beginning who said "Let there be Light." יֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים (Vayomer Elohim) translates to "And God said." (Remember, Hebrew is written right to left.)
That's how easily all life and goodness began! Without the Light, Earth would be like every other lifeless planet. Elohim simply spoke. I say "goodness" because in the very next verse, verse 4, it reads,
"And God saw that the light was good." Elohim did not call the "
darkness" good. In fact, "
God separated the light from the darkness." This reminds me of the establishment of the
Nazirite vow in Numbers 6. Seperating the Light from the Darkness is analogous to separating the Nazir from worldly impurity.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִי־א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר, "let there be light," is the third verse in "Bereshit" (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית). Bereshit is the Hebrew title of the first book (sefer) in the Torah. "Bereshit" is more commonly known as "Genesis."
Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) is Hebrew for "In the beginning." Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) is the also the first word in Genesis. Therefore, "in the beginning" is the word "In the Beginning,"
The Apostle John wrote in his book, "In the beginning was the Word." Sure enough, In Bereshit was the word Bereshit.
 |
| Ancient pictograph of Bet |
The first Hebrew letter in the word Bereshit is the letter
Bet בְּ. The letter Bet is pictured as a house. The Hebrew word for "house" is בַּיִת (pronounced bayit), So it said that the first thing Elohim spoke into existence was a house, a place for all of existence.
In Jewish mystical and midrashic interpretation, the Torah’s first letter Bet—shaped and named as a bayit, a house—suggests that when God began to create, He was, in effect, speaking a house into existence: a cosmos meant to be His dwelling.”
The very next letter in the word Bereshit is
Resh (רֵ). Rosh (רֹאשׁ) is Hebrew for "head" or the "authority." One midrashic/kabbalistic reading sees in bereshit the components (bayit/house) plus rosh (head), suggesting “the Head dwelling in the house,” i.e., God choosing to dwell in His created house.
The first three letters in the word Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) are בְּרֵא. They spell the Hebrew word bārā' (בָּרָא) which is a verb meaning "he-created". It is exclusively used in the Old Testament with God as the subject. Bārā' (בְּרֵא) is also the second word in verse 1. Lo and behold,
then "God created the heavens and the earth."
After Bet בְּ (House) but before the three letters Bārā'-בְּרֵא (Create), we have the two letters Bet (בְּ) and Resh (רֵ). בְּרֵ is a word as well. It is the Hebrew/Aramaic word "Bar" (בַּר) meaning, Son. (E.g. Jonah Bar Truth, etc.)
 |
| Aleph-1 |
After the letters בַּר-Bar (Son) there is the letter
Aleph (א). Aleph is the first letter in Elohim (אלהים) God. Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet, symbolizing divine oneness and beginning. It is a silent consonant with a numerical value of 1. Aleph represents God as creator and leader. It is historically derived from a pictograph of an ox's head. Aleph signifies strength, power, and unity.
Putting This Together
I put this together in order:
In Beginning, the book Genesis.
We have the word, Bereshit.
We start with the letter Bet, a house for God and his creation to be together.
There we discover the Bar, Son.
Son is together with Aleph, God.
Bar with Aleph create the heavens and the earth.
Then God brought His Light into the world when He said "Let there be Light."
The "Light" was Good, unlike the Darkeness.
So Elohim seperated (Nazir) the Light from the Darkness in the world.
God didn't eliminate the Darkness. Therefore, our Day contains light and darkness.
The Torah put it together this way:
Bereshit 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
The Apostle John put it together this way:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
CONCLUSION:
We better remember who turned on the Light. Since God seperated the Light from the Darkness, He can let the darkness hover back over the face of earth.
