It will be a unique day—a day known only to the LORD—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. – Zechariah 14:7

 Today's Scripture Reading (September 3, 2020): Zechariah 14

Comedian Steve Martin argues that "a day without sunshine is like, you know, night." One defines the other, and it has from the very beginning. Remember the words from Genesis on the first day of creation.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).

According to the biblical creation account, we know that it is day because it is light. I don't need to see the sun, which didn't come into being until day four, just the light. So even on a cloudy day, I still know that it is day. And when the light disappears, that is night. A few hundred miles to the north of my home, there comes a time, which has just past, where it is day for weeks because the sun does nothing by circle the horizon. And there is a day coming when it will be night for a similar period, as the sun stays well below that horizon. Light, and its lack, is how we know the difference between day and night.

But Zechariah argues that a day is coming when there will be no distinction between day and night. It will be an era when the very forces of creation will be upset and abolished. Day and night will no longer be defined by the sun and the light that it sheds on the earth. It will be determined by the presence of God, and by our understanding.

Paul argues the same thing at the end of his dissertation on love. "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). Then, in the blazing light of the day, I could only see some of what I wanted to see. But now, as the evening approaches, I can see and know. As we get closer to the return of the Messiah, the light increases, even though it is evening, and the sun is setting.

It is a day known only to God. It is a time when we will, at last, see him face to face, and understand all of the things that have eluded us during our time on this planet. It is the time of the full light, as well as the final light. And then, on that day known only to God, we will finally understand.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 55