When was the light created?
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Question
Hello, In Genesis 1:4, we learn that light was created. However, the sun and the moon were created on the fourth day. How does this reconcile?
Answer
Hello,
The light that existed from the first to the fourth day was not a physical light but a spiritual light, and it is said that this light was hidden and will serve the righteous in the future.
Source
Chagigah 12.
And was the light created on the first day? For it is written that God placed them in the firmament of the heavens, and it is written: "And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day!" - as Rabbi Elazar said. Rabbi Elazar said: The light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, a person could see with it from one end of the world to the other. When the Holy One, blessed be He, looked at the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Tower of Babel and saw that their deeds were corrupt, He hid it from them, as it is said: "And He withheld their light from the wicked." And for whom did He hide it? For the righteous in the future, as it is said: "And God saw the light, that it was good," and good refers only to the righteous, as it is said: "Say to the righteous that it is good."