“And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; (…)And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. (…) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”
The human being (Adam) inside of you has not yet been born. This excerpt speaks only of creating the environment for his birth and life. What is an “environment”? It is forces—the Creator’s forces that will influence the person. They exist only to bring one to the goal of Creation—unification with the Creator and eternal happiness.
The Spiritual Environment
So, which forces were revealed on Day Four? “And God said: ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night.’”
The lights are to govern “night” and “day”—the states one undergoes on the path to the Creator.
“Day” refers to an ascent, when you are filled with confidence that you are on the right path, flying on the anticipation of the doors into the spiritual world opening up before you any second now. “Night” is a descent, when nothing brings joy and the spiritual world seems nonexistent or made up, and you ask yourself, “Why am I wasting my life on this nonsense?”
These questions are thrown at you by your ego. The ego finds the perfect moment to attack because it knows that if you endure, and break into the spiritual dimension, you will escape its rule. Naturally, the ego doesn’t want this, so these common questions abound, “Whom do you work for?” “Can you even see Him?” “Where is your reason?” “Look around, people are leading peaceful and pleasant lives, while you’re struggling toward an unrealizable goal!”
The Tools for Enduring the Night
There is only one thing to suggest: when “night” falls, make sure you are surrounded by people like you, who are seeking the path into the spiritual world. Friends who have the same goal as you will bear the brunt of the ego’s blow, and you will realize that alone, you are helpless, but together, you will endure.
Another useful advice is to go to sleep. What does it mean to “go to sleep?” It means to disconnect from all the pestering questions, block them out, and not look back. You “sleep” through this period.
It’s as if you cancel, nullify yourself, waiting it out as you gather your strength. You think no thoughts, make no actions or movements, and rightfully so. You know that morning is right around the corner.
“Morning” signifies a new ascent, a way out of the state of descent.
Going through Ascents and Descents in Order to be Born into Spirituality
You may ask, “Why does the Creator send us these ascents and descents?”
He sends us these states because without them there would be no advancement, as progress is possible only via a continual change of states.
Only by overcoming is a true person born, a real “man.” This notion refers to the “inner man.”
Also, if the Creator had placed you in a good state right away, He would crush you with His Light. You’d be deprived of any free choice, having become a slave to that state.
But the Creator doesn’t want a slave of the Light. He wants a friend, an equal, which you can become only if you go through all the states and choose the Creator of your own volition.
Your task is to feel the immortal soul behind the mortal bodies, whereupon all your questions will fade away instantly; then, you will see the goodness emanating from the Creator and His individual attitude toward every soul.
The Creator will push the human toward attainment of the spiritual world. To this end you need to identify yourself with your inner qualities, with the “human” in you. If you succeed you will pass through all the states that lie ahead together with Him. The “nights” and the “days,” the “mornings” and the “evenings” are spiritual states designed to bring you to Infinity, to life in the Upper World.
“What Is Day and Night in the Bible?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.