Have you ever heard of Utqiagvik, Alaska? I hadn’t either until recently. Formerly known as Barrow, Utqiagvik (don’t ask me how to pronounce it) is the northernmost town in Alaska. So what? Well, if you lived there, right now you would be in the midst of a 67-day “polar night.”
Because of its geographic location and the tilt of the earth’s axis, this town experiences perpetual night annually for 65 days or more. The sun won’t rise there this year until Jan. 23, and then just for a few minutes. If it happens to be cloudy, too bad! That’s a long time to be in the dark!
The flip side of this natural phenomenon is that the more than 4,000 citizens of Utqiagvik can enjoy the midnight sun all summer – 80 days or more of uninterrupted daylight. I’ve heard of golf enthusiasts eagerly playing 18 holes at midnight during this all-light-all-night season.
Getting back to that long, long night of northern Alaska, most of us would consider going more than 60 days without any sunlight unbearable. We complain when we shift from Daylight Time to Standard Time and “night” descends before 6 p.m. Imagine going somewhere for lunch and it’s still pitch-dark?
So what? Well, for one thing light is an essential part of life. It’s the catalyst for photosynthesis, the process by which green plants use sunlight to synthesize food from carbon dioxide and water, producing the green pigment chlorophyll and generating oxygen. Also, sunlight is valuable for health reasons. Sunlight helps the human body to produce vitamin D; a good remedy for newborn babies suffering from jaundice is exposure to sunlight.
Most important, light is a critical part of the biblical narrative. In the creation account, God’s first act was to declare, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Then on the fourth day the Lord said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light to separate the day from the night,,,. God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars” (Genesis 1:14-19).
Over the six biblical days of creation, God devoted two of them entirely to creating light, including the sun, moon, and stars. Certainly, one reason was so the animals and human beings He’d later create could see and appreciate what He had made. But there was much more to it than that.
In the Scriptures, darkness is often synonymous with sin, evil, and separation from God. Isaiah 50:10 admonishes, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.” Darkness – no offense intended for the people of Utqiagvik, Alaska – is not somewhere to remain in.
The New Testament offers the same view. For instance, Ephesians 5:8 proclaims, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” The source of this light is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
One of the major prophecies pointing to the coming Messiah proclaimed, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). Early in His ministry, Jesus recited this verse to announce He had come to fulfill those prophetic words (Matthew 4:16).
The first chapter of the Gospel of John, echoing the opening words of Genesis, reveals, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it…. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:1-4,9).
Jesus left no room for misunderstanding when He announced, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). In another setting, Jesus said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).
Charles H. Spurgeon, the famous British preacher of the mid- to late-19th century, observed there are three distinct kinds of light from a theological perspective: Physical light; “gospel light” that reveals eternal realities, and spiritual light provided through the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand biblical truth.
Just as we require physical light to see and comprehend earthly things, God shows us eternal truth through His Word, and His Spirit enables us to embrace and apply His truth for the “nasty now-and-now” as well as for “the sweet by and by.”
Many of us agree that our world in plagued by unprecedented levels of darkness in many forms. Nevertheless, there’s good news: God hasn’t abandoned His creation, and He’s given His followers the privilege of shining His light to help in dispelling the darkness. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
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