18照十七节所说，赐与和恩赐都是从上头，从众光之父降下来的。17多年前，我以为十七节的光是指属灵的光，以为雅各在这里是说，神是这些属灵之光的父。但近年来我发现，这不是指属灵的光，而是指天体，如太阳、月亮、行星和众星。神如何被称为众天体的父？祂被称为众光之父，因为这些光体是祂所造的。照行传十七章来看，凡神所造的，都是祂所产生的。从这一面的意义说，祂是祂所产生之物的父。因著天体是神所造的，所以，祂乃是众光，众光体之父。雅各说，众光之父并没有变动，或转动的影儿。多年前，我以为这句话的意思是说，因著神从不转动、从不转变，在祂就没有黑暗的影儿。然而我虽然这样领会，里面还是有疑问，不知道这是不是这里的真义。雅各到底是不是说，神从没有转变，在祂并没有黑暗？最后，我才晓得雅各在这一节是指天体的移动，如行星在轨道绕行或旋转，这种移动会产生黑暗，正如日蚀一样。但神没有转变，在祂并没有像天体照著轨道运行那样的变动。
18According to verse 17, both the giving and the gift are from above, coming down from the Father of the lights. Years ago, I thought that the lights in verse were spiritual lights and that here James was saying that God is the Father of these spiritual lights. But in recent years I found out that these are not spiritual lights; rather, they are heavenly bodies, such as the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars. How can God be called the Father of these heavenly bodies? He is called the Father of these lights because they were created by Him. According to Acts 17, everything created by God has been produced by Him. In this sense, He is the Father of whatever He has produced. Because the heavenly bodies were created by God, He is the Father of the lights, luminaries. James says that with the Father of lights there is no variableness, no variation, or shadow cast by turning. Years ago, I understood this to mean that because God never turns, never changes, there is no shadow of darkness. However, even when I held this understanding there was a doubt within whether this was the real meaning here. Is James saying that because God never changes, with Him there is no darkness? Eventually, I learned that in this verse James is referring to the move of the heavenly bodies, such as that of the planets in their orbits or rotation. Such movements may cause darkness, as during an eclipse of the sun. But God does not change. With Him there is no variableness as there is with the heavenly orbs.