James 1:17

‘All good (beneficial) giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.'

For the source of all truly beneficial giving is God, and the source of every gift which is perfect in its entirety, is God. And these are gifts that come ‘from above'. (Compare James 1:18 that follows with John 3:3, ‘You must be born from above'). They are heavenly in origin, and therefore outweigh all else. And the Giver of all such good and perfect gifts is no unreliable and ever changing man, but is the Creator, the Father of lights, the One Who created the great and the lesser lights and created the stars also (Genesis 1:14), the One Who is so unchanging that unlike sun and moon He does not vary in form and shape, nor does He cast an everchanging shadow as a result of His movement, but rather He remains constant and ever the same (compare Malachi 3:6). He is totally dependable and His spiritual provision ever sure. The sun and the rain produce the harvests and bring life to the earth (Matthew 5:45), but far, far better are the giving and gifts from above which are totally reliable, and this especially includes the word of truth which produces a spiritual harvest in the hearts of men (James 1:18, see Isaiah 55:10), for this is to truly to receive the true wisdom of God (James 1:5), that will result in their endowment with the crown of life (James 1:12). Thus the gift that he is about to describe must be seen as the gift beyond all gifts.

We must not undervalue the phrase ‘the Father of lights'. The sun was the most glorious and splendid thing known to man, and the moon brought light to earth at times of darkness such that men rejoiced at the new moon (compare Job 31:26). And thus the Father of lights was to be seen as both glorious in splendour and a bringer of light in the darkness. He is the One Who is better than sun and moon and Whose light outshines them both (compare Isaiah 60:19). He is the One Who ‘alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, Whom no man has ever seen or can see' (1 Timothy 6:16). And nothing was more splendid and more enlightening than His word of truth brought by the Sun of Righteousness Who has come from above with His healing and restoring power (Malachi 4:2).

(With regard to the heavenly lights, men regularly saw the moon change its shape, and experienced the loss of its light through the days, before it began to grow brighter again, seemingly waxing and waning, while the shadows cast by the sun regularly moved, even if according to a pattern. Nor was the sun always there, for it deserted them at night, and could be hidden behind the clouds. So while both were glorious they were subject to constant change and not fully reliable).