Creation Day 4 - Gen 1:14-19

Our oldest son Dave, when he was quite little, made us laugh one morning when we were on an automobile trip. The night before, as we drove, he had been admiring the brilliant moon. Seeing it more dimly in the morning sky, he said — full of wonder: "Look! the Moon has turned his light out!" Not a very scientific observation, but very descriptive.

Genesis 1:14 tells us that God ordered that lights (more accurately translated, "luminaries" or "light-emitting objects") appear in the sky. As I noted in the last posting, this is part of the descriptive terminology used in this chapter, preparatory to identifying these features with their common names. "Light-bearing" or "light-emitting" is a very good term for the Sun, the Moon, the planets and stars. Whatever their roles in space, their only function from Earth's point of view is to project light. (The Sun's light (or "energy") is so intense that it also yields heat.)

God's next statement in v. 14 seems somewhat trivial to us moderns: they serve as time-locaters for seasons (Holman Bible: festivals) and for days and years. In other words, the heavenly bodies were the ancients' equivalents for the digital datebook reminders we use today. It told them that the time for sowing or harvesting was near. It told them that the time for festivals like Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles was coming up soon. Ancient calendars were lunar and solar: lunar to mark the boundaries of months, solar to correct the lunar calendar on an annual basis, so that it wouldn't get out of sync with the agricultural year. The Muslim calendar, being exclusively lunar and having no particular interest in agricultural seasons, is constantly out of sync with the annual seasons and with our Julian calendar.

In v. 16, finally, God decreed that two of these luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, should preside over the day and night respectively, giving light for human and animal activity in both periods. Since the light emitted (we would say "reflected") by the Moon is less intense, night-time is the more appropriate time for humans to sleep (Psa 3:5; 4:8; 127:2). The Psalmist reminds us that the Almighty God himself "neither slumbers nor sleeps", but is ever watchful over his creatures (Psalm 121:4).

You may ask yourself: "What do verses 16 and 18 mean by 'to rule over' (or 'dominate') the day, and … the night'?" In what sense do these heavenly bodies "rule"? Of course, superstitious astrologers have always thought of planetary configurations as influencing events. When someone asks you "What is your sign?" they think that being an Aquarius or a Sagittarius determines your personality, your happiness, and even your degree of success in life. God's Word never suggests such a thing. Instead, what is meant is that they watch over or preside over the two halves of the 24-hours rotation period of the Earth. In a sense, too, they by their light make possible all activities of those two periods.

Some animals are nocturnal, others diurnal. Humans are fundamentally "day creatures". But that does not keep us from enjoying the beauty of the night. The psalmist wrote: " The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard" (Psa 19:1-3). It isn't the constellations of the night sky that interest the psalmist: it is the magnificence of his Creator's handiwork. We should all spend less time glued to our TV sets in the evening and more time absorbing the beauty of our Creator's work.

By the way, I love the Church's collection of evening or vespers hymns. Here is one to close our meditation:

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

John Ellerton, 1870.