Genesis 1:14-19 (Begin Day 4 – Create the sun, moon, and stars)
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years ; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
God spoke more creation into existence, this time the heavenly lights (presumably the sun, moon, planets, and stars) in order to segment time into days, seasons, and years.
Vv. 15 and 17 are quite clear: These new lights were created “to give light on the earth.”
That means the earth was unlit until v.14. Yet God had already spoken light into existence in v.3.
How can v.3 and v.14 both be true? How could there have been light while the earth remained dark?
First, remember that light exists apart from created things like stars. God is light. Some day, when everything is restored, we will no longer rely on star light. God Himself will be our illumination. Check out this truth in
Revelation 21:23: “
And the city [the heavenly, new Jerusalem] has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
That could have been the light referred to in v.3, but another viable explanation comes to my mind. Notice that nowhere does Genesis 1 say that the light of v.3 reached the earth.
Today we know that the universe has many stars which can’t be seen from the earth. How many? The respectable site Space.com says “best estimates are around 100 sextillion—a 1 with 23 zeroes,”
www.space.com/9625-discovery-triple-number-stars-universe.html.
So it makes sense to me that the heavenly lights which don’t illuminate the earth were created in v.3’s “let there be light” command, and our own visible sun, stars, moon, and planets were created in vv.14 and 17 in order to light up the earth.
I want to re-center now and keep the focus on God’s purpose. In making lights to light up the earth, God continued to steadily, intentionally prepare His creation for meaningfulness so that it would not remain
tohuw and
bohuw (meaningless and empty, v.2).
These lights were to “govern” the day and night. This is the first time God has given governance, dominion, and rule to something other than Himself!
The word translated “govern”
wəlimšōl (וְלִמְשֹׁל֙) occurs 84 times in the Old Testament.
- It is the same word used in 3:16 when God told Eve that Adam would RULE over her
- It is the same word used in 4:7 when God told Cain “sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must MASTER it.”
- It’s also the word used when Jacob was told that Joseph was still alive and was a “RULER over all the land of Egypt.” (Gen 45:26).
The word implies having “control,” “authority,” or "rulership."
What’s significant about God giving rulership to the heavenly lights? Remember God's purpose. God is methodically preparing His creation for meaningfulness so that it would not remain "
tohuw and
bohuw" (meaningless and empty, v.2).
By creating lights to illuminate the earth, God established a self-sustaining creation, just as when He put seeds into plants so that they could reproduce on their own (and just as He will later with the pinnacle of His creation, mankind).
Genesis 1:20-23 (Begin Day 5 – Create aquatic life and birds. Command them to reproduce)
20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." 21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Next God actively created life in the water and in the air. Then He commanded them to create (reproduce).
There is a very interesting thing to note in v.21 when it talks about God creating the “great sea monsters” (“whales” in the KJV and “sea creatures” in the NIV). The Hebrew word is tanniyn (תנין). It is used elsewhere 18 times. Here are some of those occurrences:
- Exodus 7:9: "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Work a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a *serpent*”
- Deut. 32:33: “Their wine is the venom of *serpents*, And the deadly poison of cobras.”
- Psalm 91:13: “You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the *serpent* you will trample down.”
Yes, this Hebrew word is sometimes translated “serpent.” It is also translated "dragon" and “sea monster” elsewhere, too.
The word comes from an obscure root word that scholars think meant “elongate.”
But don’t jump to conclusions. This is a very different word than the one translated "serpent" in 3:1 [nachash (נחש)]. That one always means “serpent” or “dragon.”
Have I said this often enough yet? God is masterfully preparing the earth for His prize creation. It’s all about man!
