And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
On the fourth day God sets lights in the sky and gives them work to do. Two old questions follow: is this the moment the sun was made, and what are the "signs"?
The verse does not record the making of the sun and moon. Commentators point back to verse 1.
It is certainly not the creation of the sun and so on. Moses does not say that. He says only that God now set the heavenly lights in place, after the plants and before the animals, for the earth that man would live in. Light had shone in another way since the first day of the great week. Now He set the light-bearers of the heavens to do their assigned work, but it is for the earth, and indeed for man. Verse 1 already implied their creation, for God did not create either heaven or earth empty. And what would heaven be without its host? … On the fourth day He gave the lights of heaven their unhindered place, to divide the day from the night.
The chapter measures the heavens by what they do for the earth below. Size is not the standard here.
It is only their relation to man on earth that shows the exact fitness of the phrase "the two great lights." He who created all things and inspired Moses knew the size of every body in heaven better than Newton or Laplace. But think of what helps man on earth, and Israel especially, and every creature under them. For giving light by day and night, what were all the rest compared to the sun and moon?
One misuse of the word is to read fortunes in the stars.
Scripture says the lights in the expanse of the heavens are for "signs" as well as for "seasons." People have wrongly used this passage, treating the varied positions of the sun, moon and planets as a way to foretell events. Of what, then, are they signs? Psalm 19:1-6 perhaps answers that. The huge distances between the heavenly bodies, and the wonderful regularity of their movements, are a sign of the glory of the One who created them.
The word carries a second sense. God has made the sky speak at key moments in Israel's history.
We see what a sign it was to Israel when Joshua said in their hearing, "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon." In far different days the Lord spoke to sick Hezekiah, and gave him a sign in the shadow that went back ten steps on the dial of Ahaz. And what a sign again at the cross of the Messiah, when all was lost as far as man is concerned! Darkness covered all the land for three hours. A mere eclipse was impossible then.
The word behind "seasons" carries more than one shade of meaning, and commentators weigh which one fits.
No comment is needed on "seasons": man alone on earth understands and values these fitting, recurring times. The same Hebrew word means "the congregation" and "the solemn feast," as well as the season or appointed time at which they kept it. So "seasons" may have a sacred sense, but the more ordinary sense seems confirmed by what follows. Very little astronomy is needed to know how "days and years" are marked out by these lights, but only for man.
Commentators also read the fourth day as a picture, where light in the sky stands for light of another kind.
The lights set in the heavens speak very plainly of Christ and of the Church… Here Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit, shines out for men in the word of His grace. The Church is the responsible reflector of Christ, His letter to the world… Let this scene preach to us that all true and divine light now is heavenly. To let our "light shine" is nothing else than to let men see we belong to another sphere.
For a single believer, the fourth day points away from self.
The sun speaks of the Lord Jesus, "the Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4:2), whose brightness is so welcome, yet too dazzling for our eyes… The fourth day teaches us that we must have a proper Object outside of ourselves and of our fruitfulness. The person of the Lord Jesus is that Object. When we are blessed with the sight of His own glory, this lifts our hearts above our circumstances, and above our own spiritual state and experience.
- Appointed — God is not creating the sun here; He is setting it to work, dividing day from night.
- Aimed at earth — sun and moon rank as the great lights because the record measures them by what they do for man, marking his days, years and seasons.
- Signs upward — their steady order points to the glory of their Maker, not to fortunes read in the stars.
- Signs in history — the sun standing still for Joshua, the shadow going back for Hezekiah, darkness at the cross.
- Signs for us — Christ shines and the Church reflects Him; borrow all your light, and let others see where it comes from.
and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth. And it was so.
On the fourth day God does not make new matter; He gives the lights of the sky a job, and that job is measured by the earth below. So were the sun and moon made here for the first time, or only set to work for us?
One writer weighs what the text says and what it does not say.
It is certainly not the creation of the sun and the rest. The inspired historian does not say this. He says only that God now appointed the heavenly lights for the earth of Adam's day, after the plants and before the animals. Light had shone in another way since the first day of the great week. Now He set the light-bearers of the heavens to do their assigned work, but it is for the earth, and indeed for man. Their creation was implied in verse 1, for God did not create either heaven or earth empty; and what would heaven be without its host? ... The same design is repeated: they are to be lights in the expanse of the heavens. It was their effect, not their structure, that is meant.
Another writer names the opposite view, then gives his reason for rejecting it.
Some have thought that light was independent of the sun, that on the first day God created the light, and that on the fourth day He created the sun. But we are not told that on the fourth day He created the sun and the moon, but that He made two great lights... What proves that they were there from the beginning, we believe, is that there was evening and morning on the first day. That shows the daily motion of the earth in relation to the sun, which gives day and night.
The record measures the sky by what it does for the earth. The stars show how far that goes.
"He made the stars also" (v. 16, in an older translation). The record mentions this only in passing, as something of much lesser importance. Many of the stars turn out to be huge, much larger than the sun. Their number is beyond counting, and their distances range into billions of light years. Yet the sun and the moon are more important to us on earth, and God's revelation is for the benefit of human beings.
The verse closes with four words that come again and again through the chapter.
Six times in the chapter the words "And God said" have the fitting sequel, "and it was so." From the very start, the word of God shows itself powerful. It never fails of its effect. How encouraging to learn this in the first chapter of the Bible, for we may be sure it applies to every word that God has spoken. When we reach the end of the story we shall be able to say with triumph, "and it was so," about every promise He has made, every prediction He has uttered.
One writer reads the sun as a picture of Christ, because of what sunrise does to a long night.
The sun is the great centre of light, and the centre of our system. The lesser bodies revolve around him and get their light from him. So we may rightly see him as a fitting symbol of Him who is soon to arise, with healing in His wings... The mists and shades of night are all scattered, and the whole creation seems to welcome the returning source of light.
One writer applies the fourth day to the present.
The lights set in the heavens speak very plainly of Christ and of the Church... Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit, shines out for people in the word of His grace. The Church is the responsible reflector of Christ, His letter to the world... Let this scene preach to us that all true and divine light now is heavenly. To let our "light shine" is nothing else than to let people see we belong to another sphere.
The moon carries a warning as well as a lesson.
The moon is a fitting illustration of the church, and it guards against the tendency to exalt the church at the expense of her Head. It is a dark body with no light of its own, and its only usefulness lies in reflecting the light of the sun. Moonshine, strictly, there is none — it is the reflected light of the sun. So the only use the church can be in this world is shedding the light of Christ during the night of His absence.
- Set, not started. The fourth day gives the heavenly bodies their job, not their beginning. Verse 1 already implies their creation.
- Set for earth. The record measures everything by what reaches the ground. That is why stars far larger than the sun get one passing clause.
- Set by a word. Six times "God said" ends with "and it was so." That unbroken pattern stands behind every promise God has spoken since.
- Set as a picture. The greater light points to Christ, whose rising scatters the night. The lesser light points to His people, who shine in the night with borrowed light.
- Set to reflect. A dark body shines only with light it receives. That is the calling, and the limit, of any witness during the night of Christ's absence.