What does the sun represent in the Bible?

The sun is the great centre of light, and the centre of our system. Round him the lesser orbs revolve. From him, too, they derive their light. Hence, he may, very legitimately, be viewed as an apt symbol of Him who is soon to arise, with healing in His wings, to gladden the hearts of those that fear the Lord. The aptness and beauty of the symbol would fully appear to one who, having spent the night in watching, beholds the rising sun gilding, with his bright beams, the eastern sky. The mists and shades of night are all dispersed, and the whole creation seems to hail the returning orb of light. Thus will it be, by and by, when the Son of righteousness arises. The shadows of night shall flee away, and the whole creation shall be gladdened by the dawning of "a morning without clouds," the opening of a bright and never-ending day of glory.

Sun - Supreme rule as ordained of God, in blessing or judgment. "The Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings" (Mal. 4:1-2), but it is the time of judgment. In the Apocalypse we have Jerusalem, clothed with the Sun - Jerusalem, or the Jewish people clothed with supreme authority - the old reflection and image of it in the old covenant, under her feet; so, chapter 16:8, it is the supreme power in the earth of the beast. The source of the image is evident - the sun set supreme in the heavens. The full antitype will be when Christ, the Sun of righteousness, takes to Him His great power and reigns, Joel 2:10, quoted in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Acts 2, Revelation 6:12, and chapter 8:12 - in all these the idea is supreme rule in the sphere spoken of.

The sun arising is a marvelous witness. Because in past ages people did not know of the rotation of the earth, some thought it was a different sun arising every morning! But the wonder of it should impress all mankind deeply indeed. The sun is here likened to a bridegroom coming out of his chamber "and rejoices as a strong man to run a race" (v. 5). How greatly we are indebted to the warmth and light of the sun! For this reason, foolish people have become sun worshipers, giving no credit to the great Creator and Sustainer of the sun.

But the sun is clearly created to symbolize the Lord Jesus, as Malachi 4:2 implies, "To you who fear my name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings." The time of this arising will be the beginning of the millennium, which will be a day of wondrous blessing for the world, as is pictured in verse 6 of our chapter. The sun is a wonderful friend, but it can be a withering enemy in a dry land without water or shade Thus the Lord Jesus is a wonderful friend, but if one decides to be His enemy, he will expose himself to the results of this folly. How much more wise for one to take to heart the lessons that God's creation clearly teach!

As regards the declared significance of the sun, it speaks of the Lord Jesus, “the Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2), the One whose brightness is so welcome, yet too dazzling for our eyes; and the warmth of His love so welcome too, though to unbelievers this warmth may become the heat of judgment. We have seen on the third day the fruitfulness of the earth in contrast to the waters, a type of the growth and fruitfulness of believer. Now 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, and 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 experiences, to see in Him what fully satisfies and delights the heart. This is a precious climax in the history of a believer, when the glory of the person of the Lord Jesus bursts on his vision, to lift him out of himself, to see all beauty and virtue in Him alone.

As regards the declared significance of the sun, it speaks of the Lord Jesus, "the Sun of Righteousness" (Mal.4:2), the One whose brightness is so welcome, yet too dazzling for our eyes; and the warmth of His love so welcome too, though to unbelievers this warmth may become the heat of judgment. We have seen on the third day the fruitfulness of the earth in contrast to the waters, a type of the growth and fruitfulness of believer. Now 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, and 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 experiences, to see in Him what fully satisfies and delights the heart. This is a precious climax in the history of a believer, when the glory of the person of the Lord Jesus bursts on his vision, to lift him out of himself, to see all beauty and virtue in Him alone.

Under this striking figure we have the promise of the appearing of the Lord. He is the Sun, i.e. the centre, the source of light and warmth of authority and rule and power. He is the Sun of righteousness, since appearing in a scene of moral chaos and unrighteousness, that must necessarily be His outstanding characteristic.

A few words more as to the light. Not that I want to dwell upon this too much; and yet I think it is not in vain, especially in the present day, to speak of what nature presents to us, where Scripture gives the real and only key. We find, if we turn to the first chapter of Genesis, that light was before the sun. It puzzles the wise men to explain it; nevertheless, for the natural to figure the spiritual, it must have been so. For what is the sun? Is it not a dark earth-mass which God has clothed with the glory of the light, His image? Now, that is what God has done in Christ. He has clothed humanity, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the glory of deity; and that is the Sun in Scripture-type. That "Sun of Righteousness" yet to rise upon the world with healing in His wings is Christ — Immanuel: manhood clothed with the glory of the Godhead — dark no more.

Finally, I refer to Psalm 19: 4-6. I suggest that the sun is a type of our Lord Jesus (cp. Mal. 4: 2). In contrast to the lack of heat in the assembly at Laodicea the Lord Himself keeps His warmth and zeal. He is now glorified in heaven (God has placed Him there), and we may contemplate Him there in all His splendour (cp. the whole circuit the sun makes, Ps. 19: 5ff). He really wants us to do just that, in order that we may receive light and warmth and be(come) zealous. A Christian with real love for the Lord "up there" in the glory, is a Christian with spiritual energy "down here." Furthermore, nothing is hidden from His searching eyes, not even in Laodicea with its nice cover-ups. The Lord does not allow any compromise either. If there is one lesson to learn from this verse (Rev. 3: 16) it is this: the Lord will not allow us to be His witnesses on our own terms; we have to be with Him on His terms.

Supreme authority is seen in the sun shining "in his strength." It is a well-known symbol, as when our Lord, upon the mountain of transfiguration, was seen for a moment in the sovereign place in the kingdom. His will is paramount, as when a bright eastern sun reigns over the whole landscape; everything feels its power, and his light and heat go to the very border of the circle of his rays.

Sun. — The supreme ruling power. (Isa. 13:9-10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 3:15.)