Jump Start # 409 

Genesis 1:14-19 “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; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 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. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

  The fourth day of creation happened on a Wednesday. This is the day that God made the stars, sun and moon. God had already made “light” and separated it from darkness. Now He is making sources of light for the earth.

  God has always been in the “light” business. Spiritually, Jesus is the light and the darkness is equated with evil and sin. God’s word is called a “lamp” in Psalms.

  This passage is stated in a simplistic manner but it is not. Scientists do not know how “stars” are formed, I do. God made them. The physics of the solar system and of earth is amazing. If our planet was tilted just a few degrees different, if the speed of rotation was varied just a little bit, or if it was just a little closer or a little farther from the sun, life could not exist. It is perfect. Did you notice that God made earth first, then the sun. Also, you will note that God made TWO lights, one to govern the day and the other the night. A new theory being floated around is that the earth had two moons, and one collided into the other. That’s not what this passage says. One light for the day (sun) and one light for the night (moon).

  Also, the solar system is so vast and huge it takes years for starlight to reach the earth. This is why we use the expression, “Light years.” God made the earth, then the stars. He flung them out there. The book of Psalms tells us that God has a name for every star. We don’t even know how many there are, yet God does. To have the stars be used for signs, seasons and days, God had to bring the light of stars to earth, otherwise we would just now be seeing the first light from them. So for Adam and Eve, the stars were just a few days old, yet God made it possible for them to see their light even though they are “light YEARS” away. Also, for Adam and Eve to survive, the trees and vegetation had to be “mature.” A one week old apple tree will not have any apples on it yet. It takes a few years for that tree to mature to produce. So the earth had the appearance of some age on it, even though it wasn’t old.

  This passage also distinguishes between the fourth day, and days, seasons and years. The “lights” were given to signs for seasons and years. The ancients sailed by the stars and planted according to the signs in the sky. A day, like day four, is not the same as “seasons,” which is not the same as “years.” This helps us to understand that when God said this happened on a certain day, He meant a “day,” not years. God knew the difference between days and years. Accepting the fact that creation took place in one week, six days is hard for some folks. But is it any harder than believer a Savior came out of the tomb after three days to redeem you for your sins?

  The sun and the moon were placed in the sky to “govern” the day and the night. Here God is setting forth the course of a day, with sunrise and sunset. He is placing laws and a sense of natural “government.” These are the characteristics of God. God has law. God has order. God governs. Later, this concept is seen in establishing governments of nations and order within God’s kingdom. Lawlessness and disorder are not of God, nor His people.

  I like looking at the moon (no jokes about me howling at it, please). The moon I look at is the same moon that Paul looked at, Jesus looked at, Abraham looked at, Moses looked at, and Adam looked at. It’s the same. And beyond the moon, it’s the same God that I talk to, that Paul talked to, that Jesus talked to , that Abraham talked to, that Moses talked to and that Adam tried to hide from. In a changing world, some things remain the same. The greatest of these is God.

  It was good. It is good. Thank you, Lord.

Roger