Day Four
Some people think the Bible says that the Sun, Moon, and stars were all made on the fourth day. Let’s examine the way Moses uses the verbs and the way the description of the fourth day fits into the structure of the narrative.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
16 God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day (Genesis 1:14‑19)
Verb Tenses and Sequences
The narrative for day four begins with a simple past verb, God said. However, the verb tense is an accommodation to our human understanding. God’s statement should be understood as one of His eternal decrees, not necessarily said at a specific time. Making the light bearers and setting them in the sky involved a three-day process. The narrative for day four is therefore a summary of the story of the Sun, Moon, and stars. Their story is not covered in the narrative of the first three days, which describes only the formation of the Earth.
The narrative for day four begins with a simple past verb, God said. However, the verb tense is an accommodation to our human understanding. God’s statement should be understood as one of His eternal decrees, not necessarily said at a specific time. Making the light bearers and setting them in the sky involved a three-day process. The narrative for day four is therefore a summary of the story of the Sun, Moon, and stars. Their story is not covered in the narrative of the first three days, which describes only the formation of the Earth.
Creating, Forming, and Making
God created (Hebrew בָּרָא bara´) the darkness at the first moment, in Genesis 1:1. Then He formed (יָצַר yatsar) the light from the darkness, as a potter forms a vessel from clay. He did the same thing with the Earth. First, He created it, but He created it without form and empty. Later He formed the Earth. Elsewhere the Hebrew Scriptures just say that God made (עָשָׂה `asah) everything (Genesis 2:3), the heavens and the Earth (Genesis 2:4), and the man and the woman (Genesis 5:1). God created Adam and Eve in the same way, but He formed their bodies using different sources of material for each. He formed the man’s body from dust, but He formed Eve from Adam’s rib. A statement in Isaiah 45:18 brings the three verbs together. God created, formed, and made the Earth.
The verb made comprehends the two-step process of creating and forming. If we understand the process that way, it clears up a puzzle that has troubled readers of Genesis chapter one for centuries. God created the Earth at the first instant, but then He followed a process lasting several days as He was forming it. God also created the heavens at the first instant. The Sun, Moon, and stars are part of the heavens. Were they, like the Earth, created in the first moment but unformed? If so, then God finished forming them at some point during the first three days. The fourth day was the first day the Sun governed the day.
What were the sources of light for the first three days? When were the light bearers sufficiently well-formed that they could begin to shine? The Bible does not say when the Sun began to shine or when the stars began to shine. It says when they were created (the first instant of time) and when they were sufficiently formed that they could serve as signs (by the end of day three or the beginning of day four), but that does not fix the time when they began to shine.
Not All Stars Formed on the Fourth Day
We need to be careful not to interpret words that are not in the text. The Genesis narrative in the original does not say that God made the stars on the fourth day. He made the greater and lesser light, but the Hebrew verb עָשָׂה`asah made is not repeated in relation to the stars. The account of the fourth day, in Genesis 1:14‑17, mentions the stars only once. At the end of verse 16 the original Hebrew says and the stars. And the stars what? This sentence fragment follows the material on the three-fold purpose of lights in the sky, the making of them, and their commissioning to perform those three functions. It appears that the stars share in the purposes and commission of the greater and lesser luminaries.
Against Idolatry and Astrology
It is easy to see why Moses would want to be as brief as possible when referring to the stars. The Egyptians worshiped the heavenly bodies. The Sun was the head of their pantheon, and the Moon was very important. The Genesis narrative is, among other things, a polemic against the gods of Egypt. It declares that there is only one God, and He is the One Who created, formed, and made the heavens and the Earth. To show the lower rank of the Sun and Moon, Moses does not even name them. He merely calls them the greater and lesser luminary. He mentions them but he says very little about them. Especially, he mentions the stars as little as possible.
The Egyptians among others gave improper importance to the Sun and Moon by worshiping them, but many people have given even greater importance to the stars. Astrologers teach that the stars rule our lives and destinies, and that we should consult the stars about everything we do. Astrology holds much greater potential for wreaking havoc in people’s lives than the occasional worship of false gods. Ronald Reagan superstitiously feared the fact that William Henry Harrison (elected to be U. S. President in 1840) and every U. S. president since who was elected in a year divisible by 20 had died in office. At the end of his presidency, he was virtually a prisoner in the White House on certain days, days that were “dangerous” for him according to an astrologer who was a friend of Nancy Reagan. However, Ronald Reagan lived to complete his second term, thus breaking “the curse.” Astrology has proven ability to bind even the most powerful man in the world.
The problem Moses saw was serious. He had to explain, in as little space as possible, that God created the heavenly bodies and made them to serve His purposes. Moses had to admit that they govern or serve as signs, besides separating day and night and giving light on the Earth. However, he carefully limits the type of sign they are. They are not signs of propitious days to start a business or evil omens for a kingdom, they do not show whom we should marry, and they do not destine some to be great and others to be worthless. They are signs for seasons, days, and years, and that’s all.
God created (Hebrew בָּרָא bara´) the darkness at the first moment, in Genesis 1:1. Then He formed (יָצַר yatsar) the light from the darkness, as a potter forms a vessel from clay. He did the same thing with the Earth. First, He created it, but He created it without form and empty. Later He formed the Earth. Elsewhere the Hebrew Scriptures just say that God made (עָשָׂה `asah) everything (Genesis 2:3), the heavens and the Earth (Genesis 2:4), and the man and the woman (Genesis 5:1). God created Adam and Eve in the same way, but He formed their bodies using different sources of material for each. He formed the man’s body from dust, but He formed Eve from Adam’s rib. A statement in Isaiah 45:18 brings the three verbs together. God created, formed, and made the Earth.
The verb made comprehends the two-step process of creating and forming. If we understand the process that way, it clears up a puzzle that has troubled readers of Genesis chapter one for centuries. God created the Earth at the first instant, but then He followed a process lasting several days as He was forming it. God also created the heavens at the first instant. The Sun, Moon, and stars are part of the heavens. Were they, like the Earth, created in the first moment but unformed? If so, then God finished forming them at some point during the first three days. The fourth day was the first day the Sun governed the day.
What were the sources of light for the first three days? When were the light bearers sufficiently well-formed that they could begin to shine? The Bible does not say when the Sun began to shine or when the stars began to shine. It says when they were created (the first instant of time) and when they were sufficiently formed that they could serve as signs (by the end of day three or the beginning of day four), but that does not fix the time when they began to shine.
Not All Stars Formed on the Fourth Day
We need to be careful not to interpret words that are not in the text. The Genesis narrative in the original does not say that God made the stars on the fourth day. He made the greater and lesser light, but the Hebrew verb עָשָׂה`asah made is not repeated in relation to the stars. The account of the fourth day, in Genesis 1:14‑17, mentions the stars only once. At the end of verse 16 the original Hebrew says and the stars. And the stars what? This sentence fragment follows the material on the three-fold purpose of lights in the sky, the making of them, and their commissioning to perform those three functions. It appears that the stars share in the purposes and commission of the greater and lesser luminaries.
Against Idolatry and Astrology
It is easy to see why Moses would want to be as brief as possible when referring to the stars. The Egyptians worshiped the heavenly bodies. The Sun was the head of their pantheon, and the Moon was very important. The Genesis narrative is, among other things, a polemic against the gods of Egypt. It declares that there is only one God, and He is the One Who created, formed, and made the heavens and the Earth. To show the lower rank of the Sun and Moon, Moses does not even name them. He merely calls them the greater and lesser luminary. He mentions them but he says very little about them. Especially, he mentions the stars as little as possible.
The Egyptians among others gave improper importance to the Sun and Moon by worshiping them, but many people have given even greater importance to the stars. Astrologers teach that the stars rule our lives and destinies, and that we should consult the stars about everything we do. Astrology holds much greater potential for wreaking havoc in people’s lives than the occasional worship of false gods. Ronald Reagan superstitiously feared the fact that William Henry Harrison (elected to be U. S. President in 1840) and every U. S. president since who was elected in a year divisible by 20 had died in office. At the end of his presidency, he was virtually a prisoner in the White House on certain days, days that were “dangerous” for him according to an astrologer who was a friend of Nancy Reagan. However, Ronald Reagan lived to complete his second term, thus breaking “the curse.” Astrology has proven ability to bind even the most powerful man in the world.
The problem Moses saw was serious. He had to explain, in as little space as possible, that God created the heavenly bodies and made them to serve His purposes. Moses had to admit that they govern or serve as signs, besides separating day and night and giving light on the Earth. However, he carefully limits the type of sign they are. They are not signs of propitious days to start a business or evil omens for a kingdom, they do not show whom we should marry, and they do not destine some to be great and others to be worthless. They are signs for seasons, days, and years, and that’s all.