"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide
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 firmament of the heaven,
to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:
He made the stars also."
You remember that in the whole of this chapter which speaks of God's work
in creation, the word "created" is used only on three occasions, though in
the verse which tells of the creation of man, it is three times repeated
(verse 27). And now I want you to turn to the hundred and fourth Psalm, and
notice the verses which speak of the Days of Creation: you will see that
light is spoken of in the second verse, and in the nineteenth we read--
"He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down."
Those who know the Hebrew language tell us that the word "appointed" in
this verse is the very same as that which has been translated "made" in the
sixteenth verse of the first chapter of Genesis--so that we may read, "God
appointed two great lights," just as in the eighth Psalm we read, "The moon
and the stars, which Thou hast ordained."
We have seen that God could give light without the sun or moon;--an old
writer quaintly says that before the sun was made "the whole heaven was
our sun"--but He was pleased upon this Day of His creation to command the
light, which He had called out of the darkness, to gather round the sun,
so that he might, as the great light-bearer in all his splendour "rule the
day"; and to cause light from that glorious sun to fall upon the moon, so
that she, with her silvery shining, might "rule the night"--both sun and
moon thus giving "light upon the earth.
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