09 Apr The Great Light to Rule the Day
“And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.” (Genesis 1:16 ESV)
In the Genesis account of creation, we find the Lord working day by day to create all that exists. He didn’t make just the things that we physically see, such as the Earth around us, but also the things we don’t see, such as the spiritual realm. This wsa corroborated by Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16 NIV)
As regular readers of the Bible, we become accustomed to the language of the Bible, and its ‘turn of phrase.’ We easily read that God made the ‘two great lights’ and know intuitively it is the sun and the moon. But why did the Lord not simply tell us, that he made the sun and the moon? Why does he call them the ‘two lights.’
The book of Genesis is in fact ancient literature. And at the time Genesis was written, the ancient world was filled with nature worship and polytheism. We know from the Ancient Egyptian culture alone that Pharaoh was a ‘god’ and so was the eagle, the cow, the jackal and so was the sun. Not only did the Egyptians worship the sun as a ‘god’ but many other cultures worshipped entities in nature.
So as not to be confusing, in Genesis 1:16, the sun is called the ‘greater light.’ The Lord was taking no chance in people mistakenly thinking it was He who made a ‘god’ which was the sun. In Genesis, the sun and the moon and the stars are in fact not gods, they are just lights.
What is also of interest, is that in many ancient languages, like many modern ones, many objects carry gender. Dogs are masculine for example, while cats are feminine. In the ancient world, the sun was often masculine, and the moon was feminine. But in Hebrew, the actual word for sun is feminine, and the actual word for moon is masculine. Even when these natural entities are called for what they are, the Lord made sure his people were in no doubt, that they were not ‘gods.’
The book of Genesis is a most remarkable book for many hidden features like the one just described. In a world full of nature worship, and where every group of people has its own ‘god,’ the book of Genesis describes one God who made all of nature, which itself is not divine. The book of Genesis is a miracle itself.
In today’s modern world some parts of society have turned their back on the Lord. We notice that when this happens, a return of interest in the worship of nature and creation abounds. People speak of praying to “the universe,’ and even the large focus on the climate and ‘mother nature’ all have dangerous edges which can tip into worship above the Lord. As believers we have faith, and a calling to pray for society that our eyes remain on the Lord. And in the long-term, all things will work for that good outcome.