Day 666: Time and space - Genesis 1 vs 14 - 19

14-16 And 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, (appointed times) and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.  And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars.  17-19 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. Genesis 1:14-19 English Standard Version

We see from vs 14-16 that the 'expanse' God created extended beyond the atmosphere above the earth and into what we know as space. But what else do those verses tell us that God brought into existence?

The prophet Isaiah said that God is “the One who is high and lifted up, and who inhabits eternity.” (Isaiah 57:15) But here we see that He brought time into existence, and time would be measured by the lights of heaven – in particular by the passage of day following night.

Regarding the stars, David Watson quotes Jeremiah 33:22 where God said: “As the stars of the sky cannot be counted - and the sand on the seashore cannot be measured - so I will multiply the descendants of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” With the invention of bigger and better telescopes Mr Watson tells how a British physicist, astronomer and mathematician, Sir James Jeans, stated that “the total number of stars is roughly equal to the total number of grains of sand on all the sea shores of the world.” God's creation is vast, and His word was way ahead of our discoveries.

We see that the specific lights of heaven that apply to us are the sun and moon. By them we measure days, years, seasons and epochs. They also affect the earth's tides and the harvests. Through their regularity (as well as the regular location of stars) mankind has also been able to pinpoint future events – such as when something like Halley's Comet would be visible again. (It is next due in 2061!)

Verse 17-19 tell us that the sun and moon provide light to the earth. God had already created light on day one, but now He appointed the means by which the world would continue to be lit up by day and night. Evidently the astronauts who landed on the moon discovered that it's surface was covered with a glassy-sand substance ideal for reflecting light.

So God created space and brought time into existence. The writer of the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes makes the lovely comment that: “God made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God has given us a sense of, and a yearning for, eternity.

Through the ages, sadly, many people regarded the sun and moon as gods. But they are really the good works of God's hands. Psalm 148:3 says: “Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars!” They were perfectly placed for the environment we need to exist in this world. But Revelation 21 speaks of a “new heaven and earth when the current heaven and earth pass away”. And it speaks of a city “that has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By it's light the nations will walk and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” These are surely pictures of the eternity God has placed in the hearts of believers. And if God saw that the sun and moon He created to start time rolling ‘was good’, how wonderful will the new heavens and earth be when it will be His light that shines upon us! Oh Lord, hasten that day.