After creating light on day one, God now makes permanent sources of light for the Earth.

Genesis 1:14-19  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:  15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  16 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.  17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,  18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The main purpose of the lights would be to “divide the day from the night” (vs. 14).  This describes what our sun and moon do.  These are the “two great lights” in verse 15—one for the day and the other for the night.  We understand that the moon does not produce its own light but merely reflects the sun.  This does not affect the accuracy of the biblical text.  The moon still provides light at night regardless. Reflected light is still light.  No doubt our ancestors understood that the moon was reflecting light given the observable changes in it over the lunar cycle. Continue reading →