The Sun, Moon and Stars

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then 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 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on 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 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)

This is an amazing passage from the Bible for many reasons.  First, it gives us the truth of God creating our world and in particular the sun, moon and stars.  God created our world and He created us.  Secondly, it directly links God's creation with something we use practically every day - a calendar!

Notice in verse 14 that God puts the sun and moon into the sky "to divide the day from the night" and to let them be for signs and seasons, and  for days and years."  God blessed us with the sun and moon to help us mark time.  We use the sun daily to mark our days - when the sun comes up our day begins and it ends when the sun goes down!  God did this on purpose, not by accident!  By giving us the sun and moon God gave us an orderly way of keeping track of our time here on earth.

The U. S. Naval Observatory describes calendars in this way, "A calendar is a system of organizing units of time for the purpose of reckoning time over extended periods." (See their article here.)  They further explain, "The principal astronomical cycles are the day (based on the rotation of the Earth on its axis), the year (based on the revolution of the Earth around the Sun), and the month (based on the revolution of the Moon around the Earth)."  Did you notice the U. S. Naval Observatory is saying the same thing God tells us in Genesis 1:14!  How amazing is that!!

We use calendars to mark our days and years while here on the earth.  Every time you look at a calendar, pause for a moment and give thanks to God for creating the sun and moon and for giving us an orderly system to keep track of our days and years!