The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars
By W. A. Sweany
THE GOSPEL IN CREATION. NO. 6.
The Fourth Day—Sun, Moon, and Stars.
“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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” Gen. 1:14–19. Let it ever be remembered that the sun, moon, and stars, and other seeming sources of light are only “light bearers.” Through these light flows from Him who “is light,” and in whom “is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5. The heat and light which emanate from burning wood, coal, oil, etc., is only the reproduction of the sunlight that has been stored up by these various elements when in the form of growing plants and trees. And sunlight is only the light that is imparted to that mighty orb by the mandate of Him, “the entrance” of whose “words giveth light.” Ps. 119:105, 130. And when the new creation is complete, the redeemed will witness the manifestation of the glory of God that will lighten the whole earth, independent of the sun, moon, and stars, or any other agency. “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.” “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Rev. 22:5; 21:23. “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.” Isa. 24:23. Yet even now “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Ps. 19:1–4. Thus in the glorious beauty of the shining, starry heavens the children of God see and hear with the eye and ear of faith many precious, instructive, assuring lessons, illustrative of the wisdom and power of their Creator and Redeemer. “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one falleth.” Isa. 40:26. So successful is He in thus upholding, controlling, guiding, and directing them by “the word of His power” (Heb. 1:1–3), that those who study the laws that govern their movements can tell for years in the future the precise minute at which the sun will rise and set2or be eclipsed, as well as the exact position of each of the planets and stars at any given time. Surely in view of all this we may safely trust Him when He says: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” Isa. 41:10. Of all the countless, starry hosts of heaven “not one faileth”—they shine on and on, eternal, everlasting illustrations of the wisdom and power of the Creator. Mists and darkness may obscure them, so that our eyes may not behold them for a time, but we know they are still there, shining with undimmed luster and unimpaired brilliancy. Let this remind us that “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12:1–3. Surely this should inspire every one to seek and search for wisdom as for hid treasure (Prov. 2:1–6), and when found, use it in soul-winning; for “he that winneth souls is wise.” Prov. 11:30. But there is yet another lesson that God has caused to be written in the heavens so plainly that he who runs may read. When the sun, moon, and stars were placed in the firmament to give light upon the earth and to rule the day, and the night, the Creator also said, “Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” That the seasons, days, and years are governed by the heavenly bodies is plainly evident to all, but the mandate, “Let them be for signs” has been no less strikingly fulfilled. Shortly before He went back to heaven, when His disciples asked Him what should be the sign of His coming again and of the end of the world, He replied, “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” And He also told them when these and other signs foretold at the same time should appear and what the nature of these should be. After carefully, clearly, and repeatedly assuring them that these signs and the end would not take place in their day, and after warning them again and again to beware of imposters, He directed their minds forward through ages filled with war, famine, plague, earthquakes, tidal waves, through the long, dark centuries of persecution, which began in 538 and ended in 1798. And “immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken.” In fulfilment of this, on May 19, 1780, “the sun was darkened at midday,” “in his going forth,” and “became black as sackcloth of hair,” and the following night the moon, altho’ full, gave no light, causing a darkness that could be felt, and when next seen, had the appearance of blood. On Nov. 30, 1833, the prophecy of the falling stars was fulfilled in the most wonderful display of celestial fireworks ever witnessed by man. The most learned astronomers freely acknowledge that no scientific reason or explanation of these wonderful events has been given. But the student of God’s Word sees therein the explanation and the reason. Please read carefully and prayerfully Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Isa. 13:9–11; Eze. 32:7, 8; Joel 2:1–14, 28–32; Amos 8:1–14; Rev. 6:12–17; and then when ye see all these things come to pass, then know that He is near, even at the door, as surely as ye know that summer is near when the trees put forth their leaves. For “this generation [that sees these things] shall not pass, till all these things [including the coming of Christ] be fulfilled.” All these things spoken of by the Saviour as signs of His coming have been or are now being fulfilled, and every member of this present generation should see in them the omens of the coming King and prepare to meet the Lord. No one now living witnessed the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, but through the record of those events and the preaching of the Gospel we see them as the signs and assurances of our salvation. Just so, dear reader, altho you may not have witnessed the darkened sun or the falling stars, they become signs to you through the testimony of those who did see and bear record, to which testimony your mind is now directed. No past generation has seen all these signs—this one has. So this generation shall see the Son of Man coming in power and great glory. This is a matter of fact, because the Scripture, which can not be broken, so declares. The only question is, Will you be ready to meet Him when He appears? For years He has been near, even at the door; soon the opening heavens will reveal Him. And when the church of God shall read and believe these “glad tidings of great joy,” written not only on the sacred pages of Inspiration, but in the sun, moon, and stars, they will arise and trim their lamps, and go forth to meet the Bridegroom, “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” Cant. 6:10. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.” “God is light;” His Word is light; be thou, reader, a light-bearer for Him.