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In “Biblical Difficulties for a Young Earth - Part 2: Not so easy for a child to understand“, I showed how the word Elohim communicated more than what the Children of Israel (or a child in general) would see in the scripture.  It takes the perspective of a Christian to realize that Moses was referring to the Trinity in the word Elohim.  Similarly, other aspects of Genesis 1 can only be understood when you have the correct perspective.  Once such example is Day 4 of the Creation Account.  The difference between Day 4 and Genesis 1:1 however, is that Genesis actually includes the perspective with which to understand Day 4:

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.  — Genesis 1:14-19 (NIV)

When the sun, moon, and stars were created, they were created ”in the expanse of the sky.”  Do you recall the expanse?  It was created on Day 2, and is the space above the ocean and below the clouds.  Of course, when the there are no clouds, you can see right through the sky’s expanse, and the sun, moon, and stars are visible.  But, why weren’t they visible before Day 4?  Is it because they didn’t exist?

The young earth creationist (YEC) interpretation of Day 4 is that the sun, moon, and stars were not visible because they did not exist before Day 4.  However, that reads too much into the text, which provides a clear description of the earth’s conditions. 

Going back to Day 2, before the sun, moon, and stars were visible in the sky’s expanse: “…God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.” (Genesis 1:7, NIV).  So, at the beginning of Day 2, there was no sky visible from the oceans, and no separation between the clouds the oceans.  After Day 2, there was an expanse separating them, indicating the earth was still surrounded completely by high clouds.  Day 3 did not change that.  So, if there were already a sun, moon, and stars at the beginning of Day 4, their light would certainly be visible, yet they would not be; and if they did not yet exist (assuming a young earth), then conditions on the earth would have looked no different.

So, what did God do on Day 4?  Well, one thing is certain… He cleared up the clouds enough to see the sun, moon, and stars.  I mean, He must have, because merely creating them would have left them hidden behind the clouds.  So, did God just clear the sky on Day 4, or did He create the celestial bodies first?  For that, let us turn to the scriptures.

A YEC would point out that Day 4 is when the sun, moon, and stars began to “serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years” (Genesis 1:14b).  Therefore, these bodies must not have existed before then, right?  Well, in a practical sense, the sun, moon, and stars cannot be used to keep the calendar unless they are visible.  Existing is not enough.  Since we already know that Day 4 started under cloud cover, we can conclude that the celestial bodies were not visible before Day 4, even if they existed, and we know God cleared the sky on Day 4.  It would seem then that clearing the sky is enough to satisfy Genesis 1:14b.

A YEC would also point out that Day 4 is when the celstial bodies became “lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” (Genesis 1:15)  So they didn’t exist before then, right?  Well, the wording of the verse implies that the celestial became individual lights in the sky, and being hidden by clouds would certainly prevent that. Clearing the sky is therefore enough to satisfy Genesis 1:15.

Genesis 1:16 is often offered as the YEC trump card, which says in no uncertain terms that “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”  If He “made” them, then they didn’t exist before then, right? Well, go on to verse 17 to see where God actually put His creation, and you will see the problem: “God set them in the expanse of the sky…”  Do you see it?  The expanse isn’t where God put them; He put them in space, where they are seen through the expanse of the sky.  But, from someone on the earth, the celestial bodies do indeed look like they are in the expanse of the sky (and we know from Genesis 1:7 that the expanse ends where the clouds would begin).  Therefore, Genesis 1:16 can only be logically intepreted from the physical perspective of someone beneath the expanse, and from that perspective, clearing the sky is enough to satisfy Genesis 1:16-17.

So, it would seem that Day 4 definitely describes the clearing of the sky, but not necessarily the creation of the celestial bodies.  If you disagree, and you think Day 4 clearly describes their actual creation, then consider the initial conditions of Day 4 (as defined by Day 2), and consider the boundaries of the expanse (also defined by Day 2).  You might find your understanding is not that clear after all.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Bible Commentary, Creationism, Evolution, Day 4. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.