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“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, 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. 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).
Notice the phrase and the stars. Almost as an aside, God tells us about the other very roughly trillion trillions (1024) of stars that are not in our solar system. Clearly God’s emphasis in this Genesis narrative is not to give us detailed science, but to tell mankind about his God-given home. Seasons refers not only to climatological seasons and calendars, but the Hebrew moade has a basic meaning of an appointment. Thus it may not only refer to the proper time to plant various crops, but also to the periodic feasts of the Mosaic Law, and to the Sabbath. Also, some translations will more accurately use luminary or something similar, instead of the ESV’s light, to translate the Hebrew mawore, which may also mean light, but not in the present context. As any electrician will tell you, that bulb you screw into a socket is a lamp that converts electricity into light.36
36 So just how many nitpicking Bible expositors does it take to… never mind…
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