The Creation of Light and the Sun
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Got saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. and there was evening and there was morning, one day. – Genesis 1:3-5
The creation of light was done on day one. We see here, similar to what we experience now, that there was evening and morning, and a separation of light and darkness. However, our source of light is the sun, and the sun was not created until the fourth day. If that was the case, what was the source of light on days one through three?
The Separation of Waters
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven… – Genesis 1:6-8
Could this simply be the space between the waters on the ground and the clouds, being that they consist of moisture? Or is it something more interesting than that? We know now that beyond the clouds there is no layer of water. We have been flying the skies and exiting the earth’s atmosphere for a while now. Imagine the difficulties of space travel if there was a layer of water that we needed to pass through to get into space.
The Two Great Lights
God made the two great lights, the greater to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night. – Genesis 1:16
This is interesting, as we wouldn’t necessarily call the moon a light. By itself, it produces no light at all. It only shines occasionally and at different times if the sun is reflecting off of it. And the stars are not mentioned until after this, so we can’t assume the lesser light is the stars. It is a very unreliable source of light. It almost seems as if it is rather rebellious as I often see it in the sky during the day. But, I can think of no other alternative to a night light, unless it no longer exists.
Living Vegetation Without The Sun
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:11-12
Then 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 seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. – Genesis 1:14-15
If you have ever taken a biology course, you will know how important the process of photosynthesis is in the growth of plants and trees. However, God didn’t create the sun until the fourth day. But we see here that on the third day it says that the “earth brought forth vegetation.” Trees and plants growing with no sun. Interestingly though, back on day one, God did create some sort of light. Perhaps it was a temporary light that had similar characteristics as the sun that allowed for plants to grow that was removed after the creation of the sun?
Also, we recognize that the earth has been placed had a perfect distance from the sun so that we are not burned up from the sun, nor are we too far away so that everything would freeze. Somehow, without the sun, the earth was still somewhat inhabitable if it allowed for the growth of vegetation.
A Non-Orbital Earth
Utilizing the verses already quoted above, it is interesting that, without the sun, the earth must not have been orbiting around anything, unless the sun replaced the original light. I have to wonder where in space the earth may have been in this case. Scientists feel confident that we orbit the sun, which is one star out of millions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy that we are in. So for three days, there was no sun, so the earth may not have been orbiting around anything.
Ruler Of All Creatures
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. – Genesis 1:26
This is an interesting one to think about, because for the most part, I feel the opposite. I feel ruled by creatures. There are many insects that cause great annoyance and pain when bitten. There are many animals that we are fearful of that could kill us. So I wonder how it worked prior to the fall. Was there a fear of man in animals like there is now? Was the grizzly bear or shark capable of killing man like they are today? How did this “rule over” relationship work?
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. – Genesis 1:29-30
Was the original design of man and all creatures to be completely vegetarian? This seems to allude to that. We are all aware of the “food chain” in nature though; how many creatures both eat smaller creatures, and are eaten by bigger creatures. What about plants that feed off of insects? Was all of that drastically changed as a result of man’s sin in the garden? Did spiders not spin webs to catch insects and just ate leaves, or were they not even created until the fall? The many poisonous creatures out there today have poison for the sake of killing other creatures. What were these creatures like at creation? I can’t really imagine a snake eating plants.