14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament (expanse) of the heaven to divide the day from
the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament (expanse) of the heaven to give light upon the earth:
and it was so.
16 And God made (caused to appear) two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light
to rule the night: [he made (caused to appear)] the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament (expanse) of the heaven to give light upon 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 And (there was) the evening (darkness) and (there was) the morning (dawning light) were the fourth day (time, phase).
The sun shines across the earth.
Eclipsed moon rising.
14 and 15 tell us the purpose of the lights. In addition to lights for day and night,
they were created to help us follow time
periods and directions. By using the stars we can know when to plant crops and navigate
ships. The location of our planet in the galaxy gives us a view of the universe that is unobstructed
by the debris and gases found in the spiral arms. Also, being outside the spiral arms puts
us in a location that is safer than anywhere else in the universe as we are removed from
the more densely occupied areas, where stellar interactions can lead to disruption of
planetary orbits. In addition, we are farther from the deadly affects of supernovae explosions.
Verses 16, 17
and 18 refer to the sun ( the greater light to rule the day), and the moon (the lesser
light to rule the night along with the stars). They were created on day one
when the total heavens
were created and then the atmosphere was transformed from translucent to occasionally
transparent as it is today so that they can often brightly shine upon
the surface of the earth.
Most every where in our solar system the sun rules, but from the surface of the earth
one experiences day and night and during
the night the moon rules as it goes through its phases. At times the moon is visible
during the day but at those times it is less apparent and does not rule over the brightness of the sun.