And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
Moses does not speak with philosophical precision but reports what all eyes observe: God ordained these luminaries as instruments to dispense the light He had created, teaching us that all creatures obey His will. The sun marks the artificial day; the moon and stars serve by night; their interchange is perpetual because God's word directs it so.
AI summary
Light was at first chaos, scattered and confused, but God collected it and made it into several luminaries, both glorious and serviceable. He is a God of order, not confusion, and as He is light, He is the Father of all lights, placing them in the firmament like candles on a golden candlestick to give light to all that dwell below.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 1:14-19
The light created on the first day was now formed into distinct bodies, sun, moon, and stars, distributed from that original light to mark the divisions of time. They divide day from night, signal seasons and weather, govern ploughing and reaping, and reckon the years by which we order both nature and worship.
AI summary