Gen 1: 14-19
14And
God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day
from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and
years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of
the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the
stars also.
17And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day
and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw
that it was good.
19And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.
Recap
From our last study we looked at day 3 and the symbolism that was
present there. There were so many things covered that I cannot even give a proper
recap for that lesson. If you must know what that study was about, I recommend
that you go back and read the study on day 3.
Interpretation
As always before we can begin to make applications, we must first
clearly understand the interpretation of these verses, i.e. what is the
scripture physically and literally describing.
So what happened on day 4? God spoke the word....... and lights
appeared in heaven (firmament). He goes on to gives these lights functions
and names. It is noteworthy that the scripture makes mention of stars, as media
of light and not by name. The bible simply would not have space enough if the
stars names were to be listed. I think that the omittance of this little detail
is just to let us now that they are too many for us to understand. It is higher
than any man can compute.
Q. Does God have a name/number for each star?
A. Surely He does (gen15:5) tells us so.
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Although the light lesson
was already introduced to us on day 1, the Lord revisits the subject/lesson by
creating differing types/media for light. He then goes on to declare two of
them rulers for different parts of the day.
We did say that Christ
represented the first light on day one, I do not think any different now. I think
that our lesson is just being deepened. I think the lesson here is that everything
points to Christ; the animals, the trees, yes even man himself also points to
Christ, who then points back to God the Father.
But I am jumping ahead of myself here. Let us start this study by
trying to answer some of the questions I asked the scripture. In order to make
meaningful applications, we must ask the right questions. Some of the questions
I came up with are as follows:
Questions
1. Why were they to give light upon the Earth?
2. Why were the lights in heaven?
3. What is the purpose of these lights
4. What is the significance of the two great
lights?
5. What is the significance of them determining:
· the day and the night (specific),
· signs and seasons
· days and years
6.
Why did God choose the fourth day to create lights in the firmament?
By no means are these
questions exhaustive of what could be asked of the scripture. I can only share
with you what has been revealed to me. I am sure there are way more things that
could be uncovered, but we would need to ask the Lord to show us.
Application-1
I am going to start with
what I think are the easy questions first, and then move on to the harder
questions.
Question 1
What is the purpose of
these lights?
We don’t have to go too
far in order to get this answer, as it is in our text.
Our reading says that
the lights were:
1.
to divide the day from the night;
2.
for signs, and for seasons,
3. for days, and years:
4. to give light in the firmament of the heaven
5. to give light upon the
earth:
As we determined in our study of day 2, before there was time, there was timelessness. Time as we know it was not measured in any way shape or form as we know it here on Earth.
On day 4 what we are observing is God putting in the second hand, minute hand and hour hand of our clock so that we can know exactly what time it is.
Because of the lights
put in heaven, we know exactly what day it is, (sabbath) we know the year
(2019-gregorian calendar) (we know the month-September)
Question 2
1. Why were the lights placed in heaven?
As stated before in our
study of day 2, what is in heaven 1 & 2 can be seen by man and therefore he
can both comment and learn from what he observes. Consequently lights were in
heaven so that everyman could see it.
In part 1 of this study we made the application that light can mean “to give someone understanding” Hence to be in the dark means to be ignorant and possess a misunderstanding.
In part 1 of this study we made the application that light can mean “to give someone understanding” Hence to be in the dark means to be ignorant and possess a misunderstanding.
So the light being shun
open Earth from heaven was for all to see and understand.
Question 3
Why were the lights to
give light upon the Earth? Vs 15
As we established in our
day one study Earth, was to be the place of the great show 1 Cor 4:9.
What we know as the great controversy; the great battle between good and evil. Hence I want you to understand that Earth would be where God would point to as His lesson book, where all creation would look and learn.
What we know as the great controversy; the great battle between good and evil. Hence I want you to understand that Earth would be where God would point to as His lesson book, where all creation would look and learn.
Rom 1:20
20 For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so
that they are without excuse:
You will remember that
it was Earth that was placed in the place of darkness; consequently it was this Earth which
needed illumination. Since this was covered in great detail in our previous
study on day one, I will not labor this point. However, I will ask that you
turn your bible to 1 Cor 4:9 to
strengthen this point.
9 For I think that
God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we
are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
Know and understand that
the earth was supposed to be lesson book. For further clarification, see day
one of this series ( 1 Cor 4:9 and Rom 1:20)
Something had gone
terribly wrong, and there was now a misunderstanding that needed clarification.
This is why the
scripture records that the lights created were to be shed light upon the Earth.
Question 4
What is the significance
of the two great lights? Verse 16
He made the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Virtually every detail in the bible is part of a highly skillful integrated design. In fact, every word, every place named, every little detail was apparently placed there as part of an overall intricate plan. The placement of numbers in
scripture is no different. Usually, they are mentioned
deliberately to convey a very special message.
Now we should be asking
Additional Questions
“What message should we be getting
here that the number two is used to refer to the great lights? Could it be that
that these two lights refer to the old and new testament or the prophets of old
and Jesus?
Note that scripture
records that the evening of a day precedes its morning.
And the evening and the
morning were the 1st day…
And the evening and the
morning were the 2nd day …
And the evening and the
morning were the 3rd day …
etc.
This is so significant,
and I do not need to make the case with you. We as 7th day
Adventists know and celebrate the eve of Sabbath from Friday till the eve of
Saturday. This is something that has been since creation, this concept is not
new to us, however it goes a little deeper.
Since the eve is the
beginning of a day, it follows that there is a period called night which also
comes also before the brighter part of the day.
So if we are to
understand this correctly, the time of the Lesser light (the night) precedes
the time of the greater light.
Why is this important to understand?
Turn with me to Heb
1:1-2
1:1 God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets,
1:2 Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son,
You might be saying yeah we know that but what does that have to do with
the evening and the morning?
Bear with me as I try to make the case.
Turn to Malachi
4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow
up as calves of the stall.
Q. Who is this Sun of righteousness?
A. Jesus
So if Jesus is the sun of righteousness, who was the Moon of
righteousness and the stars?
Let us go back to
Heb 1:1-2
1:1 God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets,
1:2 Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son,
Is it beginning to dawn on
you who these were?
Let us now turn to a text that
we all know, and allude to as a representation of the church.
Turn to Rev 12:1
12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
In this context we are to understand that the lesser lights (the
moon and stars) represents the prophets of Old and such as (Micah, Nahum
Habakkuk so forth) and the sun represents the greatest prophet of all Jesus
Christ.
Also we know that the last book was written by the beloved disciple John.
The 1st 2nd and
3rd epistles were written AD 96, but Revelation was written AD
98.
Is it coincidental then, that the book of revelation begins the way it does?
Rev
1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him,
to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent
and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:
In this sense we can understand what Hebrews was saying.
God spoke in times past by the prophets, but now has spoken unto us by his son
God spoke in times past by the prophets, but now has spoken unto us by his son
Now this is not to
refute Sis E White as a prophet, because she was definitely used by God to
steer this great movement.
But this is to tell you
that God has given us a special the message for the last days through his son.
What is the greatest and
last letter written to the churches?
Is it not Revelation?
Consequently, why the study of this book for the end time is so important.
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it
speaks to the conclusion of the whole matter. What shall come to pass in the last
days i.e in the last 2000 years of earth’s history.
Verse 16 The greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to
rule the night
The night is almost gone the day is
coming on.
The part where the prophets of old
spoke is gone, and the time where Jesus speaks is now.
The Sun, Moon and Stars
represent the three major players involved in the great controversy.
For more details on this
is topic, read the book , the truth about angels.
Incidentally
The doctrine of Christmas
is similar to this.
2nd application
-the sun represents God
the moon his bride
and the stars are his children
Although this is a Pagan doctrine
of - Tamuz , Saramis and Nimrod, you can
see how close it is to the real thing documented in the book of Genesis.
That was the end of the easy questions. Now we take off our gloves and we go deep into scripture.
Turn again to Rom 1:20
20 For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so
that they are without excuse:
Although the classroom
is set in Heaven (where God dwells) the educational benefit is both for Heaven
and the Earth.
As we established in our
day 2 study, the firmament is not just the sky, but the sky plus the entire
starry universe.
Question 1- revisited
Beyond what I said
previously is there any other deeper application as to why God placed these lights
in heaven?
Previously we said that
the function of the lights were:
I.
to divide the day from the night;
II.
for signs, and for seasons,
III.
and for days, and years:
IV.
for lights in the firmament of the heaven
V.
to give light upon the earth:
For our bible scholars,
know that we are going to go deeper but must gradually proceed. There is rather
deep significance about these functions of these lights which we shall soon
uncover.
Initially, I did not get
anything here, other than the literal interpretation, i.e. time is calculated
by using the sun, moon and stars. We understand for the most part, night and
day and years, but what does signs and seasons mean?
Surely this has the
interpretation of summer winter spring and fall. But is it not possible that we
can go a little deeper with our application? Is it possible that there were
specific time events that these lights were to point to?
This seems to be the
case.
Turn to
Dan 2:19-23
You will remember that
King Nebuchadnezzar had a
dream, and no wise man in Babylon could reveal it. Then Daniel prayed to God
after he is to be killed along with the “Wisemen” of Babylon, and the dream and
its interpretation is revealed.
Now some very
interesting phrases are used in the explanation of the dream, but one is directly
associated with what we are studying here, see if you can pick it up.
Dan 2:19-23
21 is our focus verse
19 Then
was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the
God of heaven.
20 Daniel
answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and
might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he
removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and
secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise
thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast
made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known
unto us the king's matter.
21 is our focus verse
2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: (phrase
1)
Q. (who changes times and seasons?
A. -God!- so the little
horn is here coveting the place of God, exercising the prerogatives of God by
wanting to change laws and times Dan7:25)
he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: (phrase 2)
he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge
to them that know understanding: ( phrase 3)
THE EXPLANATION
Turn to Daniel 2:37-38
Daniel 2 and 3 explain these 3 phrases with practical examples, but in
reverse order. Let us look at the explanation for these phrases.
Notice how the 3rd phrase
is explained. Remember we are looking at them in reverse order 3, 2, then 1.
The explanation of 3rd
phrase (practical example)
he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
2:23 I
thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we
desired of thee: for thou hast [now] made known unto us the king's
matter.
The explanation of 2nd phrase
(practical example-Daniel 2:37-38
he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: (phrase 2)
2:37 Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
2:37 Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
2:38 And
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of
the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them
all. Thou [art] this head of gold.
Q. Who set up
Nebuchadnezzar on the throne?
A. God did! Since God
had put him there, God is the one who removed the previous ruler. Remember
Daniel is here explaining to the king the meaning of his dream, how other kings
will come to the earth after him. (God shall then set up a kingdom that should
never be destroyed)
The explanation of 1st phrase
2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: (phrase 1)
Where is the explanation of this phrase found? The explanation of “ Times and seasons”.
Where is the explanation of this phrase found? The explanation of “ Times and seasons”.
Summary chapter 2:
Ok in chapter 2 we
remember Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the interpretation that Daniel gives is
that there shall follow 5 more kingdoms after him. However in chapter 3 we find
Nebuchadnezzar building an image of complete gold. What do you
suppose Nebuchadnezzar was saying by building the entire image of Gold?
He was saying that there will be no other kingdom after his. In other
words he is saying that he rejects the calendar of events given to him by God.
Since he rejects the time table given to him, he institutes his own and makes
it a law that all should acknowledge his image or face death.
Does this sound similar
to what is going to happen in the end time? This event becomes a prophecy, remember
what is said in rev14:9..“If any man worship the beast and his image”
Nebuchadnezzar - the beast
His idol - the image
Type
Since we have a lot to cover I only hope that you can realize the
typology of what time change we are talking about here, and why it was so important
that God himself had to intervene for the 3 Hebrew boys. Azariah, Mishaal &
Hananiah also known as shadraach Meshack and Abednego.
We often say that the Hebrews were just refusing to worship the idol;
however, there is a deeper application here. If the Hebrew boys had decided to
bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image, they would not only be guilty of idol worship, but also guilty of acknowledging Nebuchadnezzar’s calendar. If they had compromised, their actions would have been in direct defiance to the calendar that
God had set up.
Because they knew that God is in charge of times and seasons they could
not bow. Remember also that they were Daniel's companions who also received the dream and its interpretation.
This is only a sidebar of our study however, let's get back on track.
Dan 2:19-23
Let us look at another example
Acts1:6-8
1:6 When
they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
1:7 And
he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which
the Father hath put in his own power.
1:8 But
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This is a prophetic question. Asking when the prophetic event of the
Kingdom being restored to Israel should take place. Look at the way at which
Christ answers them…..that times and seasons are events that God has in his
calendar and he has not revealed it yet.
Q. So what are times and
seasons
A. Times and seasons
have to do with events that are in God’s calendar.
Let us look at another
text
1Thes 5:1 & 2
5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto
you.
5:2 For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the
night.
Q. What is being spoken
of here?
A. The second coming of
Christ, the close of probation and the end of the world.
It seems safe to conclude that Times and season refer to specific
prophetic events that occur in God's calendar. More specifically as it has to do
with the coming of Christ. Whether the first, second, or third.
This is therefore the reason that the lights created on the 4th day of creation were to tell times and seasons. Do you get it?
Q. Have you ever wondered how it was that Enoch was able to see not just
the first coming of God, but his second coming as well?
A. It is by contemplation
of the events revealed in the creation week. Remember they did not have the
written word, nature was their teacher, and the story that they had of
creation.
Question 6
Why did God choose the
fourth day to create lights in the firmament?
It is with great
apprehension that I present this to you, because while it is blatant in the
scriptures, it is widely rejected because we are afraid to prophecy again. As
John was instructed to do in
Rev10:11
11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and
nations, and tongues, and kings.
I believe with all my
heart that a day is a thousand years and here is just one more reason why I
believe this.
When Christ came, the
human race had endured 4000 years of sin. This is recorded in many places in
Sister White’s writings, and for the most part this is common knowledge
throughout all of Christendom.
Slide
Here are just a few of those quotes.
Confrontation PG 31 & 78
The Temptation
In the desolate wilderness, Christ was not in so favorable a position to endure the temptations of Satan as was Adam when he was tempted in Eden. The Son of God humbled Himself and took man's nature after the race had wandered four thousand years from Eden, and from their original state of purity and uprightness. Sin had been making its terrible marks upon the race for ages; and physical, mental, and moral degeneracy prevailed throughout the human family. {Con 31.3}
When Adam was assailed by the tempter in Eden, he was without the taint of sin. He stood before God in the strength of perfect manhood. All the organs and faculties of his being were equally developed, and harmoniously balanced. {Con 31.4}
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Christ, in the wilderness of temptation, stood in Adam's place to bear the test he failed to endure. Here Christ overcame in the sinner's behalf, four thousand years after Adam turned his back upon the light of his home.
Therefore the power of his temptations was in accordance with the greatness of the object which he would lose or gain. For four thousand years, ever since the declaration was made to Adam that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, he had been planning his manner of attack. {Con 78.2}
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
DESIRE OF AGES 48
It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life. {DA 48.5}
I go a little deeper
into this application on day 6 and 7 of
this series.
Adam accepted the lamb slain, at
the foundation of the Earth as the replacement for his sin. He knew a son would
come and redeem him.
But he did not understood that it
was going to be 4000 years before it would be fulfilled. Until it was
explained.
See Genesis 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said,
I have gotten a man from the Lord.
Some commentators see Eve's response at
Cain's birth as something positive. Upon Cain's birth Eve said, I have gotten a
man from the Lord. or as the Revised Version translates the verse, with the
help of the Lord. This interpretation would have Eve acknowledging God's hand
in the birth of the child. She would see it as part of the fulfillment of the
promise of God that her seed would crush the serpent's head.
4 thousand days exactly
Christ came
After Adam had his first son (when
he makes the declaration-I have gotten a man child from the Lord) it was
explained that the promised son, who would take away the sin of the world, would not come
until the 4th day, or 4000 years from the point of sin.
As a result, the calendar started
with 4000 and started to count down until the birth. Consequently, you have
4000. B.C. before Christ comes. This was the time that they were to look for
the messiah or the promised son to come. B.C means before Christ.
And A.D. means after death.
Question 6
At this point you should be able to
understand, Why God waited until the fourth day to create lights in the
firmament.
On the 4th day
God made the sun and moon-the greater light to rule the day and the lesser
light to rule the night. (old and new testament)
Hebrews 1:God who
at sundry time and in divers manner has in these last days spoken unto us by
his son
Rev
1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him,
to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent
and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:
Type
Moses was
a type of Christ
-the children of Israel were to be in bondage
for 400 years before the deliverer would come. A day for 100 years
They
would travel 40 years before entering the promised land
A day for 10 years
Appeal
The fourth day the son
of man came
John 1---this is
the condemnation that light has come and reject because you love darkness
Won’t you accept the truth while he
still lingers?
Dan 9:27
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The bible has been pointing us to this truth
for so long.
Although this is a different topic it does
strengthen the point that we are trying to make that Christ was here on day 4,
in the midst of the week.
Early Writings – pg 44
Some of these agents of Satan were
affecting the bodies of some of the saints--those whom they could not deceive
and draw away from the truth by a Satanic influence. Oh, that all could get a
view of it as God revealed it to me, that they might know more of the wiles of
Satan and be on their guard! I saw that Satan was at work in these ways
to distract, deceive, and draw away God's people, just now in this sealing
time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present truth. Their knees
were trembling, and their feet sliding, because they were not firmly planted on
the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could not be drawn over them while
they were thus trembling. {EW 44.1}
Satan
was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was
past, until the covering was drawn over God's people, and they left without a
shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues.
God has begun to draw this covering
over His people, and it will soon be drawn over all who are to have a shelter
in the day of slaughter. Although God will work in power for His people; Satan
is also permitted to work as well.
The devil knows what
coming….we haven’t even began to wrap our minds around the wrath of
God. As a result the devil has caused us to trivialize death, the grave and
hell, and any other topics relating to
this…in an effort to keep us in a stupor until the protective covering of God
is gone.
It is my hope that after my presentation this
evening your hope and faith will be strengthened, and you will walk henceforth
with the consciousness of just how true the word of God is and how close the second
coming of the Lord is. I also hope that this will empower you to go out and
warn all your friends/neighbors even your very enemies of the impending danger
that is up ahead.
Why do I use the word danger? One of the most
severe warnings ever to be found in Scripture is found Rev14 as a part of the 3
angel’s message. The wrath of God poured out without mixture. We can scarcely
begin to comprehend his love for us. Do you think we can comprehend his wrath,
poured out without the mixture of mercy? Rev 14:10
Our prophet tells us that the earth has never
seen God’s wrath poured out without mercy. So think of the cruelest display of
God’s wrath in the bible if you can, if her statement is true then that meant
that there was mercy mingled with that! Noah and the flood, there was mercy,
Sodom and Gomorrah there was mercy, at the end of time…there will be no more
mercy! Now do you get the idea of what is coming? I hope so. My desire is that
you will not numbered among those to experience this wrath, but the benefits of
His love.
Heb 10:26-31
10:26 For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
10:27 But
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
devour the adversaries.
10:28 He
that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
10:29 Of
how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace?
10:30 For
we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
10:31 [It
is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Amen
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