The easiest explanation is that God caused light to exist apart from the source of sun and stars until those were created, something clearly within His power. This raises what some see as a difficult question: How did God create light and day and night on the first day (Genesis 1:3–4) if He had not yet created the sun? It's a reasonable question, and we don't have a perfect answer. This verse describes day four, where God commands that there exist 'lights in the expanse of the heavens,' or in the 'vault of the sky.' The following verses will explain that these 'lights' are the sun, moon, and stars. In this case, on day one, God used His creative words to form light. That is, what God creates in each of these last three days is placed in the setting He created on the corresponding earlier day. By clearly showing God's creation and control, Genesis dispels the idea that there are any true gods other than God.ĭays four, five, and six of the Genesis creation week correspond to days one, two, and three. For the original readers of Scripture, this countered the widespread belief that stars, comets, and the sun were themselves divine. And yet, the core point of these verses is impossible to miss: God made all the heavenly bodies, ascribed to the fourth day of His creation week. These words were originally written in Hebrew, and under a highly structured repeating pattern. Regardless of translation, verses 14 through 18 can seem somewhat awkward in English. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years.

Genesis 1:14, CSB: Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Genesis 1:14, NLT: Then God said, 'Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Genesis 1:14, NASB: Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years Genesis 1:14, KJV: And 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: And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, Genesis 1:14, ESV: And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. Genesis 1:14 Parallel Verses Genesis 1:14, NIV: And God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,

Firmament bible verse