I Saw the Light

Many readers of the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 have wondered why God creates light on the first day but doesn’t create the sun, moon and stars until the fourth day. Now, the ancient Hebrew may not have had a very sophisticated understanding of astronomy, but he must have had some idea that light came from the sun. How does one explain this obvious blunder?

Creationist Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis explains it this way: “God created light first. He then created the sun to be the light-bearer for earth.” Thanks for clearing that up, Ken.

Reviewing other creationist websites, the most common explanation is that the light created on Day 1 emanated from a source other than the sun. Perhaps it was a cosmic light coming from God. At any rate, it alternated in some fashion with the darkness to provide Day and Night. (There was no rotation of the earth because, as we previously discussed, the ANE concept of the cosmos was of a flat, unmovable earth.) The sun, moon and stars were created on Day 4 as sources for the light that had already been created on Day 1. (For the time being we're going to ignore that the moon only shines by reflected light from the sun.)

In fact, some creationists argue that the counter-intuitive order of light before sun is “a hallmark of authenticity” because if the story had been made up, the author would have God creating the sun on the first day. “Having ‘day’ without the sun would have been generally inconceivable to the ancients.” The problem with that statement is that it was very conceivable to the ancients.

In 1849, archaeologists digging through the ruins of a library in in Nineveh (modern-day Mosul in Iraq) discovered thousands of fragments of clay tablets from various texts. One of these texts was a Babylonian creation myth called Enuma Elish, after its first two words. In 1000 lines on seven tablets, the epic tells the story of the god Marduk who slayed the sea monster Tiamat and, after using her carcass to create a new world, established the city of Babylon where Marduk was celebrated as king of the gods.

On line 38 of the first tablet of Enuma Elish, one god complains to another: “By day I cannot rest, by night [I cannot lie down]”. The account of Marduk creating the stars of the zodiac, moon and sun is on the fragmentary fifth tablet. The stated purpose of creating the zodiac was to regulate the months and the moon was appointed “to determine the days”. And therein lies a very important clue. The cosmic light that alternated with darkness provided a sense of Day and Night, a degree of order over the chaos of darkness that existed prior to light’s existence. But without sun, moon and stars, there was no way to know if the day had just begun or was about the end. No way to know if it was time to plant crops or if winter was coming. By creating the heavenly bodies, Marduk was really creating a way for humans to reckon Time.

This matches up with how the Bible describes the purpose of the heavenly bodies. According to Gen 1:14, the sun, moon and stars were created to “be signs for the seasons, the days and the years” (v. 14). But why couldn’t the astral bodies have been created on the first day?

To the ancient mind, it would have been impossible for God to have created them on Day 1 because the prerequisites were missing. On Day 1, there was nothing but the watery abyss and darkness. At a minimum, God needed to create the dome of sky in which to place the heavenly bodies. But, you also have to consider that the end goal of the Genesis author was to provide justification for the Sabbath rest. That required a regime of creative activity spread out over six days. When you start off with only primordial darkness, the first creative act has to be the creation of light in order to begin the cycle of Day and Night. And, as the Enuma Elish shows, the idea of light existing prior to the heavenly bodies was certainly an option. But why wait until Day 4 to create sun, moon and stars?


Sunrise on the Florida shoreline (photo by author)

Genesis 1:1-2:3 has an orderly, parallel structure that the rambling Enuma Elish lacks. Many have noticed that in the first three days, God creates: 1) light, 2) the firmament to separate the waters above the sky from the waters of the sea, and 3) dry land. During the next three days, God creates: 1) moving bodies of light, 2) living creatures to inhabit the sky and sea, and 3) living creatures and humans to inhabit the dry land. At the end of the third day, God creates vegetation on the new earth, and on the sixth day, he gives the vegetation over to his creatures as food. (God’s original intent was that there would be no killing for food. That would only come later, after the Flood.) Finally, on the seventh day, God rested.

The creation of the light-giving bodies on Day 4 parallels the creation of light itself on Day 1. The prerequisites are now in place: light alternates with darkness to give us orderly days, the dome of sky separating the waters will provide the location for the astral bodies, and the dry land will be the dwelling place for humanity. From the earth, humans will be able to track the motions of the light-giving bodies as they move through the sky so they can know when it is time to celebrate the Sabbath and other religious feasts.

Far from being a goof, creation of light prior to the sun was a logical necessity once you understand the goal behind the creation account in Gen 1:1-2:3 and the ancient concept of the cosmos.