Psalms 104:19

THE FOURTH DAY OF CREATION

"He appointed the moon for seasons:

The sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night,

Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey,

And seek their food from God.

The sun ariseth, they get them away,

And lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth unto his work

And to his labor until the evening."

In Genesis 1:14-19, is found the basis of what is written here. We shall mention one feature of the fourth day which is often overlooked. The sacred text states that, "God set them (the sun, moon and stars) in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth" (Genesis 1:17). Also they were thus set in order to produce the seasons. Significantly, it is not here stated that God created the sun, moon, stars and the earth; because that had already been accomplished in the very first day of creation. Then what was it that occurred on the fourth day? We believe that God Almighty moved the earth from some other location and established it in its present orbit around the sun with its axis inclined 23 degrees upon the plane of its orbit. Would such a maneuver indeed have "set the sun, moon and stars" in the earth's firmament? See my comments in Vol. I of my Pentateuchal series of commentaries (Genesis) regarding this "fourth day." Is there a better explanation of what is meant by this? If so, we have not encountered it.

In this discussion of the fourth day, as in the others, it is not the mere fact of creation that is stressed, but the results of what was created.

The day and the night provide dual opportunities. The young lions search for their prey at night and retire to their dens in the daytime. Man, on the other hand works in the daytime and retires to his place at night. God's creation provides the correct environment for all of the creatures God made to live upon earth.