WORD STUDY OF " GENESIS 1:14"
WORD STUDY OF AGENESIS 1:14"
By Arthur Ryan
Genesis 1:14 is often referred to as a key scripture for a Festival Calendar.
Before we read Genesis 1:14, let me start paraphrasing verses two through thirteen to quickly get some context or background information.
Verse two starts by describing the condition of the earth at that time. AThe earth was completely covered with water and darkness, and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.@
In verses three through five, God starts creating and naming things as He @renews the face of the earth,@ (Ps. 104:30), making it suitable for plant and animal life by creating light. AIn the first day God created light and He called light Day and darkness Night.@
Verses six thru eight tells how God created a firmament [expanse] in the midst of the waters, and divided waters from the waters by dividing the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. AIn the second day, God created a firmament that He called Heaven.@
Verses nine through thirteen tells what was created on the third day: AGod let the waters under heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let dry land appear. And God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. God let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth.@
Now, reading the first part of verse 14. AAND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHTS IN THE FIRMAMENT OF THE HEAVEN TO DIVIDE THE DAY FROM THE NIGHT.@
This day, God created LIGHTS in the firmament of heaven, the firmament God named Heaven that was created on the second day.
Verses 15-19 provides us with more information about these lights. AAnd let them be for LIGHTS in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon earth: and it was so. (16) And 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. (17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, (18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.@
Psalms 136:7-9, is a psalm of thanks written by David to God, the Lord, and the words of thanks are repeated after each statement. (7) ATo Him that made great lights: for His mercy endureth for ever: (8) The Sun to rule by day: Y (9) The Moon and Stars to rule by night: Y David was well aware of the LIGHTS that God created on the fourth day.
Go back and read the last part of Genesis 1:14 that states what these LIGHTS, the Sun, Moon and Stars are to be used for: AAND LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS, AND FOR SEASONS, AND FOR DAYS, AND YEARS.
Reading Psalms 104:19, notice the statement David made about the moon. (19) AHE APPOINTED THE MOON FOR SEASONS: the Sun knoweth his going down.@ We have to use the Moon to determine when the new moons or months begin. The number for SEASONS, in Strong=s Exhaustive Concordance, in this verse is #4150 and it is for a Hebrew word that has a lot of meanings pertaining to the LORD=S FESTIVALS. #4150, mo=ed=, mo-ade=; from 3259; properly an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):-- appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed). Most people condense these meanings of #4150, mo=ed to Aappointed times.@
The word ASEASONS@ in Genesis 1:14 is also Strong=s #4150, the same Hebrew word meaning Aappointed times.@
In Leviticus, chapter 23, this same Hebrew word, #4150, mo=ed is translated Afeasts@ in some of the verses. Notice verses 1-4, AAnd the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the Afeasts@ (4150, appointed times) of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my Afeasts@ (#4150). (3) Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; you shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. (4) These are the Afeasts@ (#4150) of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their Aseasons@ (#4150). Here in these verses, the LORD tells us that the weekly Sabbaths and feasts are HIS Aappointed times.@
We can now understand that Genesis 1:14 is a key component for a calendar that tells us the Aappointed times@ of the LORD. We can also see that during creation week, God was making preparations for the future when HE would instruct man to come before Him at Aappointed times.@
It is in Exodus, chapter 12, where the LORD begins to instruct Moses and Aaron about a festival calendar. (2) AThis month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.@ Also, in verses 3-20, the LORD gave instructions for the first Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread.
The words month or months in Exodus 12:2 are Strong=s #2320, the Hebrew word chodest, kho=-desh; from 2318; the new moon; by implication a month:-- month (-ly), new moon.
In 1 Chronicles 23:31, instructions of the duties of the Levites are given about offering burnt sacrifices. (31) AAnd to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the Sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD.@
In Numbers 28:11-14, Israel is being instructed to offer the various offerings for all the new moons. Let us just read the beginning of verse 11 and the last part of verse 14. (11) AAnd in the beginning of your months you shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; (14) Y this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.@
Notice the prophecy that Isaiah made about the new moons in the future. Isaiah, chapter 66, verse (23): AAnd it shall come to pass, that from one new moon [one month] to another, and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the LORD.@
We can now understand why we have to use the MOON to determine when all the new moons or months begin.
The LIGHTS that God created in Genesis 1:14 were to also be used for SIGNS. My first thought about a Asign@ was the Star that led the wise men from the East to Jerusalem while searching for Jesus. In Jerusalem, the wise men were told to look in Bethlehem, and on their way there, the Star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. You can read this parable in Numbers 24:17, and about the event in Matthew 2:1-11.
A rainbow is a Atoken@ or sign of the covenant that God made with every living creature of all flesh that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh, Genesis 9:8-17. AAnd God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, (9) And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; (10) And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, or the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. (11) And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (12) And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: (13) I do set My bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. (14) And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: (15) And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (16) And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. (17) And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.@
The word SIGNS in Genesis 1:14 is Strong=s number 226 and the word Atoken@ that we read in verses 12, 13, and 17 is the same Hebrew word owth, oth; probable from 225 (in the sense of appearing); a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.:-- mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.
The Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes are SIGNS that mark the Aturns@ of the year all around the earth. An equinox is one of two times a year when the sun passes directly over earth=s equator, from sunrise to sunset is 12 hours. No part of the earth is hidden from the sun=s light or heat on the day of the equinox.
This Latin word, equinox, is not mentioned by that name in the scriptures but Psalms 19:6 describes what an equinox does. (6) AHis going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.@ The word Acircuit@ in this verse is Strong=s #8622, the Hebrew word Atequwphah@ or@tequphah,@ tek-oo-faw=; from 5362; a revolution, i.e. (of the sun) course, (of time) lapse:-- circuit, come about, end. The Hebrew word for Aheat@ in this verse is Strong=s #2535, chammah, kham-maw=, from 2525; heat; by implication the sun:--heat, sun.
As the sun makes its circuit (across the equator) there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. A good description of what an equinox does.
In Exodus 34:22, this same Hebrew word, tequphah, #8622, indicates that the Autumnal Equinox in September marks the year=s end or turn of the year, referring to the last part of the festival year. (22) AAnd thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year=s end, (Strong=s #8622). Jay P. Green=s Interlinear Bible translates the word end in this verse as the year=s Aturn.@
Another example of the Hebrew word, tequphah, #8622, being used to describe the year=s end or year=s turn, referring to the last part of the festival year, is found in 2 Chronicles 24:23. (23) AAnd it came to pass at the end (#8622) of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: ..."
It is interesting to note that as we read in Exodus 34:22, it describes Athe feast of ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles) at the year=s end. The Autumnal Equinox or Ayear=s turn@ which occurs about September 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere usually occurs during the Feast of Tabernacles or before. The Vernal Equinox or Aturn@ occurs about March 21st, when Spring begins.
The rainbows and equinoxes are SIGNS made by the Sun.
The LIGHTS that God created in Genesis 1:14 were also to be used for DAYS. The word ADAYS@ in this verse is Strong=s number 3117, the Hebrew word yowm, yome; an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours) whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term).
At the arctic region around the North Pole and the antarctic region around the South Pole, the sun never rises and there are 24 hours of darkness each day, when the Sun is not in that hemisphere of the earth.
With the above exception, a DAY is defined in scripture as the period of time from one sunset to the next sunset. After six DAYS are completed, the seventh DAY begins, which is a rest DAY, Genesis 2:2-3. AAnd on the Aseventh day@ God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the Aseventh day@ from all His work which He had made. (3) And God blessed the Aseventh day,@ and sanctified it: because in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.@ In these verses emphasis was placed on a specific DAY, the Aseventh day.@
The Aseventh day@ is very important to God. In Exodus, chapter 20, God included it in the Ten Commandments and does emphasize Ayou shall not do any work in the seventh day Sabbath.@ (8) ARemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shall you labor, and do all thy work; (10) But the >seventh day= is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the >seventh day:= wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.@
In Exodus 31:12-17, the LORD states the seventh DAY Sabbath is a SIGN. (12) AAnd the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (13) Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a SIGN between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. (14) You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is Holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (15) Six DAYS may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, Holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath Day, he shall be put to death. (16) Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (17) It is a SIGN between Me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh DAY He rested, and was refreshed. The seventh DAY Sabbath is a SIGN that Amarks@ everyone that does no work on the seventh Day.
YEARS are defined, in the Gregorian Calendar that is used today, as a period of 365 days (366 in leap years) beginning January 1, as one revolution of the Earth around the Sun.
From one Vernal Equinox or turn to the next Vernal Equinox is the best way to measure a YEAR in regard to the LORD=S Festival Calendar. The Festival YEAR begins in the Spring instead of the middle of Winter.
By sharing with you some of the things I have learned as a result of studying this verse, Genesis 1:14, I hope you have a better understanding of the lights [objects], which are the Sun, Moon and Stars which were created on the fourth day and their purpose: for SIGNS, SEASONS, DAYS, and YEARS.
Genesis 1:14 is a key verse in regard to God=s Festival Calendar.
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