The Sun, Moon, and Stars
Old Testament Contradictions
In this part, I’ve considered all the science conflicts I found that had to do with the solar system. As before, Q is the quote from the site that claimed contradiction, M is my response.
Q: Gen 1:16 God made two great lights, one to rule over the day, the other the night (moon is seen at day too)
M: The Hebrew term maor is simply “light, or luminous body” and does not indicate that the light has to be made from its own resources. To back this up, Proverbs 15:30 shows that the eyes have this maor light also. If He designed the moon to shine light by reflection, does that make it less of a light?
As for the moon seen during the day, I've known of many rulers that visit other countries, but they are still king of their realm when not in their domain. Even with that, the sun still provides the light during the day, not the moon; therefore, the sun rules the day. Needless to say (but I’m gonna say it anyway), you’ll not see the sun during the darkness of the night. Even in Alaska, it’s considered daytime while the sun remains above the horizon.
Q: Gen 1:16 God made the sun, then the stars (same as sun, but many are millions of years older)
M: This one seems to be one of those nitpicking ones, but let’s play with it anyway. The original layout of the verse is basically, “And God made two lights to rule the day and night, and the stars.” As pointed out in the post on Creation, the conjunction waw is generally used to determine order of time, but nothing about how long between the time. So, is this really saying God made the sun and moon before the stars?
Hebrew is such a fun language…not! The waw before “the stars” has an attachment -eth, making it a direct object marker in reference to the last imperfect verb, in this case “made.” In simple words, this attaches “the stars” to “God made”, ignoring everything else in the middle. Therefore, one way of reading this is “God made the two lights and the stars. He had the greater light rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night.” We’re then back to God making the sun and the stars during the same time period, which is scientifically true.
Q: JB 9:7 God can make the sun not rise and seal up the stars.
M: And why not? Let’s start with the stars. Sealing up simply means we won’t be able to see the stars’ shine, whether that be by clouds, light pollution, distance from the earth, or they’ve exploded into tiny bits. Considering we can realistically see about 2,500 stars, give or take, with the naked eye, and, on the low end estimate, there are approximately 1 septillion (or 1 quadrillion in the European system) stars, I’d say most of the stars are yet sealed up from us.
The Hebrew “rise” also means “come forth” (For example, see Isaiah 58:10, where he declares that God’s “light shall rise in the darkness,” Isaiah certainly didn’t truly expect God was going to literally rise up on the horizon.) However, I'll get into the “rising” and “setting” of the sun later......
Q: Psalms 121:6 It is apparently possible to suffer moonstroke as well as sunstroke.
M: Psalms is a book of poetry, some set to music. Everything in it could be given poetic license, if necessary. Having said that, here the Bible is warning us about nighttime hazards for it says “By day, the sun shall not strike you, nor the moon by night.” Studies have shown there are more traffic accidents, more babies being born, more outdoor crime, and less sleep during the full moon. Scientists believe it’s because there is more light during the full moon, therefore, people tend to be outside at night more. The moon may not be “striking” you directly, but it does seem to assist in the dangers, especially if you’re outside during the night. Rather insightful, wouldn’t you say?
Credit Tenor.com https://tenor.com/view/eclipse-solar-eclipse-sun-moon-gif-14738954
Q: Amos 8:9 The Sun will be made to set at noon in "clear day."
M: And why not? God said He would do it, so I believe it. The sun was eclipsed the day Jesus died on the cross. It might be the same thing; it literally says, “I will make the sun go at noon, I will darken the earth in broad daylight.” This is talking about a future event. Whether the sun is eclipsed by the moon or possibly the aftermath of Wormwood, who knows? But I’m sure humanity will find out one day.
Q: Ezek 32:7 The (small) Sun can be easily covered with a cloud
M: Uhm, I don't see what the problem is here. Did I miss something? This happens every day around the world. Nor does anything in the original Hebrew state the sun is small.
https://tenor.com/view/clouds-sky-sun-aesthetic-gif-17342806
Q: Psalms 50:1, 113:3, Isaiah 59:19, Mala 1:11, Eccl 12:2 Sun rises, falls, and returns Psalms 19:6 Jude 5:31 Sun goes forth from the end of heaven, and circulates
M: Sam and Melody stood on their patio facing the ocean, watching the last rays of the sun across the Pacific. Melody snuggled in Sam’s arm, the light breeze rustling her hair, causing it to slightly tickle her cheek. Sam drew his head down near her ear and softly whispered, “My dear, sweet Melody, let's go sit on the beach and watch the earth rotate 3 more degrees so that we can view the sun in its stationary place as the ocean is raised above the sun, thereby covering it.....”
Now, seriously, how are people going to read our literature thousands of years from now? How confused they are going to think we were: that the baby growing inside of us isn’t alive until almost birthed, that men can have babies, there are more than 2 genders, the Arctic will be melted by 2020 (didn’t happen, by the way), cow flatulence will burn the earth, deficits don’t matter, trans fats and eggs are healthy-no wait, they’re not or maybe they are, experts know it all, and the science is settled. Anyways, there is no book I know that talks about the actual mechanics of the sun rising or setting, except those boring science books. Just kidding! I love science and am genuinely fascinated with many scientific things.
Getting back to the verses, Psalms 19:6 talks about the circuit (completion) of the sun, the tequphah, that is the same word used for the completion of the year, Exodus 34:22, or “in due time”, as in 1 Sam 1:20. So that is talking about the sun completing its term of the full day. I did my best trying to find what book was meant instead of Jude, but couldn’t come up with it.
This ends the lovely sun, moon and stars discussion. Next up will be the earth, the final science section. If you thought this guy nitpicked here, wait until you see just how far he goes with trying to tear the Bible up with the earth. It’s kind of sad, really.
©2024 Kelly L. Hartley
Kelly L. Hartley, a new author, writes Bible studies, devotions, fiction, and poems. She focuses on Bible contradictions for her “Spare Time Musings” on Substack. She’s a member of Ozark Chapter of American Christian Writers and Springfield Writer’s Guild. Social media: Substack, 𝕏, Facebook, Instagram.