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Signs, Seasons, Days and Years
December 21, 2019

For the last several weeks we asked the question, "Why is the world so messed up?" Last week we considered God's Holy Days and man's holidays and reviewed why we need to keep God's Holy Days. Today's Bible study is joined by a companion sermon and sermon transcript, and on this winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, we will be see one of the purposes of sun, the moon, and the stars.

Since the very beginning of time, aside from looking at eye-level, people have either kept their eyes on the ground or looking up to the sky, and when eyes are looking skyward, there is so much to see. Today, we’ll see how what is seen is used for signs, seasons, days and years.

The winter solstice happens either on December 21st for most of us living in the western hemisphere, those living in the eastern hemisphere it will happen on December 22nd. The winter solstice is not the entire day, but that brief specific moment, 9:19 p.m. the time when the earth is tilted furthest away from the Sun in the northern hemisphere. The day marks the longest night and shortest day of the year for us living in the northern hemisphere. Just the exact opposite would happen in the southern hemisphere. As we learned last week when we were considering God’s Holy Days and man’s holidays, ancient cultures looked at this time of year as a time of death and rebirth. The winter solstice was definitely seen as a significant moment in that time.

As Christians, we look to the Bible to understand the days that are important to God. Today, we’ll take a look at the heavens, and the stars, and the sun, not from the perspective of a civilization here on earth, but from the Bible. We’ll find out that what we see up above are for signs, seasons, days, and years.

Genesis 1:14-19
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 lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 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. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

As part of God’s creation, God created the sun, we see during the day, and the moon and the stars we see at night. In the preceding passage, the greater light to rule the day is the sun, and the lesser light to rule the night is the moon. When God established different lights to divide day from night, today we know it is the earth’s rotation that brings these lights into view and transitions us from night into day.

The sun, the moon and the stars are there for signs. When God gives us prophetic indications in the Bible, many of these prophecies are based on these celestial, heavenly signs. Many of the great fantastic symbolisms out of the Book of Revelation are based on what we see in the night sky.

What we see in the skies are also designed to help us discern the seasons. Different seasons bring a different look to the sky. In some parts of the world there is a monsoon season and at other times there is no rain at all. The angle of the sun in the sky changes the amount of light to us. In the winter months, there is less light.

We also use the moon and the sun to establish our days and years. We know that it is going to take the earth a little more than 365 days to go completely around the sun. So God gave us these heavenly bodies, the moon, the sun, the stars so we can better understand our place on earth and our place in history.

1 Corinthians 15:40-44
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The universe was something that was looked at even in the New Testament. When we consider the sun, the moon, and the stars, we know there are different amounts of lights, and because of its intensity, nobody should ever look directly at the sun as this will result in eye damage. Paul used what we see in the sky to remind us that we live in a physical body and will one day be resurrected to immortal life. It’s interesting how Paul compares our physical existence and our eternal spiritual existence to living here on earth and looking up and seeing the sun, the moon, and the stars.

There are many prophecies that involve symbolism that can be found in the sky. In Matthew 24 Jesus is asked by his disciples about the end of the world, and Jesus references what could be a solar and lunar eclipse, possibly a new moon, with a reference to what looks like a meteor shower. Jesus also shared that when he returns it will be as obvious as the rising sun, moving from east to west. Revelation twelve starts with heavenly signs of a woman and dragon. What we see in the sky is used as a sign, including when we see the rainbow which in Genesis was given as a sign that God would no longer destroy the earth with a flood.

Even though what we see in the sky is given by God to serve many different purposes for people, the sun, the moon, and the stars are not to be worshipped. These were all created by God, and we are to worship the creator rather than the creation. (Romans 1:25)

Deuteronomy 4:15-24
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Today on the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, we consider how the sun, the moon, and the stars, are given to us for signs, seasons, days, and years. We saw that they are used in Biblical prophecy, and how when Jesus Christ returns, there will definitely be signs in the heavens and the skies. There will be meteorite showers, there will be a solar eclipse that will happen. There will also be incredible signs in the heavens before He returns, and we know that by looking at the first few verses of Revelation twelve. The stars are examples for us that as Christians we should be as bright as the stars of night for the people who do not know God, who are frustrated with the evil world in which they live in. We also know that the sun, moon, and stars were created by God and that we always worship the creator rather than the creation.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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