ChristianAnswers.Net WebBible Encyclopedia


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Hebrew: shemesh

The sun is first mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven (Genesis 1:14-18).


God is the ultimate source of all light.

“And God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’” (Genesis 1:3)

His light shown on Earth from the first day Creation, before the sun was created. The sun was created AFTER the universe, Earth, stars, and plants on the 4th day of Creation (Genesis 1:14-18). The purpose of this order may have been to affirm that the sun was not the source of life and divine power, as later claimed by many ancient Satanic religions that sprung from Babel (Babylon) and worshipped the sun as god. The worship of the sun was one of the oldest forms of false religion (Job 31:26-27), and was common among the Egyptians and Chaldeans and other pagan nations.

  • What is the order of events in the biblical Creation? Answer
  • Was the fourth day of Creation twenty-four hours long? Answer

Adrammelech was the male god representing the sun worshipped by the Sepharvaim, who colonized Samaria.

The Jews were warned against this form of idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3; compare 2 Kings 23:11; Jeremiah 19:13).

Miracles involving the sun or sunlight

  1. Copyrighted © image. Egyptian pyramid.

    SUPERNATURAL 3 DAYS OF DARKNESS IN EGYPT—A plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Exodus 10:21) is described as darkness “which may be felt.” It covered “all the land of Egypt,” so that “they saw not one another.” It did not extend to the land of nearby Goshen (verse 23). The irony is that the Egyptians worshipped the sun as a god. Ra (or Re) traverses the sky in his solar-boat and drives away the demon of darkness Apep, at dawn. “The sun was seen as the ruler of all that he created.” The meaning of the name Ra is uncertain; it may be the word for ‘sun.’ If not, it “may be a variant of or linked to words meaning ‘creative power’ and ‘creator’.” Therefore, with this miracle, the true, omnipotent God proved the utter powerlessness of yet another false god of idolatrous Egypt.

  2. LONG DAY—The sun and moon stayed, lengthening the day so that the Israelites could win a crucial battle (Joshua 10:12-14)

    Can we explain the “long days” of Joshua and Hezekiah? Answer

  3. LONG DAY AND THE SHADOW OF THE SUN GOES BACK TEN DEGREES on the sun-dial of Ahaz in Jerusalem to prove God’s intent and power to sick King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:9-11)


  4. 3 HOURS OF SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS DURING CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION—When Jesus hung upon the cross (Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44), from the “sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” Near the end of this darkness, he said in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45-46). Shortly after this, He died.
