The Creator is Not the Sun or Moon

   The Creator is Not the Sun or Moon

In Gen. 1:16, the words “sun” and “moon” were not omitted by accident, for the writer was aware that two prominent gods in the Near East were the sun and the moon.      In Egypt, the sun was associated with the gods Amon-Re, Re, and Aton. The Egyptians believed that Re created the world, and that one of Re’s “eyes” was the moon god Tefnut. Another Egyptian god, Ptah, was also considered Creator, and its two eyes were the sun and the moon. In Mesopotamia, the sun god Shamash was worshiped as the benefactor of the oppressed. Canaanite worshipers knew the sun as Shemesh. The appearance of this god’s name in place names (1 Sam. 6:12) hints at its importance to that polytheistic people, whose moon god was of secondary importance. The author of Gen. 1:14–19 makes the case that the Creator of the world is on a different plane than the sun or the moon. They are only “greater” or “lesser” lights, creations of God, and therefore not to be worshiped.