During antiquity, the nations worshiped many gods. They often worshipped the sun, moon, and stars as gods. The Apostle Paul says “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1.25).
That is why God chose Israel to be a testimony to these polytheistic nations round about. He instructed the Israelites not to fall into the trap of worshiping creation rather than him as its Creator. Thus, some biblical writers would characterize the sun, moon, stars, and animals as creations of God rather than gods themselves.
An example is King David writing Psalm 19. The biblical psalms are poetic lyrics intended to be sung, often with the accompanying of musical instruments. This psalm begins in the NRSV, in vv. 1-4a: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” David herein personifies creation and claims that it testifies to God as its Creator.
David also wrote Psalm 8, which has some portions of it quoted in the New Testament. It begins, in vv. 1, 3-4: “O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Similarly, David says the heavens, particularly the moon and stars, signify God’s glory.
Psalm 148, whose author is unknown, begins, in vv. 1-3, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!” So, the psalmist acknowledges that our sun and moon praise God. How so?
Our sun is far greater than our moon. I believe our sun symbolizes God, whom Jesus called “Father,” and our moon symbolizes Jesus. The heat and other benefits from our sun are necessary to sustain life here on earth just as God is the source of all life in his creation. And our moon reflects light from our sun just as Jesus reflects, or reveals, the character of God, who is the Father to those who believe.
This phenomenon is similar to what is declared near the end of the book of Revelation. Therein, “the holy city, the new Jerusalem” is described as “coming down out of heaven from God” (21.2). John, the author, adds, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (21.22-23). So, the Lamb, which refers to Jesus, is the lamp whereas God, who is greater, is the source of its light. This affirms what Jesus once said, “The Father is greater than I” (John 14.28).
But all of this clashes with the institutional church doctrine of the Trinity. It says God is one essence consisting of three co-equal and co-eternal Persons: (1) God the Father, (2) Jesus as the Son of God, and (3) the Holy Spirit. This final doctrine of the Trinity that church fathers formulated during the latter half of the fourth century was made official at the Catholic Church’s Second Ecumenical Council, at Constantinople in 381.
But there is no such thing taught in the Bible. Rather, the Bible teaches constantly that there is numerically one God, whom Jesus called “Father” (e.g., John 17.3), and Jesus is Lord and Savior, but not God. So, I think our sun and moon symbolically indicate this truth and thereby disprove the doctrine of the Trinity. And heh, I should know because I’m the Pro from the Moon!
To see a list of over eighty posts on this blog about the Bible not saying Jesus is God, click here. They are condensations of portions of my book, The Restitution of Jesus Christ. Buy this book at kermitzarley.com. I was a Trinitarian for 22 years before reading myself out of it in the Bible.
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