What does Genesis 1:14 mean?

Regardless of translation, verses 14 through 18 can seem somewhat awkward in English. These words were originally written in Hebrew, and under a highly structured repeating pattern. And yet, the core point of these verses is impossible to miss: God made all the heavenly bodies, ascribed to the fourth day of His creation week. For the original readers of Scripture, this countered the widespread belief that stars, comets, and the sun were themselves divine. By clearly showing God's creation and control, Genesis dispels the idea that there are any true gods other than God.

Days four, five, and six of the Genesis creation week correspond to days one, two, and three. That is, what God creates in each of these last three days is placed in the setting He created on the corresponding earlier day. In this case, on day one, God used His creative words to form light. This verse describes day four, where God commands that there exist "lights in the expanse of the heavens," or in the "vault of the sky." The following verses will explain that these "lights" are the sun, moon, and stars.

This raises what some see as a difficult question: How did God create light and day and night on the first day (Genesis 1:3–4) if He had not yet created the sun? It's a reasonable question, and we don't have a perfect answer. The easiest explanation is that God caused light to exist apart from the source of sun and stars until those were created, something clearly within His power. Another option is that these words describe the first time that the sun, moon, and stars became visible on earth, possibly due to a vapor canopy or clouds. Some scholars offer further alternative explanations.

One interesting point of note is that secular science, per the "Big Bang Theory," actually supports this order of light, then stars. According to that model, the universe was filled with photons—light particles—long before there were stars or planets. Whether or not this has a meaningful connection to this part of Genesis, the point is that light preceding stars is not only scientifically possible, modern science claims that was actually the case!

In any event, Scripture does not provide specific details here, meaning they are irrelevant to the point at hand. The main idea of this verse is to describe God's purpose for these lights, according to His command. They were to separate day from night, as well as to serve as signs of days, years, and "seasons," which in this context refers to sacred times.

It is clear that God intended from the beginning for the earth and the solar system to move according to a regular pattern. He meant for days, years, and seasons to be orderly, measurable, and predictable.