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An excursus is similar to an appendix and provides a digression from the main text. The excursuses are completely optional and are not part of the course. The excursuses in first 12 chapters are my updates to a popular interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis in the 19th century: the day-age interpretation of Arnold Guyot.
Chapter 7-3 and Table 7-1 provide evidence that the Earth had high obliquity in the Proterozoic Eon. In this excursus, I propose that Moses' fourth day described the HOLIST shift in obliquity between the Ediacaran (Late Proterozoic) and Cambrian Periods. Based on the only reliable glaciation paleolatitude data, the fourth day shift in obliquity took place within the interval, 635 Ma to 535 Ma, but it might have primarily taken place in the range between 580 and 571 Ma, during the Shuram negative carbon excursion. The interval, 635 Ma to 535 Ma, was probably after the initial evolution of land plants (day three) and prior to the initial evolution of animals (day five).
Earth's climate would have been extremely inhospitable for animal life with a high angle of obliquity axis. The sun would have traveled in circles in the sky in summer and been absent in winter. God directed that the sun and and moon should become lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate day from night and to be for signs and seasons and days and years. They were not in the expanse beforehand (traveling in circles), but they would become lights in the expanse (moving across the sky).
In the centuries prior to the time that Moses wrote this account, the Sumerians and Akkadians had developed luni-solar calendars, which they used to mark signs, seasons, days, and years, based on the positions of the sun and moon. The current orbital paths of the sun and moon mark these points in time and time intervals. The days 2 and 3 concept that the expanse is the heavens, which is the solar system, is compatible with the day 4 placement of the sun and moon in the "expanse of the heavens," which is the current path of the sun and moon in the sky, which we call the ecliptic.
As with Moses' other days in which a largely or completely natural process described by the jussive verb was followed by a supernatural act, the shift in obliquity was possibly initiated by God but then followed a natural process (Verses 14-15). God then stopped the shift in obliquity at the Earth's present angle of obliquity, 23.6 degrees (Verse 16-18) and thus placed the sun, moon, and stars in the present positions in the sky; however, this is just a best guess.
Figure 7E-1. God placed the sun and moon in the expanse by fixing the earth's axial tilt at 23.6-degrees. Calendar of Nippur from the 3rd dynasty of Ur. Credit: Lamassu Design. Gurdjieff. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Genesis 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the Earth "; and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Figure 7E-2. Rotation of the earth at present 23 degree angle of obliquity, which causes diurnal and seasonal cycles. Credit: De Gouden Spijker
Verse 14 begins with the divine command, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens." "Let there be" is the verb yehi, which is normally translated as "become" in the Bible. If the sun and moon already existed, then it is more likely to be translated as follows: "Become lights in the expanse of the heavens." The lights already existed but were not in the expanse of heaven. The verse continues and implies that they did not cause seasonal and the diurnal cycles prior to the 4th day; however, the present position of the sun and moon in the sky cause these cycles (Figure 7E-2).
Figure 7E-3. The ecliptic or the expanse of the heavens. Credit: Jia Hao. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0.
The sun, moon and planets follow almost the same path across the sky. The path is the ecliptic. It is almost a line from the perspective of the earth (Figure 7E-3). The ancients knew about this path. Although the moon does not follow in precisely in the same path as the ecliptic, they never diverge more than 5 degrees from the ecliptic. The ancients knew about the paths of the sun, moon, and planets. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians developed luni-solar calendars. The positions of constellations of the Zodiac were along this path (Figure 7E-5). They became the astrological charts, with gods at each of the 12 positions of the Zodiac.
The Sumerians developed a luni-solar calendar in 2000 BC. The Akkadians had a luni-solar calendar in 1800 BC. The sun and moon followed the path of the ecliptic, which was also the plain of the solar system. This was also the luni-solar path that caused night and day and seasons.
Many scholars think that the raqia refers to a dome heavens, which was a conception of the heavens in the 6th century BC; however, I am not aware that it was a conception of the heavens in the 17th century BC at the time of Moses; On the other hand, there is extensive proof that the line formed by the ecliptic was an important astronomical concept at the time of Moses.
One of the myths in Egypt was that the sun followed the body of a goddess during the day. Although Figure 7E-4 has been promoted as a dome heaven, it seems more likely that this is a picture of the goddess that was the path of the sun. The shape of the goddess is actually an arc. Why does she have stars? These might be the stars of the zodiac (Figure 7E-5).
Figure 7E-4. Egyptian goddess from pyramid.
Figure 7E-5. Ecliptic path with constellations. Credit: Tau' olunga. Used here per CC BY-SA 3.0.
Moses' description of the purposes of the sun and moon is similar to the Sumerian calendar from the Third dynasty of Ur (Figure 7E-6), which originated in Abraham's homeland. The Sumerians established the lunisolar calendar in the 21st century BC. It used the phases of the moon for 12 months of 30 days. The Sumerians divided their calendar based on 30 degree angles. The Sumerian Metrology in Figure 7E-6 is similar to Moses' seasons, days, and years.
Figure 7E-6. Calendar of Nippur from the 3rd dynasty of Ur (2000 BC). Credit: Lamassu Design. Gurdjieff. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Figure 7E-7. The 1800 BC Akkadian luni-solar calendar.
The Akkadian luni-solar calendar of 1800 BC (Figure 7E-7) had positions of the constellations. Possibly the triangle represented the angle of the ecliptic as it shifted between summer and winter.
Based on the numerous disk representations of the path of the sun, moon, and planets in the ancient Middle East, it is possible that the disks had a similar name to the raqia, since words from the same root referred to disks.
Separate the day from the night: When the angle of obliquity shifted, the sun went across the sky and separated day and night. During the Proterozoic Eon, when the Earth had a high obliquity axis, there was day and night for a brief period each year, but most of the year was almost always dark or almost always light.
Figure 7E-8. Signs of the zodiac from 6th century AD Jewish Beit Alpha temple.
The astrological disks representing the zodiac are based on the positions of the constellations that were used to tell time in the early luni-solar calendars. The zodiac disk in Figure 7E-8 is from the 6th century AD Beit Alpha temple in Israel (Figure 7E-8); however, astrology began in the same era the Sumerian and Akkadian calendars in Figures 7E-6 and 7E-7.
And let them be for signs and for seasons. Ellicott's Commentary linked the "signs" in v. 14 with the calendars and positions of the zodiac.
"Let them be means for distinguishing seasons, days, and years; but more probably it refers to the signs of the zodiac, which anciently played so important a part, not merely in astronomy, but in matters of daily life."
Ellicott's Commentary also proposes that the seasons represent festivals.
"Not spring, summer, and the like, but regularly recurring periods, like the three great festivals of the Jews. In old time men depended, both in agriculture, navigation, and daily life, upon their own observation of the setting and rising of the constellations."
Other commentaries interpret seasons as the seasons of the year. It may not be worth distinguishing between the two because many festivals initiate the seasons.
and for days and years.
The light of the sun would act as a timepiece for days and years.
The next verse emphasizes that the sun and moon would be useful lights in their new positions.
Genesis 1:15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the Earth "; and it was so.
This phrase starts with wĕhāyû followed by the lamed. Barry Bandstra translated “and they will be for lights.” [1] The word translated as give light is the hiphil verb form of ʾôr - lehaʾîr. The meaning of lehaʾîr is good and useful light. The word is used in Exodus to describe the light of God that led the Israelites through the wilderness as they were fleeing the Egyptians. Obviously, the sun is a useful light in its present path across the sky.
The next verse states that God intervened.
Genesis 1:16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
God made (asah) the lights just as God made the expanse on day two. The word translated as made (wayyaʿaś) generally refers to the modification of an existing object rather than the creation of a new object. Just as God changed the structure of the expanse on day two, God fixed the position of the sun, moon, and stars on day four in the ecliptic at 23.6-degree angle of obliquity. This might have been to merely stop the shift in obliquity at 23.6-degree angle of obliquity.
Barry Bandstra stated that there are two separate “goals” in v. 16. The primary goal is that God would make the two great lights (sun and moon) govern day and night. The other goal is that God would make the stars.[2] The stars were like an afterthought or a result of the miracle. Four verses in succession mention the lights, and the only verse that does not refer to expanse of the heavens is the one that lists the stars. This is because the stars are not in the expanse of the heavens (solar system).
Genesis 1:17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the Earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
To place something means to put in a position. God placed (wayyittēn) the lights (the sun and moon) in different positions in the expanse of the heavens than they had been beforehand. In their positions, they move across the sky in the same line as the planets in the path of the expanse (raqia). If God or natural processes changed the earth’s orientation (Figure 7E-9), then this would have moved all the lights in the sky to new paths, including the stars (Figure 7E-10). This would have created signs and seasons and days and years.
God saw that this new position of the sun and moon was good. It was good because it made the earth habitable for animals and humans in the Phanerozoic Eon.
Figure 7E-9. God changing earth’s axial tilt. Credit Mariah Dunn. Former University of Arizona student.
Figure 7E‑10. From this to this.
Not only does the fourth day of Moses correspond with a specific event, but its placement within the third to fifth days is probably correct even though the timing of the shift in obliquity has a large possible range. There is evidence of the cousins of land plants (viridiplantae) in the sea (1 Ga). Thus, it would not be surprising if plants existed but have not been detected in the fossil record. Although I show the common ancestors of seed and flowering plants (Spermatophyta) prior to the shift in obliquity in the Chapter 6 excursus (Figure 6E-1), any of the stages of land plant evolution, beginning with bryophytes, would qualify as the common ancestor of seed and fruiting plants. Thus, it is likely that the sequence of days three and four, with land plants prior to the shift in obliquity, will be confirmed by further scientific investigation.
It is also likely that animals appeared after the shift in obliquity. An increasing number of paleontologists agree that animal life began with the evolution of sea anemones in 560 Ma and continued with the evolution of relatively simple moving animals such as flatworms and eventually modern phyla of invertebrates such as arthropods, mollusks, and annelids, between 560 and 520 Ma. This would place the appearance of modern moving animal phyla in the same temporal range as the first definitive polar glaciation in 535 Ma. Thus, it is likely that the sequence of days three to five will be supported by further scientific investigation.
The cause of the shift in obliquity
The cause of the shift in obliquity
Although there have been some efforts to find a natural cause of the shift in obliquity at the end of the Proterozoic Eon, no expert in celestial mechanics has ever attempted to determine a natural cause of the shift in obliquity in the Earth-Moon system, such as probably took place at the end of the Proterozoic Eon. Of course, Thea’s impact on the Earth and resultant formation of the moon naturally caused a shift in obliquity, but there was no such impact at the end of the Proterozoic Eon. While efforts by scientists who are not experts in celestial mechanics indicate that it would be unlikely, expertise in celestial mechanics would be needed to lay the problem to rest and either determine a natural cause or prove that a natural shift in obliquity is not possible in the Earth-moon system.
The cause of the shift in obliquity has an impact on the interpretation of all the jussive verbs in Moses’ six days of creation. The jussive verb of day four can be translated as “Let there be lights in the expanse,” or “Become lights in the expanse." The reason that the day four interpretation (shift of obliquity) of the jussive verb is important is that the jussive verbs in Moses' other days describe events that all or many scientists attribute to natural causes. For example, “become light,” describes the formation of the sun, and all scientists agree that stars such as the sun form naturally. Disks also form naturally (expanse of day two). Observations by planetary scientists show that planets (day three) form naturally around a large fraction of stars although a system such as the solar system has not been observed. It is debatable whether life (day three) forms naturally, but many of the processes along the path from chemicals to a protocell have been identified. Efforts by scientists to find a natural cause of the change in obliquity have not been successful; however, since no expert in celestial mechanics has addressed the question, it still must be considered an open question.
Day four might be unique in that the initiation of the action of the jussive verb could only be due to a supernatural cause. If so, then it implies that God might have begun or altered the processes of the other jussive verbs in the six days. It opens the door to the interpretation that all of the jussive verbs might have had some component of supernatural intervention. On the other hand, if the change in obliquity was natural, then there would be no solid evidence that any of the jussive verbs described anything other than a natural evolutionary process. The only exception in which a natural cause is not even part of the process is in day six, when God stated, "let us make" mankind in the image of God. If we start with the norm for the jussive verbs in Moses' other days, then natural evolutionary processes probably initiated the shift in obliquity.
Grammatically, the jussive verb "become" does not necessarily describe how something would become what it is. If day four is consistent with the Moses' other days, then there were two events, a primarily natural process followed by a miracle. If this is the case, then vss. 14-15 describe the natural process, which was the shift in obliquity, possibly initiated by God, but primarily taking place by some sort of natural process. Subsequently, vss. 16-18 describe the miracle in which God placed them in a certain position. If this was the sequence, then the supernatural act of God would have been to stop the shift in obliquity at the Earth's present 23.6-degree angle of obliquity and to fix the positions of the sun, moon, and stars of the Zodiac at their present position in the ecliptic. This sort of miracle in which God made a very simple shift or change in a natural process would be consistent with the other divine acts in Moses' six days, as defined in the other excursuses.
There are many variations of the word translated as "placed." The root Hebrew word is nathan. The variant in v. 17 is wayyittēn, which includes the wa preposition (and). There are over 100 instances of this word in scripture. In viewing all the cases, it appears that God did not just stop the change in obliquity but that God initiated the process and moved the angle of obliquity such that the sun and moon would enter the ecliptic. This, I think that the scientific evidence (no know cause of a shift in obliquity) and the grammatical evidence points toward a God-initiated shift in obliquity. If so, then there is no reason to think that God did not initiate some part of the process of life's formation; however, I think that the scientific evidence is pointing toward divine design of a natural origin of life.
Isn’t it ironic?
Isn’t it ironic?
It is ironic that Kant’s original proof of philosophical naturalism in his natural history book was based on his supposed observation that God did not adjust the axial tilt of the other planets in the solar system in order to optimize the climate for the humans on those planets. This was Kant’s proof that God did not intervene in the universe for the benefit of humans. In fact, this was Kant’s proof that God never intervened in the universe. Why did Kant believe that there were humans on the other planets in the solar system? Belief in extraterrestrials was not popular at all during that period. Possibly, it was because Swedenborg claimed to have talked to angels from the planet Saturn, and that the angels described the humans on Saturn to Swedenborg. Two decades later, Kant wrote a book in which he rejected Swedenborg as a nut, and he removed the no other adjusted axes proof from a second edition of his natural history book. Kant was a brilliant person. From the perspective of logic, his proof made sense. He needed an entity outside of the unique Earth in order to prove that God did not specially adjust planets for the benefit of humans.
Guyot and Martin look at the fourth day
Guyot and Martin look at the fourth day
Guyot thought that the sun appeared on the fourth day. Guyot thought that the thing that blocked the sun was the haze caused by the earth initially being a sun. Oh well, so much for nineteenth century models of astronomy; Guyot did not consider that God might have changed the orientation of Earth’s axis.
Morton objected to the idea that “Let there be” refers to anything except the creation of the sun, moon, and stars on day four; however, "become a light" implies that the entity already existed. It is odd that Morton insisted that the sun was created on day four, when he had already insisted that it was created on day one.
Morton argued that the Bible would have stated that the lights “appeared” if the meaning were that the sun, moon, and stars simply appeared in the sky. This is probably a legitimate argument; however, if the sun and moon were moved by God to their current position in the sky, where they did not already reside, then this is a reasonable interpretation of "become lights in the expanse" or "let there be lights in the expanse of heaven." They were not lights in the expanse of heaven prior to this movement.
Morton ridiculed the idea that one of the functions of the sun should be as a cosmical timepiece, regulating the days and seasons. However, he did not realize that the sun did not perform these functions when Earth had a high obliquity axis. Morton did not consider whether the Earth’s angle of obliquity might have changed. He thought that it was a trivial thing for the sun and moon to regulate the seasons and day and night, or to act as a calendar.
References
References
[1] Barry Bandstra, Genesis 1–11: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2008), 73–74.
[2] Bandstra, Genesis.
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Monthly cycles of snow ice and vegetation. Credit: Climate Reanalyzer. University of Maine. climatereanalyzer.org/clim/animations. Made from NASA satellite imagery.
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