Reference: Sun
American
The great luminary of day, which furnishes so many similitudes to the Hebrew poets, as well as those of all nations, Jg 5:31; Ps 84:11; Pr 4:18; Lu 1:78-79; Joh 8:12. For the idolatrous worship of the sun, see BAAL.
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So let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it rises in its might. And the land had peace and rest for forty years.
For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
But the path of the [uncompromisingly] just and righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more (brighter and clearer) until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day [to be prepared].
Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit [us] To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace.
Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life.
Easton
(Heb shemesh), first mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven (Ge 1:14-18). By their motions and influence they were intended to mark and divide times and seasons. 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. The Jews were warned against this form of idolatry (De 4:19; 17:3; comp. 2Ki 23:11; Jer 19:13).
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And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs and tokens [of God's provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years, And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth. And it was so. read more. And God made the two great lights -- "the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, To rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it.
And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, moon, and stars, even all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.
Who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or moon or any of the host of the heavens, which I have forbidden,
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had devoted to the sun from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the area, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them],
And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be like the place of Topheth -- "even all the houses upon whose roofs incense has been burned to all the host of the heavens and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods.
Fausets
Ge 1:14 translated "let there be luminaries," literally, "light bearers". Genesis only tells what the sun, moon, and stars are in relation to the earth. When the mists were dispelled, and the seas confined within bounds, the heavenly bodies assumed their natural functions, marking days and nights, seasons and years, and God appoints the sun to rule the day and the moon the night. "Let them be for signs," as eclipses, portents of extraordinary events (Mt 2:2; Lu 21:25) and divine judgments (Joe 2:30; Jer 10:2; Mt 24:29), and indicating the four quarters of the heavens (Ps 50:1) and also the changes in the weather; "and for seasons, days, and years." The sun regulated the length of the Israelite year by the recurrence of Pentecost at a fixed agricultural season, namely, when the grain was ripe.
The person facing the rising sun faced the E.; so "before," "forward," meant the E.; "behind," "backward," meant the W.; "on the left hand" meant the N."; "on the right" the S. (Job 23:8-9). Shemesh, "sun," expresses the stupor produced on the beholder by his overwhelming brilliancy; chammah and cherec are poetical names implying his "heat". Sun worship was the earliest idolatry (Job 31:26-27); Ra was "the sun god in Egypt"; On was "the city of the sun worship" (Jer 43:13; Hebrew), Bethshemesh "house of the sun," Greek Heliopolis. Joshua's causing the sun to stand still phenomenally virtually proclaimed his God Jehovah to be Lord of the sun and all creation, in the face of pagandom. The valley of Ajalon is still called wady el Mikteleh, "the valley of slaughter." The Phoenician Baal; the Ammonite Moloch and Milcom; the Syrian Hadad; latterly the Persian Mithras (Zoroaster previously had reformed the worship).
The "sun images" were called in Hebrew chammanim (Le 26:30; margin 2Ch 14:5; 34:4), stone statues to "solar Baal" or Baal Haman in Carthaginian inscriptions. The temple at Baalbek was dedicated to the worship of the sun. Manasseh introduced direct sun worship (2Ki 21:3,5). Josiah destroyed by fire (the very element which was worshipped) the chariots, and removed the horses consecrated to the sun (2Ki 23:5,11-12). The housetop was the place of sun altars and incense burning (Zep 1:5).
Worship was directed to the rising sun (Eze 8:16-17); they used to hold a bunch of "tamarisk branches" (barsom) to their nose at daybreak, while singing hymns to the rising sun (Strabo, 1:15, section 733). The horses sacred to the sun, and used in processions to meet the rising sun, were kept at the entering in of the house of Jehovah in the portico (as Gesenius explains parwarim in 2Ki 23:11, not "suburbs") at the western side of the outer temple court. An insult to the only true God, in His own house! Spiritually, God's law is the sun (Ps 19:7). He is a Sun to cheer; and "the Sun of righteousness," from whom we receive all righteousness, by imputation for justification, and by impartation for sanctification (Mal 4:2; Re 1:16).
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And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs and tokens [of God's provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years,
And I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your sun-images, and throw your dead bodies upon the [wrecked] bodies of your idols, and My soul shall abhor you [with deep and unutterable loathing].
For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the [starry] hosts of the heavens and served them!
And he [good Hezekiah's son] built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord!
He put away the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in Judah's cities and round about Jerusalem -- "also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations [or twelve signs of the zodiac], and to all the hosts of the heavens.
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had devoted to the sun from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the area, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had devoted to the sun from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the area, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, [Josiah] pulled down and beat them in pieces, and he [ran and] cast their dust into the brook Kidron.
Also Asa took out of all the cities of Judah the idolatrous high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under his reign.
They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; the sun-images that were high above them he hewed down; the Asherim and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces and made dust of them and strewed it upon the graves of those who sacrificed to them.
Behold, I go forward [and to the east], but He is not there; I go backward [and to the west], but I cannot perceive Him; On the left hand [and to the north] where He works [I seek Him], but I cannot behold Him; He turns Himself to the right hand [and to the south], but I cannot see Him.
If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them],
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them,
[Nebuchadrezzar] shall break also the images and obelisks of Heliopolis [called On or Beth-shemesh -- "house of the sun] in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
And He brought me to the inner court of the Lord's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing themselves toward the east and worshiping the sun. Then [the Spirit] said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too slight a thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here, that they must fill the land with violence and turn back afresh to provoke Me to anger? And behold, they put the branch to their nose [actually, before their mouths, in superstitious worship]!
And I will show signs and wonders in the heavens, and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king],
But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.
Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at its rising and have come to worship Him.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [ without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring ( the echo) of the tossing of the sea,
In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday.
Hastings
The first mention of the sun in the Bible is in Ge 1:16, as 'the greater light to rule the day.' It was looked upon as the greatest and most important of the heavenly bodies, and motion was attributed to it, as is still done in ordinary parlance. We read of the going down of the sun, and of its rising; of the increasing force of its heat as the day went on (Ex 16:21), of its influence in the production of the crops of the ground ('the precious things of the fruits of the sun,' De 33:14). The sun 'goeth forth in his might' (Jg 5:31). The situation of a place is spoken of as 'toward the sunrising,' i.e. to the east (e.g. Nu 34:15). Things that were notorious and done openly were said to be 'before or in the sight of the sun.' But while the sun is strong, the power of God is greater still. This is expressed in Job's assertion (Job 9:7) that God 'commandeth the sun and it riseth not.' The power of the sun affects the complexion ('I go blackened, but not by the sun,' Job 30:28 Revised Version margin; cf. Song 1:6), and even causes death. A case of death by sunstroke occurs in 2Ki 4:18-19, and this power is alluded to in Ps 121:6 'The sun shall not smite thee by day.' The light of the sun is cheering: 'a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun' (Ec 11:7). Contrivances for measuring the length of the day by the shadow cast by the sun were invented: we have some kind of dial, of which steps formed a part, indicated in 2Ki 20:9,11; Isa 38:8. Though there is no actual mention of an eclipse in the Bible, part of the language used in describing the terrors of the day of the Lord both in OT and NT is derived from such an event: 'the sun shall be turned into darkness' (Joe 2:31), 'the sun became black as sackcloth of hair' (Re 6:12). On the other hand, the brilliance and glory of the future life is portrayed by comparison with the sun. 'Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun' (Mt 13:43); 'The light of the sun shall be sevenfold' (Isa 30:26); and even the sun will not be required, for, as in Ps 84:11 'the Lord God is a sun,' so in Re 21:23 (cf. Re 22:5) 'the city hath no need of the sun
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And God made the two great lights -- "the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.
But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down and did reverence to me!
They gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed, for when the sun became hot it melted.
You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars and images.
And I will destroy your high places [devoted to idolatrous worship], and cut down your sun-images, and throw your dead bodies upon the [wrecked] bodies of your idols, and My soul shall abhor you [with deep and unutterable loathing].
The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan at Jericho, toward the sunrise.
And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, moon, and stars, even all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.
Who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or moon or any of the host of the heavens, which I have forbidden,
With the precious things of the fruits of the sun and with the precious yield of the months,
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, be silent and stand still at Gibeon, and you, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon! And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. read more. There was no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man. For the Lord fought for Israel.
So let all Your enemies perish, O Lord! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it rises in its might. And the land had peace and rest for forty years.
When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father with the reapers. But he said to his father, My head, my head! The man said to his servant, Carry him to his mother.
And Isaiah said, This is the sign to you from the Lord that He will do the thing He has promised: shall the shadow [denoting the time of day] go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?
So Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and He brought the shadow the ten steps backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
He put away the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in Judah's cities and round about Jerusalem -- "also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations [or twelve signs of the zodiac], and to all the hosts of the heavens.
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had devoted to the sun from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the area, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
Also Asa took out of all the cities of Judah the idolatrous high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under his reign.
They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; the sun-images that were high above them he hewed down; the Asherim and the graven images and the molten images he broke in pieces and made dust of them and strewed it upon the graves of those who sacrificed to them.
He broke down the altars and the Asherim and beat the graven images into powder and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Who commands the sun, and it rises not; Who seals up the stars [from view];
I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the congregation and cry for help.
If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness,
For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.
[Please] do not look at me, [she said, for] I am swarthy. [I have worked out] in the sun and it has left its mark upon me. My stepbrothers were angry with me, and they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard [my complexion] I have not kept.
And they will not look to the [idolatrous] altars, the work of their hands, neither will they have respect for what their fingers have made -- "either the Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah] or the sun-images.
Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days [concentrated in one], in the day that the Lord binds up the hurt of His people, and heals their wound [inflicted by Him because of their sins].
Behold, I will turn the shadow [denoting the time of day] on the steps or degrees, which has gone down on the steps or sundial of Ahaz, backward ten steps or degrees. And the sunlight turned back ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.
And your altars shall be made desolate and your sun-pillars shall be broken in pieces, and I will cast down your slain before your idols.
And He brought me to the inner court of the Lord's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing themselves toward the east and worshiping the sun.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
The sun and moon stood back [as before Joshua] in their habitation at the light of Your arrows as they sped, at the flash of Your glittering spear.
But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.
Then will the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God) shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears [to hear] be listening, and let him consider and perceive and understand by hearing.
When He [the Lamb] broke open the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, [the full disc of] the moon became like blood.
And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendor and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
And there shall be no more night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, for the Lord God will illuminate them and be their light, and they shall reign [as kings] forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).
Morish
The sun was the greater light given to rule the day. The Israelites particularly observed this by beginning their day-time at sunrise (in distinction from 12 o'clock at night), and closing it at sunset, which necessarily made their days and their hours in summer much longer than in winter. Ps 19:1-6; 113:3; 136:8.
SUN WORSHIP. The Israelites were cautioned against worshipping the sun, nevertheless they fell into that idolatry, and set up high places for the sun in Jerusalem. De 4:19; 2Ki 23:5,11.
SUN STANDING STILL, Jos 10:12-27. No legitimate objection can be made to the statement that the sun 'stood still;' for though it is now known that it is the earth that moves, yet astronomers still speak of the sun rising and setting, and use the word 'solstice,' which signifies 'sun standing still.' They would doubtless say the same as Joshua said if they were placed in similar circumstances.
The shadow of the gnomon going back ten degrees on the sun-dial in the days of Hezekiah, 2Ki 20:10, may, as well as the above, have been produced by the light of the sun passing through a more dense medium; but in whatever way God may have chosen to accomplish these miracles, they are wonderful and divinely-given signs.
SIGNS IN THE SUN. These are probably symbolical of the eclipse and change of those in supreme authority over the earth in the latter days. Lu 21:25; Ac 2:20; Re 6:12.
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And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun, moon, and stars, even all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.
Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, be silent and stand still at Gibeon, and you, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon! And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation took vengeance upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. read more. There was no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man. For the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal. Those five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave of Makkedah. And it was told Joshua, The five kings are hidden in the cave at Makkedah. Joshua said, Roll great stones to the cave's mouth, and set men to guard them. But do not stay. Pursue your enemies and fall upon their rear; do not allow them to enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand. When Joshua and the Israelites had ended slaying them until they were wiped out and the remnant remaining of them had entered into fortified cities, All the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace; none moved his tongue against any of the Israelites. Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave and bring out those five kings to me from the cave. They brought the five kings out of the cave to him -- "the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. When they brought out those kings to Joshua, [he] called for all the Israelites and told the commanders of the men of war who went with him, Come, put your feet on the necks of these kings. And they came and put their feet on the [kings'] necks. Joshua said to them, Fear not nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage. For thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom you fight. Afterward Joshua smote and slew them and hanged their bodies on five trees, and they hung on the trees until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered and they took the bodies down from the trees and cast them into the cave where the kings had hidden and laid great stones on the cave's mouth, which remain to this very day.
Hezekiah answered, It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps; so let the shadow go back ten steps.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge. read more. There is no speech nor spoken word [from the stars]; their voice is not heard. Yet their voice [in evidence] goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; and it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its going forth is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the ends of it; and nothing [yes, no one] is hidden from the heat of it.
From the rising of the sun to the going down of it and from east to west, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [ without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring ( the echo) of the tossing of the sea,
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes -- "that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].
Smith
Sun.
In the history of "greater light," of the creation the sun is described as "greater light," in contradistinction to the moon, the "lesser light," in conjunction with which it was to serve "for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years," while its special office was "to rule the day."
The "signs" referred to were probably such extraordinary phenomena as eclipses, which were regarded as conveying premonitions of coming events.
with Luke 21:25 The joint influence assigned to the sun and moon in deciding the "seasons," both for agricultural operations and for religious festivals, and also in regulating the length and subdivisions of the years "correctly describes the combination of the lunar and solar year which prevailed at all events subsequent to the Mosaic period. Sunrise and sunset are the only defined points of time in the absence of artificial contrivances for telling the hour of the day. Between these two points the Jews recognized three periods, viz., when the sun became hot, about 9 A.M.
the double light, or noon.
and "the cool of the day," shortly before sunset.
The sun also served to fix the quarters of the hemisphere, east, west north and south, which were represented respectively by the rising sun, the setting sun,
the dark quarter,
and the brilliant quarter,
De 33:23; Job 37:17; Eze 40:24
or otherwise by their position relative to a person facing the rising sun--before, behind, on the left hand and on the right hand.
The worship of the sun, as the most prominent and powerful agent in the kingdom of nature, was widely diffused throughout the countries adjacent to Palestine. The Arabians appear to have paid direct worship to it without the intervention of any statue or symbol,
and this simple style of worship was probably familiar to the ancestors of the Jews in Chaldaea and Mesopotamia. The Hebrews must have been well acquainted with the idolatrous worship of the sun during the captivity in Egypt, both from the contiguity of On, the chief seat of the worship of the sun, as implied in the name itself (On being the equivalent of the Hebrew Bethshemesh, "house of the sun")
and also from the connection between Joseph and Potipherah("he who belongs to Ela") the priest of On,
After their removal to Canaan, the Hebrews came in contact with various forms of idolatry which originated in the worship of the sun; such as the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Molech or Milcom of the Ammonites, and the Hadad of the Syrians. The importance attached to the worship of the sun by the Jewish kings may be inferred from the fact that the horses sacred to the sun were stalled within the precincts of the temple.
In the metaphorical language of Scripture the sun is emblematic of the law of God,
of the cheering presence of God,
of the person of the Saviour,
Joh 1:9; Mal 4:2
and of the glory and purity of heavenly beings.
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And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs and tokens [of God's provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years, And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth. And it was so. read more. And God made the two great lights -- "the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph made an [inspection] tour of all the land of Egypt.
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house and kill an animal and make ready, for the men will dine with me at noon.
Of Naphtali he said: O Naphtali, satisfied with favor and full of the blessing of the Lord, possess the Sea [of Galilee] and [its warm, sunny climate like] the south.
The messengers who came were told, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help. The messengers came and reported to the men of Jabesh, and they were glad.
And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had devoted to the sun from the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the area, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
I said to them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while the watchmen are still on guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from the people of Jerusalem, each to his watch [on the wall] and each opposite his own house.
Behold, I go forward [and to the east], but He is not there; I go backward [and to the west], but I cannot perceive Him; On the left hand [and to the north] where He works [I seek Him], but I cannot behold Him; He turns Himself to the right hand [and to the south], but I cannot see Him.
If I beheld [as an object of worship] the sunlight when it shone or the moon walking in its brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed by them or my mouth has kissed my hand [in homage to them],
[Or] why your garments are hot when He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
That men may know from the east and the rising of the sun and from the west and the setting of the sun that there is no God besides Me. I am the Lord, and no one else [is He].
Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them,
[Nebuchadrezzar] shall break also the images and obelisks of Heliopolis [called On or Beth-shemesh -- "house of the sun] in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
After that the man brought me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south, and he measured its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule; they measured as the others did.
But I will remove far off from you the northern [destroyer's] army and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, with its front toward the eastern [Dead] Sea and with its rear toward the western [Mediterranean] Sea. And its stench shall come up [like that of a decaying mass of locusts, a symbol and forecast of the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord], and its foul odor shall come up, because He has done great things [the Lord will have destroyed the invaders]!
But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
There it was -- "the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person.
In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday.
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a [halo like a] rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire.