“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – Mark 1:15

Who was in charge before this kingdom was announced? The first mention of authority was “governing” on day 4 of creation.

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. – Genesis 1:16-17

That struck me the other day, so I took a look through the Bible. I don’t understand how these celestial bodies could be governing, but it seems that before Jesus time they were worshiped, like the sons of God, or in coordination with them.

• And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. – Dt 4:19
• contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky – Dt 17:3
• the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun – 2 Ki 23:11
• You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God” – Is 14:13
• They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped – Jer 8:2
• There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt – Jer 43:13
• With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. – Ezek 8:16
• But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. – Acts 7:42

And they seemed to be personal….

• From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera – Judges 5:20
• while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy – Job 38:7
• those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts [armies]. – 2 Ki 23:5
• Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. – Ps 148:2-3
• The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem – Is 24:23
• Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. – 1 Co 15:39-41
• The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches – Rev 1:20
• Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. – Rev 12:3-4

Then I was noticing how almost all the religions before Jesus worshipped the sun, moon or stars while almost all the religions that started after Jesus don’t emphasize those things. And the majority of ancient archaeological sites are aligned with the movements of the sun and moon. And the myths of ancient peoples are so connected to heavenly bodies. (I won’t cram all my research in here.)

So is it possible, I’m just musing here, that these celestial bodies were created to govern the seasons, and they overstepped their authority, like the gods, or maybe they are somehow the gods. Or the language is poetic, but still getting at something.

Because when Jesus came and announced his kingdom, he became the light of the world, and they were no longer governing.

• When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world” – John 8:12
• The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. – Rev 8:12
• The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. – Rev 21:23

What practical implication does this have? I don’t know. Still exploring what was happening before Jesus came, so I can understand what news he came to announce.