Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Title: "...no need of the sun, neither of the moon..."
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: February 26, 2000
URL: http://philologos.org/bpr/files/n017.htm
"...no need of the sun, neither of the moon..."
Rev: 21:23
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible:
1. The Jews say {u}, the orb of the sun is in this world; and the gloss adds, but not in the future state, for the lights shall be renewed: and they further say {w}, as here, that
"in the world to come, "Israel...will have no need of the light of the sun, nor of the light of the moon", neither by day nor by night, ''
as they say {x}, the Israelites had not in the wilderness. So they represent the Lord speaking to Moses, and saying {y},
"thy days shall cease, but thy light shall not cease; for thou shall have no need for ever of the light of the sun, nor of the light of the moon, and of the stars.''
...the holy blessed God is said by the Jews {z} to be "the light of Jerusalem"; he is the light of the new Jerusalem; and the light of, the world to come is, by {a} them, called "the great light".
2. The Jews say {b}, that Jerusalem, in time to come, will be made a lamp to the nations of the world "and they shall walk in its light", or by the light of it, which is the sense of #Isa 60:3 "the Gentiles shall come to thy light"; see #Isa 9:1,3
3. The Jews say {c}, that the world to come will be "all day."
{u} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 101. 1. [R.
Joshua observed, ‘Thou art more valuable to Israel than the sun's disc: the sun's
disc is but for this world, whilst my master is for this world and the next.´--The
Soncino Talmud]
{w} Raziel, fol. 17. 2.
{x} Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 57. 2.
{y} Petirat Moseh, fol. 23. 2.
{z} Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 57. 2. & 98. 1.
{a} Ben Gorion apud Aben Ezram in Psal. xlix. 19.
{b} Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 56. 3.
{c} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 91. fol. 79.
4
Isaiah 60:19
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible:
1. Here begins the account of the sinless, pure, and perfect state of the church in the personal reign of Christ, even the New Jerusalem church state, as appears from the use of these very words, in the description of that state, #Re 21:23 where it is read, "and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof"; and in like manner the Targum renders these words,
"and ye shall have no need any more of the light of the sun by day, nor even of the light of the moon by night; ''
and so both Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it,
"ye shall have no need of the light of the sun";
and the former adds, because of the light of the Shechinah; and which seems to be the meaning of the next clause:
...because of the exceeding brightness, splendour, and lustre of the divine majesty of Christ, who will appear personally among his people, neither sun nor moon will be able to give any light: as the light of a candle is made useless and unnecessary by the light of the sun, so the light of the sun and moon will be made useless and unnecessary by the vastly superior light and glory of Christ; see #Isa 24:23 30:26...
Isaiah 24:23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
The Midrashim ["exposition to the underlying significance of a Bible text"—Webster's] that deal with the days of creation discuss the "anomaly" of having the sun and moon being created on the fourth day. There are 2 explanations for the creation of light on the first day and subsequent creation of sun, moon and stars on the 4th:
1. Everything was created on the first day but things were only given their form on subsequent days.
2. The light created on the first day is not the same light of today. God first created an overwhelming light that would make our sun seem like darkness in comparison. This light was hidden because:
"'The wicked people of the future, the generations of the Flood and the Dispersal, will not be worthy to bear the intense light created on the first day.' He [God] therefore hid it for the tzaddikim [righteous men] in olam haba [the world to come]. Adam in Gan Eden was allowed to benefit from the light of the first day. By means of it, he was able to see from one end of the world to the other. This special light was of a spiritual kind; it emanated from the glory of the shechina [Divine presence] which will be enjoyed by the tzaddikim in the future. They will be rewarded with enjoyment of the light of the shechina for having studied Torah which is compared to light." [The Midrash Says, The Book of Beraishis, Rabbi Moshe Weissman]
Adam was allowed to enjoy this special light for 36 hours during the six days of creation. For 12 hours on the eve of the Sabbath through the Sabbath he was given this special blessing. That is why the words "and it was evening, and it was morning" are not stated regarding the seventh day.