(Ver 1.2)  This is Part 3 in a series of advanced spiritual Bible lesson on “How to Become a Light to a Dark World”.  If you have not read it from the beginning, I would highly recommend that you go back and start with “Part 1“.  Today I want to discuss briefly a false teaching that has been around in the church for a number of years.  I probably heard this taught 20 years ago and I’m sure that it was not an original teaching, but something that has been around much longer than that.  Here is the basic teaching, the minister said that the church represented the symbolic moon in Genesis 1:16.  Because we were those who were a light to the others that were in the darkness.  He based his teaching on the presumption that Christians had no ability to produce light upon themselves and were dependent upon the light from the Sun in order to reflect His glory to others.   He based his teaching on the fact that the Moon is said to rule the Night and the Sun is said to rule the Day.  In listening to him, he thought that the moon represented the church based upon these few facts derived from human reasoning.  Unfortunately for him, he could not provide any scriptures to back up what he taught and that is where it all fell apart to me.  You must let the Bible interpret itself.  You must get two or three witness in order to establish any truth and you must follow God’s rules or you will remain clueless.

If you have read this series from the beginning you should understand that the moon does rule the night and that the Sun does rule the day.  The Sun is clearly Jesus Christ so far we agree with at least part of the erroneous teaching.  But, that is where I depart company.  I do not recall any scriptures that I remember reading that tells me that the church rules the night.  To be a ruler means to be a king or a prince over those people.  That means you have authority and power to control what they do.  Clearly the church does not do that.  Evil in the world is growing at a rapidly progressive pace.  There is terrorism and evil happening worldwide.  So is the church doing anything to control it?  It sure doesn’t look like it to me.  So I want to address the identity of the moon from a Bible perspective and look at the physical qualities of the moon to analyze them to see who we can see that they could possibly represent.

Searching for the Descriptive Qualities of the Moon!

The moon is a small object that revolves counter clockwise around the earth.   As you may know, the moon does not produce any light on its own ability, other than to reflect what is coming from the sun.   The moon is a dead, lifeless object that has no known great value.  I recall when astronauts brought back rocks from the moon.  If they had any great value other than being from the moon, I believe that we would already have mining colonies on the moon recovering them.    I realize that the moon helps determine tide cycles and things like that and has purposes for existence, but why do some planets have multiple moons and we have only one?   Ok, let’s take this analogy a little further, the earth revolves around the sun in annual cycles.   The moon revolves around the earth in monthly type cycles.  So when the earth completes one cycle around the sun, the moon has completed approximately 12 cycles around the earth.  This is what I believe, I believe that God created natural things as views into the windows of spiritual things.  So what do we learn from what I have said so far?  It is very difficult to see how the moon fits a type of a symbolic representation for the church, the apostles or any believers, based upon this information only.  The church is not dead, it is not lifeless and it is not the ruler of the night or of the world.  Heck the church can’t even vote to elect a Christian to be president, so we control nothing to very little in the world.

Also note this fact, the moon goes in cycles and goes from a state of total darkness to a state of total wholeness or full illumination and then back again to total darkness.   Also, note that the moon has a dark side that is not normally seen by man.  You see the moon has a symbolic side that has not been revealed to men.   This is the dark side that cannot be seen and this is symbolic of the deception and the hidden evil spiritual qualities of someone.  Is that the church?   Does the church have a hidden dark side?  I do not believe that is the case.   No this fits a picture of Satan more than anyone else.  Did you know that we would not know anything about the existence of Satan, if it were not for the Word of God?   Have you ever thought about that?  Have you ever seen Satan personally?   You see you have not, the only way you know about the existence of Satan, is by the Word of God that reveals him to us.  So in order for us to even see Satan, God must give us the light in His Word to reveal him to us.  It is only by the light of the Word of God that shines on this symbolic moon that you can see or understand that Satan exists.  So that is a very different perspective on what the light represents and the moon represents that God has taught me.  You have to realize that there are still many hidden things about Satan, that we do not know, because, God has not revealed more information or given more understanding to us about the information that is written in the Bible.  So the dark side of the moon represents the unknown or hidden parts of Satan, the illuminated side of the moon represents the parts of Satan that have been revealed to us by God’s word.   The New Moon when the sky is completely dark is representative of the hidden Satan.   I struggle with the fact that anyone can think the moon represents Christians, because it reflects the light of Christ to a dark world.  The main problem that I have with that logic is the fact when the moon goes into a new moon phase of the cycle, there is no light reflected and thus no moon is seen.   Is this what happens to the church?   Does the church go through cycles of complete darkness where God is not available to shine on us?   If they do, they shouldn’t.   Genesis 1:16, tells us that the moon is the entity that rules the vast night sky and this can only be Satan.  I guess I haven’t given you very many scriptures about the identity of the symbolic moon, but I’ll fix that soon.

Christians do not live in darkness any more according to what Jesus taught us in John 8:12.  So is the moon of the day or of the night?   Is the moon seen normally in the light of the day or in the darkness of the night?  I know technically speaking, if you can see the moon, then the moon must be getting some sunlight on its face.  But,  what dominates the moon?   Is it the light of the sun or is it the darkness of the night sky?   Which is greater?  The little bit of sunlight being reflected or the vast darkness of the night sky?   According to some people’s logic, the moon reflects the true light of Christ, but yet still lives in and is dominated by the night and the darkness of this world because Christ is not here and therefore, the spiritual sun has set.   We can clearly see that this is not what Jesus said and not what other Bible verses teach either.  Jesus said you will not be in the darkness anymore, meaning before you believed you were in the darkness and after you believed you were now in the light.  Some try to say that the dark night sky are the unsaved people that we are a light to.  But, yet the moon is only partially lit and has a dark side that has no light.  This just doesn’t fit the church.   For the church, a transition is said to have occurred from total darkness to the light of day.   This could only correspond to the difference between night and day and no other condition makes any logical sense.   

The Same Sun Shines on Both the Good and the Evil People in the World!

Many people have the idea that only Christians have any ability to see the light of God, and this is mostly true.  Then they want to take that and try to convince you that only Christian can reflect the light of God.   That is where I begin to deviate from that line of thought.  But, I guess it does depend upon your definition of what light is.  I have already demonstrated to you that Jesus called John the Baptist a light, before there was any Christians.  Here is a verse that is also very interesting to this subject.  Jesus is speaking and He says something you should see:

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Jesus said the same Sun shines on the evil as well as the good.  Uh oh?  If you understand the Bible, you understand that Satan is the originator of all evil.  Evil is a synonymous term for the devil.  The devil is just another title for Satan.  That means if the moon is Satan, that Jesus is telling us it is still possible for the light of God to shine on him.  Do you understand that logic?  Some people seem to think that Satan is only representative of the darkness and as we can see from what Jesus says, that this is not the case.  You see what God is saying, is from our perspective, the sun will shine on everyone equally the same.  The Bible says that God shows no favoritism, nor shows any respect to persons.   What that is telling us, is that God is a constant and consistent Spiritual being that treats everyone with equal fairness.  God is a constant and a consistent source of the light for everyone, that would include Satan also.  So using this logic we can see that the light is made available to everyone equally.  So there must be another determining factor for who sees the light and which people let this light in.  Let’ me give you some scriptures that inform us of Satan’s evil.  We do know that Satan is called the “wicked one” in 1 John:

1Jn 5:18  We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Here are 3 verses that speak a tremendous amount of information about our subject.  The devil is called the “wicked one”.  The wicked one is another term for “evil one”.  In fact if you look up the definition of the Greek work “wicked” you will see that it can mean evil.   So Satan is confirmed to be a candidate for the evil that God’s light also shines on.  Then in verse 19, God tells us that the whole world is full of wickedness or evil.  This is representative of those who are in the darkness.   Finally, in verse 20 we see that Jesus has come into the wicked world and given to us an ability to understand and thus to know Him who is True.  Then it declares something very profound, we are said to be in Him that is True and it declares Him to be Jesus Christ the Son of God.  So let me ask you this, if we are in Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is in us, do we just reflect the true light or does the Bible say we are the true light?  That statement will probably rock many religious boaters who are afraid to get out of the boat and walk on the water like Peter did.  What we need to take away from these verses is the world is an evil place controlled by the wicked one.  However, the church is now” in” the True Son, Jesus Christ.   Again we have to conclude that, if Jesus Christ is the One that is True, who is the one that is false?  Obviously, this is not a trick question, you can see from these verses that Satan is called the evil one!  What we have is a classic Good vs. Evil conflict being presented to us.

Finally, in verse 20, it says that Jesus has given unto us an “understanding”.  Is this another reference to the Light of God shining inside of Christians?   Those who understand the truth?  I believe that it is a direct confirmation to what the light is, who gives the light and where the light lives now.

Why Is It Better For Jesus To Go Away?

I think I want to address another point that someone made in a comment.  They seemed to think that while Jesus Christ was on the earth, He was the Light and I agree with that part of the statement.   But, then they said when Jesus Christ was taken out of the world we now do not have the direct Light and the Sun has set.   Which do you prefer, the daylight or the nighttime?  Is it better to work during the day and sleep during the night or what?   In other words, it would appear that some people think that it would have been better for Christ to stay in the world so that we could have the True Light in all of its direct intensity and splendor.   Now that Jesus Christ is not in the world some seem to think that the sun has set and we only live in the darkness with some reflected light off of the moon.  However, Jesus taught something that is very different:

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

As you can read, this verse says that Jesus thought it was more highly beneficial for Him to go away than to stay on the earth.   Why is that important to see?   Jesus said if he leaves He can send us the “Comforter” which you should know is the Holy Spirit and He will enter into your spirit and abide with you forever.  You can read more about the Comforter in John 14:16-26 and John 15:26.   What Jesus is telling us, is that my Spirit will come into you and abide with you forever and this is better than if I stay here physically.  So did Jesus ever leave?  Or did He return and rise internally, inside of us by His Spirit?   For God to be inside of me 24×7 is far better than having 5 minutes of physical Jesus’ time externally.

The True Identity of the Moon and the False Light!

I have tried to give you scriptures that back up my statement of the definition of Light and Darkness,  Day and Night!  Now let’s shift gears and go to see some verses about Satan and see how he is described to us.  What does the Bible say about this “False Light” that I talked about earlier:

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Some seem to think that Satan has no light, however, here is a verse that would seem to say something a bit different than that.  In this verse, Satan is spoken of as a spiritual being that “transforms” into an “angel of light”.   What does that mean?  If I put on a costume, I could transform myself into a Police Officer, but does that make me a true Police Officer?  No you see it clearly does not.  It only means I am pretending to be a Police Officer.  The word “transform” according to the Strong’s can mean to “disguise”.   A disguise is of course a costumed fake or a false appearance.  Sound Familiar?   You can clearly call it a false appearance for Satan to portray himself as an angel of light.  The Bible says that God is Light and in Him is no darkness, so we can see that Satan is trying to present himself as a messenger of the omnipotent God.  This would appear to be a picture of the moon who reflects the true light, but yet has no real ability to produce the true light in himself.  Someone who appears to be light, but is not really light.   Is that a Christian?  Or is that a good descriptive terminology for the moon as being a false light?   Let’s see another definition to learn more:

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

Here is that same Greek word for “Transforming” that is used to describe Satan in the very next verse of 2 Corinthians, this time used to describe those that are called “false apostles”.  Uh oh?  It does sound familiar?   Those that are false apostles transform or disguise themselves to appear as true apostles.   Isn’t this what Satan was said to do?   To transform and appear as an angel of light?  You can clearly see that Satan is called the “False Light” by these two verses.  Satan is referred to in the Bible as a “deceiver” (Rev 12:9) and a “liar” (John 8:44), both of these terms would describe a spiritual being that is attempting to be something that he is not.  You can also see an implied meaning of the moon, being given to us.   The moon goes through phases of transformation from total darkness to fully illuminated light and then back again to darkness.   To transform means and implies a constant change is occurring.  You can see Satan today, tomorrow he will appear to be different.  On the other hand, God is Light, and He is a constant never changing source of strength and truth to us.   Which one is the church suppose to model our lives after?   Is the church suppose to transform themselves constantly like the moon?   Or are we to remain constant and consistent, growing into the image of Christ who is the Sun?  You see the moon cycle only makes sense for the church on the half of the phase that grows brighter and not the reverse phase where it vanishes.   The church is never ever is suppose to go back into the darkness.  Here is kind of an interesting verse to see:

Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Satan is clearly described, being called “the dragon” (Rev 12:9) as someone who is associated with the beast and the “false” prophet”.   Again we see Satan being called a deceiver, someone who portrays himself as a prophet, but is full of lies.  The words of their mouth are described as being unclean spirits that look like frogs.   These spirits would try to consume or eat the true words, by a plague of deceptive words.  At least what we see is that Satan is in control and heavily associated with the spread of lies and false teaching and boy is that all over the internet.

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Jesus gives us a word of warning about people who disguise themselves on the outside but are extremely harmful on the inside.  These are called “False Prophets” and that would indicate they are “False Lights”.  Who do you think controls these liars?  It can only be Satan.  Here is another interesting verse of Scripture that describes Satan:

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So again this verse is talking about Satan our adversary.  It clearly calls him the “Ruler of the Darkness” of this world.   Who or what are we told, is it that rules the night?   According to the Genesis 1:16  it is the “lesser light” AKA the “moon” (Ps 136:9).  I do not recall any verse in the N.T. that says the church Rules the Night?  Do you know of any?   To rule means to dominate, to control,  and to exercise authority over.  Jesus is clearly the Ruler of the Church, but who rules those that are not Christ’s?  It is not Christ and it is not the church, so it must be the moon, Satan.  Don’t get me wrong, the church can certainly be a light to them that are in the darkness, but we do not rule them, we just show them the way out of their darkness by preaching the gospel.  If they believe it, they are saved and the Sun of God rises in their hearts and now they are no longer living in the darkness either.

Now you can see in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 and Ephesians 2:2 that Satan is also called the “Prince” of this world.   A “Prince” is also defined as a “ruler”, look up the word and see what it means.  All this does is tells us who rules the Night and the darkness that is in the world.   It is Satan who rules those who live in the darkness and he is the symbolic moon that deceives many into thinking they already have the true light.  As long as people believe the lies of the enemy over the truth of God’s word they will remain in darkness and be ruled and controlled by Satan.  This is the reality of the spiritual conditions of men’s hearts.

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

What we have seen are scriptures and many verses in the Bible that show there are true lights and false lights in the world today.   These false lights represents people in the world that teach lies in whole or in part.   False teachers, false prophets, false apostles,  these are all instruments of darkness , controlled by the ruler of the darkness, used by Satan to deceive those who are easily fooled.   People walking in the darkness, easily are tripped up and stumble and they do not know or understand in what it is that causes them to fall.

Perhaps you can find scriptures that back your point of view, however, they will not discount or discredit the verses that I just gave you.  God’s word never contradicts itself so if you find verses that says the church is the moon, you will have to change the verses that I just gave you or delete them from your Bible.    You can change the meaning of the word of God, simply by changing the definitions of a few words.  If you do not use God’s definitions, you are buying into Satan’s definitions.  This is what happens everyday in the world and on the internet.

Being the True Light to A Dark World!

So I have taught you that to be a true light to the world you must possess wisdom, understanding and knowledge that others in the darkness need and want to see.  It is a well known fact that people do not know, what they do not know and this describes Christians as well as unsaved people in the world.   Too many Christians think they know something valuable and try to go give it to others, but end up doing more harm than good.   If you have only been saved a short time, guess what, maybe you should go and study and learn something that is worthy for others to know, before you try to be a light for Christ.   Here is a verse that speaks volumes about internet bloggers that I compete with.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

God says, that everyone should be on a path to be a teacher to others.   Everyone should be learning and growing up spiritually.   Every Christian should become a light to those who are in the darkness.  But, God clearly says it is a process to become this, and it does not automatically happen.  Why is that?   God writing to the Hebrews said that by now they should have been teachers, but because of their lack of understanding they were clearly not qualified for this task.   They needed to go back and study the basics, drinking the milk meant for babies before they could ever attempt to teach anything that had meat in it.  Only you and God know where you are and what you are able to do.  Check up with Him before you do anything crazy.  God Bless!