Everyone I have known has accepted that the Sun is the center of our Universe.
To Gods elect, that is precisely what we should believe in,that The Son is the center of our universe within our hearts and minds and to dwell in that universe is to dwell in heaven,with Christ Jesus. I have come to realize that the universe that is within us all is of a far more complex and intricate vacuum then the physical one that lies without.
It amazes me sometimes that when we read Scripture we all have a tendency to look more so at the outward application of the Word and gloss over the real meaning of what is being said,that being,the Spiritual significance of Gods Word. Remember Christ himself says that His words are Spirit, His Words,not ours,but His. We of ourselves cannot add life to His words,only God can do that. People have been debating science for hundreds, even thousands of years and the best that we can come up with is only what The Lord causes humanity to understand,right or wrong.
Lets face it, the best any carnal human being can come to realize in the big scheme of things basically comes down to being self righteous,as in,am I right and what's in it for me (I want my reward and I want it now). As long as the beast sits on the throne we will never be able to be pure of heart. After all ,is this not why we are on this planet to begin with,to learn righteousness and follow in Jesus' footsteps?
If we can put on our Spiritual thinking caps and really read what the Lord is causing us to see,if one has been given the Spiritual eyes to see,a whole new universe will open up,leaving the physical understanding secondary to the primary Spiritual one. As it has been repeated many times here,we have to read all the words. Although all of the Word of God has an outward application it is not the primary way of coming to the understanding of what is being said. When we look for the inward meaning of what the Word is saying through Scripture then the purpose of the Word shines like the sun,as in,our Son.
Jesus The Christ is our S-U-N.
Instead of thinking the word sun is what is being spoken of here in Ecc1:5 lets try to see that the true reference given is 'The Son'.
Take a look at the Rotherhams version of the verse in question.
If we come from an understanding of what Ray has taught us about Scripture being symbolic and that the Bible is one giant parable the verse below and all of Gods Words start to release a higher Spiritual meaning than what is being said outwardly.
Doing a word study can be most advantageous.Ecc 1:1 The words of the Proclaimer, son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecc 1:2 Vanity of vanities! saith the Proclaimer, vanity of vanities! all, is vanity.
Ecc 1:3 What profit hath Man, in all his toil wherewith he toileth under the sun?
Ecc 1:4 Generation, goeth and, generation, cometh, but, the earth, unto times age-abiding, remaineth.
Ecc 1:5 And the sun, breaketh forth, and the sun, goeth in,—yea, unto his own place, he panteth, from whence he brake forth.
Ecc 1:6 Going unto the south, and circling unto the north,—circling, circling continually, is, the wind, and, over its own circuits, returneth the wind.
Ecc 1:7 All the streams, flow into the sea, yet, the sea, is not full,—unto the place whither the streams flow, thither, do they again flow.
Ecc 1:8 All words, are weak, unable is any man to tell,—not satisfied is the eye by seeing, nor filled is the ear with hearing.
Ecc 1:9 That which hath been, is the same that shall be, and, that which hath been done, is the same that shall be done,—and there is, nothing new, under the sun.I do not want to come across as being condescending in any manner because that is
not my intention,Lord forbid. But I would like my brothers and sisters to come to an understanding that when we are steeped in the physical/literal side of what The Word of God has given us we then miss the whole point of what Christ is trying to convey to us, t-h-r-o-u-g-h His words, which are...
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Our life in the flesh will amount to no more then a hill of beans when His Spiritual Words bring forth His Glory within.The Spirit is Life.The flesh and all that it represents is for naught....
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.Amen.
Hope this helps some friends. Thanks for allowing me to throw a few penny's into the mix.
Peace...Mark