When we look at the stars, as human beings we are in awe of the awesome Creation of God.
Some people look up and ask, Is there anyone out there?
God answers back, "I Am the Lord your God, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth."
The response we find all too often? "Is anyone else out there?"
(See entry: "Aliens: Do They Exist? Are They Mentioned in The Bible?", Photo credit to: NASA)
Mankind has always been fascinated by the stars. The stars have been observed since God created man, and we have utilized the stars for a number of things:
to tell the seasons, which lead to calendars and a guide for sailors at night.
But what does God tell us about the stars?
Astronomers (those who study celestial objects) have learned a lot about the Universe God created – even in the last 100 years alone.
We find that every time a scientific fact arises in the Bible, it has been proven true, as it ever shall be.
So, what does the Bible tells us about Astronomy?
A lot, actually – though some may say we are taking a verse out of context, the text is generally agreed upon. We will look at a few of these later in the entry, but let us take a look at what God tells us about the stars and the universe around us in Genesis and the Psalms.
The universe is first mentioned in the very first verse of God's Word.
Genesis 1:1 declares,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Some may get confused what it means by "heavens." The phrase itself is referring to the Universe – the universe and the earth.
There are technically three – the first heaven, called the firmament – which is the Earth's Atmosphere, the Second – Outer Space, the starry heavens – and the Third Heaven, THE Heaven the saved go when they die, God's Abode, where Jesus reigns.
(Genesis 2:19; 7:3, 23; Psalms 8:8, 115:16, 148:4; Deuteronomy 10:14, 17:3; Jeremiah 8:2; Matthew 24:29; 1 Kings 8:27; 2nd Corinthians 12:2)
In Genesis 1:16 we read,
"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." (Day 4)
The Earth was created before the stars – before the Sun and the Moon. Evidences for a young Universe will be covered in an upcoming entry, though God does say in Exodus 20:11 that it only took him six days to create.
Why would we question what "day" meant in Genesis yet not question whether Jesus was dead for three days – or three million years?
This will be covered in an upcoming entry, along with the evidences, as aforementioned.
However, understanding that the stars have only been around for a little over 6000 years – and 4 days – aids in our understanding of the universe.
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The universe is talked about all throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms. Psalm 33:6, 9 says,
"By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth… For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." By the Word of God, he created.
Psalm 104:19, "He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down." Psalm 136:7-9, "who made the great lights…. the sun to govern the day… the moon and stars to govern the night."
We see in Psalm 147:4-5, "He determines the number of the stars and calls each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."
Again, the Psalms speak not only about God's creation, but about the stars all throughout, we merely need to take the time to look.
The Universe – even our Solar System, the Sun, the Moon, the planets – play a role in the Bible.
When Joshua and the Israelites were warring against the Amorites, who were coming to destroy the Gibeonites yet Joshua and the army defended them – something remarkable happened. Joshua 10:12-14, Joshua commanded,
"'Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.'
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. (Joshua 10)
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!"
A similar event occurred with King Hezekiah in 2nd Kings 20:8-11. Hezekiah was ill, and asked the Lord for a sign that he would heal him.
The prophet Isaiah asked whether the shadow would go forward or back ten steps.
Hezekiah replied, "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps, rather, have it go back ten steps."
This is called Hezekiah's Reverse Day – the Lord showed the King this sign, and the Sun went backward.
(For more on Joshua's Long Day and Hezekiah's Reverse Day, see entry: "Curiosities In The Bible (Part One)")
What of the astronomical facts, the scientific facts mentioned in the Bible?
There have been several science-related entries in the science in brief series, such as Distant Starlight, Whether or not the First People lived to be almost 1000, The Great Flood, the Ice Age, and several others.
There was also an entry dedicated to the scientific facts of the Bible, though many were left out. Let us take a look at a few of these, in relation to the stars and the universe.
Though some claim that the Bible is not scientific, that is not true.
It is true that the Bible is not a science textbook – this is a good thing, because if it was, it would change once new discoveries were found, but God's Word has never changed.
Isaiah 40:22 refers to the "circle of the earth."
Science of the time believed that the Earth was flat, and some claim that this is what the Bible teaches. On the contrary, we see that the Bible shows the Earth to be a circle – this is what inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world. It was the science of the time that believed the earth to be a flat disk – yet the Bible maintained that it was round, and this was discovered by man 2,400 years later.
Job 26:10 tells us that God marked a boundary between the light and darkness, where evening and morning occur. Referring to the earth, the boundary is circular – the earth is round. When it was believed that the Earth sat on a large animal or a giant (circa 1500-1450 B.C.), God tells us in Job 26:7,
"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space, he suspends the earth over nothing."
Free float of the earth in space – even though science believed it to sit on the back or a large animal, as did the Hindus, Vedics, Altaics, and Tartars.
Science discovered the Bible was right, yet again.
Also, the northern skies was proven correct. NASA found that there was "empty space" behind the North Star.
Some theologians believe this to be the location of God's Abode, though it is in question. (For more information on this subject, see entry: "What is the Empty Space Behind the North Star?")
There are many other such examples. Isaiah 40:22 also describes God "stretching out" the heavens. This is referred to several times in Scripture. After careful study, we discover something.
In the 1920′s, astronomers discovered that it appears all clusters of galaxies are moving away from one another – indicating an expanding universe… which agrees with what God's Word says. The Bible recorded this concept thousands of years before secular science discovered it.
Redshift shows us that the universe is indeed expanding.
Hebrews 11:3 states something interesting.
"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." At the time, science was ignorant of this subject – that Creation is made out of invisible elements. It was in recent years that science discovered this:
Creation IS made of invisible elements: we call them atoms.
We find that Science expresses our Universe in these five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. The Hebrews understood this from Genesis 1:1-2 in 1450 B.C.: "In the beginning [time] God created [power] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter] . . . And the Spirit of God moved [motion] upon the face of the waters."
What else do we see that science has discovered and has shown the truth of the Bible?
Science has discovered that stars emit radio waves, which are received on earth as a high pitch.
Job 38:7 says, "When the morning stars sang together…"
Job 38:19 asks, "Where is the way where light dwells?" Science later discovered that light ( which is electromagnetic radiation) has a "way," traveling at 186,000 miles per second. After speaking about physical bodies, Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:41 that each star is different.
Science of the time believed all stars to be the same – we know now that this is not the case.
In an entry title "The Intricacies of Creation," the complex and intricate designs and functions of the Universe, the Earth, and the Planets were touched on. Here is an excerpt from the entry:
"If the Earth were to move 2% closer to the sun we would fry. If it was 2% further away, we would freeze. The Earth spins at approximately 66,700 mph, which is 18.5 miles per second. NASA tells us that we are "just the right distance from the Sun."
Psalms 104:5 says, "He set the earth on its foundations, it can never be moved." Psalms 93:1b, "indeed, the world is established, firm and secure." God set the Earth in just the right place."
God also tells us that there are innumerable stars. In Genesis 15:5 we read,
"[God] took [Abraham] outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can't count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'" (See entry: "Covenants: The Old and the New")
God fulfilled this prophecy – to this day, not only can we not count all of the stars, but we cannot count the population of the Earth. We can estimate both – but cannot have an exact number, because we do not know.
Jeremiah 33:22 also refers to the descendants of David becoming "as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore."Yet the science of the time believed that there was around 1,100 stars – we now know that they are innumerable.
We have seen that the Bible indeed does discuss and correctly show astronomy, and these are only a few of the scientific statements of the Bible. Some may argue that all verses were taken out of context, however, this will happen no matter how much evidence is given to show otherwise.
We also see that the biblical worldview fits with what we observe in the universe – the Bible proves itself to us each and every time.
I trust this has proven to be insightful, informative, and uplifting.
Feel free to email vexx801@yahoo.com,
Thank you for taking the time to read this entry of "The Truth." God bless, dear reader.
Troy Hillman
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