Welcome to IOPNA’s 1st article in our
CONSTELLATION series!
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| Helix Nebula |
Tell me…are the stars
up there to just decorate the night sky?
Well, before GPS they used to be handy for navigation
and some people read their ‘star-signs’ in horoscopes….but I guess that’s just superstition.
So let’s explore what
the Bible has to say -
Genesis 1:14-19 says: "And God said: "Let there be lights in the firmament of the
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and
for seasons...he made the stars also." Signs comes from Hebrew: oth,
meaning 'signal' and seasons comes from moed, meaning 'appointed
time'.
I’ve heard there are at least 76,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars! Yes, apparently that’s more stars than all the grains of sand on Earth!
What about this…
“He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.” Psalm 147:4
Named them all?? Wasn’t that in the
old days when Man could only count a thousand stars?
If Man can count the stars why can’t God who put
them there?
“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the
greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isaiah 40:26
Wow!... all stars numbered and named!?
3000 years after Creation, king David looked up
into the night sky and said:
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which thou hast ordained…” Psalm 8:3
The word David used here for ‘ordained’ was Hebrew:
kun, meaning ‘stand up’ i.e. put in
their place. He continues in Psalm 19:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth
knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their
line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the
world.” where ‘line’ comes from Hebrew: qav meaning measuring tape.
Mmm….the work of God’s fingers and hands… but the
heavens having a voice?...and words?...and “Their line is gone out…”?? Whatever did he mean? I can’t see a measuring tape across the sky.
Let’s see if we can find out. Quoting Psalm 19, the apostle Paul held Israel responsible for having
heard the Word of God:
“Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and
their words unto the ends of the world.” Romans 10:18
Whose sound is he talking about?...heavens’ words?
Paul is now speaking of God’s gospel about our
Lord Jesus Christ.
So how could the gospel reach the ends of the world in the days before
electronic communications or even global travel?
Aren’t the stars the only possible way?
Let’s see what we’ve discovered so far…
Is there a finite number of stars? Let’s see what we’ve discovered so far…
Yes, God has numbered them
Do they all have names?
Yes, God has named them
Are the stars randomly scattered?
No, they have been set in place
Is there a message to read in the heavens?
Yes, there are signs
Are these signs sequenced?
Yes, read in season
Who is the message for?
Apparently the whole world
Okay, but…“Their line is gone out…”
What line??…and how can shiny dots in the night-sky possibly convey a message, let alone the gospel?
Let’s see if we’re meant to ‘join the dots’
somehow in:
‘What about Constellations?’ –
the next article.
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/what-about-constellations.html
Acknowledgement:
Kenneth C. Flemming, God’s Voice
in the Stars, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, 1981
All quotations from the King James Bible
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