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God of immensities merits praise, loyalty |
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Wednesday, 30 January 2008 |
Rev. John C. Blackford
Religion Columnist
One hundred years ago astronomers spoke of the “universe,” basically what we call the “Milky Way,” which includes the planet Earth. Because of what we have learned about creation the past century, the term “multiverse,” or many universes, better describes what is beyond our world.
Three thousand years ago David, tending his father’s sheep on a hillside near Bethlehem of Judea, looked up into the starry skies and exclaimed in wonder: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1 – New International Bible).
With our much greater knowledge of what lies beyond the earth we, too, can marvel at what is out there.
How many heavens are there? Being in “seventh heaven” is a term used by some to describe an experience of great joy.
Scientists speak of two heavens – what we can see – primarily limited to our solar system, and what lies beyond it. The Scriptures tell of three heavens, the third being the “heaven of heavens,” the abode of God.
There is much to be learned from a study of what we might call the “second” heaven. We read in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (The Hebrew word for heavens is in the plural, suggesting more than one, and for earth is singular, or one of a kind).
With the powerful telescopes available we can see tremendous distances. Knowing that light travels at 186,000 miles/second (it takes eight minutes for the sun’s rays to reach us), we can calculate the distances of faraway objects in space and estimate their ages.
How old is creation? Some good people, using interesting reasoning, believe it is from six to eight thousand years.
On the other hand, we understand from scientific research that existence may extend back from 13 to 15 billion years. This conclusion does not negate the Genesis record, because there is room in it for vast amounts of time, including the geological ages.
The second verse in Genesis goes on to say: “and the earth was desolation and waste.” (Literal Hebrew). This statement implies chaotic conditions, which fit scientific reckonings.
The conditions for life as we know it have never been found in any other part of creation. Recently NASA, our space agency, announced solid evidence showed that inner solar system materials were hurled to the fringes, indicating the formation of our system was more violent than previously thought.
Had it happened in the last few thousand years life on earth would have been severely threatened. On Tuesday of this week an asteroid at least 500 feet long made a rare close pass by earth, with its closest approach at 334,000 miles, or about 1.4 times the distance of the earth to the moon. The next time an asteroid this size will fly by this close to us is 2027.
Chaotic conditions are known to exist outside our home planet in every direction.
While ‘the heavens declare the glory of God,” they should also remind us of his sovereign care for our world and all that is in it.
An old preacher once said, “The Lord has us in the hollow of his hand, and every once in a while he peeks in to see how we are getting along.”
It is an almost overwhelming thought that the God of the immensities knows and cares for us. Surely he merits our praise and loyalty.
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