Celestial Matters
/Like many events in our internet saturated and “social” media driven age, Monday’s solar eclipse was beyond hyped because hype = online clicks and clicks = advertising $$$. Please don’t misunderstand me I enjoyed this unique and beautiful event, but more importantly it got me thinking about God’s glory and the sun, moon and stars.
On the 4th day of creation God spoke the sun, moon and stars into existence with the following words
“Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years ”
Adults are familar with days, seasons and years, but the text clearly tells us God also created these lights for celestial “signs”.
A celestial sign — specifically a star — is prominent at the beginning of Jesus’ life when wise men traveled to Jerusalem seeking him after “His star” was seen in the East (see Matthew 2:1-12). Eventually the star “stood over where The Young Child was” causing the wise men to "rejoice with exceedingly great joy.”
Later in the book of Matthew, Jesus Himself foretells of heavenly signs that occur immediately after the great tribulation. Here he says
“...The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
I believe that towards the end of time, heavenly signs will increase in frequency since the plagues of the 6th seal, 4th trumpet and 5th trumpet all relate to celestial changes of one type or another. I will list additional passages regarding heavenly miracles and celestial signs below, so let’s segue into a different observation/thought that I had during Monday’s eclipse.
The sun is really bright — it’s so bright that it’s painful (and yes, I know you’re not supposed to look at it). I mean it’s difficult to even try to look at the sun, don’t you think? At any rate, this captivating solar eclipse reminded me of the following passage that speaks of Jesus Christ’s future appearing
“He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
Like God’s glory and dwelling place, the sun’s light is so bright you can hardly glance at it, let alone approach it. In Exodus 33:18-23 Moses asks to see The Lord’s glory, but is only able to see His back because those who see His face must die (there are scriptural exceptions to His Word in this passage — see Judges 13:19-23 and Revelation 22:1-5).
The Hebrew word in Exodus 33 that is translated glory is כָּבוֹד (which is pronounced kah-VODE) and comes from a Hebrew root word that means heaviness. In addition to weightiness, glory also seems to relate to light. Isn’t it interesting that God favors gold in the construction of His earthly and heavenly dwelling places and gold has a weightiness and it reflects light. Gold is glorious!
I’m still working to fit these pieces of truth together and I may not be communicating very succinctly, but my point is that the celestial bodies, including the sun are a reflection of God’s glory and power. He is so glorious that at times it is difficult (or even impossible) to look at or approach Him. And not only is God huge, bright and beautiful like the sun, but even in 2017 He can use celestial bodies to communicate with those who are listening and watching for Him. He created the sun and stars, so He can do whatever He wants with them, whenever He wants to. He makes the rules and He can create an unplanned celestial phenomenon that NASA can’t forecast. Do you believe that? So if you thought the eclipse was awesome or beautiful then you ought to believe that The Creator of the eclipse is awesome and beautiful — because He is.
I encourage you to consider the following questions today:
- Do I believe, with conviction, that The Lord can still speak through celestial signs?
- Do I hold The Lord within the weighty honor that He deserves?
- Do I take the time to meditate upon His matchless power when I see a rosy sunset or worship His beauty when I bask in the light of a crisp, crescent moon?
- Do my mind and heart allow God to be as big and amazing as His creation communicates that He is?
Let's exalt The King of the universe today — He is The Only True, Awesome and Glorious God!
Additional scriptures about Celestial Signs and miracles: Joshua 10:12-14, Amos 8:9, Joel 2:27-32, Luke 21:25-27, Luke 23:44-45, Revelation 6:12-14, Revelation 8:12 and Revelation 9:1-2
Additional scriptures about glory and power: Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 50:1-6, Jeremiah 31:35, Jeremiah 33:19-22, 1 Corinthians 15:40-41, Revelation 1:6 and Revelation 22:16