Bible Nature (No. 2 see ‘Rivers’ for NO. 1 )
In this study we examine Snow … &
Stars
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BIBLE SNOW
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“Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?” (Job 38:22). This is but
one of the questions the Lord asks Job to humble him.
And it is also a good question for us to consider.
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1. A
LESSON IN CREATION
(a) The
Photographer
Wilson Bentley of Vermont, USA, photographed thousands
of snowflakes … and never found two the same.
Yet every one has six sides!
(b) The
Poet
No wonder he wrote …
Snowflakes falling, twisting, swirling, Soft
and fragile; Web of mystery;
There upon my window sill. Falling
on my window sill…
Who but Heaven’s Great Designer I
shall gaze in awe and wonder
Traced that lace with such great skill. At
the Hand that held the quill.
(J. Janus, altered)
(c) The
Psalmist
David gazed “in awe and wonder” at the star-filled
heavens and caused him to “declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19). Had he had a microscope and examined the
intricacies of the snow-flake he would have been just as awe-stricken!
2. A
LESSON IN CO-OPERATION
(a) The
Soldiers
It was 1812 … and the army of Napoleon retreated from
Moscow … defeated by the snow! Fifty
thousand of his men never saw France again.
(b) The
Cities
It was 1978 … and ‘the Blizzard of the Century’ (as Time
Magazine called it), closed city after city across the United States.
(c) The
Scriptures
What one snow-flake cannot do … ‘a trillion times a
trillion’ can. They can stop an army of
close down a city. And they remind us
of the need for Bible-believing Christians to unite against the forces of evil.
3. A
LESSON IN SALVATION
(a) The
Plight of Man …
Job 9:30. Even if he washed in
snow-water, it would not cleanse from sin.
(b) The
Plea of David … Psalm 51:7. He calls on the
Lord to wash him “whiter than snow”.
(c) The
Provision of the Saviour … I john 1:7.
There is no other cleansing agent for man’s sin … except the Blood of
Jesus.
Oh,
Precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow …
No
other fount I know; Nothing but the
Blood of Jesus!
(d) The
Promise of God … Isaiah 1:8. “Come now,
and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool.”
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BIBLE STARS
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“Have ye not known?
Have ye not heard? Hath it not
been told you from the beginning? Have
ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grass-hoppers;
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as
a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the
princes to nothing; He maketh the
judges of the earth as vanity. Yea,
they shall not be planted; yea, they
shall not be sown: yea, their stock
shall not take root in the earth: and
He shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall
take them away as stubble. ‘To whom
then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal?’ saith the Holy One. 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 40:21-26).
INTRODUCTION …
“Lift up your eyes on high
and behold WHO …” Not ‘what’ …!! As we go stargazing we will catch a fresh
glimpse of the greatness of our God.
1. A TRIP THRU’ THE UNIVERSE
We are already on a trip …
our planet Earth travels 66,800 mph in
its orbit around the Sun … a distance of 590 million, million miles every year!
The Sun (which is actually
a Star) is the centre of our Solar system.
It is 1,300,000 larger than Earth!
And Earth’s distance from the Sun is just correct enough to sustain life. Much closer and we would be burned to a
crisp. A little further away and we
would all freeze to death.
The unwearied Sun from day to day
Doth his Creator’s power display;
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty Hand!
Our Solar System consists of nine planets orbiting
around the Sun. Because of the vast
distance, astronomers speak in terms of “Light-years” … i.e. how long it takes
travelling at the speed of light to reach one’s destination. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. So instead of saying Earth is 93 million
miles away from the Sun, they would say that it takes light 8 minutes to reach
us from there.
But the distance to Pluto, the furthest planet from
the Sun in our Solar System, takes five and a half hours, travelling at the
speed of light!
Our Solar System is but one of many in a galaxy
called the Milky Way. As a matter of
fact there are about 100 billion stars (like our Sun) in the Milky Way
galaxy. So vast it is that travelling
at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) it would take 100,000 years
to cross it!
The constellation of ‘Hercules’, for example, is a great Cluster “two hundred and thirty quadrillion miles away” from us: consisting of 20,000 Suns.
But there are other galaxies besides our Milky
Way!! Andromeda is the nearest … and it
is 5,000,000,000,000,000,000 (five quintillion!) miles away.
The Whirlpool Nebula is 6,000,000,000,000,000,000
miles distant!
Because of the giant Mount Palomar Telescope,
astronomers now are able to speak of “hundreds of millions of galaxies and
supergalaxies”!!
Not is that the end … for galaxies are found in
Clusters, “and each Cluster contains at least 50 galaxies with probably as many
as 100 billion stars in each galaxy!”
The Cluster, ‘Centauri’, is only 20,000 light years
distant …
With all this in mind we reflect upon the words of
the Psalmist: “He hath not dealt
with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear
Him” (Psalm 103:10-11).
2. A
TRIP THRU’ THE SCRIPTURES
In a day when man thought the earth was flat, and
that the earth was supported by Atlas or hung from the sky on a chain; and that all the stars one could see was all
that there were … the inspired writers of Scripture did not make those
mistakes!
(a) Innumerable
Stars
“As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured:
so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that
minister unto Me” (Jeremiah 33:22).
(b) Suspended
in Space
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and
hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7).
(c) Movement
of Stars
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or
loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou
bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?
Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:31-32).
Pleiades is popularly known as the “Seven Sisters” … actually comprising a constellation of 250 Stars (Suns), 220 light years away from Earth. (That means that if their ‘light’ went out tomorrow, we would keep on seeing them for another 220 years!)
Whilst most constellations are expanding, Pleiades
is “bound” together (v. 31!). The
“bands of Orion” and “Mazzaroth” refer to other constellations.
And Arcturus (v. 32) has been described as
the “runaway star” in our Universe … 1,000 times bigger than our Sun …
travelling through the Milky Way at 1,000,000 miles per hour! But God says that He ‘guides’ it!
(c) Heaven’s
Brightest Star
Our Sun, of course, is the brightest to us due to
its proximity to Earth.
But Cappella is 200 times brighter than our Sun!
And Rigel is 14,000 times brighter!
And S. Doradus is 500,000 times brighter!
But Revelation 22:16 speaks of One brighter still:
“I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you
these things in the churches. I am the
Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and Morning Star.”
Just as the Morning Star ushers in a new day, so the
Lord Jesus describes Himself in this manner as He returns to establish a New
Heaven and a New Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come’. And let him that heareth say, ‘Come’. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water
of life freely… He which testifieth
these things saith, ‘Surely I come quickly.’
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:17, 20).
Lift up your eyes on high and behold … the greatness
of our God; the wonder of the
Scripture’s accuracy; and Heaven’s
Brightest Star!
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a
shining frame
Their great Original
proclaim.
The unwearied sun, from day
to day,
Does his Creator’s powers
display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty
Hand.
What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark
terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice
nor sound
Amid the radiant orbs be
found?
In reason’s ear they all
rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious
voice.
Forever singing as they
shine,
“The hand that made us is
divine.”
Words: Joseph Addison,
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