1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:06,920 If you would go ahead and turn to Genesis Chapter 1, it is 2 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:13,040 found on Page 1, in case you didn't know that. 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,200 And if you didn't know that, that's OK. 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,640 But we will be continuing, obviously our series in Genesis 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:33,080 for the next two years. Approximately 12 or 13 years 6 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,760 ago, I began to develop an obsession with the Aurora 7 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:43,360 borealis, the Northern Lights. I set about to learning some of 8 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,320 the science behind the Aurora. I found websites to show me key 9 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,120 information on when they might possibly be viewed at our 10 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,400 latitude. For a while I even had an app 11 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,360 that would call me or text me in the middle of the night when 12 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:03,160 when the numbers hit certain thresholds that I had set for 13 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:04,360 our location. Here. 14 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:10,000 I routinely went out to try and see the lights but would fail 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:16,280 time and time again, even when we were way far north, whether 16 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:21,080 it was in northern Michigan or in the UP or even at Glacier 17 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,000 National Park, which is practically Canada, I would 18 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,080 strike out. Conditions, you see have to be 19 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,760 just right to view the Northern Lights at our latitude. 20 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:37,640 The numbers have to be right. And you know what you don't want 21 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,000 clouds because then it's hard to see them. 22 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:49,400 But then April 23rd of 2023 I was finally able to capture them 23 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,960 with my phone. It wasn't the best, but after 24 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,920 many years of trying, I was excited to finally have caught 25 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,960 the Northern Lights. Well, most of the pictures. 26 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,600 You may know this, but most of the pictures you see are not 27 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,080 what our human eyes actually see, but our rather longer 28 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,480 exposures to let in more lights and more information into the 29 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,480 camera. However, without day four of 30 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:25,120 creation there would be no northern or southern. 31 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:32,360 For our southern friends lights last week we looked at days one 32 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,960 through 3 of creation. Those days serve as the 33 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:40,840 framework for creation. On day one, God created the 34 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,920 light. The the text didn't tell us what 35 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:48,280 exactly this light was or or how it worked, But in a place that 36 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,960 was formerly dark, light had now shone into the darkness. 37 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,520 And now there was both night and day. 38 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,480 Day 2. God created the skies. 39 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,800 There was water above the earth as well as water here on earth. 40 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,320 And, and somehow it was all mingled together in my mind. 41 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:15,840 I kind of imagined it being like July in San Francisco, which is 42 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,720 my mic doing that thing again, just once. 43 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:24,600 OK, perhaps you've heard what Mark Twain said. 44 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,440 The coldest winter I ever spent was the was the summer in San 45 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,320 Francisco. Yes. 46 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,440 No, it's real. Like it's very real. 47 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,440 The the fog just socks in San Francisco. 48 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:43,480 And we used to live in that fog. Summers are cold there. 49 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:49,960 But so I imagine it being like that thick fog sitting over the 50 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,520 coast there along San Francisco. It's just my imagination. 51 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,120 Who knows if that's what it actually was, but that's what I 52 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,200 imagined. So God took some then God took 53 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,320 some sort of Dome in their minds or a globe for our 21st century 54 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,880 perspective. And he set it above the earth to 55 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,600 to create our atmosphere and our skies, separating the waters 56 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:16,079 above from the waters that were below here on earth. 57 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:19,240 Then came the last piece of the frame. 58 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,160 On day three. God pulled all waters together 59 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,320 into one place so that dry land appeared. 60 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,000 And once the dry land appears, God speaks and he produces 61 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,240 vegetation and and the each tree or plant is given the ability to 62 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:39,600 reproduce after its own kind. I had initially intended to 63 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,440 cover days 4 through 6 today. I think I told you last week 64 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:49,040 that I was going to cover days 4 through 6, but that is a lie. 65 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:54,680 Once I started studying, I realized I couldn't do the 4th 66 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,640 day justice if I hit all three days in one message. 67 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,840 The 4th day is way too important to just fly over it. 68 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,320 So now if you're starting to count verses and time will 69 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,360 probably be like three years in Genesis. 70 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,440 No, see, what's going to happen is for the 1st 11 chapters, 71 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,480 we'll go slow ish. After that you get into the 72 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,520 narrative sections and and things move much faster. 73 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,040 So I don't anticipate us being two years in this. 74 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:33,080 It may be a year, but yeah. So if you're able, would you 75 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:39,520 stand as we read from Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 1, 76 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:45,880 verses 14 through 19. And God said, let there be 77 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,000 lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from 78 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,640 the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for 79 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,800 days and years. And let there be lights in the 80 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,280 expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. 81 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,800 And it was so. And God made the 2 great lights, 82 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,240 the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to 83 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,920 rule the night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse 84 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,240 of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day 85 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,280 and over the night, and to separate the light from the 86 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:18,800 darkness. And God saw that it was good, 87 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,200 And there was evening, and there was morning. 88 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:30,000 The 4th day you may be seated both day and night needed to 89 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,320 have have their boundaries. So God made these two great 90 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,000 lights in order to create separation that He was 91 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,800 separating the day from the night. 92 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,040 He's separating the light from the dark. 93 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:50,440 Imagine, if you will, that it's always night. 94 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,800 People would be depressed all the time, lazy, unmotivated. 95 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,720 We would be purposeless people struggling to find our way 96 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,000 through life. The sense of safety that that 97 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,000 light brings wouldn't be a reality, so there might even be 98 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:13,720 a perpetual sense of anxiety about the constant darkness. 99 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,360 But what if it was always day? What if it was always bright 100 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,640 out? There would be no natural break 101 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:29,520 in our day to to give us rest. It would be relentless sun and 102 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:34,880 heat, no time to relax. Each night when we go to bed we 103 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,360 we bury the troubles and concerns of the day, looking 104 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:43,280 forward to the next day when when things will in a sense be 105 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,120 made new. The day creates opportunity for 106 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:52,320 for work and productivity, but the night serves to give us the 107 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:57,840 rest that we need. So God created these two great 108 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,040 lights to rule over the day and night. 109 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:06,720 Obviously the sun is the greater light and the moon is the lesser 110 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,840 light. Now remember, the Bible isn't 111 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,360 trying to make any scientific statements here, but is written 112 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:17,840 from their human perspective. So it calls the moon a lesser 113 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,280 light. The Babylonians, Sumerians, and 114 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,520 Egyptians all believed specific gods ruled over over the day and 115 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,040 the night. And there were various myths of 116 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,600 course associated with these gods. 117 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,760 For example, the sun God who was known by either U2 or Shamash 118 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:41,480 would watch all that happened on the earth as he as he drove his 119 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,240 fiery Chariots across the sky each day. 120 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,000 And as he watched the going down the goings on of of the earth. 121 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,040 He he decided that he would then continue traveling through the 122 00:08:54,040 --> 00:09:00,320 underworld at night to bring judgments and and impose his 123 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:05,240 divine justice. Then there's the moon God. 124 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:11,160 The moon God's name was Nana or sin. 125 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,920 Don't conflate those two things. Don't call your Nana a sin. 126 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:25,040 Might not be good, but he he guided the moon God would guide 127 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,320 travelers. He was associated with fertility 128 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,520 of the land as well as fertility of cattle. 129 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,200 And often he's depicted as as the father of the sun God. 130 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,760 And, and this was in order to demonstrate his seniority, his 131 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:44,600 authority over the sun. But these myths, these 132 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,880 Babylonian and Sumerian and Egyptian myths, they, they stand 133 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:53,360 in stark contrast to what Moses is communicating to the Hebrews. 134 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:59,200 First God created lights. There was light without any 135 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:04,320 specific source, no object that could be worshipped in lieu of 136 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:09,240 the Creator. Then here on Day 4, God has 137 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,480 placed these two lights up in the up in the Skydome to to 138 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,560 watch over the people both by day and by night. 139 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,720 These are their figurative rulers of the day night, not the 140 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,560 Babylonian, Sumerian, and Egyptian gods that they looked 141 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:31,320 to. Now let's take a minute to learn 142 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,960 about these great lights that God made. 143 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,280 This is fun. At least I think it's fun. 144 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:40,320 I hope you enjoy it. The sun is obviously the source 145 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:42,200 of our light, right? That's the simple part. 146 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,040 We understand that. But let's consider some other 147 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:51,840 facts about the sun. The sun is 110 times the size of 148 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,520 the Earth and could contain as many as 1.3 million earths 149 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,440 inside of it. Do I have a picture of that? 150 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:05,640 Yes, the the Earth, the third rock from the sun is the little 151 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:10,720 one, and obviously that's the sun 100. 152 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,520 It's 110 times the size of the Earth and could contain 1.3 153 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,520 million Earths inside of it. Even though we think of the sun 154 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,160 as being immensely huge because hey look, it's huge, right? 155 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,840 It's actually small. It is actually considered a 156 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,080 yellow dwarf star. Super giant stars like 157 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,440 Beetlejuice, which is in the upper left shoulder of Orion, 158 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:40,440 are as much as 1000 times larger than our sun, which just blows 159 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:48,720 my mind. Then the Sun contains 99.8% of 160 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:57,120 the mass of our entire solar system, and it travels at 137 161 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:03,760 miles per second through space as its orbits around the center 162 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,200 of the Milky Way. The surface of the Sun is 163 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:15,760 10,000°F, and the core of it is 27,000,000°F. 164 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,680 Don't ask me how they figure that out. 165 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,920 I don't know, but I think that's cool. 166 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,960 Then there's the moon. The moon is the ruler of the 167 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,080 night. The moon is. 168 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,240 It's much larger than I thought it was. 169 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,720 I hadn't realized how big it was. 170 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:36,200 It's a diameter of 2159 miles and and that that diameter is 171 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,400 actually more than 1/4 of the Earth's diameter. 172 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:44,600 That is roughly the distance from San Francisco to Champaign 173 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:50,680 is roughly 2159 miles. So that's a pretty big, pretty 174 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:54,400 big thing that's out there floating around, orbiting around 175 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,160 our Earth. And it is actually bigger than 176 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,920 the now promoted Pluto. It controls the tides. 177 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,200 There are two high tides and two low tides each day. 178 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:13,280 The temperature on the Moon ranges from 215° in the Sun to 179 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:20,920 -243° in the dark parts. The moon circles the Earth in an 180 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,720 elliptical pattern, and it completes a full orbit around 181 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,920 the Earth every 27.3 days, and it travels a distance of almost 182 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:35,840 1.5 million miles each month. Like these numbers blow my mind. 183 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:37,880 Now here's something really cool. 184 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,480 While the moon orbits the Earth, it spins at the exact same rates 185 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,440 that the moon is orbiting the Earth. 186 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,800 This is called synchronous rotation, and because of this 187 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,680 synchronous rotation, do you ever see the other side of the 188 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:57,200 moon? No, we only see one side of the 189 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,800 moon because of this, because it's orbiting and spinning at 190 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,800 the same exact rate. The moon has virtually no 191 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,480 atmosphere. So there's no, no diffusion of 192 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:13,480 of light at the moon's surface, which is why the moon is so ably 193 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,200 reflecting that light back to us. 194 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,000 But then interestingly, if you're standing on the moon, 195 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,120 because there's no atmosphere, if you look up at the sky, the 196 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:30,360 sky is black because there's no atmosphere. 197 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,920 We have an atmosphere, so we see the sky as blue. 198 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,640 Isn't this interesting? I hope some of you find it 199 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,880 interesting. Like there, there were so many 200 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:48,840 deep holes for me to go down this week, especially learning 201 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,120 sciency stuff when I'm not necessarily a science person. 202 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,800 But I find it all incredibly interesting because it all 203 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,480 speaks to our creator. So these are the 2 great lights 204 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,000 that God made. And interestingly, the word used 205 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,200 here, a saw is different than the word that we saw in verse 206 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:08,760 one. That word was baran. 207 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,560 Baran means to create out of out of nothing. 208 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,560 God created. It says in verse one out of 209 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:21,160 nothing, but then we get here to verse 16 and it said and it's 210 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,280 using the word Assad. And that means to to take the 211 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:30,880 materials, to take raw materials that already exist and to make 212 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,640 or fashion something out of those raw materials. 213 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:42,440 Now, I have no idea how how this worked, but we can imagine, I 214 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,680 like to imagine that perhaps there was this big ball of fire 215 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,600 sitting out there somewhere. God takes his metaphorical hands 216 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:56,680 and he and he throws balls of fire further out into space all 217 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:05,160 over the universe, and that gives us what we have and he 218 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:10,000 creates the sun and the stars. It's just my imagination. 219 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,800 God created these celestial, these heavenly bodies to to 220 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:20,120 separate day from night. Then then we see that these 221 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,040 celestial bodies were, were created in order to regulate the 222 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,160 times. It's it says that they were 223 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,800 created for regulating see signs and seasons and days and years. 224 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,160 So this is for regulation of the seasons. 225 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,320 It says in verse 14 sign seasons, days and years. 226 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:44,360 And then in verse 16 says God made 2 great lights, the greater 227 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,640 light to rule the day in the lesser lights to rule the nights 228 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,040 and the stars. I love the economy of words here 229 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,400 in reference to the creation of the stars. 230 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,320 Moses said God made the lesser light to rule the night, and 231 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,760 then he simply writes just a little addendum and the stars. 232 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,079 That's all he says. The stars are kind of an 233 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:10,880 appendix here, which is funny because we don't look at the 234 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:16,240 stars as an as an afterthoughts. Humans naturally love to go out 235 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,280 and look up at the stars. Sure, modern science has of 236 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:23,599 course helped inform our awe of the stars, but we have this 237 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:28,079 compulsion to go out and look at celestial objects. 238 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,960 Humanity has been doing this from the very beginning. 239 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,360 I can't help but wonder what ancient people stopped when they 240 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:42,240 looked up at the stars. There were there were thousands 241 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,960 of little specks traversing the sky and at various times a year 242 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,920 disappearing and then reappearing months later. 243 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,840 Sure, they had an understanding of the timing of these things, 244 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,000 but what did they really think they were looking at? 245 00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,520 I'd love to talk to them and know what they thought. 246 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,640 Fortunately, we have modern science to tell us what they 247 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:10,040 were looking at. Stars are huge balls of fire and 248 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,920 there are countless numbers of stars, literally. 249 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,280 We live in the Milky Way Galaxy, and it's estimated that within 250 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:22,200 the Milky Way Galaxy there could be as many as 400 billion stars. 251 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,640 Obviously the exact number can't quite be known due to the 252 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,920 difficulty of observing our Milky Way while we're sitting in 253 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:38,520 the middle of our Galaxy. So our star sits in in the Orion 254 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:43,000 arm of our spiral Galaxy. It's about 2/3 of the way from 255 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,600 the center out center where out to the edge. 256 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,120 That's where our sun and us sits. 257 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,160 As I mentioned, some stars, supergiants, are 100 million 258 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,840 times larger and brighter than our Sun. 259 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:02,280 I can't even fathom how big that would be. 260 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,400 Then the closest star to us besides the Sun is Alpha 261 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,440 Centauri. Did you know you were going to 262 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,600 astronomy class this morning? I loved astronomy class, 263 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:18,400 absolutely loved it. However, Alpha Centauri, the 264 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:23,280 closest star to us is actually a triple star system with one star 265 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:28,840 similar to our Sun and then then two other smaller stars orbiting 266 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,200 around it. And then should you decide that 267 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,760 you would like to go visit Alpha Centauri using today's 268 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:44,000 technology, today's means of travel, it would take you 70,000 269 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:51,080 years to get there. That is to the closest star to 270 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:55,640 US, 70,000 years. And when we look at Alpha 271 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,720 Centauri, we're actually looking back approximately 4.3 years. 272 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:05,640 Because Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light years away from us. 273 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:12,040 Some stars are binary stars that they're two stars orbiting each 274 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,640 other. Some of what we observe as a 275 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,280 single * nebulae, which are clusters of stars. 276 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:24,240 You may know of a few of them. There's Orion, there's there's a 277 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,280 crab, there's horse, head and ring. 278 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,680 These are among some of the most well known and most photographed 279 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:35,760 nebulae. So we look at the stars for 280 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,920 pleasure, but they're intended for more than that. 281 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,800 They're for signs for seasons, for days and years, as it said 282 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,040 in verse 16. So what does this mean? 283 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,080 First of all, the Hebrew word for signs is is oath, and it 284 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:59,280 means a beacon or or a signal. Stars point to something. 285 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,280 Scripture doesn't tell us exactly what these celestial 286 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:08,120 bodies were pointing to, but we do know that stars have always 287 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:13,760 been used in navigation. For millennia, humanity has has 288 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:19,640 plotted its path across land and sea using the stars as a guide. 289 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,680 And I would suggest they also point to God. 290 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:28,600 But I'll touch more on that in a moment Now, since the text says 291 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,240 the stars are for a sign, I think it's important to say that 292 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,640 stars are not for astrological purposes. 293 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,720 They don't serve as Zodiac signs or omens of events to come. 294 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,400 Astrology is actually an occultic and Pagan practice, and 295 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,640 as such it's, along with fortune telling, is strictly forbidden 296 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,600 in scripture. Deuteronomy 18 outlaws 297 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,240 divination and fortune telling. Divination is the practice of 298 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,800 trying to discover hidden knowledge or predict future 299 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:10,160 events by looking at the stars, and fortune telling attempts to 300 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,840 see omens in the alignment of the stars, and both of these are 301 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:19,680 an abomination to God. Don't engage in anything related 302 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,520 to these, whether they be overtly occultic practices or 303 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,760 the seemingly benign horoscope readings. 304 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:34,800 These are outlawed in Scripture was driving out the people as 305 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,520 the Israelites entered the promised land. 306 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,720 The stars are signs for seasons and days and years. 307 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,680 They set our calendars. The length of our year can be 308 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:54,760 set with the stars and seasons signaled as the sky changes. 309 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:59,720 For example, here in the US, indeed in the northern 310 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:05,960 hemisphere, as as Orion starts to come into view at night, we 311 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,520 know that when Orion starts to come into view the weather is 312 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:16,360 going to start cooling off, and as Orion starts to fade from our 313 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:19,920 view, then we know that the weather is going to begin 314 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,160 warming. These ancients knew all about 315 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,280 the stars and they could count years by them. 316 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,960 In a sense, all of human life is governed by these heavenly 317 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,240 bodies. The sun determines our days, the 318 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,680 moon more or less determines the months, and all the celestial 319 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,560 bodies determine the seasons and years. 320 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,040 We can view these objects and know based on their location in 321 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,640 the sky, what the season and day are. 322 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,440 And all these objects are in perfect balance and work to 323 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,480 bless us with a variety of climates and weather patterns. 324 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,080 So God created the celestial objects to separate the day from 325 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,320 the night to regulate the seasons and calendars. 326 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,600 And this brings us to the last purpose in this text. 327 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,200 The last purpose the text mentions is illumination. 328 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:20,600 The stars are intended to illuminate verse 15 read and let 329 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,400 them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon 330 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,320 the earth. God created these lights in 331 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:34,760 order to give us light. This sounds remedial, but this 332 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,400 is reality. God's creation on day 4 was 333 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,040 intended to give us light, and it's God's kindness to humanity. 334 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,520 I don't think it's a stretch to actually call this common grace. 335 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,680 Common grace is the grace that God gives to all people 336 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,200 throughout all time. And this is differentiated. 337 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,920 Common grace is differentiated from salvific grace, which is 338 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:00,280 the grace that God extends to someone who will believe in him. 339 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:05,560 Common grace is is God's grace given to all people for all 340 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,560 time. So the sun rising every morning, 341 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,240 that is God's common grace extended to all of humanity. 342 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,600 Let's take a moment to consider light. 343 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,760 I know a science teacher could probably do a slightly better 344 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:25,520 job of this than I, but here we go. 345 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:32,640 Light is energy. Light is energy. 346 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,800 The sun's energy comes in the forms of both visible and 347 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,720 invisible light. We can obviously see all the 348 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,440 colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, 349 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:49,160 indigo, and Violet. But beyond the visible spectrum, 350 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,320 there's UV, ultraviolet light, There's infrared, X-ray, 351 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:57,320 microwave, and radio waves. All these forms of light are 352 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,480 invisible to humans and they carry energy. 353 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,800 They have so much energy that in excessive amounts they are 354 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,640 harmful to our bodies. And all this energy serves a 355 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,640 couple purposes. First of all, yes, it 356 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:20,120 illuminates the earth, but secondly, it helps plant life 357 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,840 grow. And this process, I told you, 358 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:24,280 we're getting sciency here this morning. 359 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,480 This process is called photosynthesis. 360 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,040 Photosynthesis, you may recall from, I don't know, maybe third 361 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,360 grade or 4th grade, I don't know, is the process by which 362 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:41,200 plants use the sun's energy to produce sugar, carbohydrates, 363 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,960 and other nutrients from the carbon dioxide. 364 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,400 And plants act as the earth's lungs. 365 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:55,960 They take in CO2, they process it and give off oxygen, while 366 00:26:55,960 --> 00:27:01,720 our lungs of course take in oxygen and we give off CO2. 367 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:07,360 All this, of course speaking to God's magnificent design and 368 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:11,360 creation. So God spoke it all into 369 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:15,200 existence. Was it just to create an 370 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,880 environment for humans to live and thrive in, or was there more 371 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,120 to it? Obviously these celestial bodies 372 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:29,720 serve even greater purposes. Significance of God's creating 373 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:34,520 These heavenly bodies can first be found in displaying God's 374 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:38,360 glory. They display God's glory. 375 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,840 Psalm 81 says, O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all 376 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:52,920 the earth. You have set your glory above 377 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,040 the heavens. The Psalm 19 one the heavens 378 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,800 declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his 379 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,400 handiwork. To say that the heavens declare 380 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,080 the glory of God is to say that first of all, the celestial 381 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:14,880 objects point to our Creator. Second, they point to a reality 382 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,600 beyond what we can even see. When we look at the skies, we 383 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,840 get glimpses into God's presence in the world, His character, and 384 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:28,800 the nature of his attributes. God's name, God's glory is 385 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:33,040 revealed through his day for creations. 386 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,520 God's glory isn't revealed through a bunch of happy little 387 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:44,640 accidents. No, God is an intentional artist 388 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,520 and and he brought purpose in his creating. 389 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:52,280 And that purpose wasn't just for the signs and the seasons, but 390 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:59,480 to show His glory to humanity. These celestial bodies also 391 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,040 display God's concern for creation. 392 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,480 They display God's concern for creation. 393 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,080 As you're writing that down, go ahead and turn to Isaiah 40, 394 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:20,600 Isaiah chapter 40. We are done with Genesis, so you 395 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:21,880 don't need to keep a finger there. 396 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,640 Numerous times in in Scripture we see God's concern with his 397 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:29,800 creation and particularly humanity. 398 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,720 I know humans have yet to be created in our timeline, but I 399 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:39,000 love how Isaiah puts it in the 40th chapter of his book. 400 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,480 This is a well known section but but approaching it in its 401 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:47,160 context helps us understand God more deeply. 402 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,240 Isaiah 40 beginning at verses verse 25. 403 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:55,520 We'll read 25 through 31. Verse 25. 404 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,240 To whom then will you compare me? 405 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,480 That I should be like Him? Says the Holy One. 406 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,040 Lift your eyes on high, and see who created these. 407 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,160 He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by 408 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:16,000 name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong 409 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:22,920 in power, not one is missing. Verse 27 Why do you say, O Jacob 410 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,760 and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, That is to 411 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,200 say Jacob, God's people are saying, my way is hidden from 412 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,800 the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God. 413 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:39,960 Verse 28 God says, have you not known? 414 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,640 Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, 415 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,160 the creator of the ends of the earth. 416 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:52,600 He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is 417 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,200 unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and 418 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,480 to him who has no might he increases strength. 419 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,320 Even youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall 420 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,760 exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord 421 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,680 shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings 422 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,000 like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. 423 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:19,520 They shall walk and not faint. I liken this passage to Jesus 424 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,160 words in the in the sermon on the mounts in the sermon on the 425 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:27,440 Mount, Jesus, Jesus says, Hey, your, your father takes care of 426 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,720 the of the sparrows. So if he takes care of the 427 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,920 sparrows, I'm pretty sure he's going to take care of you. 428 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,600 Not pretty sure he's going to take care of you. 429 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,880 Isaiah is saying kind of a similar idea. 430 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,480 God gave each of the stars names. 431 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:49,080 He put them in their place. He takes care of all the stars. 432 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,440 He keeps track of them. So if God named the stars, he 433 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:58,720 keeps track of all the stars, don't you think He's going to 434 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,920 take care of you? He's going to provide for you 435 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:10,600 and watch out for you? God has great concern for all of 436 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:17,400 His creation. Lastly, the celestial bodies 437 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:24,680 point to the existence of God. These celestial bodies point to 438 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,480 the existence of God. When you and I look to the 439 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:30,440 heavens, we naturally point to God. 440 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,680 We look up and are awestruck by what God created. 441 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,640 But it isn't only followers of Jesus who were to do this. 442 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:47,840 All of humanity is able to see God when they look to the stars. 443 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,080 Romans 1 is a well known passage that speaks to the evidence of 444 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:59,680 God found in creation. Romans 1 verses 19 through 20 445 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,520 read. For what can be known about God 446 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,480 is plain to them, because, because God has shown it to 447 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,440 them. For His invisible attributes, 448 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,720 namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly 449 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,560 perceived ever since the creation of the world in the 450 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:24,160 things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 451 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:32,200 God's attributes, His power in nature are clearly seen in all 452 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,960 He created. Paul says this is this is so 453 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,720 much the case that people who choose not to acknowledge him as 454 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,360 creator, they're with an out. They're without an excuse. 455 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:48,400 Presumably the text implies on the day of judgment because of 456 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:54,480 because of how God has revealed himself to them through 457 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:59,280 creation. I can imagine Paul has David's 458 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:04,480 words in Psalm 19 in the back of his mind is as he is writing and 459 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,000 David writes in Psalm 19 verses one through 6. 460 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,120 The heavens declare the glory of God in the sky above proclaims 461 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:16,280 his handiwork. day-to-day pours out speech and night tonight 462 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,600 reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are 463 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,840 there words whose voice is not heard. 464 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,520 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to 465 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:29,560 the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for 466 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:33,120 the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, 467 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,440 and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 468 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:42,199 His rising is from the end of the heavens and it's circuits to 469 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:46,880 the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. 470 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:57,600 When David looks to the heavens, he sees God not in the sense of 471 00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:02,000 worshipping the heavens, but rather worshipping the Creator 472 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,560 God. As David considers the days that 473 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,240 go by and the sun that goes from one end of the earth to the 474 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:16,960 other, he acknowledges it all points to God. 475 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:28,040 On May 10th, 2024, I knew the numbers were right for the 476 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,040 Aurora. I walked outside my house after 477 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:36,520 a brief rain and and looked up at the clouds and even through 478 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:38,880 the clouds I could see they were purple. 479 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,000 I took some pictures and the pictures confirm this to be the 480 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,920 case. Somewhere around midnight that 481 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,720 night, I left the house to head north. 482 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,680 I made a few stops along the way. 483 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:56,880 As I drove, I could see that the sky was turning green and 484 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,880 purple. I occasionally stopped to to 485 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:04,360 take it all in. I reached Maquoketa and I headed 486 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,960 West on Hwy. 64. In just a just a few minutes 487 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:12,040 outside of town, I pulled over right there on the highway. 488 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,520 Nobody's around. It's like 1:00 in the morning. 489 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:23,160 Got out of the car, I looked up and tears came into my eyes as I 490 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:26,560 was completely astounded by what I was seeing. 491 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,560 Flashes of Aurora we're shooting across the sky. 492 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,600 The sky was pulsing and and moving and all I could do was 493 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:41,640 silently express praise to God as I watched the Aurora dance 494 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:48,720 across the sky. Sure, the heavens separate day 495 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,640 from nights. They regulate days and and 496 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,880 seasons and and illuminates our lives. 497 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:02,480 But more than that, the heavens scream into our hearts. 498 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:09,960 There is a God. Let's bow our heads and close 499 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:23,880 our eyes. God this morning we echo the 500 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:29,920 words of of Psalm 8. What is man that you are mindful 501 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:37,360 of him, that you care for him? When we look up at space and 502 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:43,320 consider all of your day for creations, the sun, the moon, 503 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:50,080 the stars, all the other celestial objects, we consider 504 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:58,360 them and yet you are still concerned for us. 505 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,280 How awesome is that? The creator of all these things 506 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:17,560 loves us. So we thank you, we give praise 507 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,480 that the heavens declare your glory, that they declare your 508 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:27,280 concern, and they say there is a God. 509 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:30,600 Amen.