Lessons from the expanse of the heavens part 1 – the Moon
Over the past few thousands of years a lot of people have been amazed when they look up to the night skies. King David was amazed when he looked up there around 1000 BC and we still are amazed when we do it now.
My father bought this telescope later in life. I am sure King David would have loved to have had something like this back when he lived. At my parent’s house we would take it out onto the lawn and look at the planets. You could see the rings of Saturn and some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
People probably don’t look up at the expanse of the heavens as much now as they did in the past because most of us live in big cities flooded with artificial light. There is the light from the street lamps and light from people’s houses. If you live near the city centre or big shopping centres it is even worse. All that light makes it very hard to see the stars. In addition, I think in the modern age we have too many distractions inside the house to go outside and look at the night sky.
My most vivid recollection of a clear night sky where I was just overcome by the sheer number of stars in the heavens above us was in Kenya. I was on a camping safari in a national park. It was out in the middle of nowhere. There were no artificial lights nearby to make it hard to see the stars. Because there were no cities or towns nearby there was very little pollution in the atmosphere to filter out the view. On that day it was still with no wind so very little dust in the sky. As a result, I saw more stars in the sky than ever before. Of course they have always been there but normally a lot of them are shrouded by artificial light or dust and pollution in the atmosphere.
The Milky Way it all of it glory could be seen stretching across the sky. Thousands and thousands of stars sprinkled across the sky. What a glorious sight it was. It really does fill you with awe that this sky full of lights was completely created by God. What power he truly has. His glory could be seen spread across the expanse of the heavens.
King David was looking at this same expanse of the heavens around 3000 years. He was also astounded at the majesty of God in creating these heavens. We are fortunate to have his thoughts recorded in Psalm 8.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
This series of four articles draws lessons from the expanse of the heavens. The term “expanse of the heavens” comes from Genesis chapter one and verses 14 and 15 where it says:
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
The lights referred to in those two verses are mainly referring to the sun and moon. But you could also include the stars in there as well.
Over this series of articles we are going to consider the lights in the sky above us and learn some spiritual lessons from them. The Bible uses the lights in the heavens to show the magnificence and majesty of God but also through symbolism to teach us life lessons.
We will consider the following:
| The Moon | how the Israelites used it in their daily lives and also what it represents. |
| The Sun | what does it represent. |
| Eclipses | what do they teach us? |
| The Planets | those planets mentioned in the Bible |
| The Stars | in particular the morning star |
| Shooting stars | looking at the particular type of people it represents. |
| Star constellations | in particular the specific ones mentioned in the Bible and why they were mentioned. |
The Moon
On the fourth day of creation, God created the lights in the Heavens. He created the Sun so that there would be a separation between night and day. The sun would give light during the day and the moon would give light during the night. As well as creating the sun and moon he also created the stars and planets.
Rotation around earth
The Moon was created as a satellite so that it would revolve around the earth. If you were to take the time to study the moons movements you would learn that it takes about 28 days to orbit the earth. And whilst it is taking 28 days to orbit around the earth it is also turning around on its own axis. It just so happens that it turns around on its own axis in 28 days. So what this means is that with the combination of the two movements we always only ever see one side of the moon. Therefore a lunar landmark seems to stay in about the same position during the 28 days. Why did God design it in this way so that we only see one side of the moon? Did he do it on purpose or did he just let nature take its course?
Phases
As we look at this moon revolving around the earth during its 28 day orbit we see it going through different phases from the new moon where you see hardly any of the moon to the full moon where you can see the full circle of the moon.
Even though it takes the Moon 28 days to travel around the earth, it takes 29 and half days to pass through its phases; this is because the earth is moving at the same time that the moon is moving. Therefore, one lunar month to people on the earth is equal to 29 and half days.
Reflected light
When you look at the moon in any of the phases from new moon through to full moon, you are looking at light not being emitted from the moon itself but rather light from the sun which has been reflected from the moon’s surface. However, a lot of the light coming from the sun gets absorbed into the moon’s surface with only about 10 % of the sunlight falling onto it being reflected towards us.
God made it this way so that the moon would be a dim light for the night. When you are trying to sleep you don’t want this bright light shining onto you. It is just enough to walk around outside. God refers to it in Genesis chapter one and verse sixteen, he calls it the lesser light.
And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
Hebrew Calendar
God stated in Genesis chapter one and verse fourteen that the moon along with the sun and stars would be used “for signs and for seasons and for days and years”. Because of the moons appearance in regular phases across the night sky it was possible to use it as a basis for early calendars. The Hebrew word used for Moon (YAREAH) is closely related to the Hebrew word for month (YERAH). The Hebrew calendar year therefore was composed of lunar months, which began when the thin crescent of the new moon was first visible at sunset.
The month was said to consist of between 29 to 30 days and since the lunar year was about 11 days less than the solar year of 365 days, it was periodically necessary to include a thirteenth month so that the new year’s day would not fall before the spring of the year.
The first day of each new lunar month when the moon was in the new moon phase was considered to be a holy day in Israel. The start of the lunar month was a special day, it represented a fresh beginning and was therefore marked by special sacrifices like those spoken about in Numbers chapter 28 and verses eleven through to fifteen. This is what is recorded in verse eleven:
“At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish;
This verse is talking about lunar months. So we can see all the special sacrifices that had to be made on that first day of the month when the new moon appeared. It was the new-moon offering and it commenced a new circle of beginning.
The new moon
The first day when the new moon appeared was treated as a Sabbath (Amos 8:5) and many assembled before the prophets or public teachers to hear the Word taught. There were multiple sacrifices and they all pointed forward to the one great sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. The slaughter of the animals taught that labour, strength and innocence should be sacrificed unto God in total dedication. They were to be without spot. Jesus was completely obedient to his Father therefore he was without spot. We can approach this state of being without spot by the forgiveness of our sins.
So the people rededicated themselves to God at the new moon. They would have made mistakes in the previous lunar month and this new moon was a new beginning. Once more they would recommit themselves to God through labour, strength and innocence. We see from all of this that on that morning when the moon rose in its new moon phase that the people were to see that day as being the special holy day for their worship of their Heavenly Father.
God used the moon as a way of giving the people a calendar around which they could base their worship. The people knew there was a holy day of worship on the day of the new moon phase. So no mistake could be made or confusion could exist about when was the holy day.
A symbol of permanence
The moon was also used by God as a symbol of permanence. Psalm 72 and verse five talks about this. For context, the passage below is from verse one.
Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! (5) May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
What King Solomon is basically saying here is that the oppressors will forever fear them for they know, like we know today, that the moon and the sun will always be there in the sky. They are symbols of the permanence of God and His statutes, and they will be there from the beginning of time right through to the end of time.
Like the sun and moon, our Heavenly Father will always be there. For example, consider the fact that when we wake in the morning we don’t need to go to the window to check to see that the sun will be there or in the evening we don’t need to go outside to check to see if the moon will be there for we know that they will always be there. Likewise with our Heavenly Father, he will always be there to watch over us no matter what our situation is. Likewise Christ will be in existence for ever like the sun and moon are. They are all permanent and enduring, never to be taken away.
We never doubt that the sun and moon are in existence so likewise we should never doubt that Christ will be in existence forever in the future.
In Psalm 89 and verse 35 to 37 are recorded these words:
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.”
As the sun will endure forever so will Christ also forever endure into the future. The moon reflects the sun’s light, and therefore faithfully witnesses that a new day will dawn. At night we can’t see the sun because it is on the other side of the world. But the moon reassures us that the sun is indeed there and that it will rise again.
This is a reassuring thought when we know that one day Christ will be King over all this Earth. His kingdom will last for 1000 years until he will eventually hand it across to the ultimate glorification of God.
God’s magnificence in creation- the glory of God
The moon was created also as a way of showing God’s true magnificence through the wonder of creation. Not only did our Heavenly Father create the earth but he also created this huge satellite 3500 kilometres in diameter.
This satellite hurtles through space at 3680 kilometres an hour. It somehow manages to keep revolving around the earth year after year, century after century, millennium after millennium providing the earth with a string of necessary characteristics. For example, it controls the tides in the ocean.
As we read at the start of this article in Psalm 8, King David praised his Father in heaven for the works of his fingers in creating the moon and stars. We indeed should feel privileged, to have a God who can create things like the Moon, Sun and Stars….to give us the attention that He has given to us is indeed a privilege.
We are so small compared to the heavens and creation about us. David knew this when he said in Psalm 8 to God “What is man, that you are mindful of him”
Psalm 148 and verses one to six has these words:
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
So God put the Sun, Moon and Stars there so that we He might be glorified. Whenever we look at the Sun, Moon and Stars in the future let’s not just take them for granted. Let’s from now on, look at them as being examples of the glory of God and of his true magnificence.
