Does Scripture Talk About Astronomy?
Part I
Good day all my fine friends out there!
How have you all been this past week? It has been beautiful here except for the wind and we really, really need rain! But it is that dry time of the year...until the monsoons come. But that won’t be until after the summer solstice (or winter solstice in the southern hemisphere) on June 21st. Here in the northern latitudes we will have the longest daylight hours of the year and in the southern lats, the longest dark hours of the year.
Speaking of our great universe… does the Bible speak about astronomy? Yes it does. And the physical evidence of what we see out there in our great big universe supports what was written many thousands of years ago.
Isaiah 40:22 states the earth is a round (“circle of the earth.”). From our many snapshots of the earth taken in space, we know it appears as a circle. Again Job 26:10 states “He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.” “This boundary between light and darkness is where evening and morning occur. The boundary is a circle since the earth is round.”1 It often takes some thinking to understand how things were stated in the ancient times. But when you do think about it it makes perfect sense.
Job 26:7 states that God “...hangs the earth on nothing.” Again you must interpret the old language into modern scientific terminology. Job did not mean that God hangs the earth up like a Christmas tree ornament, but rather the earth hangs by itself in empty space. Other religions are way off.
For example:
- “The Hindus believe the earth to be supported on the backs of four elephants, which stand on the shell of a gigantic tortoise floating on the surface of the world’s waters.
- The earth of the Vedic priests was set on 12 solid pillars; its upper side was its only habitable side.
- The Altaic people of Northern Siberia affirm that their mighty Ulgen created the earth on the waters and placed under it three great fish to support it.
- The Tartars and many of the other tribes of Eurasia believe the earth to be supported by a great bull.”2
- In ancient Chinese religions the world rides on the back of a sea turtle.
- Greek mythology places Atlas, an enormous body builder man carrying the world on his back.
It is a well know fact at least amongst astronomers that the universe is spreading out. Isaiah 40:22 states “It is he… that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.”3 Long before modern scientists discovered that the universe was expanding, God had it recorded in scripture.
“Scripture also addresses the age of the universe. The Bible teaches that the entire universe was created in six days (Exodus 20:11). We know from the genealogies and other events recorded in Scripture that this creation happened about 6,000 years ago.”
But the physical evidence out there is consistent with a 6,000 year old timeline. And it makes little sense when if we hold to the billions of years old and the big bang theory.
Stay tuned next week for what exactly this physical evidence is! Until then, God bless and take care!
Willow Dressel
This week in the night skies… the summer (in the northern latitudes) and winter (in the southern lats) solstice is June 21st.
References:
1-3, in generalhttps://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/does-the-bible-say-anything-about-astronomy/
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