Who Turned Out The Lights?

Have you ever been sitting quietly watching TV in the evening and suddenly the lights go out?  Perhaps a transformer blew out or a storm caused some damage, but you were instantly cast into darkness.  It gets your attention!  Next week, God has a plan to do the same to all of us when He turns out the lights on our nation.  While I don’t live in the Total Eclipse Zone in the United States, I will be traveling there with millions of other people to watch the first total solar eclipse visible within the US in 99 years.  Consider how rare this event will be – no one you know has EVER seen a total eclipse unless they traveled outside this country to do it.  And this is the first total eclipse visible ONLY in the continental United States since 1776.  A rare event, indeed.  And believe it or not, another total solar eclipse will be coursing across part of the United States (including the area where I live) again in 2024.  Some of you who read this might even see three or four more eclipses during your lifetime.  Astronomically speaking, these are amazing times to be alive!

If you haven’t been caught up in the eclipse hysteria, understand that when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, it will cast a small complete shadow on the earth that will be slightly less than 70 miles wide and traveling more than 1600 miles per hour, leaving each spot in its path completely dark for about two minutes.  Though the path of complete totality is very narrow, you should be able to observe a partial eclipse (with proper protection) no matter where you live.  The whole process may take a couple of hours, but during the event, the moon we admire in the night sky will perfectly cover the sun that dominates the day. 

Is it just “chance” that the size of the burning sphere that lights our days is exactly covered by the lifeless ball that only reflects its light at night?  Our sun is 400 times the diameter of our moon, yet when the moon crosses between us and our sun, how can it be the same size?  Because the moon has been perfectly placed in its location by its Creator, exactly 400 times closer to us than the sun.  Scientists know of no other planet-sun-moon system where this total eclipse is possible.  Can’t you see God’s hand at work in what He created?  That’s really His point:

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.   Romans 1:20

Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years…God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night…God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,  to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:14-17

Whether you believe in God or not; whether you cling to the idea of random life on a random planet in a random galaxy or not; please don’t miss what the last Bible passage said: “…the larger one…the smaller one.”  Now isn’t THAT interesting!  From our earth, both the sun and the moon appear the exact same size.  So how could the person who penned Genesis have understood that they are different sizes?  He had inside information.  The Spirit of God that moved in creation is the same Spirit that revealed all truth to the writers of Scripture.  GOD knows they are different sizes because He made them.  Scientists didn’t learn that truth until thousands of years after Moses wrote the words of Genesis.  Now who are you going to trust?

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.  The skies display his craftsmanship.  Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.  They speak without a sound or word…Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.   Psalm 19:1-4

When the lights go out next week, go ahead and be amazed!  You SHOULD be in awe of what is taking place because the God of the universe is reminding you He’s still there and He’s still running things.  And in the darkest days of your life, that’s a comforting thing to know.

Jacob