I’m not a doomsday guy. I know some Christians who viewed this week’s solar eclipse as a sign of the end times, but I wasn’t worried about it, for two reasons: 1) there are two solar eclipses every three years somewhere on the planet; and 2) Jesus said He isn’t coming back until we finish the job of preaching the gospel to the world.
But I do believe this astronomical event carried a message for us. The Bible says the heavens are constantly speaking to us. Psalm 19:1 (NASB) says, “The heavens tell of the glory of God; And their expanse declares the work of His hands.”
That same psalm says the “message” of the sun, moon, stars and planets is a silent one. “There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the end of the world” (vv. 3-4).
In his commentary on Psalm 19, British pastor Charles Spurgeon pointed out that physical creation is one of the greatest testimonials of God’s power and wisdom. He said: “Sun, moon, and stars are God’s traveling preachers; they are apostles upon their journey confirming those who regard the Lord, and judges on circuit condemning those who worship idols.”
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The apostle Paul wasn’t a scientist, but he said that creation, with all of its astronomical, geological, chemical, biological and atmospheric wonders, preaches to us every day and night. Paul wrote: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20, NASB 1977).
Theologian R. L. Solberg of Nashville, Tennessee, posted on social media this week that the solar eclipse is clear proof that the universe could not have been the result of happenstance. “An eclipse is a cosmic reminder that the universe is not a random collection of matter and events that happened by chance,” Solberg wrote. “The cosmos is so finely tuned that we can know precisely where every heavenly body will be 200 years from now, down to the minute. These events remind us that the universe is not an accident, and neither are we. God made both, and He is in control.”
Think about it. The universe is like a finely tuned clock. It has millions of parts, but every one of them moves in perfect synchronicity. Because of this perfect order, astronomers can predict when the next solar eclipse will be, up to the millisecond. The next total solar eclipse in North America will occur in 2044. We know that because the solar system isn’t chaotic or haphazard; it was created by a loving Creator who placed the sun, moon, planets, stars and galaxies on their set paths. The predictability of their movement is absolute proof that God set it all in motion.
German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who lived in the 1600s, discovered the law of planetary motion. He didn’t believe the universe was the result of chance. Kepler was a Christian who wrote: “I give thanks to You, Lord Creator, because You have lured me into the enjoyment of Your work, and I have exulted in the works of Your hands.” Most of what we know about the movement of planetary objects today is the result of Kepler’s research.
Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of gravity, was also a devoted Christian. Newton wrote: “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” And Black scientist George Washington Carver, whose research brought breakthroughs in agronomy, said: “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
So if God was using the sun and the moon to send us a message through this solar eclipse, what was He saying?
Eric Sammons, editor of a Catholic magazine called Crisis, pointed out in an article this week that solar eclipses are unique to our planet. Because the sun is about 400 times larger than the moon, and because of the set distance that the sun is from the earth, the moon seems to be the same size as the sun during a solar eclipse. No other planet in our solar system has this amazing proportion.
There’s no way an eclipse like this could have happened if our universe just “happened” by accident. The eclipse, Sammons said, “reveals our smallness in the face of the universe and the greatness of the One who designed it for us.”
The 2024 solar eclipse isn’t a cryptic message to the church about the end times. God is using nature, as He does daily, to speak to all unbelievers.
He’s saying: “Stop running. Come to Me. Believe in Me. Trust Me and worship Me. You are not an accident. I created you. The God who set the sun and moon on their paths wants to have a relationship with you.”{eoa}
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