Eclipse

This is THE DAY! People are sitting in traffic jams, lining up in open fields, and donning their protective glasses as the countdown to the solar eclipse continues. So much hype over a few minutes of spectacular viewing! The media craze has been unprecedented.

I have been told: “Don’t miss it! It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity!” Hmm . . . I think this phenomena occurred when I was young. I wonder why it didn’t make a bigger impression on me. Or on the rest of society, for that matter. Maybe it’s because it only took place in a portion of our country. This time our whole nation is in a frenzy.

I don’t mean to be critical of those who are excited about this particular event. But here’s what I think is more amazing than the eclipse itself. This particular incident can only be pinpointed to the minute because of the complex, reliable science of the skies that a phenomenal Creator instituted. Has any credit been give to Him?

God has done even more remarkable things in the heavens. Joshua 1:13 records the time when He caused the sun to stand still for hours.* What implications might that have had on nature throughout the whole world?

When Jesus was on the cross bearing the sins of the whole world, God’s anger was revealed in an earthquake and a blockage of the sun for three hours. (See Matthew 27.) How frightening that must have been!

I will be interested in seeing this eclipse. But I wish people would keep it in perspective with other astounding, even miraculous, events in the skies. And according to Christ, there are more to come. (See Luke 21:25, Joel 2:30, and Revelation 12:1.) The greatest is prophesied in Matthew 24:30. “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.”

Does that scare you? Or excite you? Does it stir your heart to trust Almighty God? After all, He created the heavens and the earth and has control over it all. Isn’t that good news?

*Read this interesting article titled “Is it true that the sun stood still?” at gotquestions.org.