“The Stars Of Heaven” Jarrod Jacobs In January 5, NASA released the largest picture to date of our closest galactic neighbor in the universe, the Andromeda Galaxy. The picture shows only a section of the entire Andromeda Galaxy and shows over 100 million stars. It is hard to fathom — 100 million stars in one piece of one galaxy. This doesn’t count the millions of stars in our own galaxy! Astronomers and other scientists estimate there may be as many as 100 billion galaxies in the universe! When I saw the picture (1), I was amazed at what man has been able to discover. I was also humbled because such pictures brought to mind the words of God relative to the stars of Heaven (Ps. 147:4) and also concerning His people. Please read the following. To Abraham and Isaac, God said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). “By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Gen. 22:16-18). “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 26:4). God’s word to Jeremiah was: “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me” (Jer. 33:22). In addition to these passages, please read Exodus 32:13; I Chronicles 27:23; Nehemiah 9:23, and see God’s repeated promises concerning His people being like the stars of Heaven. When we read the New Testament, we can read divine commentary of Genesis 15 and 22 in the book of Hebrews. There, the Holy Spirit said, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Heb. 11:11-12). As always, man is trying to “catch up” with the words of God. God knows His creation, and states things in a correct manner even before man understands it fully! God stated the promise of Abraham’s descendants being like the stars of Heaven long before man even had a telescope! Think about it, God already knew how Abraham’s descendants would be, and stated it before Abraham and Sarah had their son Isaac! Abraham had physical descendants that became nations of people (Both “circumcised” and “uncircumcised” people). Yes, conservative estimates would place the number of these people in the millions! Yet, when we read the New Testament, we see the full extent of God’s promise. Read passages like Romans 4:12-13, Galatians 3:26-29 and I Peter 3:6, and be impressed with the fact that God’s promise to Abraham continues to be fulfilled to this good day! In addition to his physical descendants, beginning in Acts 2, every person who becomes a Christian also becomes a child of Abraham (Gal. 3:29)! Thus, God’s promise to Abraham touches lives today every time someone becomes a Christian (Mk. 16:16)! Are you a Christian (Acts 2:38)? If so, I pray that the thought of God promising Abraham’s seed will be as the “stars of heaven” will humble you. Let us shine like the stars, and let us be grateful to a loving and merciful God who made a way that we can be saved (Matt. 20:28), and considered part of His family (Rom. 8:16-17) that is as innumerable as the stars!! Endnote: 1. Andromeda Galaxy picture URL - youtu.be/udAL48P5NJU
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 21:13:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015