A Marvelous Light

Astronomy or prophecy?

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Psalm19:1

I stood on my front porch one night last week and gazed at the star of Bethlehem. Well, the star that led the wise men might have been the same alignment of Jupiter and Venus I saw in the cloudy Florida sky. Even with the cloud cover, the light shone brightly. Some reports say it hasn’t happened since AD 2. Others claim it has bejeweled the sky by varying degrees a number of times, and that the alignment will be even brighter in October.

For those who believe it to be an occurrence unseen for two thousand years, many take it as a sign. An announcement. Like the last time, the brilliant light heralds the arrival of the Messiah. That is, the impending arrival. To the astronomers who track such events with careful calculations, it’s something to see. The brightest light in the sky, next to the sun and the moon, of course. But nothing more.

Regardless of whether or not it was a sign from God, it is His. It—they—belong to Him. Venus and Jupiter, and the tiny star system Regulas that seemed to hover above last week’s grand display, belong to God. Well, Regulas isn’t tiny, but being seventy light-years (474 trillion miles) away can make anything look small. All that space between the aligned planets and Regulas belongs to God. The space between the alignment and my porch belongs to God. Even the light is His creation. The light—that just is—was His idea! The star over Bethlehem was His idea. And the one over me was as well. Do I need to know what it means? Or can I just enjoy it?

Do I hope it was a sign? Well, I am watching and waiting. Can I wonder at the display in the heavens if my Creator just put it there for the people of Earth to appreciate? Yes, I can. The works of His hands are magnificent.

Other events much closer to home than the distant planets and stars have beckoned the end-times predictors. A book is waiting for me to read it—one explaining Jewish cycles that might be about to come back around. I’m sure I’ll learn much. And I might prepare myself for…something. Then there’s the condition of the great U.S.A. which, by the way, is still in pretty good shape if you want to compare lifestyle, economy, and freedom with most other countries. And there’s the failing health of the planet which, by the way, belongs to God. If He can line up Jupiter and Venus, He can and will do what He wants with this little planet.

So much more, so many other signs draw me in. Make me look up. But wait…

I’m here on planet Earth, a citizen of a particular nation, a reader and a writer for a time like this. I don’t want to waste that gift of time speculating what the soon returning King has up His celestial sleeve. I know this much—He’s coming to rescue me! For now I’ll be content to stand on my porch and marvel at the evening sky. And I won’t wonder if it means anything. We’ll all know soon enough.