The Hubble Space Telescope has just celebrated it's 25th year of space observation and exploration. And throughout these years the Hubble telescope has sent image after image of our wondrous universe confirming God's Word, the Bible. Let's have a tour of some of the amazing photos and the Bible verses they attest to, and consider how the Hubble Telescope resonates God designs.
Sands of the seashore
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. Venus in the west. The beautiful night sky obscures the reality of billions of stars as our normal vision limits us to a few thousand faint dots. But long before we could peer through the veil of the night sky, God through the Bible already revealed to us that the stars are like the sands in the seas for numbers.
God already declared to Abraham many generations ago that the number of the stars of the heavens was like the sand which is on the seashore [indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. (Genesis 22:17 NASB)]. Now without the Hubble telescope, we would think there is a large disparity in that comparison. But we now know from observational science that many of those dots we thought were stars, are actually galaxies composed of hundreds of millions to trillions of stars! Interestingly, it is now estimated that the sand of the sea and the stars of the universe are about the same in magnitude of numbers - approximately 10 to the power of 22!
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. Ring Galaxy AM 0644 741 from Hubble. Many of the dots at night that we thought were stars, we now know from observational science to be galaxies composed of millions of stars. So now we can comprehend that God's Word was true when it declares that the stars in the heavens are like the sands in the seas in numbers.
Hangs on nothing.
To ancient thinkers, it was unnatural and counter intuitive to consider that the Earth floats in space, unanchored, unsupported. Indeed classical Greek mythology says Atlas held up the Earth and celestial spheres. And there are verrsions of a myth in India, China and parts of Notth America that a giant turtle holds up the Earth. And yet from early on, the Bible declares that "He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing." (Job 26:7 NASB). And we well know this fact today from photos of stars and the moon and even photos of the Earth.
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. From the moon to the Earth. Here we see that the Earth hangs on nothing, just as the Bible accurately declared long before we could have this view of the Earth.
Signs for seasons and for days and for years.
The sun and moon and their relationship with the Earth mark our days and months and years. And from ancient days our ancestors knew that stars and constellations mark the seasons. Constellations have long been used to track seasons way before we understood their movements and the movements of the Earth. Why is that? Why do the heavenly cycles operate with such precision and consistency tofu mark our days and years? Of course it's logical that if evolution and random occurrences were true and operated in human history, then stars and constellations would more logically NOT appear precisely at the same spot at the same (sidereal) time every year. Constellations could instead drift, cycle times become longer, or totally be void of regularity. What we observe in reality is that even the moon has precise cycle times that luxury brand watch houses seek to reproduce as accurately as possible For those who understand luxury timepieces and ultra expensive mechanical complications, we appreciate that thinking the stars and constellations would operate and appear to Earth observers as they do on their own just by chance is like believing the International Watch Company (IWC) Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia would come into existence entirely on its own. This is too fantabulous a story to think that precise heavenly cycles would develop on their own; it is not scientific thinking at all. It is not consistent with observed realities.
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. Sideways Orion over snowy Ireland. A view of Orion, one of the most readily recognised constellations, and so it is an easy marker for the seasons. A simple and distant view of these stars hide the immense complexity and beauty they contain.
Spiral Galaxies indicate a Biblical Earth Age.
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. M74: The perfect spiral. Spiral galaxies, more and more of which are discovered' support a Biblical age of the Earth because of their defined spiral arms.
Summary
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. M(1: The Whirlpool Galaxy. We see more and more spiral galaxies, and their distinct spiral arms bear testimony to a Biblical age of the Earth.
Sands of the seashore
In our early history, people believed they could count the stars in the sky. The astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (A.D. 150) cataloged 1,022 stars in his work The Almagest. Many people and astronomers thought these were the only stars that existed. But as more and more astronomers counted and catalogued stars, it became evident that there were much more than a thousand. On a normal night with a dark sky, the unaided eye can spot roughly 10,000 stars. Then as telescopes were invented, the number of stars kept growing and growing along with the power of the telescopes. With the Hubble telescope, that number has grown enormously.
God already declared to Abraham many generations ago that the number of the stars of the heavens was like the sand which is on the seashore [indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. (Genesis 22:17 NASB)]. Now without the Hubble telescope, we would think there is a large disparity in that comparison. But we now know from observational science that many of those dots we thought were stars, are actually galaxies composed of hundreds of millions to trillions of stars! Interestingly, it is now estimated that the sand of the sea and the stars of the universe are about the same in magnitude of numbers - approximately 10 to the power of 22!
Hangs on nothing.
To ancient thinkers, it was unnatural and counter intuitive to consider that the Earth floats in space, unanchored, unsupported. Indeed classical Greek mythology says Atlas held up the Earth and celestial spheres. And there are verrsions of a myth in India, China and parts of Notth America that a giant turtle holds up the Earth. And yet from early on, the Bible declares that "He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing." (Job 26:7 NASB). And we well know this fact today from photos of stars and the moon and even photos of the Earth.
Signs for seasons and for days and for years.
The sun and moon and their relationship with the Earth mark our days and months and years. And from ancient days our ancestors knew that stars and constellations mark the seasons. Constellations have long been used to track seasons way before we understood their movements and the movements of the Earth. Why is that? Why do the heavenly cycles operate with such precision and consistency tofu mark our days and years? Of course it's logical that if evolution and random occurrences were true and operated in human history, then stars and constellations would more logically NOT appear precisely at the same spot at the same (sidereal) time every year. Constellations could instead drift, cycle times become longer, or totally be void of regularity. What we observe in reality is that even the moon has precise cycle times that luxury brand watch houses seek to reproduce as accurately as possible For those who understand luxury timepieces and ultra expensive mechanical complications, we appreciate that thinking the stars and constellations would operate and appear to Earth observers as they do on their own just by chance is like believing the International Watch Company (IWC) Portuguese Sidérale Scafusia would come into existence entirely on its own. This is too fantabulous a story to think that precise heavenly cycles would develop on their own; it is not scientific thinking at all. It is not consistent with observed realities.
The Bible declares "Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;" (Genesis 1:14 NASB). Knowing there is a designer, a. builder, a Master Craftsman for the universe, it now makes sense that we see all the cycles and precision and complexity in the stars. Truly we have a great God!
NASA App, Astro Pic of the Day. M42: Inside the Orion Nebula. Beautiful to see all these colours just within Orion. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalms 19:1 NASB).
Spiral Galaxies indicate a Biblical Earth Age.
Spiral galaxies rotate slowly. And the interior of spiral galaxies rotate faster than their outer spiral arms. This is called differential rotation. Over time, this will cause spiral galaxies to be more and more twisted up as the spiral becomes tighter. Now if galaxies are billions of years old as evolution-based thinking proposes, then these spiral galaxies should be indiscernible. But what are discovered are more and more spiral galaxies with beautifully distinct and defined arms. Astronomers who believe in evolution and billions of years recognise this as a problem and so they have developed theories of star formation and creation of new spiral arms. But these are all theories and hypotheses, none of which have been observed or validated over time. It's just like discovering fossils of a small horse and claiming they are from an early ancestor of what later evolved into modern horses through a process taking millions of years. These horse fossils are now acknowledged to all be from modern horses. In a similar way, photos claiming to peer into sites of star formation are just stories and hypotheses. No one has lived or recorded observations over millions of years to validate them. In the meantime the Hubble Telescope, by scientific observation, just affirms over and over a view of spiral galaxies and the universe that is consistent with the Bible.
Summary
The Hubble Space Telescope is a wonderful invention by man that lets us see more of the wonderful heavens that God has created and which tell of His Glory! Truly, God our Creator is amazing. The Bible says that God created the stars also [God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (Genesis 1:16 NASB)]. As if as an afterthought. Like a great artist creating a background to the main subject of a painting but pouring lavish detail and beauty into that background. And what breathtaking detail there is!
Want to see Moore?
Check out the book Taking Back Astronomy by Dr. Jason Lisle, available in hard copy and as an e-book from AnswerInGenesis.com. Some thoughts and ideas were taken from the book. Credits to Dr, Lisle who is a great thinker and astonomist.
Photos from the NASA app available from iTunes.
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