May 30, 2008
*Note: In response to several questions to this effect, this column has not spun off a Bible study in the community by the same or similar name.
My wife, Diane, and our two younger sons (one nearly 11 years old and the other almost 8) were discussing their studies in astronomy yesterday. They had spent several weeks on the subject of our solar system: the inner planets, the asteroid belt, the gaseous giants, the Kuiper Belt (which is the other asteroid belt), comets, and of course Pluto – the planet that is smaller than Earth’s moon (and is consequently the point of contention between some who say it should not be counted as a planet and others who say that it should).
They then moved on to other topics, such as the various types of galaxies and the different kinds of stars (yellow suns like ours, red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes). They recently have explored the subjects of supernovae, nebulae, quasars, and so forth. They’re now concluding their study by learning specific names for some of the better known stars like Betelgeuse (pronounced beetle-juice) and Polaris.
Throughout their discussion there have been frequent pauses in the study to reflect on God’s marvelous hand in creating and ordering the universe so that we could, from our vantage point of precisely fine-tuned positioning in the violent cosmos swirling around us. Whose hand but God’s alone could have situated us so perfectly that we can gaze in awe at the handiwork of His infinite ingenuity and do so in the relative comfort and safety that Earth’s orbit affords?
“Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?” (Job 38:31-32 NIV).
Now, the chief danger in regard to our awe and appreciation of the wonders of creation is that we divert our worship to that which has been made from the Maker Himself.
“And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavenly array – do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:19 NIV).
One would think that such heavenly counsel would be heeded by a people who believed themselves as attuned to the divine and as culturally savvy as did the Israelites who first received that command (and as perhaps we Americans do today). Yet men and women are easily wooed away from whole-hearted devotion to God. This danger has not relented in its capacity to ensnare people no matter the incredible passage of time since our beginning and in spite of the fact that God has disclosed to us His written Word, which was given to us through men whose hearts were divinely directed by His Holy Spirit (ensuring their validity and inerrancy for the generations that followed their writing). People still fall prey to idolatry.
“… They bowed down to all the starry host…. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – Who is forever praised. Amen” (2 Kings 17:16b & Romans 1:25 NIV).
So whether we’re talking about worshiping the sun or moon, or regulating one’s life according to the daily horoscope, we can see that such practices put us at odds with the divine expectations that are associated with truly following Jesus Christ. Not only that, but as we give our hearts over to worship what God has created instead of our Creator, we shed every entitlement bestowed to us by God for those things we need (e.g., peace, joy, spiritual security, not to mention salvation).
Not only that, but if we depend on astrology to give us direction for life, we stuff our ears against the sweet whisperings of God’s Holy Spirit. If we let numerology or Tarot cards provide us instruction and inspiration for life, than we’ve no room left for the tender words of love and heart transformation God would have us receive from the marvelous words He speaks in the Bible. And what does God intend to do about it? Will He simply sit idly by and watch as the hearts those for whom He sent His own Son travel down the all-too-short road to spiritual destruction? The grim truth is that He can’t say nothing nor can He do nothing. Grace does not permit it.
“… I will cut off from this place… those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host…” (Zephaniah 1:4b-5a NIV).
I have found that many Christians like to read their horoscopes or watch for their lucky numbers. I realize that many don’t take it very seriously, but some do. In either case, it is my hope that we’ll realize that God takes these kinds of things very seriously, given what is at stake for eternity. Making choices according to advice given to you based on your birth sign is a sorry substitute for the wise counsel of the One Who made both you and the stars to which astrology bows.
So be careful. Let your heart be filled with things from His Word and not the nonsense that’s concocted by spiritual forces that war against the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Him we have something far more mysterious than the best offerings of any occultic master. In Jesus we have the incredible love of God inexplicably reaching into the tragedy of human sin and providing us the “… unsearchable riches of Christ…, this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, Who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:8-12 NIV).
(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past thirteen years and is the author of The Fairy Tale Parables: Classic Fairy Tales Pointing to God's Love and Truth. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
