|
As a young child, I was always interested in the study of the
stars. Just to look up on a bright and clear summer's night and
see the stars twinkling in the fascinating array they were placed
- well, to this day I confess I'm awestruck. However, thousands
of years ago, another and greater man than I did the same thing
and he penned these words.
" The heaven's declare the glory of God and the skies
proclaim the artistry of God's hands... Oh JEHOVAH, our Creator
God, you have set your glory above the heavens". (Psalm 19:1;8:1)
paraphrased.
Yes my friend, the Bible says that one of the heaven's majestic
purposes is to reveal God existence to all humanity, who simply
look up and ponder or study the vast universe before our eyes.
In light of this, history records another man who was "star-struck,"
and his love for God and His marvelous Creation brought him to
an amazing discovery.
In the year 1738 in the city of Hanover, Germany, a boy was born
who in his time changed the science of his day. His name was William
Herschel. Young Herschel grew to manhood with a fascination for
the study of the stars. While other boys were out at play, William
Herschel often longed for moments to just stare at the heavens
and the vastness of the universe. Thankfully, at an early age
Herschel was introduced to the wonders of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who throughout his life, became the source of His commitment to
the study of God's Creation. At age 19, history reveals Herschel
moved from Germany to England, and settled in the resort town
of Bath. Although his greatest love was astronomy, this bright
young man had been trained in music for his livelihood. In his
new country he composed much music and taught it for a profitable
living. In addition, William Herschel who excelled in everything
he did, also performed with the popular orchestras of his day.
Moreover, ever remaining a strong faithful believer, his faith
in Christ made sure he was involved in the Christian ministries
of his day. In the church he participated in, the famous Octagon
Chapel, Herschel was honored to be appointed the choir director
and organist. Later on, his excellence in music led him to became
an orchestra conductor of prominence in his day.
However, such satisfaction in the pursuit of his life's goal was
really not his deepest desire. Herschel's friends knew his greatest
love was not music but the stars. They often laughed at him because
he often expressed his desire to be an astronomer rather than
a musician. Herschel's friends were known to say, "leave
the study of the stars and planets to the astronomers at Greenwich.
Besides you don't even have a telescope." This was
true. Herschel was not a man of means, and only the astronomers
at Greenwich could afford such things. However, each night when
William Herschel prepared to retire, he would gather around him
in his bed, books upon books on mathematics, optics and astronomy.
He marveled at the science of his day. For as yet astronomers
who studied the heavens declared that in our solar system there
were only five planets. But as Herschel read and studied, coupled
with his insatiable drive to know more about the universe above,
this led him to save enough money to rent a telescope for three
months use.
At last, he had saved enough money and brought the rented telescope
home. Now he could look into the heavens and see what was really
there. Although he kept up his duties as a musician, every night
after concerts, rehearsals, and church duties - he would dash
off to his garden observatory where the telescope was poised pointing
to the stars. There this young man would gaze at every star his
eye could see. Herschel took many notes and kept accurate records
of all he observed. Yet at the end of three months the telescope
had to be returned. But by now this instrument had done its work.
Herschel could no longer make music his life's ambition. He thought
in his heart "if I can't buy a telescope, I'll build one!"
Now William Hershel's sister Caroline, who caught his star fever
as they were growing up, moved to England to be by his side. She
assisted him in building his very own telescope. The first one
he made was crude, but it was his, and it was better than no telescope
at all. As Herschel studied the stars and continued documenting
his notes, he began to build bigger and better telescopes. After
he and his sister made more than 250 of them, he finally was satisfied
with his latest achievement, a reflecting telescope built in 1773.
It was indeed a powerful eye on the sky. In fact, it was actually
better than what most astronomers of his day had themselves.
William and his sister Caroline, worked together in a dual harmony.
Herschel swept the skies night after night. He noted some stars
were bright others very dim, some were bright blue, and others
deep red. Some twinkled and others didn't. Some came in pairs,
triplets and others in huge clusters where thousands of stars
hung together. But one night, a particularly clear night. A night
history remembers and records as Tuesday, March 13, 1781. William
Herschel pointed his telescope to a dim star in the constellation
of Taurus. As he peered out through his eyepiece, the star he
studied which should have glared back at him with sharp points
of light, was in fact nothing more than a fuzzy-like ball! Herschel
move his lens to a higher power. The object became bigger. He
wondered, this could not be a star, it was different. Maybe it
was a comet, he thought? Or maybe, it was a … planet?! Could
it be the astronomers of his day were wrong saying there were
only five planets? Could an amateur like himself know more than
the experts??
Well history records Herschel had indeed discovered a new unknown
planet, which was one more than the five astronomers had for long
cataloged, as all there was. Herschel excited about this quickly
reported this finding with his notes to the Greenwich astronomers.
They poured over Hershel's notes, and took a look at the sky's
where he observed, and sure enough soon they agreed - it was a
new planet. This sixth planet to be observed was named URANUS,
as it was just barely visible to the naked eye. Soon astronomers
came to Herschel just to look through the telescope that discovered
a planet. They marveled at his powerful optics, and precision
parts. Some begged him to make telescopes for their observatories.
Herschel was indeed proud of his accomplishments. But his greatest
honor came when the Royal Society of Astronomers invited him to
come to the Greenwich Observatory and join them in the study of
stars. And of all things, with his home-made telescope!
And for over 50 years after that event, the astronomers enjoyed Hershel's companionship and love for the stars. But not everyone was happy about his coming. Dr. George Airy, who became director of the observatory, resented this "untrained" amateur intruding in the "learned" territory of degreed men. However, as this new planet was studied more and more and some disturbing things were observed. Through the years Herschel further observed that the URANUS' movements were very erratic. Herschel found that Uranus rotated in a backwards direction to all the other planets. He soon discovered Oberson and Titania, two satellites that orbited URANUS and noted that they also rotated backwards.
Herschel never stopped studying the creation. He believed in a
Creator God, and knew that all things out there were indeed for
him to study and discover for the glory of God. In later years,
William Herschel went on to many more new discoveries, particularly,
the sixth and seventh satellites of Saturn as well. History records
William Herschel, the musician astronomer and Christian, is credited
with many discoveries. He is regarded as the virtual founder of
sidereal science, the discovery of the period of rotation of Saturn,
existence of motion of binary stars, and the founding the present
system of star astronomy used even to this day.
But back to the Observatory's director George Airy. As time went
on, He fumed at the notoriety Herschel was receiving. He objected
to his notes and often attempted to give counter explanations
for his discoveries. But in spite of this, Herschel's most amazing
further discovery was the observance of an erratic movement of
URANUS which was due to the gravitational pull of yet another
amazing discovery. -the planet NEPTUNE. Although Herschel's lifetime
had passed before Neptune was officially observed through the
looking glass. William Herschel had found new and exciting discoveries
that showed men of science, that what is known at one point in
time, may be proven wrong at a later point when thoroughly tested
by others.
Yes the heaven's declare the vastness of God's artistry. As far
as the eye can see, and now as far as radio telescopes can go
- the universe is beyond our imagination in size, complexity and
scope. And as one looks out over the stars in the sky, how can
they not see the artistry of the Creator God? There is only one
reason - they simply refuse to believe and therefore suppress
the truth in their hearts. By the way that is exactly what God's
Word says the ungodly do who reject belief in a Created universe.
Listen to the Word of God,
Romans 1:18-20 (NIV) "The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may
be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain
to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible
qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly
seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are
without excuse."
Yet, still to this day there are those closed minded men who believing
in evolution, cannot see beyond a monkey's eye. A case in point
is this. In 1959 noted atheist and English astronomer, Fred Hoyle
made this outstanding statement." There are no new fields
to be opened by the telescopes of the future." With that
he forever closed his mind to new discoveries. For, since 1959
dozens of new stellar discoveries have been made - pulsars, quasi-stellar
radio sources, black holes and neutron stars to name a few, even
now the possibility of a planet beyond our solar system.
But now, what is the point of this historical story on a Christian
radio program? Simply this my friend. Because science is still
young, humanistic evolutionary philosophers boldly declare the
creation reveals no Creator! Today our children in our secular
schools are constantly told that everything around them has evolved,
and what the Bible says about the stars, the heavens and the creation
is false! These atheistic scientists and educators often quote
their scientific knowledge of the day as proof of the "fact
of evolution" and proof of the demise of Creationism. Ah,
but true science works by observance, trial and error, something
neither evolution nor creationism can qualify for. As to what
is really science, well history shows inaccurate information is
often mixed in with true discoveries, and time is required to
separate them. I suggest to today's believer in evolution and
atheism - you may be too quick in your assumptions that there
is no God, and that the heavens do not declare God's vast glory
and existence.
For often today's discoveries and knowledge called science are
often discarded, in the future when new discoveries and testing
prove differently. However, do you know although science can never
be dogmatic in its new discoveries until tried and tested, the
Bible like science has been tested for over four millenniums of
time. Is there a science book that will be completely accurate
for say 4000 years? Some people think science and the Bible cannot
agree. This is not the case. False science and the Bible cannot
agree. But all true and accurate science and the Bible will always
agree. Now the Bible and Science are indeed different ways of
viewing the world we look at. One is mainly concerned with physical
matters, and the other with eternal and spiritual matters. But
when both speak about the same thing. The Bible is the source
of truth, and today's seemingly conflicting theories of science
will be proven wrong as they always have.
So my friend, great men of science should heed the words of Max
Born, the 1954 Nobel prize winner who said "Those who
say that the study of science makes man an atheist must be rather
silly people" For centuries great scientists and discoverers
whose background is correctly checked, will find that many of
them if not most of them were men who believed the Bible and worshipped
and surrendered their lives to the Creator God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. King David spoke of this submission when he wrote in his
psalms of nature. Yes indeed the "heavens declare the
majesty and glory of God and the stars display his artistry of
the Creation." Yet, today millions of people have not
come to see God in the world around them. A God who in His greatness
has not been too busy to be concerned about mere men.
Do you know, what the Bible reveals the greatest news anyone can
discover personally in their lifetime? It is that all men are
indeed created, not evolved, and that the God who created them
loves so much that He came to earth and died for them. The Bible
warns us even to this day that all men are in estrangement with
God because of sin, but it also says that all men can be reconciled
to God through Him who loved us. Jesus Christ is our historical
proof of God's amazing love. But say friend, have you personally
discovered Him? Oh you don't need a telescope, or a microscope.
All you need is an open heart to hear and read God's Word. The
Bible says:
Acts 4:12 (NIV) "Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which
we must be saved."
Acts 17:30-31 (NIV) "In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice
by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all
men by raising him from the dead.""
My message today and on every broadcast heard on the air, is centered
in this truth! Have you opened your eyes and looked up and observed
the "stamp" or mark" of Creation? Yes, the Bible
says even the very stars at night, the wonders of nature, its
perennial renewal, the birth of a new born baby - all are God's
signature of His existence. Look my friend, look at it all, and
if you look with an open heart the Bible says you will see --
God at work!!
Men like William Herschel, if they could come back from death
would tell you that their greatest discoveries were pale in significance,
to the greatest discovery they made one day. They found their
Creator God, in the person of Jesus Christ, and as such they opened
their heart to believe on Him and accept Him as their Lord and
Savior. Friend, there is no greater discovery that you can make
in your lifetime either. Come explore, search out if these things
be true. For when you do, God says this to you "Those
who seek me with all their heart, shall find me" (1 Chron.
28:9). May the discovery of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
enrich and envelop you, as you too look to His Word, the Bible,
for that amazing discovery that awaits all who seek Him today.
Yes friend, Sir William Herschel did discover many things including
the planet URANUS. What's more his sister Caroline Herschel, also
made history as she who shared his faith and joy of astronomy,
indeed herself went on to be the first woman to independently
discover eight comets and three nebulas. In 1828 she received
the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for completing,
arranging and editing the star catalogs of her brother and the
British astronomer John Flamsteed.
Oh, it's great to be a discoverer of the Creation, but nothing
beats the discovery of the Creator. Almost twenty five years ago
I discovered Christ `through a radio broadcast much like this.
It was the most astounding discovery I ever made, and its benefits
have been with me these many beautiful years. It is my prayer
and the dedication of my life, to help others find Him who is
the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ the Lord. Today my friend,
begin a search for Him who through the historic Christian faith
can be found in any Bible believing church in your area. Go visit
them this week in worship and study, and find Him the Creator
who lives to bring us life eternal now and forever more. May God
bless you to this end my friend, for Jesus sake. Amen.
__________________________________________
Recommended Reference Works:
COMPTON’S INTERACTIVE ENCYLOPEDIA CD-ROM- copyright 1994, Herschel, William
GROLIER’S MULTIMEDIA ENCYLOPEDIA, Copyright 1994, CD-ROM Herschel, William
WHEN SCIENCE FAILS, by John Tiner; William Herschel, Astronomer
MEN OF SCIENCE / MEN OF GOD - Henry Morris, Master Books, El Cajon, CA, Page 29-30
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures.A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request.These weekly radio commentaries can be heard in selected areas around the nation. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for 16 years, and serves as General Director. These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of all messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan (wwyfin@sparc.isl.net)