"What has been an object of wonder and so fascinated mankind since the time of our beginnings? It is the light that rules the night, our silvery moon!"

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the wonders of our moon that God wondrously created…

"Our moon, God created it.

Man reached it.

Poets have written about it."

So writes Dr. Jonathan Sarfati in a most interesting paper entitled: "The Moon, the light that rules the night." Indeed, our moon has been the subject of many centuries of man's fascination and exploration since the dawn of civilization. Everyone, none excluded, have wondered, dreamed, and been wooed by the light of that silvery moon that lights the night sky. Especially the "Harvest Moon," on a fall evening that dazzles the eye, and causes the heart to beat more rapidly as one's mind wanders towards romance and the opposite sex. Yes, our moon truly has fascinated people of every nation and tongue since the beginning. But then what is this moon we gaze at? Where did it come from? What purpose has it being there in our sky? Can anyone answer? Well friend, after we pause one more time for another delightful musical expression, I'll return with answers to all those questions from a biblical perspective. Stay tuned…

…Although mankind since the beginning, has been fascinated by the moon in our night sky, it has only been recently in this century that man has been able to physically examine this stately cosmic "night light." I remember distinctly the moment when more than two billion people were glued to their TV's and radios to hear and see the "Apollo" missions touch down on the surface  of our mysterious moon. It was a grand moment indeed when Neal Armstrong's footprint was registered by the lunar cameras on the Sea of Tranquility in 1969. I'll never forget watching that on television! But then, none of us will ever forget our moon, that lights the skies, night after night, all around our world.

Now what can we know about our moon? Well, evolutionary scientists today have some theories of how it got there, but truthfully, only the Bible tells us the clear and purposeful truth of the moon's origin and its purpose for all mankind. So, let's look at it now, from God's perspective.

Now today there are a number of differing ideas of the moon's origins. But before we touch on them let's see what God's Word has to say. We read first in the Bible,

Gen 1:14-19 (NLT)  “And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night…. 15 Let their light shine down upon the earth.” And so it was. 16 For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 This all happened on the fourth day.”

Here in the very first chapter of God's account of the creation of all things, God tells us that the moon was His divine creation! It was during the fourth day of the Creation week, God fashioned out of nothing this giant luminary. Now evolutionist's today go ballistic when some mentions this, for in God's order of creation the sun, moon and stars weren't created first, but light was. We read this fascinating truth in,

Gen 1:2-4 (NLT)  “The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.”

Dr. Henry Morris in his "Defender's Study Bible" writes, "The world was at first formless and empty … now the Word of God speaks. The result is light, the energizing of the vast cosmos through the marvelous electro-magnetic force system which maintains all structures and processes in matter. These varied energies include not only visible light, but also all the short-wave radiations (ultra-violet, x-rays, etc.) and the long-wave radiations (infra-red, radio waves, etc.), as well as heat, sound, electricity, magnetism, molecular inter-actions, etc. The existence of visible light prior to the establishment of the sun, moon and stars emphasizes the fact that light (energy) is more fundamental than [these] light givers."

In other words, the light God displayed in the Creation preceded the creation and lighting of the sun, moon and the stars. It was from this pre-stellar light of God, that the Creator lit these luminaries which have brightened our skies for centuries. Now the evolutionist, as I said, cannot accept this. For the order of their appearance as the Bible describes is unacceptable for billions of years to have occurred in the evolution of things. However, God says it, and that for the believer settles it forever and ever. Remember, no one was there at the Creation, except the Creator who has given us His reliable account written down for us in the Bible. And, the Bible reminds us not to contradict God and what He has told us. God asks Job,

Job 38:4 (NLT)  “”Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.”

Now after the sun, the moon is the most important astronomical object both historically and scientifically. Historically, the moon has served mankind well. It has been used by peoples worldwide as a calendar, especially the Jews in Biblical times. Scientifically, it has been the object of intense study that led to our landing on the moon in 1969. Since then, evolutionary scientists have proposed a number of theories of how the moon came into being. They are in simple form,

1.      THE FISSION OR BREAK-AWAY THEORY - this theory was first made popular by the son of Charles Darwin, British astronomer George Darwin in 1879. He theorized that the earth in its early stages of life, spun rapidly, so much so that it literally tore apart. The smaller mass entered orbit as the moon. This "fission" theory has lost its followers through the years, but still it is out there.

2.      THE CAPTURE THEORY - This idea states that the moon came from its own separate solar orbit that crossed paths with earth's. Sweeping too close to the earth, it was captured by earth's gravitational pull and was permanently locked into orbit. However, there are many holes in this theory too, which scientists have grave doubts about.

3.      THE NEBULAR OR CONDENSATION THEORY -  In this theory, the nebular hypothesis, the earth and the moon formed at the same time from a vast cloud of cosmic matter that condensed into the objects of the solar system. Evolutionist like this theory for the formation of all dense bodies in space. They believe they just "condensed" from gaseous matter and where they are is where they formed by themselves.

However apart from these theories of natural formation by evolutionary means scientists have no idea how the moon came into being and became our silvery moon we see to this day.

However, as I stated before, the Bible answers! We're told, God created the moon as well as all other stellar bodies at the same period of time. Moreover, the Bible tells us the moon has some significant purposes intended by God for our good. Permit me to list them for you now.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE MOON?

1. THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE MOON IS TO LIGHT THE NIGHT SKY! - The moon unlike our sun and stars, has no light energy of its own. The moon simply is a giant global mirror that reflects the light of our sun. God's Word implies this. We read again in,

Gen 1:14-19 (NLT)  “And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night … 15 Let their light shine down upon the earth.” And so it was. 16 For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 This all happened on the fourth day.”

The term the "lesser" light reveals to us that the moon was to be a reflection of the greater light, the sun. Indeed, the moon has been doing that since the Creation. Now in an additional section of Scripture we read,

Psa 148:3 (NNAS)  “Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!”

Here the Psalmist by divine superintendence is careful not to claim the moon has its own energy to produce light as the sun and stars. We see God anticipated man's one day walk on the moon to prove it has no light of its own. So God makes sure the bible never claims the moon gives off its own light as the sun and stars. Amazing accuracy isn't it in a time when there was no way t know this.

Now the amount of the reflected light the moon gives off, depends mainly upon its surface area. In God's plans and blueprint, He saw to it that the moon would be large enough to light the night skies. The moon we've discovered is over a quarter of the earth's size, the largest of all moons in relation to the size of earth. As God said, it give a "dreamy level" of night light for our world to see. Now all of us know what it's like when the light of the moon is blocked at night. Sheer darkness is an awful thing for creatures and for mankind. God intended our world to have light by day and light by night. The moon is His gift for this purpose. Next we see,

2. THE MOON EXISTS TO ENABLE MANKIND TO MARK SEASONS & EVENTS - The Bible also tells us the moon's purpose is to enable man to catalog thee various seasons of our years. Now the moon orbits the earth a little less than once a month. So, the Jews formed a calendar by it in the early days of humanity. Again God's Word speaks,

Gen 1:14 (NLT)  “And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years.”

Psa 104:19-20 (NLT)  “You made the moon to mark the seasons..."

As to this function we discover an amazing fact. The Moon when it shines upon the earth always does so with the same face towards the earth. If different parts were visible at differing times, then the 29 1/2 day cycle would be far less obvious. No, God wanted the moon to be an early indicator for mankind to use to mark the seasons, days and years. Now the Jewish calendar was marked by lunar months which we know today is inaccurate. However, the Jews learned early to correct the shorter years by adding an extra month every four years out of eleven. This was simply added on at the end of the year and called the "second Adar." However, in the fourth century AD, the Jews switched to a mathematical method of determining months.

Now, the most intriguing purpose of the moon is also to mark events or signs. Signs in the moon are mentioned to determine weather (Matt. 16:2-3), to declare God's testimony (Psalm 8,19; Rom 1:14 -20), to navigate the seas (Mat 2:1-2), and to declare the coming of divine judgment (Joel 2:30 -31; Mat 24:29). Such signs, it appears, are reserved for the period of time known as the Last Days. Now there is a third purpose for the moon. It is this…

3.    THE MOON PRESERVES LIFE BY CONTROLLING THE TIDAL FUNCTION OF OUR SEAS -  We know that the earth's gravity keeps the moon in its perfect orbit. But the moon's gravity also exerts a powerful force on the earth. As the moon moves around the earth and moves closer and further away from the earth due to its orbit, the water in our seas bulges upward towards the moon in what is called "high tides." When the moon is farthest away, the water recedes by the earth's gravitational pull causing another "high tide on the opposite side of the earth. Now in between, the water levels must drop creating low tides. As the moon orbits the spinning earth, there is a cycle of two high tides and two low tides about every 25 hours. Now what does this mean? Plenty!
Tides are vital to the existence of all life on the earth. Tides are designed by God to scour and cleanse shorelines; to help keep ocean currents circulating thus preventing the ocean from stagnating and sea life dying. These changing  tides also benefit man by scouring out shipping channels; and diluting sewage discharges, and the growth of dangerous bacteria. Moreover, in some places, the tidal flow is harnessed to generate enormous amounts of electricity for man's use.
Yes, the moon is not there by accident or evolutionary chance happening. Rather, it was placed in that exact orbit, so it would do all these things without disturbing life. You see if the moon were closer than it is, or smaller than it is, the earth's tidal/gravitational forces would have shattered it, or have been rendered inoperative. Either way we would have been grossly affected.

Yes friend, isn't it amazing that everything is in perfect order, size, shape, orbit, and distance in our universe? The answer is, this is because the moon did not evolve, but is the masterful creation of a divine omnipotent being called GOD!

The moon like other stellar objects is a perfect example of God's glory. The Psalmist declared,

Psa 19:1 (NLT)  “The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.”

This is so much so, that God also says in the Book of Romans,

Rom 1:18-20 (NLT)  “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. 19 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20 From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God."

Here we are told that to deny the origin of all life and the universe as a divine creation of God, reveals the sinful arrogance of man, and the corruptness of our hearts to reject what is plainly seen. Evolution today and all its subsidiaries such as theistic and progressive evolution ¾ are just means to say "no to God!" the sinner says, "No, we don't want you to run our lives. No, we don't want to acknowledge You created all things for your purpose and pleasure. No, we don't want Your rule now or forever!" And friend because of that the Bible says the wrath of God is upon all who reject the plain truth of creation. Listen to God's words of warning,

Rom 1:21-31 (NLT)  “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes. 24 So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved. 28 When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving.”

Isn't this the picture of our world today? Isn't this the answer for the terrible ethnic cleansings of the Balkans, the senseless brutal murders in a Colorado school system, the brutality of child killings called abortion, and the child and spouse abuse and violent crime  we see growing all across our nation? When man rejects God, and in his heart no longer fears God's power and wrath, we turn inward to our sin nature and in a sense we become like animals.

Until we recognize this personally and nationally, we will continue the slide into moral chaos, and destruction that seems to be imminent. Friend, our society is collapsing like a spent star. Our world around us is folding up like the galaxies one day will do when God says "it's over."

We need a true revival in the land, and more, a revival beginning in every heart.

Say friend how about you? Do you believe God? Do you believe He created all things and that you, His creation, are accountable to Him? If you cannot say for certain that you are a child of God, then right now will you pray and ask God to forgive your sins, and ask Him to save you on behalf of Jesus Christ's death on the cross? The Bible not only said God created all things including our "slivery" moon, but He created you and me, His finest moment and jewel.

Now all God wants is to save us all from our sins. Oh,, may God open your heart not only to enjoy the wonderful moon in our sky that lights and rules the night, but the greatest light, the light of God that shines in every heart day in and day out ¾ looking for those who will respond that to light of God by receiving Jesus Christ. For when you do, you will enter a whole new realm of enjoying the wonders of creation, and the promises of eternity to be with God. Make it so today for Jesus sake, Amen…

…Our moon. God created it, Man reached it and poets have written about it ¾ but more you and I can thank God for it! For all it provides in the scheme of creation. Yes, all things exist not only for God's good pleasure and glory, but for our good and blessing. We do enjoy the moon. Hearts are drawn toward love for one another under a beautiful summer night's sky when the moon shines brightly. So the next time you look up in the sky and see the light of the silvery moon, remember Your Creator and give thanks.

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[1] THE BIBLE HAS THE ANSWER, by Dr. Henry M. Morris & Martin E. Clark, Master book, El Cahon, CA; Chapter Eight, “The Ancient World.”