Loren Sandford, who pastors New Song Church in Colorado Springs, made an observation some months back about eclipses and blood moons and other phenomena with which I heartily agree. Further, his thoughts pair well as a contrast to the subject of this post: Predictability versus unpredictability.
Paraphrasing the number of posts Loren had up on the subject, when Acts 2 describes for us suns being darkened and moons being turned to blood, and when the sun was darkened during Passover when Jesus was on the cross, those events did not describe regular, cyclical, and predictable events. Translation: when Jesus died, the sun was not eclipsed. It was darkened. For hours at a time. For us to take cyclical and predictable celestial objects and use them as markers to interpret eschatological and apoctalyptic portents and prophecies has never worked.
Granted, Genesis 1 refers to these things as signs, but they are regular, predictable, and cyclical signs, much in the same way that a clock points to hours and minutes as signs that the season, hour, or minute is changing.
When the prophecies of Joel 2 and Revelation are fulfilled, we will not wonder if this or that predictable event will be the long-awaited sign. Those scriptures point to things that no man has ever experienced, and which no one will ever experience again once they happen. Those signs will be very unpredictable.
This leads me to the next thing I wish to say: a brief thought that is overlooked. The sun, moon, and stars are predictable, and follow regular cyclical patterns. The fourth day, being linked to the rest of the lists of sevens in Scripture, follows a predictable pattern, a cyclical pattern, just like the menorah in the tabernacle must follow a set pattern of predictable refilling, and just like the shield of faith must follow a set pattern of predictable use in order to be effective at quenching the regular darts of the evil one.
Predictability is inbred into the fourth of the cycle.
When the L-rd returns, one of the signs of his return is that the predictability of the celestial bodies will come loose in a show of unpredictability.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are!
“The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.” 1 Corinthians 15:41 NIV
“You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!” MSG
There is one kavod (glory) of the shemesh (sun), and another kavod (glory) of the levanah (moon), and another kavod (glory) of the kochavim (stars), for in kavod (glory), kochav differs from kochav. [TEHILLIM 19:4-6; 8:1,3] OJB
Just getting a bit starry-eyed about the twinkly stars that were first mentioned, almost as an addenda, after the Big one and the Small one were hung in the sky…
Genesis 1:16
“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” NIV
Then the delicate awesomeness of the profound intimacy of His Mercy heart pours out…
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name”. Psalm 147:4
The sheer un-countable-ness of them is blown away in this oneliner! He decides how many there will be… and caps it off by naming each one! Sort of ticking them off, one by one… and giving them each an El Shddai caress! Each one! Aaaaah!
So these teeny-tiny twinkly stars are way up there, up above the world so high, like His diamonds in the sky… just coz!