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| Volume 24 Number 7 July 2022 |
Page 13 |
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| Volume 24 Number 7 July 2022 |
Page 13 |
The Sun, the Moon and
the Bible’s Inspiration
Terry Wheeler
“The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD” (Acts 2:20). “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the full moon became like blood…” (Revelation 6:12 ESV). The holy Bible has long been called an ancient book of superstitions, myths and fables. The unbeliever refuses to give the Bible credence or credibility as something that should be taken seriously. Then, one comes to these very interesting verses. Mostly rejected as figurative at best, these prophetic utterances have been around for thousands of years. In fact, in Acts 2, Peter quoted Joel 2:31, which uses the same terms.
We all know when there is a solar eclipse. At that time, the sun goes dark to us because the moon passes between the sun and the earth. However, during a lunar eclipse, the earth obscures the light of the sun for the moon, turning the moon red due to refracted light passing by the earth. In other words, when the sun goes dark for the moon because of the earth, the moon turns red! Incidentally, it must be full to do so.
How were the Bible’s penmen, so long ago, able to know this, because the how and the why the full lunar eclipse occurs can only be seen from outer space (Sauers)? The only reasonable answer is that God told them. We have only recently begun to figure it out! Certainly, God’s Word is truth (John 17:17)!
Works Cited
Sauers, Elisha. “Watch Incredible NASA Video of a Total Lunar Eclipse from Space.” Mashable.com. 21 May 2022. 6 Jun 2022. <https://mashable.com/article/total-lunar-eclipse-2022-space-view>.
The Beautiful Roses
Are Fading Fast!
Raymond Elliott
The beautiful pink roses on our white fence are now fading white. They hit their peak by Mother’s Day. They are still beautiful, but they are fading fast. You see, like other beautiful flowers, the time comes when the beauty of the roses fades, and eventually they will die. This is also true of mankind. We will also fade or pass away. The apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:24-25 wrote, “…All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever…” (NKJV; cf., Isaiah 40:6-8). Life at the longest is brief when compared to eternity. The writer, James, in his letter, wrote that life “is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). In Psalm 90:9-10, we read, “For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Regardless of age, life is very fragile, and death can occur at any time.
Some of us are in the winter of our lives, and we are definitely closer to eternity than ever before. It is only in Jesus Christ that we can have an abundant life presently (John 10:10) and for eternity! Jesus said, as recorded in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The apostle John penned in 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” I strongly encourage you to study very carefully the following passages to know just how to be in Jesus Christ and to have life in the Son: John 20:30-31; 8:24; Acts 19:30; Galatians 3:26-27. It is by the blood of Christ and by the grace of God that we are redeemed and forgiven of our sins (Ephesians 1:7; 2:5). We should “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Peter 3:18). If we live faithfully in this life for Jesus Christ, as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, we will receive a “crown of righteousness.” It is my heart’s desire that everyone would give his or her life to Jesus and live for Him so we all can go to that heavenly home “where the roses never fade” (die). Of course, we know there will not be roses in Heaven, but it is the thought of where we will be in eternity that we will never fade or die that is found in the title of this song.
“Where The Roses Never Fade”
Janie West Metzgar
I am going to a city,
Where the streets with gold are laid,
Where the tree of life is blooming,
And the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season;
Soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.
In this world we have our troubles,
Satan snares we must evade.
We’ll be free from all temptations,
Where the roses never fade.
Loved ones gone to be with Jesus,
In their robes of white arrayed.
They are waiting for my coming,
Where the roses never fade.
Here they bloom but for a season;
Soon their beauty is decayed;
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.