16. BIBLICAL STUDY OF THE STARS

DR. EARL PARVIN, 2/3/2021, 7/2/21

In my study of Creationism, in 12 lessons, it was noted that God had allotted only 7 words to the creation of the MULTITUDES OF STARS which He had designed in His blueprint for His Son the builder to “let be”, named and “set in place”…[Psalm 8:3]  “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. [Gen 1:16 NIV]. Therefore, a mere mention of that fact was made in chapter 11 of that study, entitled “Creation of Celestial Bodies”. Just why the Architect designed it this way can only be speculation. But let me venture a guess. It appears to me that He has a particular emphasis in mind for His creation saga. Notice this verse from Isaiah 45:18 “For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, BUT FORMED IT TO BE INHABITED”. God’s main purpose for His architectural masterpiece was to make a place for Mankind. No other worlds are mentioned no matter that the US & World at large are still searching for such. God did not want men to be distracted with His artistic genius in the heavens. He only mentioned the stars in passing, in spite of their numbers and beauty. Astronomers note that beauty by assigning numbers about their luminosity, color & METELISITY. The stars did have an important purpose which He mentioned. See the account. Also note, He specifically states that God CREATED the cosmos. It did not BANG or BANG-BANG as some would have it. and creation only took six creatiON days.

However, I note a serious potential temptation that the stars presented to mankind. God was silently drawing attention to it by not emphasizing the stars at this time. Even before giving the ten commandments as recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 5, Moses in chapter 4:19 warned, “And when you look up to 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”.

However it is to be noted in the Biblical account in Genesis, that a total of 5 verses are given to the mention of other celestials, though not mentioned by name. It is understood that the sun, the greater light, is indeed a special star and the moon. Interestingly they are not so titled, but the context makes it abundantly clear that is what is meant by GREAT LIGHT & LESSER LIGHT. 

A study of the whole Biblical text reveals that a total of 55 references are made to Stars. There are 38 references in the Old Testament and 17 in the New. In the latter, these are in 8 books, mostly with single references, excepting the books of Acts [2], and Revelation [8].

WHAT IS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR GOD’S CREATING THE TRILLIONS OF STARS?

It becomes evident that the real purpose in God’s blueprint purpose for creating the stars is to: “PRAISE HIM, sun and moon; PRAISE HIM, all you shining stars” [Ps 148:3]; “The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.” [1 Cor. 15:41]. It is interesting that He mentions “shining” stars, for there are darkened stars that do not shine. They are said to be nova because they have used up all their Hydrogen which they were fusing into helium, in the nucleus. Each one is made up of plasma. Our Sun is indeed a Main Sequence Star and very special indeed.

As far as man is concerned, God suggests that man would find usefulness, as well not so good use for the stars. “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky [shamayim = space] to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky [space] to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 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. 17 God set them in the VAULT of the sky [space]to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. [Gen 1:14-18]. When the scriptures mention the number of stars it frequently uses the term STARY HOST [15X]. 

Man has used the stars from time immemorial for navigation purposes, using various devices such as the sextant to ‘sight’ the stars. He has also abused the beauty of the stars by worshipping them.

e also has abused

 

 

 

 

THE NUMBER OF STARS

When one looks up into the night sky, you see a blur of stars dotting the sky as far as one can see. There are so many, it resembles a spill of milk across the heavens, precisely the name of our Milky Way Galaxy. One of 2000 Billions of Galaxies, [NASA] each made up of billions of stars. There are so many stars that the Bible Scribe declares: “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them” [Gen. 15:5]. The astronomers are putting ever larger & more sophisticated telescopes, higher above our atmosphere to escape atmospheric distortion to see further away stars and galaxies in Deep Space. [They say, “Looking for the first galaxies to form. They say they will be looking back to the beginning of time?] Such telescopes as the 18 segment primary mirror + secondary mirror of the James Webb Space ubelHTelescope. It is to be parked in space.. I million miles above the earth, at Lagrange Point 2. There it can orbit & appear to stand still with the Earth. There are 4 sets of instruments aboard. It will replace the aging Hubbell Telescope which has taken astounding pictures of the stars. They of course are looking for “other worlds”.  Each of the 18 segments of the primary mirror is over 4 feet for a total of 21ft. wide. It is so huge that they had to make it foldable, & make a rocket large enough to carry it. It is scheduled to be launched next year, costing 10 billion US dollars. 

The Psalmist says: ” He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by NAME.” [147:4] because Jesus named them.  [The Gaia Dump has noted 1.8 billion stars. Universe Today]

 [On the internet I found this number ventured, a guess of course: is a one followed by 24 zeroes stars.

GROUPING OF STARS

1.       GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

Astronomers in looking at the stars have noticed that there are various groupings of stars. Stars are not scattered evenly across the visible cosmos. One grouping of stars is called Globular Clusters. There are many GC. It is observed that there is a “halo” around our Milky Way. Evolutionists suggest this halo is made up of more than a hundred GC which they say is the remnant of their collision with the MW way back sometime.

2.       SUPER CLUSTERS – GREAT WALLS

They say these GC formed first, by force of Gravity, after the Big Bang matter cooled. Then these GC gathered by Gravity into Galaxies. Then these Galaxies gathered into Galaxy Filaments or Great Walls at “light years” or great distances from  Earth. One of the 5 largest super clusters is “cfA2 Great Wall”. Its size is mind boggling. [500 million light years by 200 mly. It is 16 mly thick. It is 300mly from Earth. [A light year is the distance light can travel in a year at 186,000 mps, OR nearly 6 trillion miles.

COSMIC VOIDS, SUPERVOIDS OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE 93 Bly

Another interesting fact…they have also measured the great voids between the galaxies. They say the largest void is a billion ly across. [The biggest known hole in the universe has left a cold-spot in the cosmic microwave radiation. That is if you believe in the BB!] The void is said to be a billion ly across. “There are no radio sources such as radio galaxies and quasars in the direction of the cold spot. “Radio sources track the distribution of mass in the universe,” says Rudnick. “They are the signposts for galaxies, clusters of galaxies and dark matter.”  [newScientist] It is said to be 10 blys away.

The Bootes void is said to be “The Creepiest place to be”. Astronomers are asking, “Why these voids?”

CHRISTIAN VERSUS EVOLUTIONIST INTERPETATION OF OBSERVABLE SCIENCE

We can observe this phenomenon with a totally different conclusion. We can still use their research and seek to interpret the data with reference to God’s Manual. The Evolutionist has read God out of the equation; therefore, he must come up with some other driving force…such as Natural Laws operating with extended time and tolerance for work in progress or Survival of the Fittest. They have the faulty view that life evolved here on planet earth; therefore. Why not elsewhere?

STAR SIZES & KINDS

The stars themselves exist in various sizes and kinds. Stars are the fundamental building blocks of galaxies.

Evolutionists say stars are the source of all ‘heavy elements’, like carbon, nitrogen & oxygen, by going nova.

Evolutionists say stars are born of spinning clouds of gas & dust which has collapsed into two or three blobs or proto stars from gravity. That is why stars are often paired two or three together in our MW. [The remaining dust can become planets, asteroids, or comets or may remain as dust.]

1.       HYPERGIANTS OR MASSIVE STARS… 100 times size of regular stars or Red Dwarfs. They are said to live only a few [10 million years] since they burn at 30,000 K. They are few in number. Fast spinning 1 hour rotation  at 220,000 mph

2.       MAIN SEQUENCE STARS [MSS]  {MEANS “DISTINCTIVE BAND OF STARS}

a.       Our sun is a Main Sequence star, [average for MSS] The Evolutionist thinks it took 50 million years to form and will fuse all its hydrogen into helium to make heat & light in 10 billion years.  MS Stars can become…

b.      RED DWARFS are the most numerous stars. Ev. think they will last only 10 billion years. They exist in various luminosities, burning at 4000 K. They are only 10% size of the MS stars. Brown Failed stars.

c.       HHHHHThe larger the star the quicker it shortens its life. Most stars will burn out its core in billions of years. Then it implodes without its core nuclear reactor. However, it still has hydrogen in its outer shell for another nuclear reactor operating at a lesser level but much hotter; therefore, becoming a Red Giant. More  burning…and

d.       Depending on the size, it can become a PULSING STAR. ]

e.      If it becomes unstable it may become a WHITE DWARF STAR or a STELLR CINDER or degenerant.

f.        Its next state is called a NOVA. If it has a companion star, it may gather Hydrogen from it and

g.       With a Complete titanic explosion it becomes a SUPERNOVA . [novae is the plural of nova]

h.      Supernova can collapse and form an iron core, in seconds it collapses from 5000 miles across to only 12 and becomes super hot at 100 billion degrees and explodes with tremendous energy, out shining an entire galaxy. This happens every 100 years or so. This action causes electrons & protons to merge into neutrons. SUPERNOVAS ARE END OF LARGER MASS STARS: 1 MASS IS SIZE OF OUR SUN.

i.         It leaves behind a NEUTRON STAR or BLACK HOLE which is incredibly dense, with exceptional gravity & magnetic fields & powerful radiation. At times it acts as a pulstar. The Blackole hole  Holes are so dense, they spew x-rays & gamma rays.    [NASA SCIENCE: UNIVERSE]

3.       OPEN CLUSTERS OF STARS -GLOBULAR

a.       THERE ARE 1100 LISTED OPEN CLUSTERS IN THE MW

b.      EACH WITH FEW THOUSAND STARS transiting spiral galaxy’s black hole

c.       Also called A galactic cluster… COULD BE MISLEADING

d.      THEY are 2000 ly thick and diameter of 30,000 ly

e.      STELLAR STREAMS are strings of stars in the MW which have been torn apart and ended up looking ever so much like spaghetti, which can be lys long. There are several such streams named:

                                                                           i.      Southern Stellar Stream,

                                                                         ii.      Phoenix Stream in the Phoenix Constellation

                                                                        iii.      Atlas, Aliqa, Uma, Chenab, Elqui, Indus,  Jehelum  [S5]

4.      CONSELLATIONS

Job, Isaiah & II Kings [4x] mention the constellations of stars. [they also mention the Bear, Orion & [Pleiades 3 x}]. The mention has to do with the stricture on astrology & oral history. The recognition of grouping of stars into recognizable shapes is well known from ancient cultures. With little else to distract, they ‘saw’ in their pregnant minds their own traditions or lore, in star clusters. Every culture has its understanding of constellations and their configurations. THEY ARE PERCEIVED PERCEPTIONS. The real danger was to be found in their mythological creation accounting with their own gods. The 48 traditional Western constellations are Greek. The Zodiac is Chaldean or Babylonian. In 1922 the International Astronomical Association adopted the standard 88 official constellations. The C. have lost most of its original historical appeal.

One comment about the 19th C theory of “the Gospel in the Stars” [constellations]. This theory was full of flaws; therefore, good that it died out. [Answers In Genesis magazine, Jan – Mar 2008]

5.      PLEIADES

a.       The references to the Pleiades is not really a constellation, but a gathering of stars used heavily by mariners on the Mediterranean Sea. 

b.      There are three references in the Bible. Each makes reference to God making these stars.

6.      ZODIAC

a.       There are 13 of the 88 constellations which are called the “constellations of the zodiac”. This has to do with the fact of the ecliptic. This is the path of the sun as it travels. If you extend this ecliptic line out to cross the cosmos, you discover that not only are our solar planets near the solar ecliptic, but so also are most galaxies of stars on the celestial ecliptic

7.      BLUE STARS

a.       The color of a star is determined by how hot it is. Coolest are red. Hottest are blue/

b.      Blue stars must be 3 x mass of our sun or more. Their death = NEBULA [several kinds]

c.       Rigel is blue star. Its temp. is 11,000 K & puts out 40,000 x output of sun. It is 800 lya.

d.      Eta Carina is blue. Its temp is 40,000 K & puts out 1000,000 X energy of Sun. With 110 X mass of Sun, it will burn out in supernova in 100,000 ys.

8.      ASTERISM = GROUPING OF STARS SIMILAR TO CONSTELLATION

9.      CEPHEID VARIABLES  = PULSATING STARS

10.  Most stars are members of DOUBLE [50%], TRIPPLE OR DOUBLE DOUBLE stars.

11.  Our Sun is notable in that it has no companion star.

12.  There are numerous naming systems for stars. The most used use certain letters of the alphabet and several sub divisions. Mostly they are measuring luminosity, temperature, etc., called CLASSES.

a.       O   Rare, main sequence, massive

b.      B   Very luminous, blue

c.       A   Naked eye stars

d.      F   White stars

e.       K   Orange

f.       M   Most common, Red Dwarfs              

USE OF STARS IN THE BIBLE

JOSEPH, recounts a dream to his brothers [not smartest move] “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” [Gen 37:9]

MOSES uses, “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.” [Ex 32:13; Du 1:10; 10:22]

NEHEMIAH, “You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. [9:23]

JOB, “May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, [3:9; 9:7; 25:5; 38:7;]

LORD, “while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? [Job 38:7]

MORNING STAR..  There are 6 references to MS.: Job 3:9; 38:7; Is 14:12; 2 P 1:19; Rev 2:28; 22:16

PSALMIST, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, [8:3]  Note: The Psalmist suggests God “set in place” =  God placed them in orbit!

PREACHER, SON OF DAVID, “before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;” [ECL 12:2]

FRIENDS SONG OF SOLOMON, “Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?” [S. OF S. 12:2]

SATAN = MORNING STAR, “You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.” [Is 14:13] Satan boasting.  Note, Satan bears testimony that the stars belong to God!

BIBLICAL AUTHORS USE OF STARS “as or like”…a simile

The use of the seemingly countess number of stars, is used to convey a promise from God, that the number of the children of Israel would be that many. “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “SO SHALL YOUR OFFSPRING BE.”   “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. [Gen 22:17; 26:4; 1 Chr 27:23; Ne 9:23; Jer  33:22; Dan 12:3;  Nahum 3:16; Philippians 2:15; Heb 11:12;          

WARNING NOT TO WORSHIP THE STARS, :

 And when you look up to 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. [Du 4:19]

ISRAEL DID WORSHIP STARS

“and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky” [Du 17:3]

PUNISHMENT FOR WORHIPING STARS…not be as numerous: “You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.” [Du 28:62; Acts 7:42]

“They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.” [Jer 8:2]

EVEN STARS FOUGHT FOR ISRAEL

“From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.” [Judges 5:20]

SETING TIME BY STARS COMING OUT

“So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out”. [Ne 4:21; Acts 27:20]

STARS GOVERN THE NIGHT

“The moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.” [Ps 136:9]

 

STARS IN END TIMES

“The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” [Is 13:10] Babylon in Day of the Lord

“All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. [Is 34:4; Joel 3:15; Rev 6:13] Judgement of nations

“When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.” [Ez 22:7] Ezekiel’s lament over the destruction of Egypt

“Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.” [Obadiah 1:4] Obadiah’s vision about Edom

““Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ [Matt 24:29] Jesus warns of things coming

“the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ [Mark 13:25; Lk 21:25]

“They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” [Jude 1:13; ] Godless men Rev 1:16,20; 2:1; 3:1 Pastors of churches

“The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.” [Rev 8:12]

“The Woman and the Dragon

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”  [Rev 12:1] 

 

“Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.” [Rev 12:4] Dragon

 

ISRAEL WARNED TO REPENT DAY OF LORD COMING

“Before them the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.” [Joel 2:10]

COMMENTARY

Now may I seek to understand what God is seeking to teach us about the stars He made aplenty to Praise Him.in the 55 references. First I notice many of the writers of Scriptures who make some reference to the stars, seem to only make such in passing. This is obvious because most of them only make one reference. In fact in the OT only 4 writers make 4 or 5 references each. In the NT only John makes 8 references and those in the Revelation. This says to me, there is only scant reference to warn against worshipping the stars or the punishment for doing so. 

Many of the references [9x] use the startling number of stars as a comparison or simile for the number of Israelites. God wanted to bless His choice representatives, abundantly, for faithful service. Warning was clear about disobedience.

Clear reference is made that it was God who created them [Gen 1:16] set them in place [Ps 8:3] in the vault [Gen 1:17] of space, after naming them each [Ps 147:4]. This should be a problem for the evolutionist.

May I interject that in the creation a/c, I use the liberty to translate ‘shamayim’ [in NIV & KJV = HEAVENS], as ‘space’, which Brown Driver & Brigs Lexicon allows. Then I note that in V.6 He created a ‘rachia’.[vault] in that space V.8 ‘heaven’ {shamayim}. When he created the stars, planets, it appears that He personally placed them in orbit in the ‘rachias’ which He had already prepared for them [V.17]. Might this word be the ‘Fabric of the Universe’ Einstein calls the ‘Time-Space Continuum’? [There is massive confusion on the net about what the Fabric of the U. is].

I do not really comprehend what all is literally to happen in the heavens during the tribulation here on earth. It appears that I am glad that Christians will have been raptured for the marriage of the Lamb. But what He means by ‘rolling up the heavens as a scroll’ as spoken about 3 times [Isaiah, Joel, Rev]. Nor the idea of stars being  thrown on the earth. [Rev 12] Evidently there will be massive convulsions at that time in the cosmos.

WARNING NOT TO WORSHIP THE STARS, :

 And when you look up to 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. [Du 4:19]

ISRAEL DID WORSHIP STARS

“and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars in the sky” [Du 17:3]

PUNISHMENT FOR WORHIPING STARS…not be as numerous: “You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.” [Du 28:62; Acts 7:42]

“They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.” [Jer 8:2]

EVEN STARS FOUGHT FOR ISRAEL

“From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.” [Judges 5:20]

Jeremiah holds forth eloquently that God is not finished with Israel’s service, even though their service was not stellar nor would it be. This truth is not an excuse for disobedience, for Israel paid a dear price—and still is, although miraculously back in the land , as they for so long sought. Tragically, too many hold onto the idea that all is necessary is to claim the dream of being in their ancient homeland. The honest truth is, they must accept the fact they crucified their redeemer. What they asked for from Pilate they unfortunately received: All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” [Matt 27:25]

NEW COVENANT WITH Israel

“This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name:…[Jer 31:35] Study the whole chapter. ““The days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah… I was a husband to them, declares the Lord..33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…and will remember their sins no more.” This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night,…36 “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, will Israel EVER CEASE TO BE A NATION.” [Jer 31:35; again quoted in Heb 8:10 for certainty]

The number of references to stars about Israel is quite revealing. To be chosen by God for special service [A witness to the Gentiles about Salvation {Is 42:6} is a great honor, and very rewarding. To disobey is a serious tragedy & very costly. But God is so forgiving. Let us take heart. Though the church has been engrafted, it has not had a stellar record of obedience to their Master.

Later developing ideas!

One of the Building Blocks of Life Can Form in the Harsh Environment of Deep Space Itself. No Star Required

In many ways, stars are the engines of creation. Their energy drives a whole host of processes necessary for life. Scientists thought that stellar radiation is needed to create compounds like the amino acid glycine, one of the building blocks of life.

But a new study has found that glycine detected in comets formed in deep interstellar space when there was no stellar energy.

What natural processes gave rise to the building blocks that gave rise to life? That question drives a lot of research. We know that amino acids like glycine are essential for life, but scientists lack a complete understanding of how those building blocks form.

Tragedy of all tragedies to me is the thought that Evolutionists are of the opinion still in the 21st century that life evolved from the stars shown by the latest quote in 11/29/20 “In many ways, stars are the engines of creation.” Another comment “But of the approximately 500 known amino acids, glycine is the simplest of them and is one of the 20 amino acids in the genetic code. It’s not one of the essential amino acids because it can be synthesized in the human body…The conclusion is that glycine and possibly other building blocks of life are expected to be present at least in the solid phase across many star forming environments including the coldest and earliest stages of solar-type systems formation,” the authors write.  [UT, 11/23/20, Evan Gough]

 

Milky Way.