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Blue Moon…

By July 30, 2015August 30th, 2022Lost in Translation

One of our dear friends mentioned this evening, after Bible study at our home, that late tonight and tomorrow represent the first Blue Moon since August, 2012. And, by the way, we won’t have another one until 2018. So just what is a Blue Moon? Well, it’s the second full moon in a calendar month. Our first full moon of the month was on July 2nd and the next one will be July 31st – that means we will have our first Blue Moon in several years. Just for the record, Blue Moons don’t necessarily appear blue. Most of the time, they appear red based on the small particles in the atmosphere that block blue light and led red pass through.

If you haven’t had a chance to look up at the sky, put this post down and go run outside. It will be worth your effort, and if you can’t do it tonight, then by all means, take a few minutes Friday evening. After all, Americans seem to have a love affair with space. For those of you who are old enough, the world was stunned when Russia sent up Sputnik and the space race was started. More recently, after the Hubble Telescope, trips to the moon, the shuttle and SkyLab, we have turned our attention to other bodies in the solar system. We have tried to explore the surface of Mars and most recently, a manmade probe, launched years ago, just passed Pluto as it headed past the outer reaches of the solar system into interstellar space.

As Christians, we acknowledge that God created the Sun, the Moon and the stars. In fact, God was the Creator of everything that is – period. But most of us think that God named the Sun and the Moon, but that isn’t the case. The Egyptians worshipped more than 3000 various gods and Ra, the sun god, was their most important god. It was thought that he was swallowed up each night and returned each morning. Of course, we know that was not the case, but when you read the creation story you will see that the lights in the sky were not named.

Theologians believe that God demonstrated that the sun and the moon were so insignificant compared to the awesome nature of God that they didn’t even receive names. Presumably, man held dominion over the animals and other creations of God so God assigned Adam the task of naming things. I can imagine that this didn’t set too well with the Egyptians – after all, they represented the most advanced culture in the world and they worshipped so many non-living things that they can hardly be counted – unlike Christians who worship the one Living God.

The verse for tonight highlights the Scripture passage that speaks to the creation of what have become known as the sun and the moon. We are told, in Gen. 1:16-18, “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. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to honor, take care of and appreciate His creation. My prayer is that you will take a few moments and just stare in wonder at the blue moon, compliments of the Creator of everything… Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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