Articles
Eclipse
R E F L E C T I O N S
Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith
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"You cannot see my face, for man shall
not see me and live.” - Ex. 33:20
Literally millions of people raised their eyes skyward recently to catch a glimpse of a total eclipse of the sun. But they did not dare to attempt this without having some sort of protection to prevent serious harm to their eyes. Eclipses occur when the sun is obscured by the moon. In fact, the word "eclipse" comes from a Latin word which means to obscure, to cover up. So, viewing an eclipse means we actually don't really see the sun, we just see the corona that is projected out from the sun. Viewing the sun directly is far too dangerous. When we realize that our sun is only one of countless suns in the universe, and a relatively small sun at that, we begin to sense the vastness of all that God has created which lies beyond our abilities to see or even to acknowledge. The power of our sun which can blind any who would be foolish enough to gaze upon it for even a few seconds pales in comparison to the power of the One who has created everything. Moses once asked God to be allowed to see God's face. God's reply was not that Moses would be blinded, but that he would die. The power and holiness of our God is so far beyond comparison with anything we can imagine that it makes the power of our own sun seem like nothing. God, in his mercy, has allowed us to see only a reflection of his awesome power in the person of his Son. And we treated his Son with destain. The time will come when we all will see God in his unfiltered glory. Then every knee will bow because none of us will have the strength to stand. Many who witnessed the eclipse of the sun felt a sense of awe, but just wait until we are confronted with the full glory of God's presence. Then we will experience the true meaning of awe and will beg for what we desperately need,which is an eclipse, a covering to prevent us from dying. And the name of that covering, by the way, is Jesus. - John
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