“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the, stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?” Psalms 8:3, 43When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalm 8:3‑4).
The expanses of outer space are filled with wonderful displays of God’s creation, but very few of them has man been privileged to examine. With the use of modern spacecraft and instruments, some parts of our solar system have now been seen close up, and we are able to learn more of what the Bible means when it says: “One star differeth from another star in glory.” 1 Corinthians 15:4141There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:41).
One of these displays is the planet Saturn which is approximately one-hundred times the size of the earth and about a billion miles away. Circling around it is a magnificent halo of rings composed of hundreds of delicate ringlets. These rings have always been there, but they were not known to astronomers until Galileo discovered them in 1610. The spacecraft Voyager 2, which passed by Saturn in 1981, has taken remarkable pictures of these rings, leaving scientists puzzled as to how they ever got there and what keeps them in place.
Imagine a phonograph record about 170,000 miles wide, with its center cut out, slipped around Saturn like a band, but never actually touching it. Then imagine that something has set this immense band spinning around the planet. Then looking closely, you would see that the “grooves” of the band are really open spaces separating the rings. You would also see that some rings are black, some gray and some light or tan colored. Some of them are fat, some are thin and some are even braided like a girl’s pigtail. You would also see that at least two small moons circle around Saturn in between the rings, never crashing into them or bumping one another.
Compared to its great width, the edge of this band looks like it is as sharp as a razor blade when it is viewed from a distance. The braids particularly baffle scientists. They seem to defy all physical laws, twisting around each other in strands about 500 miles long. Without disturbing the other rings they are circling about 50,000 miles above Saturn’s surface. Scientists think the rings are made up of ice and rocks, but pictures show that there are trillions of little particles involved, so no one really has an answer to this mystery.
Those who know the Lord God as the Creator of all things don’t need to wonder who put the rings around Saturn. God Himself did so, and ever since the days of creation, we May be sure He has enjoyed their beauty. He is the One who keeps them in their amazing pattern and does not require the laws of physics to do so. David expressed it well when he said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Psalms 19:11<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. (Psalm 19:1).
How important it is to recognize the One who has brought all things into being and not listen to the false teaching of those who say this “just happened.” Scripture plainly says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Ecclesiastes 12:11Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (Ecclesiastes 12:1). It is important to not only know Him as Creator, but to know Him as your Saviour as well. Won’t you accept His invitation to come to Him right now?
ML-10/31/1982