Mary Betz discusses how in biblical times people found revelations of God's relationship with creation in the stars.

The Ancient Cosmos

IMAGINE WE BELONG to an ancient Semitic people and live sometime between 1000 BCE and 150 CE, roughly the time in which the Scriptures were written.

We share our earth with plants, animals, land and water, all created by God. Our earth is flat and enclosed in a dome called the firmament, on whose ceiling the heavenly bodies — sun, moon and stars — move according to times and seasons. God created these heavens, too, whose dome has windows through which rain, snow, frost, hail and dew can descend. On the other side of the dome is the heaven above the heavens, where God is enthroned. Above this highest heaven are the chaotic waters of the cosmos which surround the earth, and which God pushed back at creation.

Stars and Heavens in Scripture

The Scriptures make hundreds of references to the stars and heavens, many of which attempt to explain how and why the stars and heavens exist, and what they signify. Genesis, Psalms, Jeremiah and Wisdom, for example, tell us the heavenly bodies give light to day and night, and command the seasons. In Genesis God creates the heavens and in Psalm 147, God numbers the stars and calls them each by name.

Demonstrate God’s Power

In Job 9:8-9 the heavens demonstrate power no one has
but God:

“The sun, at God’s command, forbears to rise,
and on the stars God sets a seal.
God and no other stretched out
the skies,
and trampled the sea’s tall waves.
The Bear [Big and Little Dipper], Orion too, are of God’s making,
the Pleiades [Matariki] and the Mansions of the South [southern constellations].”

Show God’s Emotions

The heavens reveal God’s emotions. They bend, move or shake when God is angry, especially against injustice. In Judges, the heavens roll up like a scroll; in Isaiah 13:13 God shakes the heavens in anger; in Jeremiah 51:16 a tumult of water pours from the heavens when God thunders. In 2 Samuel 22: 8ff King David remembers:

“The foundations of the heavens trembled
they quivered because God was angry …
God bent the heavens and came down.”

In the Psalms and Isaiah, the heavens also show God’s care for humanity. In Isaiah 40:22: “God stretched out the heavens like a cloth, spread them like a tent for humans to live in.”

Give Witness

Like earth, the heavens are called upon to be witnesses to the presence and actions of God and humanity. Psalm 96:12-13:

“Let the heavens be glad, let the earth rejoice,
let the sea thunder and all that it holds,
let the fields exult and all that is in them,
let all the woodland trees cry out for joy,
at the presence of God.”

In Jeremiah 2:12 the heavens are called upon to express horror at the oppression and corruption of the people of Judah:

“You heavens, stand aghast at this,
stand stupefied, stand utterly appalled.”

Open to God’s Presence

The heavens open for visions or manifestations of God. In Genesis 28:12, the heavens are pierced by a ladder of angels in Jacob’s dream. In Ezekiel 1:1 heaven opens for Ezekiel to see a vision of God, and in all four Gospels the heavens part for the Spirit to descend on Jesus at Baptism. In the Acts of the Apostles the heavens are thrown open so that Stephen can see a vision.

Show Signs of the Day of God

In both Old and New Testaments prophetic oracles and apocalyptic writings, about the coming of the “day of God”, are full of references to signs in the stars and heavens. Isaiah 13:10 is an oracle against Babylon:

“For the stars of the sky and Orion
shall not let their lights shine;
the sun shall be dark when it rises,
and the moon not shed her light.”

The apocalyptic writings in Ezekiel, Joel, Daniel, Mark, Luke, Matthew and Revelation all warn that the stars will be darkened, fall or be disturbed. In Matthew 24:29 “the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken.” But these signs also herald coming restoration. In Isaiah, God will create new heavens and a new earth, and in 2 Peter, after the sky vanishes in flames and the earth is burnt, God will bring about eschatological renewal.

Starlike Qualities

Angels and humans, both good and bad, are likened to stars. In Daniel 12:3 those who instruct others in virtue will shine as brightly as the stars. On the other hand, in Judges 19 the wicked are like stars “wandered” from their courses, and in Jude 13 false teachers are like falling stars (or angels) in an eternity of black darkness. In Revelation 1:20 the seven stars are angels of the seven churches Jesus holds in his right hand, but in Rev 9:1 a star falling from heaven symbolises a fallen angel.

God’s Promises

Finally, the stars are signs of God’s promises. In Genesis 15:5 Abram is challenged to count the stars, if he can, for his descendants will be even more numerous — a promise which echoes down through the Scriptures. Numbers 24:17 heralds the coming of “a star of Jacob” who will be a ruler. Matthew 2:2ff chronicles the journey of wise men from the east who follow a rising star signifying that ruler’s birth.

Stars and Heavens in the 21st Century

Our cosmology today is vastly different from that of ancient biblical writers. The ancients could see only 6,000 stars, while today’s astronomers estimate there may be over 200 billion trillion stars. In contrast to a domed, flat earth, we know Earth as a planet revolving around a sun which is one of 100,000 to 400,000 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy — itself one of perhaps two trillion galaxies in the universe.

Curiously, we retain ways of speaking that the ancients would recognise. We speak of God in heaven and going to heaven after death. We may look to the sky or raise our arms to “heaven” when we pray. We sometimes speak of dead loved ones as angels or stars in the sky.

Science points to the origins of our solar system in the dust of stars which exploded billions of years ago: in faith language — God is continually re-creating the universe. Gazing at the stars evokes infinite wonder and awe at the cosmic forces which form and re-form our galaxies with their stars, planets, nebulae, black holes — and the mysterious dark matter which seems to comprise 90 per cent of our universe. Within this magnificent incomprehensibility, we are privileged to exist, in communion with all creation and its ultimate source whom we call God.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 283 July 2023: 4-5