The Ordinances of the Heavens

Buzz Aldrin was born on January 20th. This year he celebrates his 94th birthday. Apart from being an accomplished engineer and pilot, he is best known as the second astronaut to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong. In his later years, Aldrin has repeatedly pushed for a manned mission to Mars. He promotes this as the next necessary step in mankind’s journey into the unknown. Aldrin wrote, “Exploration is wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon, we want to know what's beyond.” Currently our planet’s only visitors to Mars have been robotic rovers, but someone making a “small step for man” on the red planet someday is a very real possibility.

The incredible feats which NASA and other space agencies have achieved show us more than man’s capability. Our extraterrestrial accomplishments help to demonstrate the orderliness of the universe, undergirding the argument for intelligent design. All the calculations of Earth’s best number-crunching scientists would be in vain in a system born out of chaos or randomness. The success of the Apollo missions depended upon Earth and the moon behaving in a predictable way within a solar system which is governed by laws.

Thousands of years ago, as God was answering Job out of the whirlwind, He said, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?” (Job 38:33). In this sense, ordinances would signify the laws which dictate the orderly movements of planets and stars in space. Like many ancient observers of the night sky, Job probably studied the arrangement and patterns in the starry sky—certain constellations are even mentioned by name in this chapter! However, despite being able to observe and calculate the orbits and arrangements of the universe, man has yet to fully understand gravity and the many other forces at work in outer space. Research into such things continues to provide a “lens” through which the creation may “see” the Creator (Psa. 19:1; Rom. 1:20). The Lord maintains the material existence by the power of His word, just as surely as He called it into being by His word (Gen. 1:3; 2 Pet. 3:5-7).

Maybe the best thing about exploration, is that it humbles man and allows us to feel small. Whether in a dark jungle, an ocean trench, or outer space—seeing and being fascinated by more and more of God’s creation, builds in us an appreciation for how powerful and knowledgeable our Creator must be. This was the mindset of David as he said, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psa. 8:3-4). And yet, God has bestowed such blessings upon mankind, both physical and spiritual, how could we not be motivated in service and study. From the ordinances of the heavens to the saving doctrine of grace, “The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.” (Psa. 111:2).