As couple of posts ago, I referenced the very rare lunar phenomenon that occurred on the night of January 20 and 21, 2019. (See my previous post of 01/20/2019 titled MOONSHINE!) As I pointed out at the time, a fairly rare celestial alignment known as a “Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse” occurred the night before.
This meant that several things happened all at once: (1) a full moon occurred (2) at its closest orbital point to the earth (producing a super moon), (3) being eclipsed by the earth’s shadow (producing an eclipse) (4) at just the right time and place (so as to turn the moon blood red in appearance), and (5) happening in the dead of winter (when wolves are said to howl at the moon)!
As it turns out, however, that was not all the moon had in store for us that night. For there is one thing related to the moon that has proven even more elusive in human history than has a “Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse” – at least until the night of January 20 and 21, 2019.
Anyone looking at the moon through a standard telescope (or even binoculars on a clear night when there is a full moon) will note that its surface is literally pockmarked with craters. So much so that the moon even looks like Swiss cheese, no doubt giving rise to the historical misnomer that the moon was made out of cheese.
Our planet (Earth) has only 180 known craters of all sizes. By comparison, the moon is estimated to have more than 181,000 craters over 1km wide. The total number is unknown; but easily estimated to be in the millions! The low range is around 1,300,000 craters; whereas the upper range is estimated as high as 5,200,000,000,000! (You read that right – that’s 5 quadrillion, 300 trillion craters!) And that’s a lot of meter strikes!
Now, what is even more amazing than this is that in all of recorded history, not one single meteor had ever been observed by any human eye actually impacting the lunar surface! But all that changed the night of January 20-21, 2019.
With millions upon millions of people (and thousands upon thousands of cameras) worldwide focused on the unfolding lunar phenomenon, reports begin to come in by a great many individuals of, first one, and then a short time later, a second momentary flash occurring on the surface of the moon just as the umbral phase of the eclipse gave way to totality.
As the evidence piled up, it soon became clear that an astronomical miracle of sorts had just been observed. After thousands of years of recorded history without one single observance of a lunar impact, one (or even perhaps two) had now not only been witnessed but recorded for posterity!
Scientists are now hunting proof positive of the impact by scouring pre and post images of that portion of the moon for the telltale location of a new impact crater. They are confident the proof will be found, and that the only lunar impact ever observed will be confirmed!
As I have researched this, I have been reminded of what happened some two thousand years ago. According to God’s Word, all throughout history, people had seen the evidence of their Creator. The proof of His previous involvement in the world was evident all around them. Nonetheless, no one had ever actually seen Him.
But then, suddenly, unexpectedly, on a silent and holy night, God came down and entered this world in the person of Jesus Christ. When He did, He made such a powerful and lasting impression upon this world that it has now resulted in millions upon millions of witnesses worldwide.
One such individual was the Apostle John. In discussing God’s Son having come into this world, he puts it this way (in his eponymous New Testament Gospel, chapter 1, verses 4- 14):
4"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John was a thus a witness to the light that had come into this world. His life had been tremendously impacted by Jesus when this had happened. And John wanted nothing more than to have everyone else on earth be impacted by the Son of God just as He had been.
Like the Apostle John, I have both seen the light and felt the impact of Jesus Christ. I hope you have as well! For once you have experienced the presence of God in Jesus Christ and discovered the impression He makes upon your world, you too will have seen the light! And you too will want to tell everyone you encounter about what you have now seen and experienced!
NEWS SOURCES:
https://cosmoquest.org/x/blog/2012/02/how-many-craters-are-on-the-moon/;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_craters_on_the_Moon;
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/01/meteor-hit-the-moon-during-blood-moon-eclipse-heres-what-we-know/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/john/1.htm.
This meant that several things happened all at once: (1) a full moon occurred (2) at its closest orbital point to the earth (producing a super moon), (3) being eclipsed by the earth’s shadow (producing an eclipse) (4) at just the right time and place (so as to turn the moon blood red in appearance), and (5) happening in the dead of winter (when wolves are said to howl at the moon)!
As it turns out, however, that was not all the moon had in store for us that night. For there is one thing related to the moon that has proven even more elusive in human history than has a “Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse” – at least until the night of January 20 and 21, 2019.
Anyone looking at the moon through a standard telescope (or even binoculars on a clear night when there is a full moon) will note that its surface is literally pockmarked with craters. So much so that the moon even looks like Swiss cheese, no doubt giving rise to the historical misnomer that the moon was made out of cheese.
Our planet (Earth) has only 180 known craters of all sizes. By comparison, the moon is estimated to have more than 181,000 craters over 1km wide. The total number is unknown; but easily estimated to be in the millions! The low range is around 1,300,000 craters; whereas the upper range is estimated as high as 5,200,000,000,000! (You read that right – that’s 5 quadrillion, 300 trillion craters!) And that’s a lot of meter strikes!
Now, what is even more amazing than this is that in all of recorded history, not one single meteor had ever been observed by any human eye actually impacting the lunar surface! But all that changed the night of January 20-21, 2019.
With millions upon millions of people (and thousands upon thousands of cameras) worldwide focused on the unfolding lunar phenomenon, reports begin to come in by a great many individuals of, first one, and then a short time later, a second momentary flash occurring on the surface of the moon just as the umbral phase of the eclipse gave way to totality.
As the evidence piled up, it soon became clear that an astronomical miracle of sorts had just been observed. After thousands of years of recorded history without one single observance of a lunar impact, one (or even perhaps two) had now not only been witnessed but recorded for posterity!
Scientists are now hunting proof positive of the impact by scouring pre and post images of that portion of the moon for the telltale location of a new impact crater. They are confident the proof will be found, and that the only lunar impact ever observed will be confirmed!
As I have researched this, I have been reminded of what happened some two thousand years ago. According to God’s Word, all throughout history, people had seen the evidence of their Creator. The proof of His previous involvement in the world was evident all around them. Nonetheless, no one had ever actually seen Him.
But then, suddenly, unexpectedly, on a silent and holy night, God came down and entered this world in the person of Jesus Christ. When He did, He made such a powerful and lasting impression upon this world that it has now resulted in millions upon millions of witnesses worldwide.
One such individual was the Apostle John. In discussing God’s Son having come into this world, he puts it this way (in his eponymous New Testament Gospel, chapter 1, verses 4- 14):
4"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John was a thus a witness to the light that had come into this world. His life had been tremendously impacted by Jesus when this had happened. And John wanted nothing more than to have everyone else on earth be impacted by the Son of God just as He had been.
Like the Apostle John, I have both seen the light and felt the impact of Jesus Christ. I hope you have as well! For once you have experienced the presence of God in Jesus Christ and discovered the impression He makes upon your world, you too will have seen the light! And you too will want to tell everyone you encounter about what you have now seen and experienced!
NEWS SOURCES:
https://cosmoquest.org/x/blog/2012/02/how-many-craters-are-on-the-moon/;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_craters_on_the_Moon;
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/01/meteor-hit-the-moon-during-blood-moon-eclipse-heres-what-we-know/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/john/1.htm.