21
The faithful witness
On July 20 1969,
I was one of an estimated 650 million people who watched mankind's first footstep on the moon.
"One small step for man.
One giant leap for mankind"
said the astronaut Neil Armstrong.
From our perspective in a fractured world over fifty years later, it is difficult not to be somewhat sceptical. A giant leap towards what? What of the massive dilemmas that face our world today?
But let's focus our attention, not on mankind's achievements or otherwise, but on the moon itself.
Polish your glasses if you need them and step outside into the night. There it is, our constant but ever-changing companion, the "Queen of the Night", the subject of a myriad folk tales, romances and superstitions, the unfaltering measure of our days on earth – close enough for us to distinguish some of the features of its surface with our naked eye, close enough for us to leave our footprints in its dust.
"The faithful witness in the sky" Psalm 89.37
is how the Old Testament poet described it.
What did he mean? To what does the moon witness?
Witness for the defence or the prosecution?
Here are a few of the things that characterise our moon. I have not included the various theories about how the moon began – the points outlined here are not theories, but observable and measurable facts. Taken together, do they have something important to tell us?
bodrumsurf /istock
1. Only one moon
Our solar system has 8 planets and 5 dwarf planets and literally hundreds of moons. The totals vary according to the criteria used: Nasa's latest total is 891. Many of them are barely big enough to qualify as moons, and lack sufficient gravitational pull to affect their host planet. The planets Mercury and Venus have no moon at all, Jupiter, the largest, has 289 and Saturn has 146.
Our earth is unique in having just one moon, and that's important.
2. The moon is big
Our moon is more than a quarter the size of the earth (27%), much bigger in relation to its host planet than any other moon in the solar system. As a result, the mass of the moon and its gravity are a very important influence on the earth (see below).
3. The moon is a stabiliser
If you imagine the earth's orbit around the sun as a large flat plate, with the earth as a spinning top travelling round the outside edge of the plate, the earth (the top) is not upright – its axis is leaning over at an angle of 23.5 degrees to the plate. This lean is what causes our seasons over the course of a year. This is the essential foundation for the repeating cycle of birth and growth, decay, death and rebirth that sustains all life on this planet (for a full explanation see HERE). Unlike the spinning top, the earth continues to revolve at the same angle without change. The moon has a vitally important role in maintaining this position.
"In 1993 French mathematicians Jacques Laskar and Philippe Robutel showed that Earth’s large moon has a stabilising effect on our planet’s climate. Without the moon, gravitational perturbations from other planets, notably nearby Venus and massive Jupiter, would greatly disturb Earth’s axial tilt, with vast consequences for the planet’s climate. The steadily orbiting moon’s gravitational tug counteracts these disturbances, and Earth’s axial tilt never veers too far from the current value of 23.5 degrees." (science.org)
So, without the moon to stabilise its tilt, earth would be uninhabitable, due to extreme variations in climate with the seasons.
" The moon's formation and ongoing influence underscore its importance not only as a celestial body but also as a vital component in the intricate balance that supports life on Earth, making our planet uniquely habitable within the solar system."(ebsco.com)
4. The tides
The earth's oceans, being fluid, are able to respond to the pull of the moon independently of the mass of the earth itself. This creates the phenomena of tides which rise and fall twice a day in any given location. The tides distribute heat around the globe through ocean currents and help distribute nutrients important for marine life.
The moon spins on its axis once each time it orbits the earth. This means it always presents the same face to us on earth – we never see "the dark side of the moon". This is described as 'tidal locking'.
jakkapan 21/istock
5. Moonlight
The surface of the moon is covered with a greyish dust which acts as an efficient reflector for the light of the sun. I am sure you have experienced the brilliant light of a full moon, a dazzling but friendly searchlight in the night sky. 'Fair as the moon, bright as the sun' wrote King Solomon (Song 6:10).
Moonlight is essential to the hunting and navigation of the huge nocturnal element of earth's population. It may also have an active role to play in plant growth and flourishing, though here we enter an area where tradition and superstition have yet to be tested by recent science.
So earth and moon remain
'locked together in their endless circling, gravitational embrace' (Nasa).
What does it all mean, if it means anything at all?
Look back at GALLERY 6, the Goldilocks planet (see HERE).
Different evidence, but the same overall picture – either just another series of the astounding coincidences demanded by the whole of the materialist evolutionary story, or all the characteristics of design, a whole series of phenomena finely tuned by their creator to promote life on our tiny jewel of a planet.
You are the judge. You decide.
Picture: a mechanical model of the solar system, known as an 'orery', designed to reproduce some of the movements of planets and their moons. A lamp has been placed in the position of the sun. Painting by Joseph Wright of Derby 1734–1797. wikipedia
wikipedia
THIS IS THEIR VERDICT:
Sir Isaac Newton:
"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being". (See Quotes HERE)
King David, who as a young shepherd must have spent many hours under the night sky, recognised the Creator's handiwork:
"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
What is mankind.... ?" Psalm 8:3
Isaiah, the great Old Testament prophet who looked forward to the coming of the Christ and his Kingdom, told his people:
"The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;" Isaiah 60:19,20
JESUS, with a strikingly similar picture of this City of God, a symbol of the astounding future that God has promised:
"The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light...
The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it." Revelation 21:23, 24
Now that really will be a giant leap for mankind!