HALE-BOPP

The Hale-Bopp comet has certainly been a hot topic of late. Its relative proximity to the earth and ease of viewing has made it something just about everyone from astronomers to school children seem to be talking about. And talk they do, with various theories abounding over its origin and what it can tell us about the universe.

In view of the fervor over Hale-Bopp, I am reminded of what the Lord said to Israel through Jeremiah regarding the heathen and the signs of heaven.

“Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.” (Jeremiah 10:1-2)

Heathen-science of today is really no better off. Dismay, along with confusion and uncertainty, is still the status-quo, though this is not readily admitted. The time, however, is coming when dismay will be replaced by distress and abject fear. This present dispensation of God’s grace is holding back the Lord’s day of wrath. Yet, when it comes, the “signs of heaven” will be anything but curiosities. They will strike terror into the hearts of men, just as the Lord forewarned.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26)

In light of what will yet happen to the heavens and earth in the Lord’s day, it is instructive to note that they have already received one cataclysmic judgment from God. The judgment of the flood, though affecting primarily the earth, also affected the heavens as well. The “windows of heaven” were opened in connection with that judgment and were a source of the waters that overflowed the earth. The presence of water in the heavens, especially in the form of comets like Hale-Bopp, has always been a puzzle. However, maybe in light of what took place at the time of the flood, it really shouldn’t be.

– K.R. Blades

1997Q2B