The Lord of The Rings

Have you seen any of the spectacular photos that the

Cassini-Huygens probe on its mission to the planet Saturn and one of its moons, Titan, has sent back to Earth, across two billion miles (3.5 billion kilometers) of deep space? The probe was launched in 1997, finally arriving in Saturn’s neighborhood in 2005. It's mission ended in 2017, with a fiery plunge into  the planet's atmosphere, sending science data for as long as its small thrusters could keep the spacecraft's antenna pointed at Earth. Soon after, Cassini burned up and disintegrated like a meteor.

The stunningly beautiful images have excited, and mystified astronomers and scientists alike. The leading scientist of the project had this to say about the first photo. “It was beyond description, it was mind blowing, it was every adjective you could think of.”

As part of its four year voyage around the giant gas planet, a journey planned to “go where no one has gone before”. Cassini has flown very close to some of the outer rings and discovered that they pulsate, like waves upon a beach.  

Much to the surprise of “mission control” the outer rings appeared to almost completely composed of ice, with large quantities of suspended “dirt”, and much more oxygen than expected. 

Cassini has also dropped a probe onto Titan, one of Saturn's moons, studied not only Saturn's awe-inspiring rings, but also its atmosphere, moons and the magnetic shield that surrounds it.

 Like the awe-inspiring images that the Hubble Space Telescope sent  home to NASA, these images from deep space confirm the words that King David wrote more than 3,000 years ago. 

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3

We have become so accustomed to seeing the beauty from countless light-years beyond our little blue home, positioned far out on the edge of one small galaxy, that we are in danger of forgetting what these images represent. For thousands of years mankind’s view of the universe was limited to the half-million or so stars visible to the naked eye. 

A few hundred years ago that view expanded with the invention of the telescope, but it was not until the Russians launched the very first satellite in 1957 that space exploration was little more than

Galilei Galileo demonstrates his telescope

science-fiction. To put that into some sort of perspective, Elvis began his recording career four years before that!

There is a far greater possibility than what we are seeing just being a giant leap into the unknown… it may well be the literal fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. That often overlooked Prophet, Joel wrote these words long ago.

Hubble Space Telescope Eagle-Nebula photograph. "Pillars of Creation" 

And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.  And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. Joel 2:28-30

Those few verses are so important that they are repeated verbatim in Acts 2: 17 onwards. The signs and wonders that Joel talked about were (are) to happen before the return of the Lord to this old sin-soaked planet. Now I don’t what you think, but I am sure that a probe launched from earth almost 20 years ago, flying just above the rings of Saturn constitutes a wonder! The photos that came back each time Cassini phoned home are at the very least a technological miracle.

Millions of Christians are convinced that we are living in the age just prior to Jesus’ second coming… and we are told to look for wonders in the heavens at least twice in the Bible as an indicator of the nearness of that event.… well I for one think that we are seeing some of those wonders!

The unparalleled beauty and mind-numbing immensity of deep space, revealed to us by probes such as Cassini, the sub-space telescopes, Hubble and Spitzer, echo the words of Ezra, recorded so long ago in the book of Chronicles. 

But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him? 
2 Chronicles 2:6-7 

Without a doubt our God is truly The Lord of The Rings!  

 From God's Word. 

Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26