The Bible Taught us a lot about Astronomy

I’ve been studying the ties to astronomy, science and the Bible for the last couple of years. I would like to share a couple of examples where the Bible actually taught us many things before scientist discovered them. 

For instance: 

1. The Bible suggested the Earth was round in Isaiah 40:22 which states “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.” 

Then there is Job 26:10 which states “He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, 
At the boundary of light and darkness.” 

2. The Bible indicates that the Earth exists in space in Job 26:7 which states“He stretches out the north over empty space; 
He hangs the earth on nothing.” 

3. Biblical scripture also indicates that the universe is expanding in Isaiah 40:22 which says ”It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, 
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” 
Astronomers today believe the universe is expanding. 

4. The Bible also touches on a controversial subject in science now in whether or not something can be created by nothing. The Bible says that nothing will cease to exist. (Hebrews 1:3) and by Him all things consist (Colossians 1:17). So you can interpret that as neither matter nor energy will cease to exist, because God is sustaining them, and since nothing new will come into existence, we might can conclude that the amount of material in the universe is constant. 

5. God teaches us that the stars in heaven are countless. Genesis 22:17 ” blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.”
Also in Genesis 32:12 ”For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” 

And in Deuteronomy 1:10 & 10:22. ”The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.” 
“Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.” 

I believe science and the Bible go hand in hand. We will one day learn that many things we have learned and discovered were already given to us in the Bible. Just something to ponder on. I have a great respect for science and I believe science is in no way the enemy of the Bible or vice versa. 

Dr. Dr. Jason Lisle writes: 

Astronomy confirms the Bible 
Galaxy Centaurus A 
Galaxy Centaurus A (Image taken from the Hubble Space Telescope) 

“Today, the reliability of the Bible is being increasingly attacked. Can we really trust the Bible in our modern age of technology and science? As we have seen, science is not an enemy of the Bible. On the contrary, modern science has been able to confirm much of what the Bible teaches about astronomy. Many of the biblical teachings which would have been difficult to believe in the past (such as an expanding universe) are now accepted in science textbooks. This is an important lesson to learn. Ideas in secular science can change from time to time, but the Bible has demonstrated itself to be consistently true without the need for change. 

Although much of secular astronomy has come to line up with the Bible, there are still a number of differences. What are we to do when the current consensus among scientists is at odds with the teachings of Scripture? Have we learned the lesson of history? Are we going to reject (or modify our “interpretation” of) the straightforward teachings of Scripture in light of the latest secular scientific claims? Or shall we trust that the Bible will prevail again as it always has in the past? 

It may help to remember that our modern age is just another point in history. Future generations (should the Lord delay His return) will no doubt look back at our time as we look back to cultures of the past. Will students in some future classroom look back with amusement at some of the “scientific” beliefs and misunderstandings of our time, the same way we smile at the scientific mistakes of ancient cultures? Will they learn about the “Great Folly”—the nearly universal belief in the big bang and molecules-to-man evolution which reigned during the 20th and early 21st centuries? Perhaps future Christians will wonder at the rampant compromise so prevalent in our time: Why did Christians of the past compromise with the secular ideas of the big bang and billions of years? 

In the next chapters, we will explore points of disagreement between the straightforward teachings of the Bible and the current opinions of the majority of astronomers. If the Bible really is the Word of God, as it claims to be, then it cannot fail. Inevitably, the secular opinion will collapse, and the Bible will again be vindicated in each of these points of disagreement.”

“Of course, many of the laws of nature can be derived mathematically from other laws. For example, Kepler’s laws of planetary motion can be derived from Newton’s laws of gravity and motion (classical physics). And (it is thought that) the reason gravity works the way it does is because mass “curves spacetime.” Essentially, space and time are treated as a “fabric” which is distorted by the presence of mass; the mass curves spacetime, and then spacetime tells the mass how to move. Many laws of nature depend on other laws which depend on still others, and so on. Ultimately, there must be a foundational set of principles which exist for no other reason than that God has so decreed. Ultimately, the fundamental laws of nature require a law-giver.”

There are other scriptures that would back up this argument. 

Gen 1:7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.

It actually uses the word firmament which is defined as ” a sphere or world” in one of two definitions. 

Genesis 1:7 (ASV) And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 

A sphere (from Greek σφαῖρα — sphaira, “globe, ball”) is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space that is the surface of a completely round ball