in Episode 4 of In Times Like These, "How Foolish Are the Wise", I referred to the seeming inability of the modern world to accept the idea of a Creator God. This, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary.
The recent launching of the Webb telescope and the photos it began sending back were met with expressions of awe, and rightly so. But as I pointed out in a Bible study at church, everyone was more in awe of the telescope and the technological feat it represented for mankind than for the marvels revealed in the far-distant universe.
History repeated
It reminded me of the attitude adopted by mankind after the Flood when they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:4
The LORD's response in verse 6-7 was, "If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another's speech." That was the first Babylon, but the Book of the Revelation speaks about the rise of Mystery Babylon the Great, in which mankind is united under the power of one man, the Antichrist. This is the great empire united against God that Jesus will destroy at His coming.
The reaction of the "astrophysically befuddled"
That was the way Joel Achenbach, the staff writer for science and politics of the Washington Post, described himself in this article, "The Webb telescope is astonishing. But the universe is even more so." I include the link here for those who would appreciate reading about the predicament scientists have gotten themselves into. They have so much more to deny now that the Webb telescope has penetrated farther into the universe than they ever imagined.
It's OK to be "astrophysically befuddled." That's what God intended for us to be in the presence of His power and glory. The problem is that mankind does not accordingly fall spiritually prostrate before God and His undeniable majesty. The title of Achenbach's article is not complete, in my opinion. My suggestion: "The Webb telescope is astonishing. But the universe is even more so. And the One who created it is infinitely awe-inspiring."
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