4. THE SUN (THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS)

 Dear friends in Christ,

We clearly know that the ‘sun’ is a great miracle in the wonderful creation that God has made. The reason I chose the topic of ‘sun’ is that a lot of things about the sun came into the light when I was meditating on the past topic of ‘light’. So I wanted to write a separate article about this.

Going into the matter further, when we think of the sun all we remember is sweating and extreme heat. But if we go a little closer to the sun and learn about the conditions there, there are a lot of creepy things that will appear. Let's learn a few things about the 'Solar System'.

Formation & evolution

1. Many scientists think the sun and the rest of the solar system formed from a giant, rotating cloud of gas and dust known as the solar nebula.

2. The sun lies at the heart of the solar system, where it is by far the largest object. It holds 99.8 percent of the solar system's mass and is roughly 109 times the diameter of the Earth. Another surprising thing is, -  about one million Earths could fit inside the sun. Isn't it so big!

3. The sun and its atmosphere are divided into many zones and layers. The solar interior, from the inside, is made up of the core, the radiative zone, and the convection zone. The solar atmosphere above it consists of the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona. The gas coming out of the corona is much hotter than solar air.

4. The transition region, then a few hundred to a few thousand miles thick, is heated by the corona above it and emits its light as ultraviolet rays. At the top is the super-hot corona, which typically ranges from 900,000 F (500,000 C) to 10.8 million F (6 million C), and even reaches tens of millions of degrees when a solar flare occurs.

5. Many believed that the sun revolved around the earth in ancient cultures, and the ancient Greek scholar Ptolemy described this "geographical" pattern in 150 B.C. Later in 1543 A.D, Nicholas Copernicus described the sun-centered model of the solar system, and when Galileo Galilei's discovery of Jupiter's moons revealed that not all heavenly bodies circled the Earth.

6. To learn more about how the Sun and other stars work, after initial observations using rockets, scientists study the Sun from Earth orbit. Between 1962 and 1971 NASA launched eight orbiting observatories called the Orbiting Solar Observatory. Seven of them were successful and analyzed the sun at ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths as well as photographed the super-hot corona.

Isn’t it so amazing  to hear about the sun! The fireball was strangely large, larger than we could have imagined if we looked at the photographs taken a little closer.

• And how did that sphere of fire originate?

Answer - With a single word from God our Father... Awesome! What a great God we have. "This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: Jeremiah 31:35."

And let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. Genesis 1:14-16".

• In whose possession is this blazing sun?

Jehovah God is the Creator of all things "He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.  "Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens, God has pitched a tent for the sun." Psalm 19:4, 

The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. Psalms 74:16".

Even the sun, blazing like a fiery sphere in the sky, recognizes and obeys the Creator. Let us see from the Scriptures some evidence of how much he obeyed.

Sun you Stand Still ......

No man can stand before you all the days of your life...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:5-9", Joshua, who received these promises, believed in God and realized his power, and he prayed to the Lord and spoke to the sun while the Israelites were at war with the Amorites. 

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

"The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!" Joshua 10:12-14."

Even such a terrible sun,  when his Creator commanded to obey the voice of my servant Joshua,  immediately  the Sun obeyed His word and stay in Gibeah for a whole day.

It seems that many people who do not believe in this matter have come to a conclusion after much research.

Baltimore, President of the Curtis Engine Company, and Harold Hill explained that NASA's recent discoveries in an aerospace program confirmed that all such events in the Bible are TRUE.

Cambridge researchers:  They found that the date of the biblical event of Joshua stopping the sun is October 30, 1207 B.C. and that the date of the oldest recorded eclipse to date is exactly 3,224 years ago. So Joshua asked the Lord to keep the sun still! That's true! The sun and moon stood still and were careful not to pass the day. Searching on computers again on this subject came to the conclusion that this was a real event. But when they went back to the time it was written and observe that the time spent on that day was 23 hours and 20 minutes - not a full day, as Joshua's incident is written 'approximately' in the Bible.

Sun you go back ...

When Hezekiah The King of Judah became terminally ill, he wept and prayed before God when the prophet Isaiah spoke the word of God that you would die. Immediately God accepted his prayer, healed him, and extended him to another 15 years of age. Hezekiah was also blessed with a sign to say that his word would surely be fulfilled.

“This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps? It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.” II Kings 20:1-11"  And the Lord brought the shadow back ten degrees! Ten degrees in the sun means exactly 40 minutes on our clock! 23 hours 20 minutes in Joshua and 40 minutes in 2 Kings completes a day missing in the universe.

If you do not pay much attention to those 40 minutes, it will lead to a difference of 1000 years. Also, the orbital statistics vary a lot, so the researchers concluded that those forty minutes had to be researched based on the Bible.

When comparing this event to the story of Joshua, note that the 40 minutes missed there were near Hezekiah: on the whole one day was completely missing; That is, 23 hours and 20 minutes during Joshua and 40 minutes during Hezekiah. Have you seen the Perfection of the Holy God?

Note that I am giving links at the bottom for more information about the researchers' studies on these two events.

Have you seen how greatly the sun obeys the word of God? But if we open our spiritual eyes, we can see another Sun. The sun shining in the sky is useful for our physical life but it is temporary. But the Father sent us another sun to rise on those who fear Him. That sun is the sun of righteousness who died for our sins and raised again from the death who lights up our souls is our Lord Jesus Christ.

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Malachi 4:2."

The sun visible in the sky lasts only a lifetime. The Word of God says that in a short time the darkness will disappear. The sun of righteousness that shines in our lives will never set, and He will be the eternal light.

"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; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Isaiah 60:19-20."

Moreover, Jesus says that those who shine in His light are like the sun that shines in heaven. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. Matthew 13:43."

After considering all this, if the sun itself is a Visible miracle to our eyes, it is our responsibility to continue our salvation in faith by discovering the unseen great miracle to come.

 "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp." ... Revelation 21:23." 

"There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation  22:5."

What a great promise we have given dear friends! In this world the sun, light, air, water and finally our life ... Since we know for sure that nothing is eternal, let us entrust this short life given to us as a gift to the Lord. We are going to fight the fight of faith and live with Him in the kingdom of God after death in the presence of the Almighty for ages to come.

I'm closing. Let's Rejoice in the Lord.

Fill your mind with his words and go out once and see the sky open. Never seen before! The mind is filled with joy. Felt like His glowing face. 

For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?

Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?

    You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.

 He will not let your foot slip—

    he who watches over you will not slumber;

Below are the references about the 'Sun' from the Bible.

1. Genesis -  1:14-16 

2. Joshua - 10:12,13, 14

3. Job        -  9:7

4. Psalms            -  19:4,5,6; 74:16; 84:11; 104:19; 136:8;

5. Isaiah      -38:8; 49:10; 60:19,20

6. Jeremih      - 8:2; 31:35

7. Joel         - 2:31; 3:15

8. Amos          - 8:9

9. Habakkuk       - 3:11

10. Malachi              - 4:2

11. Matthew             - 5:45; 13:43; 24:29

12. Revelation              - 1:16; 6:12; 7:16, 8:12; 9:2; 10:1; 16:8; 19:17; 21:23; 22:5. 

Details of research on Joshua and Hezekiah.

https://www.solbu.net/english/did-nasa-really-prove-the-bible-accounts-of-joshua-and-hezekiah-that-a-day-is-missing.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah