There is a divinely designed system and order to God's creation. God has numbered and named the stars, He has set them to reveal His marvelous plan of redemption.
Psalm 147:4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and set the stars in their courses, He affixed specific names to the stars. The very names of the stars as well as their groupings reveal aspects of God's plan of redemption.
This knowledge was given to Adam who taught the patriarchs, and in this manner it was passed on from generation to generation throughout the centuries. This information was given many centuries before any written revelation was ever given.
Today it may seem very strange to us that God's plan of redemption was recorded in the heavens long before it was written down. We are so accustomed to picking up a bible and reading all about the wonderful things that God has done, is doing and will do. But long before there was any written revelation God wrote His Word in the heavens.
NIV Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
Lets examine some of the various ways God spoke in the past.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Here we see God speaking through the scriptures.
Numbers 22:21-28 21And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. 22And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him. 23And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. 24But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. 25And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 26And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 27And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 28And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
Here we see that God chose to speak through a donkey.
Genesis 28:10-16 10And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Here we see God speaking by way of a dream.
Exodus 28:30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
Here we see the first mention of the Urim and Thummim in scripture.
Easton's Bible Dictionary1 states the following about these two objects.
The word Thummim, means perfection (LXX, "truth;" Vulg., "veritas"), What the "Urim and Thummim" were cannot be determined with any certainty. All we know is that they were a certain divinely-given means by which God imparted, through the high priest, direction and counsel to Israel when these were needed.
The method by which this was done can be only a matter of mere conjecture. They were apparently material objects, quite distinct from the breastplate, but something added to it after all the stones had been set in it, something in addition to the breastplate and its jewels. They may have been, as some suppose, two small images, which were kept in the bag of the breastplate, by which, in some unknown way, the high priest could give forth his divinely imparted decision when consulted. They were probably lost at the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. They were never seen after the return from captivity.
1 Samuel 28:6 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
Another way God spoke in the past was by way of the Urim and Thummim.
Now let's look at Psalms 19:
Psalm 19:1 1The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
In verse 1 we see that the heavens declare or rehearse the glory of God. The Hebrew implies repetition. Now the question is how?
How do the heavens declare the glory of God? Furthermore, verse two states they utter or speak to us day after day and teach us things night after night.
The word uttered in verse 2 means to constantly pour forth, to tell or prophesy. The word knowledge means intelligent information.
Look at verse 2 in the New International Version.
NIV Psalm 19:2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
Now look at the New Living Translation of verse 3.
NLT Psalm 19:3 They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies;
Psalm 19 shows us that God placed His revelation in the heavens:
The stars prophesy, they show knowledge, they tell of God's glory, and they set forth His purposes.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
We are well aware of day and night and months, years and seasons, however, the scripture declares that these lights (stars, etc) were also placed in the firmament for signs.
The word "signs" in Genesis 1:14 is of great significance. It comes from the Hebrew root avah, original meaning "to mark," and is used of marking someone or something significant to come.
To be continued…ÿ