Some people think that God and science are not compatible. They believe that one must exclude the other. Even scientists, within their own community, discourage the belief in God. However, true science, the study of science according to the scientific method, will never contradict Scripture, except, perhaps where supernatural events take place. The supernatural overrides time and space laws, because it exists outside the natural realm.
One of my favorite things is to find precious scientific knowledge in Scripture that pre-dates the secular scientific discoveries that have been made throughout history.
Here are a few:
"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 lie a tent to dwell in."
Isa. 40:22
"Thick clouds cover Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks above the circle of heaven."
Job 22:14
"When He prepared the heavens, I [wisdom] was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep."
Prov. 8:27
In the above verses, we see that scripture from thousands of years ago, contained evidence that the earth was round. But not only do they state that the earth is round, but that the heavens are circular as well. This could not be known to man from a position on earth. It is not possible to see the curvature of the earth from the earth, although some say it can be seen at the top of Mt. Everest. Pilots testify that they cannot see any curvature of the horizon until they have reached 40,000-60,000 feet. Most say it is closer to the 60,000 feet level. So the knowledge revealed in the above verses could not possibly have been known to man thousands of years ago.
As far as the heavens being curved, it was not until the early 20th century that Einstein and Minkowski theorized that space is curved by the masses of the bodies held within it. It is a very recent theory that the complete universe might have a circular or oval shape.
"Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were uncovered..."
2 Sam 22:16
"Have you entered the springs of the sea?
Or have you walked in search of the depths?"
Job 38:16
"The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the foundations of the mountains;..."
Jonah 2:5-6
These verses reveal to us that there are springs and valleys, or trenches, in the oceans. There are mountains under the seas. Man used to believe that ocean bottoms were relatively flat and made of sand. The Atlantic Ocean alone contains a mountain range 10,000 miles long. And it has only been in recent history that man has been able to explore the bottoms of the oceans to discover springs and valleys. Oceans springs were discovered in 1977 off the coast of Ecuador by Lewis Thomas.
"The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea
that pass through the paths of the seas."
Psalm 8:8
"He hath compassed the waters with bounds,
until the day and night come to an end."
Job 26:10
The paths of the seas were discovered as ocean currents by Matthew Maury of the U.S. Navy in the 1800's. His nickname is "The Pathfinder of the Seas". Because of his discovery of ocean currents, he is considered the father of modern navigation.
The second scripture refers to ocean tides. The tides are created by the gravitational pull of both the sun and moon (day and night). Would King David, who wrote the Psalm, and lived 3,000 years ago, have known that in his time? I do not think that what he revealed while being inspired by the Holy Spirit, could have come from man's natural knowledge at the time.
"For He draws up drops of water,
which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down
and pour abundantly on man."
Job 36:27-28
"All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come, there they return."
Eccl. 1:7
These verses describe the Water Cycle, or Hydrological Cycle, perfectly. The water cycle was not theorized until the 1700's, although these books of scripture are thousands of years old.
"To Eber were born two sons:
the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided;..."
Gen. 10:25
A very unusual event was documented here at the birth of Peleg. The Hebrew meaning of his name is "division, to split, to cleave". The event described above is the splitting of the earth. The theory of the existence of a supercontinent (Pangea), which split into smaller land masses that began to drift apart from one another is called the Theory of Continental Drift. It is attributed to Alfred Wegener, in 1927. However, the occurrence was noted at least 4,000 years ago by the Book of Genesis.
"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion?
Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
Or can you guide Arcturus with its cubs?"
Job 38:31-32
Regarding the Pleiades, the scripture above refers to them being in a bind. Modern astronomy has found that the Pleiades are indeed "bound together". They consist of 250 suns in a group of common motion and direction according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
While to the eye it seems that the stars that make up the belt of Orion are fixed in position together, the scripture above says that they are loosed. We now know that the three stars are actually traveling in different directions at different speeds and each in its own course. Because of this, in time they will no longer bee seen as a straight line. They will indeed be "loosed" from that straight formation.
Why would it be difficult to "guide" Arcturus, as the LORD questions Job? We now know that Arcturus is one of the greatest stars in the universe and is also called a "runaway" star. because it is traveling at 257 miles/sec. Our sun only travels at 12 1/2 miles/sec. These facts were discovered by Charles Burkhalter at the Chabot Observatory. He died in 1923.
"He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing."
Job 26:7
In ancient times, as when the Book of Job was written, man believed that the earth was carried on the back of a turtle. Some cultures believed that the earth rested on an elephant or a man. The Greeks believed Atlas supported the earth. But scripture from thousands of years ago tells us that nothing holds or supports the earth. There is no possible way a human could have had that knowledge in that time.
'Then God said, "Let there be light; and there was light."
Gen. 1:3
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."
John 1:4
"Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him all you stars of light!"
One of the first acts of God in Genesis, was the creation of light. We know now that light or energy is the basis of all substance. Albert Einstein built his Theory of General Relativity
(E=mc 2) on this principle. Matter will be converted to energy when traveling at the speed of light squared. The earliest mention of this kind of knowledge is by Socrates (469-399 BC), who taught that the universe is made up of energy which existed before man and other material things. The book of Genesis predates Socrates by well over one thousand years.
The scriptures teach us that God created the sun, moon, and stars. Ancient people believed these bodies were gods, and they both feared and worshipped these heavenly bodies. But here, in the Psalm above, the LORD tells us that the stars are made of light. Genesis tells us that the bodies were given for light, and for the creation of seasons here on earth. These things were not to be feared nor worshipped by man.
Perhaps one of the most interesting scientific revelations in scripture deals with man's or, more accurately, woman's beginnings. It must be mentioned in a study like this because it is so fascinating:
"And Adam called his wife's name "Eve", because she was the mother of all living."
Gen. 3:20
Many people discount the truth of the "Adam and Eve" Biblical account because they find it too far-fetched. Amazingly, though, they must consider the fact that recent scientific discoveries have pointed to an "Eve" beginning for all females residing on earth today. This comes from the discovery of a genetic substance called Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in 1967. Mitochondrial DNA is a very small genetic tracing found, not in the nucleus of the human cell, but in another organelle of the cell, called the mitochondria. This type of DNA is inherited solely from the mother, and is passed in its pure form in a direct unbroken female line. Therefore, all women can trace their mtDNA to a genetic "Eve", as Adam said "The mother of all living". We may never find Eve's physical body, but all females carry her physical body in them, and will pass her down to all future female generations.
One of the most recent amazing discoveries made by science is that there is a huge amount of water beneath the earth. This body of water is so large, they estimate that it is even larger than the total water content of the oceans on the surface of the earth. The Bible contains verses that allude to this massive deep:
"By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath..." Gen. 49:25
and
"And of Joseph he said:
Blessed of the LORD is his land,
With the precious things of
heaven with the dew,
And the deep lying beneath..." Deut. 33:13
Though this is a most recent discovery of man, our Father, the Creator, told us about this mysterious "deep that lies beneath" thousands of years previously.
These are just some of the scientific facts found in scripture that were documented well before man "discovered" the knowledge for themselves.
God is not excluded from science. God created science.
Our Father IS science.
"My Redeemer Lives"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC6RXAJpPjo
"We Will Glorify"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4skT9ndv6ng
"The Universe-The Beauty of Creation"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJCNiyzfr4I
"The Ocean Beneath the Earth" Article (WashingtonPost.com)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/16/study-deep-beneath-north-america-theres-more-water-than-in-all-the-oceans-combined/
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