It is mind-boggling to consider that the universe is still expanding after 16 billion years.  What is it expanding into?  And there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the earth. We are talking gi-nourmous size, distance, and time measurements.

On a much smaller but still staggering scale it is astounding to see God’s design in the relative locations of the earth, moon, and sun.  The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, and it is 400 times further away from the earth.  This makes them look the same size in the sky even though the sun is much bigger.  AND it allows for a total solar eclipse.

Einstein’s theory of relativity included a prediction that the gravity of an object can bend light (and space).  The problem of proving the theory was that the results of the bending were too small to measure on earth.  Early last century scientists used a total solar eclipse to prove that the sun’s gravity bent the light coming from a distant star.  Imagine the grand scale of this experiment.  They knew the exact position where certain stars should be at a particular time.  When the sun was eclipsed by the moon, the light from the further star could be seen; it was observed to be where Einstein said it would be, not where the scientists agreed it should be.

The moon is moving slowly away from the earth, affecting the distance/size ration needed for a total solar eclipse.  Don’t worry; total eclipses won’t stop for 500 million years or so.  But it is significant that 100 years ago, when scientists needed one, a total solar eclipse was available.  Without God as the grand designer, the odds against men on earth being able to detect (bent) light from a far-away star because the moon could completely block the sun’s rays… are astronomical.