Monday, December 6, 2021

The Heavens Declare thru Virgo

What do you see when you look up into the night sky? Years ago, I stood on the edge of a mountain in Utah. The sky was literally filled with stars as thick as white dust. We don’t see the heavens like that around here because of Light Pollution. The lights around us filter out the brightness of the stars. But go out west, into the desert or mountains or travel across the oceans and you’ll see a sky full of stars. Someone calculated the number of stars at 7 sextillion.  Or 7 with 21 zeros.

From earliest times, before electric lights stole away our view, the people spent much more time looking at the heavens than we do. They watched the stars, connected the dots of light and drew figures in the sky. And from those figures created stories to fill their imaginations, and a celestial world came alive.

I can’t do that. I’m good if I can find the Big and Little Dippers and maybe the three stars of Orion’s Belt. Beyond that it’s just a bunch of random, bright dots in the sky.

Yet, in all the thousands of years of human observation, there is a consistency in the images men have seen. And not only of the images but in the names given to the stars for common meanings. From vantage points all over the known world came a similar storyline for each constellation.

And from the earliest documentation, those names and storylines remain pretty much the same until the Greeks began to create their own stories. Giving rise to a mythology that overwrote the intended message God had written in the heavens. Their stories became like Light Pollution to block out the original message, another attempt by Satan to distort the intentions of God giving insight into His plans.

The early observers saw 12 primary constellations, each surrounded by three sub-constellations called Decans that with the primary constellation, made up a themed story. Each constellation takes its turn for a month each year along with its Decans to take centerstage and tell its story.

But unlike the secular zodiac, which runs from Aries to Pisces, the first sign in the prophetic version begins with Virgo and ends with Leo. As we’ll see, these mark the story of Jesus, first coming as Messiah and finally will come as Lion. A child born to a virgin who was the Lion King.

Now it’s easy to read backwards and make things we currently know apply to what we don’t understand in the past. We take our understanding of the NT and read that understanding back into the OT. We use the OT to better understand things in the New. It’s also how prophecy works. Prophecy predicts future events so that when they happen or after they’ve happened, people can go back to the original and see the message of how what was to happen connects with what did happen.

But, this is not a study to force our understanding back onto the early observers’ portrayal of the constellations. We’re using their understanding to see how God wrote His message, so that: Ps 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 

From the perspective of the message God placed in the stars, we begin with Virgo.

Almost all cultures refer to this constellation as The Virgin. What’s also interesting is that almost all cultures see her, a virgin, associated with motherhood. As we know, the two don’t go together. By virtue of one the other is lost. However, on one altar found in ancient, pre-Christian Germany was the dedication to The Virgin Who is to Bring Forth.”

The Greek name for Virgo is Parthenos. The famous remains of a temple in Athens is named the Parthenon and means The Temple of the Virgin Goddess. Of course, this temple was created for the pagan cult worship of Athena. But the image of her being a virgin remains the same.

Long before the Greeks, the early Egyptians connected a few more stars and expanded the image they saw to have Virgo holding an infant they named Horus. The name Horus meant He Who Comes Forth. The Babylonians called Virgo the Great Mother. The Assyrian name means She Who Brings forth.

But in each reference, the emphasis is clearly on her offspring and not herself. Although the sign clearly portrays a virgin, the central message of Virgo is not about the woman, it is about her son. Who He is is described later.

Of the stars that collect to make up the constellation: Spica, one of the brightest stars, means head of grain. The original Hebrew name for this star was Zerah which meant The Seed.

The same word is used in: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." 

Virgo shows us a virgin who is to bear a Child. As a virgin bearing a child, this means the conception of that child must be miraculous. Which, as we know, her Seed (which doesn’t come from women but men) refers to a virgin birth. This takes divine intervention, which will make this child the Son of God.

Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; 35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 

The picture of the Virgin has her holding a tree branch in her right hand. It’s pointed up which indicates receiving. In her left hand is a sheaf of wheat pointed down. This indicates giving or passing along. The branch and the seed will come together in her.   

The Hebrew word for Branch is used four times in Scripture and each time refers to the Messiah.

Isa 4:2  In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious,

Jer 23:5  "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.' 

Zec 3:8  'Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch

Isa 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 

The seed brought forth by the Virgin will be the Messiah.

Interesting side story: when Isaiah told King Ahaz his reign would be established, he told Ahaz to ask God for a sign to prove this was true. Ahaz felt that would be tempting God so he refused. Isaiah said: Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 

Why would he refer to this sign? To remind Ahaz that the God who establishes His promises, even in the Heavens, is faithful to deliver them. And He will be faithful to Ahaz.

Another star by various names within Virgo means Who Shall Come Down or Who Shall Have Dominion. In Chaldean, this star meant The Branch Shall Come Down. The name the Greeks used meant The Deliverer Who Comes.

God designed the Constellation to tell of His future plans.

The sign Virgo presents the One who is the seed of a woman. He is to come and His coming will be as a branch from the tree of God’s purposes. He will be God with us.

Now, associated with each of the 12 Primary Constellations are groups of additional constellations that amplify or clarify the Primary one. These groups are called Decans, meaning, a part or a piece. There are 36 Decans divided into 3 per constellation to add understanding within the framework of the 12 signs.

Virgo is accompanied by one Decan named: Coma. It is another picture of the virgin but this time as a mother with the child she gave birth to standing in her lap. His head is higher than hers which symbolizes He will be greater than her.

The name Coma, is Hebrew meaning The Desired or The Longed For. It’s the same word Haggai used of the long waited-for Messiah: Hag 2:7 And I will shake all the nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, says Jehovah of Hosts. 

The Egyptians called this child standing on the virgin’s lap: the Desired Son. Or Desired Offspring. In a perversion of the original, they give the Virgin the name Isis – as their goddess of fertility which made her the goddess of life. They named the son: Horus, who was one of Egypt’s most significant deities as the god of the Kings. Even in their perversion this child was a god over-all.

From the writings of an Arabian astronomer who was not a Christian, he said: “there arises a young woman whose Persian name means pure and immaculate virgin, sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant, whose Hebrew name is called Yehoshua which we in Greek call Yeshua.” Yeshua was the name Gabriel told Mary to name Jesus. Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. The actual name is Yeshua. It’s the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua – meaning Jehovah Saves. In English we call Him Jesus.

Some think it was within this Coma that the star of Bethlehem was seen. That a new star suddenly appeared brighter than the rest. Things like that happen beyond our ability to notice, like when a star is dying it suddenly becomes much brighter then goes away or shines for years. God could have made a specific star for this announcement or had it timed with the death of a star that could have been within the Magi’s ability to see it glowing brightly. That explains how the Magi calculated Jesus would have been 2 years old when they got to Jerusalem.

Though the star remains a mystery, faith gives us the ability to believe God can make such phenomenon happen. He who made all the stars could do whatever He chose to announce the birth in the heavens.

In describing this new star, the Bishop of Antioch in 69 A.D. said: “At the appearance of the Lord, a star shone forth brighter than all the other stars.” Realize at 69 A.D. he was close enough to the original event that what he said could have been from direct knowledge passed down people who actually saw that star.

The next Decan was of a constellation called Centaurus.

This child, who was to be born of a virgin and be the desired Messiah to come, would also have two natures. He would be God and Man. Centaurus explains the dual nature.

Though in Greek mythology the centaur is not a desirable creature – he is half man, half horse – he is despised by both men and the gods. There is great symbolism here.

The Hebrew name is Bezeh. It’s the same word used by Isaiah: Isa 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

Another Hebrew name used for this same Decan was Asmeath which means Sin-Offering. Combined, it describes someone who is the Despised Sin-Offering. The rest of Isaiah 53 explains how this One will die on behalf of the sins of the world.

Interesting that the Greek story tied to Centarus has even more to say. There was a man named Chiron who was a teacher of all the great heroes of Greece. He was immortal but agreed to die. In dying, he passed on his immortality to Prometheus who then gained eternal life.

The Greek’s also saw another star within this Decan they named: The Pierced. Interesting package of insight: A perfect teacher who, though He was despised and rejected, would be pierced and died so that a man might have eternal life.

Underneath Centaurus is a collection of stars called The Southern Cross. Because it’s underneath him, it speaks of how the Centaur will die. That he will be pierced and die upon a cross, despised and rejected.

Placement within a constellation has great significance, like our statues of famous military heroes from earlier days. If they died in battle their horse is raring up. If they survived, their horse is down on all fours. If they were wounded in battle and died later, one leg is raised.

The Egyptians had a different name for Centarus: Knemu. Kne means appointed. Mu to die. The One Appointed to Die.

It’s also interesting that the Romans added the word Rex to Centaurus – Rex means king. Rex Centarus – Making this dual-natured man a King. Which, of course Pilate had engraved on the sign above Jesus’ cross – He was King of the Jews.

The third Decan is Bootes. This depicts a shepherd running, carrying a shepherd’s crook in his right hand and a sickle in his left. This is the name in Job: Arcturus which later became The Bear. The Egyptians called it The One Who Subdues, Rules and Governs. Its Hebrew meaning is He who Comes or The Coming One.

Ps 96:12  Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 before the LORD, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness. 

Another source called him The Guardian of the Flock or The Great Shepherd.

One star located in his head means Pierced: which adds to His story that He is The Shepherd who will die.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Zec 12:10  "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 

What about the sickle? It’s part of the message that remains to be fulfilled. The story isn’t over.

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. 

So, Virgo and her Decans gives us the message: The Virgin will have a child who is the longed for One to Come, who will be a King who shepherds His people, dying for them so he may give them eternal life.

We already know that. That’s the story of the Gospel. So that now, we don’t need the stars to tell us the story. We have the Word of God. The truth is revealed, the blanks filled in by Jesus.

Heb 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 

TAKEAWAYS:

  1. God wrote His message in the stars, allowing mankind to get a preview of what He planned in the future.
  2. When the time was right, God created a visual within the constellation that said the One promised had come.
  3. With insight from Daniel, the Maji knew one day this great King would be born and prompted their journey soon after the star appeared.
  4. As with Ahaz, God’s promises can be counted on because the God who promises is faithful.

 

The Heavens Declare - Intro

We’re taking a unique and fascinating journey to Bethlehem this year. As in most places in Scripture, there are parts of the story we simply read over and never stop long enough to ask important questions like: what’s going on here? Let’s ask that question in the story of the Magi.

Matt 2:1  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 

Magi were the learned class of Persia. They were within the collection of people called Wise Men. They studied all the sciences and were particularly intrigued with the stars. Because we are offended by the word Astrologers, we historically have said they were Astronomers, or star gazers. Astronomers deal with celestial objects in space and the physical universe as a whole. Astrologers look for messages and information in the alignment of the stars.

The Magi announced they had come to Jerusalem because they saw a star that indicated a great king had been born. The heavens had declared to them a message.

Now for them to make that long journey to Jerusalem, they had to have more than just a hunch-driven curiosity. They needed some conviction what they saw in the night sky was real. Because we know the rest of the story is true, what they saw had to be true. God had announced the birth of the King of kings in the heavens.

How did they make the connection? Go back a bit over 500 years and you’ll remember Daniel was one of the Wise Men of Persia. Daniel had a vision: Dan 7:13 I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. 14 And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. 

Is it possible Daniel shared his vision with the other Wise Men? Did they, from that moment on, watch the night skies for a sign?

Remember it’s the Astrologers who study the stars for signs. So, if God gave them a sign, does this give credibility to Astrology? Not in the perverted sense of the word, but yes in the orhestrated plan of God to declare His glory in the heavens.

On the fourth day of creation: Gen 1:16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 

That last statement seems like an add on. That, “Oh yeah, by the way, God made the stars, too.” But there’s much more there than just the physical creation of stars. What purpose do stars have in our night sky?

Navigators have used them forever to find their way. Locking in on the North Star, they can determine their location relative to it and know which way to go. But beyond that, other than beauty and magnificence, stars do little more than decorate the sky. Unless the God who designed them placed them in proximity to each other to tell a greater story.

Ps 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. 

David said they were silent communicators of a greater message about God and His work. That God could speak through the display of the heavens.

The word is personification giving reality and thought to the objects God uses to reveal Himself: which means God can communicate through anything within His creation. The rocks and stones can cry out, a donkey can speak, His prophets can perform miracles.

This personification plays a heavy role throughout the Bible but especially in the story of the Exodus.

Ex 8:6  So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

Ex 8:17  They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt.

Ex 9:23  Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt.

Ex 10:13  So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Ex 10:22  So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

Ex 14:21  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.

The word for stretched out is the word pervert. But before we react to such an offensive word, understand its usage in Scripture.

From one extreme, Perversion is the alteration of something from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended. We use it to describe the actions of people who take something good and make it evil, who pervert what is considered normal and make it horribly wrong.

But the word Pervert means: to bend toward or away from or to stretch out with intentions of doing something beyond the ordinary.

In the Exodus story Moses stretched out his hand to cause something to happen that was a perversion or alteration of what was normal. What happened wasn’t the expected outcome but different. It is also like bending toward or bending away from something for a positive result.

Ps 119:112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end. 

Prov 2:2  Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; 

Inclined is the word pervert. I lean toward or bend my life toward God’s intentions.

Judges 16:29 Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. 30 And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life. 

He leaned toward completing a final task in His obedience to God by destroying Philistines.

But, granted, we most often see the word used in its highly negative sense.

Deut 27:19  Cursed is he who distorts the justice

1Sam 8:3  His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. 

It then becomes a distortion against what was intended. Explained best by Hosea:

Hos 11:7  So My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call them to the One on high, none at all exalts Him. 

Following an inner desire to turn away from what they were not to turn away from, the urge to exalt God became perverted with the wrong application. As turning toward idols.

In the subject of Astrology, I’m the first to reject it as mythology and superstition. I refuse to read my horoscope. Believing my future is tied to someone’s projections is lumped within the category of Tarot cards, fortune tellers and palm readers. And if you go away saying I said believing in Astrology is Biblical, I didn’t say that.

But what if, God declared the glory of His plans within the constellations of the stars? So that: Ps 97:6 The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the peoples have seen His glory – and then somehow what He declared got perverted or distorted into something He never intended. Replaced by the imaginations of men who have rejected Him and turned to worshipping false gods.

We know Satan is the great deceiver. Matt 16:22  Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." 23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." 

His primary objective is to get people to reject God for man’s interests. To replace God with a substitute and Rom 1:23 exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 

It was the same rebuke of Jeremiah to the false prophets: Jer 23:25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, 'I had a dream, I had a dream!' 26 "How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, 27 who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? 

Who was Baal? He was the primary substitute god, a false representation that captured the hearts of and minds of the people, taking worship away from God and giving it to an idol.

Josiah, King of Judah, heard what Jeremiah had said and saw what perversion these false prophets had created within the kingdom.

2Kings 23:5  He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven. 

What God intended for good had been perverted into evil. Instead of leading men to Him their practices were taking men away from Him, as worldly Astrology also does.

2Pet 3:17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 

With no intention to make worldly Astrology an acceptable source of information and useful for instruction for today, we still need to understand how God placed His glory – the representation of His presence that reveals His magnificent plan – in the heavens.

So that, Ps 68:33 To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice. 

Back in Genesis, Gen 1:14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 

Signs mean a signal of something to come. Seasons means an appointment at a fixed time or appointing beforehand something that would come later.

Like a highway sign set up by someone who knows what’s coming. To warn or direct or give guidance in advance. The sign is set up by someone who knows more about the route than the one coming later, to help direct their journey to its proper destination.

Three priests holding signs on a dark and rainy night: Beware. Turn Back. The End is Coming.

It may seem foreign to us that the Bible specifically refers to constellations. We see them as a part of Astrology tied to Greek mythology and reject them outright. However, constellations have a history far beyond Greece. In fact, outside of the Bible, symbols of the Zodiac have been found on Babylonian boundary markers as early at 1000 B.C., in China as early as 2500 B.C. and in Egypt around 3000 B.C.

Even in the book of Job: Job 9:9 Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; 

The Bear, Orion and Pleiades are all constellations well known to the people of Job’s day. The chambers of the south are the expected constellations they had no knowledge of since they never saw that portion of the night sky.

Amo 5:8  He who made the Pleiades and Orion and changes deep darkness into morning, Who also darkens day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is His name. 

Job 38:31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion? 32 Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, and guide the Bear with her satellites? 33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth? 

The word constellation is plural, meaning all that makes up the constellations. And the word ordinances means something prescribed. God is challenging Job’s authority over the heavens which only He has to give the constellations meaning.

Remember the word season? Seasons means an appointment at a fixed time or appointing beforehand something that would come later.

Ps 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. 

When God set the stars in space, He did so with great purpose and precision. Man has since applied his own understanding – or misunderstanding – to what the position of the stars means. And because Satan has confused and perverted that understanding, he has clouded the truth of God into a mysterious unknown. Satan has performed the act of the magician to misdirect the eye to not see what he doesn’t want it to see. To do so, he stirs the minds of men to see what isn’t there and not see what is there.

It is this perversion that God has judged.

Isa 47:13 Let now the astrologers, those who prophesy by the stars, those who predict by the new moons, stand up and save you from what will come upon you. 14 Behold, they have become like stubble

False messages from false prophets who use the ignorance and gullibility of the people to get them to believe whatever they say is true.

But the constellations were designed by God to give insight into the story of redemption and though Satan distorted that message by overwriting it with a different story, the original still remains.

Since the heavens declare the glory of God, they must be doing more than giving a sparkling display of His creative power. They are telling a story. And it was the Magi from Persia who saw that story in the sky and went to Jerusalem searching for the Baby King who was born. The star in the East was real, as was the Baby King they found in Bethlehem.

And Matt 2:9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

This Christmas Season, I hope we can get perspective from the Magi to understand how the heavens declared the glory of God.

TAKEAWAYS:

  1. For a God who can write His commandments on the hearts of His people, writing a message in the heavens should not amaze us.
  2. His goal is to reveal Himself in ways mankind can understand and respond.
  3. With the whole universe as His tablet, He can use any of it to speak on His behalf as He chooses. 
  4. His glory is of such magnitude, even the infinite heavens can only give us a glimpse of how great He really is.