When God created the moon, He described it as the ruler of the night in Genesis 1:16. Indeed, its light during a good part of its monthly cycle dominates the night sky. He also created the stars, but their light is overshadowed by the moonlight when the moon is high. Our eyes instantly adapt to the bright moonlight. Even if optics are used, the sky under bright moon conditions is “washed out” and prominent galaxies, like M77 are hard to see. Having observed M77 under both bright moon and no moon conditions, I began to consider the effects of separation from God on our ability to see things right on important issues of the soul. Like heavy moon light blinds the eyes, separation from God produces a blindness of heart. I become unable to see correctly or just miss things or become insensitive when overwhelmed with the wrong things. Before we continue, let’s look at the real effects of moon “blindness” on M77:
If the moon is near M77, a small telescope cannot see the object. With astro-video tools added to a medium scope (a 12.5 inch diameter mirror to collect light in this case), I was able to sketch the upper left detail while the moon was less than 25 degrees away. Normally, this would be terrible conditions to observe. I could barely see the arms–even with a sensitive astro-video camera–and had to study the output monitor carefully. With an eyepiece alone, I could only see a smudge in the sky. Just a few weeks later under reasonably good conditions, the right hand sketch shows much better definition of the arms and even some color. The extent of the galaxy is much more obvious.
One of those famous beatitudes in Matthew speaks directly on the subject of this parable by saying that the pure in heart see God. Conversely, sin and impure hearts have trouble seeing God. The more the impurity, the less we can see. In short, sin blinds us. In other scriptures Jesus explains to Nicodemus that without being born again by God, the Kingdom of God cannot be seen…at all. It’s comparable to the moon lighted sky, where most the heavens simply cannot be seen.
There is a Remedy: Jesus Christ is able to regenerate the soul. Good works won’t do it; practicing noble habits won’t do it; being religious about things won’t do it. A rebirth is necessary to break the blindness. But once broken, the heart can begin to see and begin to be refreshed in a spiritual way.
If you care to check the scriptures on this, I recommend the conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, the beatitudes in Matthew, and Jesus’ references to blindness in his teachings. If you have a further question or want to talk about it, please contact us.
