Being a Silent Witness

#4 – All Creation is a Silent Witness

We are surrounded with innumerable silent witnesses pointing to God and showing what He is like – and yet we go about our everyday lives hardly giving them notice. The sun, moon, and stars move overhead in quiet precision to remind us of God’s infinite power and majesty. We need only open our eyes to things around us and notice that He is a very personal and caring God.

The Psalms (36:5-6; 90:2; 104:1-35; 114:4,6; 148:1-14) and Job Chapter 38 (see also Job 12:9-10) rehearse the wonders of God’s creation that remind us of His handiwork, whether in mountains, animals, insects, trees, flowers, rain or snow. They all “speak” about their Creator. We are surrounded with divinely-designed object lessons:

- Great mountains show us God’s enduring judgment and righteousness

- The lilies of the field and tiny birds demonstrate His care for the smallest details of life

- The complexity of the human body illustrates God’s purpose and marvelous workmanship

- The simple but unique, life-giving qualities of water speak of God’s sustaining care

- The unending variety of clouds in the sky are examples of His infinite wisdom

The invisible witness of creation speaks in a language that God designed especially to draw every human being who ever lived to Himself. Unregenerated mankind cannot honestly claim that God does not exist or that His hand in the world cannot be known. (Romans 1:20-21) God uses unique, and sometimes dramatic, characteristics of mountains, animals, trees, flowers, clouds, and the human body, to grab an individual's attention. If the individual responds then God gives him more truth of who He is. God’s desire is for all mankind to agree with the most basic truths of creation and to want more. Mankind’s hunger for more truth about the Creator will result in revelation of more spiritual truth.

Another daily witness is the providential cycle created by God to nourish and energize our bodies.[1] The wonderful self-sustaining cycle of life begins with the sun’s energy which plants miraculously combine with water and the earth’s minerals to reproduce and give edible fruit. Our human bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) so the same plants and their fruit are used in a complex metabolic system for the life-giving energy to sustain life. God created this providential cycle as a witness to His loving care for all mankind. The simple act of eating a meal should remind us of our dependency on Him.

Those who are born-again children of God are moved by the witness of creation to give glory to the beauty, majesty, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Creator and Sustainer (Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2) of all we need in this physical life. His daily provision now is but a foretaste of the “pure river of water of life” and fruit of the “tree of life” that will nourish us for all eternity in His presence. (Revelation 22:1-2)

Take time each day to “see” and “listen” to God’s silent witnesses that surround us. They are a persistent witness pointing to our loving God!

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[1] Johnson, J.J.S., Our Daily Bread: How Food Proves God’s Providence, Acts & Facts, 40 (4):8-9, April 2011, Institute for Creation Research↩

Being a Silent Witness

#3 – The Heavens are a Silent Witness

Previous studies on what it means to be a silent witness showed that a witness may be a person or a thing that “confirms a fact which may be in doubt” or “reminds or points to another thing or truth.” A biblical witness is “a person or thing that points others to God.” God’s vast celestial realm is just such a witness.

God’s work on the fourth day of His good Creation is a silent witness on several levels of truth. The heavens (sun, moon, stars) were created for the specific purpose of being sources of light on the earth. (Genesis 1:15-18) But the Immutable and Eternal God also made them to function as reliable chronometers, marking the passage of time in seasons, days, and years so His creatures could live their temporal lives on earth. (Genesis 1:14) The same verse says that the celestial objects were also given to us for signs.

The word sign in this context means a representation of something else which cannot be seen. An object that is a silent witness points to a truth, in this case about God, that cannot be seen directly. What do the sun, moon, and stars say about God as witnesses to truth?

A universal truth about God is given eloquently by David in Psalm 19:1-3:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.

Day unto day uttereth speech,

and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

The vast, complex, and enduring precision of the heavens are a silent witness to God’s manifold characteristics which are summed up by the psalmist in the word glory. God’s heavenly creation “speaks” in a language understood by all mankind about who God is and what He is like. (Romans 1:20)

Besides His glory, what are some other characteristics we can learn about God by observing the heavens? God uses the heavens as object lessons to show what He is like:

- God is infinite because the One who created the stars, which appear innumerable to us, has numbered and named each of them. (Psalm 147:4)

- For His reliability and faithfulness, God pointed to the stars in the heavens as His witnesses when He made his covenant with Abraham. (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4; Exodus 32:13) He repeated this illustration for the Davidic covenant by calling the sun and the moon as His witnesses. (Psalm 89:34-37)

- Not only is God faithful to perform what He has said, He also has the power to make good on His promises no matter what circumstances or difficulties develop on earth. This was evident when He changed the course of the heavens. (Joshua 10:13; Isaiah 38:7-8)

- God promised that the heavens would be witnesses to His judgment if Israel did not obey Him. (Deuteronomy 4:26) He would further demonstrate His wrath in the heavens in the latter days when the sun, moon, and stars would be darkened at His command. (Isaiah 13:9-10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31, 3:15; Habakkuk 3:11)

- Similarly, God will use the brightness of the sun and moon as instruments of His graciousness when His people turn to Him. (Isaiah 30:26, 60:19-20)

In the New Testament we discover that Jesus Christ is the Creator of all the heavens and their continued existence and motion is sustained by His power. (Colossians 1:16; John 1:1, 2, 10; Hebrews 1:2; Ephesians 3:9; Romans 11:36)

We stand in awe and admiration of the sun, moon, and stars – created by God, controlled by God, and pointing to God – as a universal example of a silent witness to God and His attributes. They are truly witnesses to His glory!

Praise ye Him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light.

Psalm 148:3