Creation Truth Foundation
[Originally published as Eclipse 2024]
On the fourth day of history, God established a covenantally-controlled governance we witness every day, confirming the dependability of His eternal Word. The steadfastness of His covenant can even be occasionally beheld through wondrous displays of His definitive and miraculous engineering.
Such was the case with the April 8th eclipse.
When God said, “Let there be light” on Day 1, there was light. There was enough light brought forth from God’s glory and eternal power to energize and operate the entire cosmos for however long He has decreed. Hence, the Hebrew word for “light” on Day 1 (Romans 1:20, Genesis 1:3–5) is owr. It means “source light,” declaring the true source of light and life is our Creator God (Job 33:30, Psalm 56:13). It was this light He separated on the first day, setting our planet into its rotation, and establishing the 24-hour day/night cycle. It was this light by which He sustained the newly created plant life on Day 3.
And it was this light He took and created something very special on Day 4.
On Day 4 of the first week, God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens,” and God made the greater light for our daytime, the lesser light for our nighttime, and all other phenomena filling the cosmos (Genesis 1:14-18). The Hebrew word used on Day 4 for light is ma’owr, which means holder or container of light. God used a small drop of His glory and created our perfect sun. He also created the moon and every cosmic creation we can behold through a telescope.
So precise is His engineering of the universe, He directly tied Jesus and His kingdom to the covenant He made with day and night.
This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it – the LORD is His name… ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then My covenant with David My servant may also be broken so that he will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne'” (Jeremiah 33:2, 20–21).
That covenant was established on Day 1 in Genesis 1:4-5, and we behold God’s faithfulness at sunrise and sunset every single day.
Occasionally we are also blessed to witness further testimony to the awesome works of our God. The sun’s diameter is 400 times larger than the moon’s diameter. The sun is also 400 times farther away from earth. Therefore, because of these precise sizes and distances, the moon appears to be nearly the same size in the sky as the sun, meaning it can perfectly block out the sun’s light when it passes directly between the sun and earth. The result is called a solar eclipse.[4] To our knowledge, these perfectly designed variables that have been perfectly engineered and implemented are found only in this one place in the entire universe.
It is possible that in the perfect creation, earth was perfectly straight/vertical on its rotational axis and both the earth and moon revolved perfectly flat on the ecliptic plane (the orbital path around the sun). If so, then earth would experience a solar eclipse every 30 days at each new moon. Put another way, every month would begin with a solar eclipse at the equator. However, earth is not perfectly vertical on its axis (currently 23.44° to the ecliptic plane), and the moon is not perfectly aligned with earth anymore (5.145° to the ecliptic plane). According to Dr. John Baumgardner (Ph.D. in geophysics from UCLA) and his Catastrophic Plate Tectonics model, the impact of the flood altered the orbital planes to their present state.[5] As a consequence, earth now experiences total solar eclipses about every 18 months.
On October 14, 2023 in Phoenix, AZ at an event hosted by the Institute for Creation Research, the CTF team recorded an annular eclipse with one of the ministry telescopes. In an annular eclipse, the Moon is at its apogee (farthest distance) of around 252,000 miles away. At this distance, it appears too small to block out the entire sun, so totality is not achieved.
But on April 8, 2024, totality was achieved for those in parts of North America to behold. CTF sent teams to two different locations: 1. Cody McDaniel family’s home in southeastern Oklahoma and 2. Mark McDaniel family’s home in southern Illinois. For millions of people, God’s marvelous, miraculous engineering was visible.
Our Illinois team was treated to the best conditions. Amanda Cox (CTF Book & Resource Manager) was able to capture the stepped image you see above.
The Oklahoma team dealt with clouds on and off all day. They were able to capture before and after eclipse photos as well as video. Please enjoy a few shots that also captured sunspots from Bob Dugas (CTF Vice President). Unfortunately, a minute before totality clouds moved in and obscured their view until the final 4 seconds, and they were unable to document totality from their location.
We need to thank our more than gracious hosts, Cody & Melissa McDaniel for welcoming us into your home on very short notice (actually only hours). Your hospitality was overwhelming and an extreme blessing. Also gracious thanks goes out to Mark & Rhonda McDaniel as hospitality is often expected from family but never taken for granted. It is always a blessing to experience the Lord through our brothers and sisters in this great family. Please join us in thanking the Lord for these hosts that are truly His servants with all they have, openly sharing with those that have need. And to all of our supporters, Thank You for making it possible for our team to be able to capture these wonderful aspects of creation and to share with others the Lord’s awesome handiwork!
Footnote
- Dr. John Baumgardner, “Catastrophic Plate Tectonics”, April 7, 2012, beginning at 48:54 in the video. And in print format: Southern California Seminary
