Lessons Learned from the Solar Eclipse

The post-chorus of Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 smash hit goes like this…

Once upon a time, I was falling in love But now I’m only falling apart There’s nothing I can do A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time, there was light in my life But now there’s only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart

I have no idea what was going through songwriter Jim Steinman’s mind when he penned those words, just like I have no idea what people were thinking when the moon passed between the sun and the earth for four full minutes on April 8, 2024.

Had it happened 1,000 or 2,000 years ago, it would be easy to imagine people hiding in their homes, clutching their loved ones closely as they awaited the end of the world. But alas, it was simply a spectacular – and highly predictable – astronomical phenomenon.

Which leads me to my first lesson learned…

There is simply no way to explain a celestial event that can be predicted and even timed to the exact second without acknowledging that a Supreme Being of unimaginable intelligence and power orchestrated it. A modern-day equivalent would be for someone to dump all the parts of an intricate Swiss watch on a table in an uninhabited room… and then coming back a few minutes later to find the watch fully assembled and keeping the correct time to within 1/1,000,000,000,000 of a second. Of course, such a comparison would beg the question: Who manufactured the parts of the watch to begin with, let alone assembled them so perfectly?

Just like all natural wonders, a solar eclipse provides proof positive to anyone who is paying attention – as well as to the rest of the universe – that there is a God. You can either acknowledge His existence or deny it, but your faith or lack thereof doesn’t diminish the fact that God is real.

And so, on to lesson #2.

Romans 1:20-25 reads as follows…

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

As I watched the news reports from across America, I was amazed – and somewhat dismayed – at the number of people who were absolutely dumbstruck by the sight of the eclipse. Sure, it was an awesome experience for people in the “path of totality”… and I would have enjoyed seeing a glimpse of it myself if I hadn’t forgotten where I had placed the cheap protective glasses I had purchased for this very occasion. But being fascinated is one thing; losing the ability to speak while you sob uncontrollably is another. Even otherwise glib reporters were choked with emotion and at a loss for words.

“The whole world is coming together in unity and peace,” people told the media, oblivious to the fact that while they gathered at places like the Indianapolis Speedway to watch the eclipse, wars were raging across the globe in Ukraine, the Middle East, Nigeria, Sudan, and Haiti.

Their comments – and their over-the-top emotional reaction – brought the aforementioned Bible passage to mind. Simply put, the same people who refuse to believe in and worship God are all too willing to worship His creation.

As for the eclipse bringing about world peace and harmony, I am willing to bet that there were a few fender benders in the parking lot on the way out, leading to more than an isolated case of road rage.

After all, people will be people.

The third and final lesson I learned from the eclipse is that Jesus’ return is imminent. Not because the eclipse was a sign of the end times, but because the rest of Romans, Chapter 1 sounds like it was snatched from today’s headlines.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

God destroyed the whole world, except for Noah and his family, with a Great Flood because of man’s depravity and wickedness (see Genesis 6:5). Likewise, He rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah because of the rampant sin and sexual perversion taking place there (see Genesis 18:20-21 and 20:24).

How can the United States, let alone the rest of the world, escape God’s judgment and wrath when we are guilty of committing those same sins? After all, you can only thumb your nose at God for so long before His holiness requires Him to act.

Let’s hope and pray that America learns its lesson and repents before it is too late.

(Should God withhold His judgement and extend His mercy, granting people more time to repent and turn to Him, there are an average of 2.38 solar eclipses per year. The last total eclipse in parts of North America occurred in 2017, and the next one is scheduled for 2044).