And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. (Deuteronomy 4:19)

Seeing The Heritage Of God Above

The children of Israel were plagued with the influences of their Egyptian bondage all their lives. Within weeks of being delivered by the hand of God from Pharaoh, the Israelites are bowing before a golden calf. Idolatry destroyed the nation of Israel and Judah and God punished them. Israel was given a law to tell them how the world began and who made the world. They rejected the word of God. The Lord warned them against following the practices of the nations around them who worshipped the gods of the sun, moon, and stars. This was an abomination to the Lord God who made heaven and earth. All of the hosts of heaven were not put there for men to worship as gods but as a testimony to the power and majesty of the One who made them.

Moses warned the people of Israel that when they felt driven to worship the hosts of heaven, to remember the Lord gave the sun, moon, and stars as a heritage to them. Everyone on earth is privileged to see the starry hosts of the heavens. No matter where a person is on the planet, the skies are filled with the handiwork of the Lord God. The sun streaks across the sky in the day and the night fills with the speckling shimmers of stars innumerable. Modern technology cannot count the billions of galaxies filled with billions upon billions of stars. There is no number of stars known in the heavens, yet God has a name for each one. The sun, moon, and planets in the heavenly neighborhood of earth are all the exact distance from one another so that life can exist on one planet filled with human beings.

The heritage of God is above. A tragedy has come in the modern world where people spend more time inside than out. With all the advancements of comfort and convenience, few know of the stars above. Life becomes so busy; few have time to stop and smell the roses or look to the heavens and see the heritage of the Lord God. The world is a testimony to the hand of God. It goes unseen. Wrapped up in the carnal world of self-indulgence, the heritage of the Lord is ignored. Children seldom see the stars. It is a vast world shouting the handiwork of the Creator who has given all men His thumbprint so they can know Him and worship Him as Lord. God wants His creation to look up and find Him. He is not far from anyone, but they have to look for Him. The heavens declare His glory, but if a man never looks above, he will never see the heritage of what God has given him. Take time to see God in the world. The beauty of His creation, the majesty of His universe, and the eternal nature of His highest creation: man. Then, come to know why God gave the heavens and earth as a heritage: Jesus Christ.