Our Moon
Tonight is a full moon, and so she is on my mind. Here are some cool thoughts about our Moon. These are all from Denver Snuffer. Enjoy!
The Sun and Moon are symbols of the Father and Mother planted overhead as a testimony from Them to Their children. From the surface of the earth they occupy equal space in the firmament. Although the circumference of the sun is approximately 400 times larger than the moon, the moon is approximately 400 times closer to the earth. As a result they are visibly equal in size and occupy the same path on the ecliptic. This is why the moon is able to eclipse the sun.
The Father, represented by the Sun, is stable, unchangeable, reliable and predictable. The Sun rises every day on the horizon in the east and sets every evening on the horizon in the west. He is unvarying in His course from day-to-day and year-to-year. The Mother, represented by the Moon, changes each day. She waxes and wanes. She does not just move from east to west, but the moonrise also constantly moves in the opposite direction from west to east. Every day She reappears further to the east before beginning Her movement to the west. She moves approximately 50 minutes eastward each day.
Her complex movements overhead were part of the reason She was known anciently as “the Great Dancer.” Her movements display constantly changing motions, contrasting with Her Companion Sun. This contrast between the movements of the sun and the moon reminds me of the quip by cartoonist Bob Thaves about Ginger Rogers, the dancing partner of acclaimed Fred Astair, “Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did…backwards and in high heels.”
We are often told that life on earth depends on the Sun. But life here is equally dependent on the Moon. Without the moon slowing the earth’s rotation, we would only have 6 to 10 hour days. The shorter days would result in the earth being much colder, as the sun would have less time to warm the earth’s surface. This would cause a dramatic decrease in plant and animal life. Tides would be eliminated, and weather would be more violent. The stable rotation of the earth would change, and we would no longer rotate on a constant axis. The poles and equator would no longer exist or would be constantly changing. The earth’s tectonic plates, continents and mountain ranges are all formed by the effect of the moon on the earth. Without the moon, there would be less variety in the earth’s habitats. Many life forms could not exist. Richard Lathe, a molecular biologist at Pieta Research in Edinburgh, UK, 128 advanced a theory in 2003 explaining that life on earth could not have happened without the moon. A number of astronomers believe that life on any planet throughout the universe requires a nearby moon and, without this nighttime companion for the sun, life cannot exist. 129
She pointed us to the Father. Remember also that the brightest star in Her constellation is in her hand – the “seed of the woman.” The stars testify of Her, but point to Her “seed” as the greatest light for us here and now.
The moon reflects the light of her sun. Just as Mary did in Her psalm, this physical example testifies to the glory of the Father and the faithful reflection of the Mother. It is the sun that provides the light, heat and gravity governing the planets of this creation under its influence. It is the moon that stabilizes and makes life possible.
The ordinances in the heavens are referred to in Genesis 1:14: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.” [He sets this up in order to communicate things. If you go back to the book of Abraham 4:14:] “And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And the Gods organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also; And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the darkness. And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time.”
This is not a bunch of gratuitous language. This is describing something that took place with absolutely deliberate intent. Everything that is written in scripture and all of the ordinances that were ordained upon the earth and in the heavens were reckoned from the position of the earth. It's not that the ancients were ignorant of what is going on in the heavens. Instead they viewed the heavens as being a testimony given to us on the earth. It is geocentric, that is, viewed only from the surface of the earth that allows you to see this testimony which has been written. From the surface of the earth, the sun occupies a space - even though the sun is over 100 times larger than the earth - in the firmament that is exactly the same as the space in the firmament that is occupied by the moon, although the moon is 1/6 the size of the earth. From the surface of the earth they are identical in size. So much so, that when you put them on the ecliptic as they are located, one can block out the other entirely in an eclipse. All of these things were ordained by God to testify in the heavens and about Him and about His work. Those things are bearing testimony, and they are telling you something.
I would say that the sign of the eclipse is a rather ominous suggestion. Well, it’s part of a pair, you know. There is one Aug 21st of this year, and then there’s a following one, and they essentially– yeah, they make an X across the United States. Well, it’s a fairly dramatic celestial event that suggests possible meanings, like the times of the gentiles are coming to an end and they’re about to be swept away and replaced as the possessors and the rightful owners of the land.
I am of the view that how we act matters, a lot. I think Nineveh got saved because they repented. And if God will spare Nineveh because they repented, then He ought to be willing to spare other people because they’re willing to repent. So the focus of action in what God has been doing shifted from the old world to the new world as a matter of prophecy, as a matter of covenant, as a matter of burden. The focus will be here on this land, primarily, until the Lord’s return. And then Jerusalem will re-acquire significance that they once had, as well. But Zion is going to be on this, the American continent.
Since Zion must precede the Lord’s return, and since this land is a land that has a restriction on it that requires those who are going to occupy it to serve the God of the land who is Jesus Christ, I would say that the sign of the eclipse is a rather ominous suggestion that we could be crossed out, and we could be replaced– unless of course we choose to repent.
The symbol of the Mother blotting out the light of the sun in the eclipse is ominous indeed, because when a mother loses hope for her children, that’s a lot more frightening than the father’s ire that happens just about every time there’s a football game on TV. When a Mother gets worked up enough to send a symbol across the land that suggests the blotting out of the light of the Father, it’s something that maybe we ought to sit up and take note about.
And by the way, all these things were once part of the gospel. All of this. Everything. In fact, the D&C says everything that’s above, everything that’s on, and everything that’s beneath the earth. And beneath the earth means from the surface of the earth– it means those heavenly bodies that fall below the horizon and then re-emerge, like the planet Venus re-emerges. It goes under; it’s the evening star, and then it’s the morning star. It changes sides that you see the symbol on. All these things were once part of the gospel, and all of these things will eventually again become part of the gospel once more.
Genesis 1:14 says all that stuff up there was given us for signs. And they’re talking to us. The only way you can obliterate the testimony that’s up there is by our apostasy when we lose light, and we’re ignorant, and we can’t read it anymore. Because we can’t touch that. We can’t make copy mistakes, and we can’t give a poor transcription or make printing errors with that. It’s fixed, and it’s not going to change. But we can lose light and knowledge such that we can no longer understand that testimony.
I think that any time there’s something going on in the heavens, that God means something by it, even if we’re oblivious to it. And the challenge is to not be oblivious to it, but to take it in and then assign it it’s proper weight.
Podcast #14: The Heavens
And by the way, all these things were once part of the gospel. All of this. Everything. In fact, the D&C says everything that’s above, everything that’s on, and everything that’s beneath the earth. And beneath the earth means from the surface of the earth– it means those heavenly bodies that fall below the horizon and then re-emerge, like the planet Venus re-emerges. It goes under; it’s the evening star, and then it’s the morning star. It changes sides that you see the symbol on. All these things were once part of the gospel, and all of these things will eventually again become part of the gospel once more.
Genesis 1:14 says all that stuff up there was given us for signs. And they’re talking to us. The only way you can obliterate the testimony that’s up there is by our apostasy when we lose light, and we’re ignorant, and we can’t read it anymore. Because we can’t touch that. We can’t make copy mistakes, and we can’t give a poor transcription or make printing errors with that. It’s fixed, and it’s not going to change. But we can lose light and knowledge such that we can no longer understand that testimony.
I think that any time there’s something going on in the heavens, that God means something by it, even if we’re oblivious to it. And the challenge is to not be oblivious to it, but to take it in and then assign it it’s proper weight.
Podcast #14: The Heavens
127 All the lights of the firmament are to be interpreted from the surface of the earth using the unaided human eye.
128 Lathe was the primary inventor of a vaccine to eradicate rabies, which has resulted in extensions of vaccines for cervical and breast cancers. His research led him to postulate a theory that evolutionary life on earth was dependent upon the moon’s influence on tides, which he published in 2004 in the journal Icarus. (Fast tidal cycling and the origin of life, Vol. 168, Issue 1, March 2004, pp. 18- 22.) While scripture affirms that God, not chance, established life in this creation, there is no scriptural explanation of the means employed by God to develop life during the creation. Nor, for that matter, is any explanation given for the length of time involved in each “day” of creation. The work accomplished is called a “day” without any attempt to otherwise set out a reliable fixed length of time.
129 See, e.g., Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee, Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, (Copernicus, 2000); John Gribbin, The Reason Why: The Miracle of Life on Earth, (Allen Lane, 2011)
