In the beginning, Yahweh created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Yahweh was hovering over the face of the waters. And Yahweh said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And Yahweh saw that the light was good. And Yahweh separated the light from the darkness. Yahweh called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And Yahweh said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And Yahweh made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And Yahweh called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And Yahweh said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. Yahweh called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together He called Seas. And Yahweh saw that it was good, Genesis 1:1-10. (English Standard Version used throughout, unless otherwise noted.)
On December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 – Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman, each in turn, read Verses 1-4, 5-8, and 9-10 as their spacecraft was orbiting the moon. It is estimated that a quarter of the earth’s population of 4 billion people in 64 countries either heard, or had access, to that reading from outer space.
A Space Odyssey
At the same time, on planet earth, and from living rooms everywhere, Gene Roddenberry’s space play was unfolding with these words:
“Space, the final frontier – these are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, its five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
Captain James Kirk and his crew were charting new territories, discovering new life-forms which thrived in environments that would have been hostile to the existence of our species. It was science fiction at its best, or its worst. but the program spawned inventions of personal transmitters that could be activated by a touch to the chest – cellphones, personal computers, and biometric technologies. The one reference to the Sovereign of the Universe came in an episode in which Leonard Nimoy, the science officer Commander Spock, and whose signature gesture was the Hebrew letter, s – yes, Nimoy like Shatner, were Jewish – read from the Book of Psalms:
“When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? … You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet … (Psa. 8:2-3, 6)
Yet, what inspired the Apollo 8 crew in beholding the Mystery of the Universe to read a portion of the Creation narrative, and moved the producers of Star Trek to include in one episode’s script a reading from the Book of Psalms, did not at that time move the principal character in the short-running space play Star Trek to privately and publicly acknowledge the One Who had set His glory above the heavens..
In fact, more or less as a refutation of the crew Apollo 8’s wonder that lay before them in their orbit about the moon, William Shatner stated in an earlier 1968 interview, in response to a question about whether he had religious beliefs or believes in an afterlife:
“No, I don’t. Emotionally, I would like to believe there is a life after death. Intellectually … I cannot accept the idea. … As for myself, I have finally come to the conclusion, that life is here and now, and nothing more.” (celebatheist.com)
On March 9, 2006, Shatner, in an interview with Associated Press correspondent, David Germain, reasserted his position, adding moreover,
“I’ve always had a sort of ironic view of life. My belief system is that when this is over, it’s over. You don’t look down from heaven, and wait for your loved ones to join you. There may be some soul activity, but I’m not sure about that. But what I am sure about, is that your molecules continue and in due time become something else. That’s science,” and to which we would append with words from the Apostle Paul: “… oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Tim. 6:20, KJV).
Power … Hope … Grandeur … Life … Love
In the December 2022/January 2023 issue of AARP, The Magazine, the first profile under the article entitled, “The Moment That CHANGED MY LIFE,” features a picture of Chris Boshuizen, Audrey Powers, Glen de Vries, and William Shatner attired in their Blue Origin uniforms, and the following excerpt from Shatner’s 2022 copyrighted book, Boldly Go:
“I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis [that purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal] of that connection I had been looking for between all living things – that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe.
“In the film Contact, when Jodie Foster’s character goes to space and looks out into the heavens she lets out an astonished whisper: “They should’ve sent a poet.” But when I finally arrived out there, the splendor was absent. The feeling wasn’t the warmth or glow that required poetry to express it; it was ominous. It was the opposite of life. It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered.
“It reinforced tenfold my own view [of] the Power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement, and eventually it returned a feeling of Hope to my heart. In this insignificance we share, we have one gift that other species perhaps do not: We are aware – not only of our insignificance but of the Grandeur around us that makes us insignificant. That allows us perhaps a chance to rededicate ourselves to our planet, to each other, to Life and Love all around us – if we seize the chance.” (William Shatner, Boldly Go, © 2022)
At 91, we could hope that his and others on this 18th Blue Origin shuttle into space and a look into the heavens, might have produced an astonished whisper: “They should’ve sent a poet” and provided that ultimate catharsis [that purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal] of connection he and others have been looking for between all living things – that being up there would be the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe..
Nevertheless, five words from Shatner’s musings come to mind: Power … Hope … Grandeur … Life … Love.
Insignificant? Far From It!
We start now, with an observation: “We are aware – not only of our insignificance but of the Grandeur around us that makes us insignificant.”
Insignificant? far from it! “When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? … You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet …” (Psa. 8:2-3, 6).
And then we come to John 3:16: “And Eloha So Loved The World …” (John 3:16) – yes, “… the everlasting Eloha, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth … Eloha Himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited …” (Isa. 40:28, 45:18, KJV).
Insignificant? far from it! “Thus saith the Holy One … ‘Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands’” (Isa. 45:11, KJV).
Insignificant? far from it! Of one in particular, He declared, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee …” (Jer. 1:5, KJV), and of others generally, Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb:“I am Yahweh, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself, Isaiah 44:24.
Insignificant? far from it! “But know that Yahweh has set apart the righteous for Himself … the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (Psa. 4:3; Isa. 43:21).
Yes, of some in particular, and of others generally, He would affirm, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” saith Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end, Jeremiah 29:11, KJV.
Insignificant? far from it! A brother and sister, on April 15-16, 2021, traveling from Houston, Texas, to Missouri, to be immersed in the Name Above Every Name … yes, and not at all unlike other heroes of faith – Abraham, who by faith, when he was called to go out into a place, not knowing whither he went, sojourned as in a strange country – these two … just like the rest of us, day by day being conformed into the Image of, and growing in grace and knowledge of, our Master and Savior, Yahshua.
Insignificant? far from it! He brought you today, to read this Message, entitled, “From the Beginning, Significant!”
Insignificant? far from it! Apollos, a certain Jew, born at Alexandria, in Egypt, an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures, but knowing only baptism unto repentance … yet, seen afar off as one significant, and now in a synagogue at Ephesus noticed by two others who courteously entreated him, expounding the Way more perfectly, and who afterwards mightily convinced and much helped them which believed through grace.
Insignificant? far from it! This same Apollos was to share a significant ministry with another whom Yahweh regarded significant, while yet he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious to the Sect of the Nazarene – we’re speaking, of course, of the Apostle Paul.
Insignificant? far from it! “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? … Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before Yahweh? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows,” (Matt. 10:29; Luke 12:6-7, KJV).
Insignificant? far from it! Therefore I tell you, “do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if Yahweh so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of Yahweh and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself...” Matthew 6:25-34a.
That Which May Be Known of Yahweh, Is Manifest
Now, the world is full of Shatners … halt betwixt two opinions – “your molecules continue and in due time become something else. That’s science” and, “the ultimate catharsis [that purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal] of that connection … look[ed] for between all living things … the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe.”
We, too, at times, may halt … like Job, who at once, in a time of sorrow of heart and grief of mind, mused, Oh that I were as in months past, as [in] the days [when] Eloha preserved me; When His candle shined upon my head, [and when] by His light I walked [through] darkness, Job 29:2-3, KJV and, “If I had called … yet would I not believe that He had hearkened unto my voice (Job 9:16, KJV).
It is during these times – halt, when you may question whether there is that “connection between all living things, or ... there the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe” – that you need to awaken out of sleep and call upon Him Whose salvation is nearer than when you first believed (Rom. 13:11) and hear His Voice out of the whirlwind, saying, as He did to Job, Who [or what is] this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? (Job 38:2) and Who then proceeds through 4 chapters and 127 verses, transforming this man from his pity pot that has reduced and resigned him to insignificance, to agreeing with his Maker, “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. … I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. … therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3, 2, 6).
Yes, it was only after Yahweh’s reproving him, and at this point of Job realizing how far he’d drifted from Yahweh’s regard of him as significant, “that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth Eloha, and escheweth evil” (Job 1: 8, KJV) – and by the way, Yahweh is no respecter of persons … it’s the dEvil whom you permit to distract and draw you away which makes you feel insignificant – that he was made to feel significant that Yahweh should reveal, in the words of Shatner, “the Power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement, and eventually … a feeling of Hope … of the Grandeur around us.”
Yes, and no less to us, by His regard, significant … to whom the secret and the mystery of this Power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement; this feeling of Hope; this living experience of the Grandeur around us – to us, we say who fear Him, who keep His commandment, who seek His kingdom, and who work His righteousness and whom, He will never leave or forsake.
So again, we ask, insignificant? far from it! We Are More Than Ugly Bags Of Mostly Water! Yahweh doesn’t make junk. He hasn’t created any of us without purpose. But very much of His purpose is left unfulfilled; and very many of His gifts and callings, left unclaimed; and very many of His answers, yet awaiting prayers unsaid.
And by whom? by them who regard this life, in this time, as insignificant, and who declare, “Emotionally, I would like to believe there is a life after death. Intellectually … I cannot accept the idea. … As for myself, I have finally come to the conclusion, that life is here and now, and nothing more. … My belief system is that when this is over, it’s over. … your molecules continue and in due time become something else. That’s science.”
Again, by whom? by them, who even after having been up there, couldn’t make that “connection between all living things”, and “with the next beautiful step to understanding the harmony of the universe; for whom the splendor was absent; for whom the feeling was ominous … the opposite of life and among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered.”
Conclusion
But for them who know, they are significant …
> who believe in, and who take Him at His Word … that is, the thoughts of peace He has for them, to bring them to an expected end of glory;
> who know they are created with Divine purpose and are fulfilling it;
> who have claimed their gifts and callings and are not now, negligent in their employment, but occupying until He comes;
> who have through the answer to their prayers, been enlightened to His faithfulness and experienced, tasting of the powers of the world to come;
> who believe in the significance of a just recompense from Him Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil;
> who believe on Him, and His Word that He is preparing a place for them that is incorruptible, undefiled, and reserved in the heavens;
> who are, now, and without reservation, able to sing the refrain,
O Yah, Most High, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
The power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods and forest glades
I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, my Savior Yah, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior Yah, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
HalleluYah! How great Thou art!
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
The power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods and forest glades
I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, my Savior Yah, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior Yah, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
HalleluYah! How great Thou art!
-Elder John W. Reece
© 2024 Yahweh's Assembly in Yahshua
2963 County Road 233, Kingdom City, Missouri 65262
View us online at: www.YAIY.org
Call Toll Free: (877) 642-4101
Main Line : (573) 642-4100
2963 County Road 233, Kingdom City, Missouri 65262
View us online at: www.YAIY.org
Call Toll Free: (877) 642-4101
Main Line : (573) 642-4100
