“Sidereus Nuncius” – “News from the Stars” – was the title Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) gave to his treatise, which he wrote in 1610. After the telescope was developed in 1608, he was now able to see over 30,000 stars – 10 times more stars than had previously been visible to the naked eye in one hemisphere (half of the sky).
Thanks to further developments in telescopic technology, the German astronomer F.W.A. Argelander (1799–1875) was finally able to count 324,198 stars in the 19th century in the so-called “Bonn Survey” (1852–1859). Today, the largest telescope can detect three billion stars per hemisphere.
But is that all? Let’s take a look at the Milky Way. On very clear, dark nights, we can see it clearly: as a bright, cloudy band stretching across the entire sky. It is part of our own galaxy. According to current knowledge, the Milky Way consists of 300 billion stars. Not only is the number of stars in this band of stars unimaginable, but so is its extent of 100,000 light-years. A light year is the distance that light travels at a speed of 300,000 km per second (!) in one year. That would be approximately 9.461 trillion kilometers multiplied by 100,000 – an unimaginable distance.
The total number of galaxies and stars cannot be precisely defined, as we can only refer to the part of the cosmos we know. Looking at the history of the discovery of stars and technological developments, it must be assumed that further discoveries will be made in the coming decades and that we will continue to probe deeper into the cosmos, thereby increasing the number of known stars.
Today, the number of galaxies is estimated to be around 100 billion. Based on statistical estimates, astronomers estimate the number of stars to be 1025—that is, 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
But no one knows the real number of stars. Jeremiah already wrote that “the host of heaven cannot be counted” (Jer 33:22). That was at a time (7th century BC) when science was certain that there were no more than 3000 stars – precisely the number of stars that can be seen with the naked eye in one hemisphere. Today, in the 21st century, we must recognize that Jeremiah was right and that humans cannot actually count the stars. Although he could not see more stars at that time, he trusted his God, and we can do the same—not only when it comes to counting stars!
“Sidereus Nuncius” – “message of the stars” – do we understand them? They tell us about their Creator and ours. He spoke and they came into being (Genesis 1:16f; Psalm 19:2–6; 33:9), they follow their paths because His word keeps them there (see Hebrews 1:3). And even though we do not know their exact number and can only make estimates – He counts the number of stars and even calls them all by name (cf. Psalm 147:3; Isaiah 40:26).
King David, then still a shepherd, had understood the “message of the stars.” Although he could only see a fraction of the stars, he was impressed by the One who had created them. He understood that the heavens tell of the glory of God (cf. Psalm 19). Although no speech or words are heard from them, they still have their own unique message about the greatness, power, wisdom, and glory of the Creator.
This is the God we are dealing with! When we see Him as Creator above His creation, we see something of His glorious greatness and power. But that is not all, for we also see how the Creator enters into His own creation, how He humbles Himself and becomes man Himself (Phil. 2:5–8; Heb. 2:14) . And that shows us His divine love. He is “the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
How great and glorious is this love! It was love that caused Him to leave the glory of heaven (2 Cor. 8:9) to come to a cursed earth (Gen. 3:17–18), to people who neither knew nor wanted Him (John 1:9–10). Love caused him to walk this earth, doing good and healing (Acts 10:38) and enduring hatred and rejection in return (Ps 109:4–5). Love caused him to endure the sufferings of Golgotha (Mt 16:21). Out of love, he allowed himself to be spat upon, beaten, whipped, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross (Matthew 26:67–68; 27:25–35). Love closed his mouth (Isa 53:7) from speaking a word of his creative power when sinful people opened their mouths to mock and taunt him (Mt 26:39–44). Love allowed him to go into God-forsakenness (Mt 26:46; Ps 22:1–2). Out of love, the pure and holy One endured God’s wrath to atone for the sins and guilt of others (1 John 2:2), so that everyone who comes to Him in faith and repentance (Acts 2:38; 4:12; 10:43; 16:31) may be freed from this guilt (John 8:36).
In love, He is still at work for you and me today. He who counts the number of stars and calls them all by name is also the one who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. The Lord upholds all who are faint” (Ps 147:3,6).
We may say, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right hand is ignored by my God” (Isaiah 40:27). But: “The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, and his understanding is beyond measure. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).
Both this power and this love originate in the heart of God—power that can help and love that will help!
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