The heavens declare…

The Bible Project’s suggested translation of the Lord’s Prayer uses “skies” where we’d normally use “heaven”. Skies and Heaven are the same word in Hebrew, and in Greek (as in German with Himmel).

So this morning, I was meditating on what it means for God’s will to be done on earth as in the skies.

And in the Bible, the skies are variously the way God sends blessing (especially rain, but also manna) and judgement (especially drought, but also hail and whatever hit Sodom); they describe the limit of what can be reached. But they are also regular. Like so regular that they make my autistic routines look flimsy and unpredictable.

So in Genesis we read this:

Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years. (Genesis 1:14)

We don’t have evidence for ancient Israel doing much astronomy, but we know that the Babylonians and their predecessors were really into it, and we know that Israel used Babylonian-derived astronomy as the basis for their calendar. We also know that Abraham was originally from Ur, and also lived a while in Haran, both of which were very keen on it. 

And in Jeremiah, God uses the regularity of the heavens / skies to show how reliable he is and how utterly he keeps his promises.

This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them. (Jeremiah 33:25)

So what does it mean that the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the works of his hands (Psalm 19:1)? It’s partly his majesty and power – that he can reach and create amazing things of incomprehensible power vast distances away. And it’s partly that God is utterly reliable. That’s part of the reason I love physics.

When God creates, he does so in perfect order. Asking for God’s will to be done on earth as in the skies is partly about wanting the regularity of God’s heaven to apply to our messy bit of creation as well.

After all, in all creation, it’s only people who disobey God. It’s only people who create mess and autistic overwhelm. Well ok, there are fallen angels too, but I meet people more often.

And all of this reminds me that God is not neurotypical, and that in some ways he is more like autistic people than neurotypical people. Of course, the other way round is true too, but we get reminded of that all the time!