On Wednesday, August I1 (1999) a total solar eclipse will be visible from Cornwall. It has already caused quite a stir as although eclipses are not that unusual they are rarely seen in any one place. The last total eclipse observable from Britain was in 1927 and before that you have to go back to 1715 and 1723. There will be an annular eclipse observable in the north of Scotland in 2003 but it will be many, many years before a total eclipse is observable from these islands again. In an annular eclipse the moon is further from the earth and so part of the sun remains visible. There was an annular eclipse visible from Britain on Monday, March 15, 1858. On the morning before it the great C H Spurgeon took up the theme in a sermon at Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall, where the church met at the time. Spurgeon did not draw attention to the three hours of darkness when Christ was on the cross. That cannot have been the result of a solar eclipse. Rather his text was I form the light, and create darkness (Isaiah 45:7). 'If there be sermons in stones,' he declared 'there must be a great sermon in the sun; and if there be books in the running brooks, no doubt there is many a huge volume to be found in a sun suffering eclipse. All things teach us, if we have but a mind to learn.' The sermon, of course, had three points:
1. Eclipses are part of God's plan
Eclipses happen as part of God's plan for the universe. There are also 'eclipses' in God's providence and grace which arc also part of God's plan. In God's providence 'eclipses' sometimes overshadow earth - troubles, wars, famines. These are all part of his divine plan for governing the earth and all have some beneficial object.
By way of example, think of the great flood or the famine in Egypt in Joseph's time or the fall of empires or famine or plague. Similarly, on the personal level, there am eclipses such as sickness, poverty or bereavement. Suddenly everything turns dark. It is not that the sun has disappeared. It has not moved from its predestined spot, as it were. God himself is the great undimmed glory who does not change even though at times he may appear to be hidden.
Further, just as there is a regularity about the planets, moving full circle as they do, so also in his providence God brings things full circle. From Paradise lost to Paradise regained; from the nakedness of the womb to the nakedness of the tomb. Troubles must come but by God's grace they will pass. Man, holy at the beginning will be made holy again; the enthusiasm we have when we first know the Lord comes again as we enter heaven. Therefore, eclipses of faith, darkness of the mind, fainting of hopes - these are all part of God's plan for making believers ripe for glory. Trials are waves that wash us safely on to the rocks; winds that waft our ship more swiftly towards the desired haven. Such eclipses are part of God's grand scheme.
On the larger scale too the same principal is at work. In church history there are great eclipses but there are also times of great sunshine, as when the Reformation dawned on Europe. God's
work may be in eclipse at present but such darkness cannot last
for long.
2. Everything that God does has a design
God has a reason for everything he does but he is sovereign and
under no obligation to tell us the reason. There was no obvious
benefit from an eclipse as far as Spurgeon could see, although
scientists have used them in various ways to establish facts such
as the moon's distance from the earth. It may well be that God
has a gracious purpose in the coming eclipse. We certainly hope
the team that will be witnessing in Falmouth in August will see
many conversions.
As for providential eclipses we can be sure these are for a good
purpose. One of the most obvious reasons why such things come
is so that God can draw attention to himself. Spurgeon quotes
'an old divine' who makes the point that 'Nobody ever looks at
the sun except when it is in eclipse'. Similarly, when everything
goes well we never, by nature, think about God. It is often only
when things go wrong that people seek God. 'Doubtless, we should
entirely forget God, if not for some of those eclipses which now
and then happen'.
Good often comes from calamities, such as the transformation of
London following the Great Fire. Some calamities are 'meant to
be like axes, to cut down some deadly upas tree' so that they
poison no more. 'Many a sinner has sought the Saviour on his
sick bed who never would have sought him anywhere else'.
'Eclipses of grace' also have their design. 'Why has God hidden
his face from me?' a Christian asks. Often the answer is 'so that
you will search for God again'. Before 1 was afflicted, said the
Psalmist, 1 went astray, but now have 1 kept thy Word. The file of
affliction rasps away the rust; the heat of the furnace burns away
the dross; deep waters become a sacred baptism, sanctifying us
from pride, lust, worldliness and conceit.
3. As there are sermons in all things
there are sermons in the eclipse
1. The 'ungrateful moon' has 'borrowed all her light from the
sun month after month'. 'She would be a black blot, if the sun did
not shine upon her'. The application is made regarding the way
God is eclipsed in our lives when we love what he has given us
more than we love him.
2. Next we imagine an ignorant child seeing the eclipse and crying
at the thought that there will be no more light from the sun. The
kind parent explains 'No, my little boy, the sun has not gone out;
it is only the moon passing across its face; it will shine bright
enough presently'. So, when we get into trouble and we say 'God
has changed. It will never be the same again' we need to speak
reassuringly to our souls and remind ourselves it is not so.
3. Finally, think of the last judgment. Imagine what it would be like if the sun was
removed from the sky completely. As bright as a sinner's joys may be now he will one
day know a total eclipse.' Soon shall your sun set, set in everlasting night'. The unrepentant
will be thrown into outer darkness. Then there is a very simply explanation of the need
for faith in Jesus Christ. 'All you have to do - that grace makes you do - is to believe
that he came to save sinners, therefore he came to save you.' He did not come to save all,
but he did come to save sinners and so every sinner can go to him and find forgiveness
forever. Such people have a sun that 'shall never set in eclipse, but shall set on earth to
rise with tenfold splendour in the upper sphere where we shall never know a cloud, a
setting, or an eclipse'.
