Earth. There are explosions happening on the surface of the sun called “solar
flares.” Searing hot particles from the sun fling out into space at speeds over a
million kilometers per hour! Even at such terrific speeds, these particles take
two to three days to reach our atmosphere! And when these sun particles,
these ions, come charging towards our home, our shield of the ionosphere
Did you know that from certain places on our Earth, on late, dark nights, you
can actually see the ionosphere shielding Earth from these deadly particles?
When these particles from the sun smash into the ionosphere, the collision
creates the most glorious glowing lights—like fireworks way up in the
Have you ever lit off fireworks? Maybe you sit in a park on national holidays
and gaze up at cascading fireworks to show your love for the country you live
in. In my family, we also light off fireworks when we want to celebrate our love
for each other! We shoot off these “love lights” into the sky to show our love on
wedding days or days when little babies are born or on birthdays!
Well, the fireworks up in the ionosphere are God’s love lights to all of us who
live on Earth. These stunning love lights, called an aurora, are a result of the
ionosphere shielding Earth from deadly sun particles. If these dangerous sun
particles reached our home, we could not live on this planet. Thus, the next
time you see a breathtaking aurora, red and green lights fluttering like a
shimmering curtain in the night sky, remember how much God loves all of us
on Earth! Thankfully, He created the ionosphere to protect the home He loves
and made for us.
When you see fireworks explode overhead, do you “ooohh” and “aaahhh”?
When people gaze upon God’s love lights of auroras up in the ionosphere, the
glorious sight captivates them too! Auroras are most easily seen in the
northern and southern regions of Earth; that is why they are often called the
“Northern Lights” and “Southern Lights.” One famous Northern poet, Robert
Service, wrote this poem of wonder describing an aurora:
[T]he skies of night were alive with light…,
They were rose and silver shod;
It was not good for the eyes of man —
'Twas a sight for the eyes of God.
Some believe that the prophet Ezekiel in the Bible was the first person to ever
write down a description of an aurora. Ezekiel wrote “And as I looked,
behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire
flashing continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst
something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.” (Eze. 1:4) Do you
think Ezekiel may have seen God’s love lights, an aurora?