Recently there is a report in The Astrophysical Journal [1] what is being observed in outer space, galaxies millions of light years away seem to be connected by an unseen network of massive intergalactic structures which force them to synchronize in ways that cannot be explained by existing theories in astrophysics. These new discoveries are forcing scientists to rethink our fundamental understanding of the universe. Similarly, there are other published research that discusses supermassive black holes aligning with each other despite being billions of light years apart. [2] The current cosmological theories predict the alignment and movement of ancient stars on a small scale, based on these new observations, astronomers are puzzled by the much larger patterns that are appearing across vast distances. It is believed the observed coherence must have some relationship with the large-scale structures, the reasoning is galaxies separated by six megaparsecs (20 million light years) appear to directly interact with each other.
References
- Joon Hyeop Lee1, Mina Pak, Hyunmi Song1, Hye-Ran Lee, Suk Kim, and Hyunjin Jeong, “Mysterious Coherence in Several-megaparsec Scales between Galaxy Rotation and Neighbor Motion,” The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 884, Number 2, 104, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847%2F1538-4357%2Fab3fa3
- D. Hutsemékers, L. Braibant, V. Pelgrims and D. Sluse, “Alignment of quasar polarizations with large-scale structures,” Astronomy & Astrophysics, 572 (2014) A18, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201424631
- R. Brent Tully, Noam I. Libeskind, Igor D. Karachentsev, Valentina E. Karachentseva, Luca Rizzi, and Edward J. Shaya, “Two Planes of Satellites in the Centarus A Group,” The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2015, Volume 802, Number 2, L25, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088%2F2041-8205%2F802%2F2%2Fl25
The Milky Way galaxy, the one we live in, is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies that are observable in the known universe. The variety in types of galaxies is stunning, such as spiral galaxies, ring shaped galaxies, barred spiral, elliptical and irregular shaped galaxies. The various galaxies, their stars move in particular patterns, and scientists are noticing how some galaxies move in sync though they are separated by vast distances. Galaxies in a few million light years of each other can gravitationally affect each other in predictable ways. These local interactions occur due to the short distances. What has been observed is how galaxies that are very distant from one another move in sync, which leads to the conclusion there must be some enigmatic influence on these galaxies, or the so called “Giant Structures” that are affecting this. These giant structures are also in fact observable, and are made up of hydrogen gas and dark matter and take the form of filaments, sheets, and knots that link galaxies in a fast network called the cosmic web. Scientists have postulated these observable structures play a role in the movement of galaxies, but we have barely scratched the surface of this phenomenon. This movement phenomenon is why many scientists are studying these large scale structures. Based upon the observable universe, scientists have learned that galaxies tend to form gravitationally bound clusters that belong to even larger superclusters. The Milky Way for example is part of a local group of several dozen galaxies, and this local group is inside of the Virgo supercluster which contains more than 1,000 galaxies. The sheer massive scale of the universe is a testimony to the glory of God! On the local scale, galaxies interact and influence a galaxy’s spin, shape, and angular velocity. There is also something known as galactic cannibalism where one galaxy consumes another one. The research paper [1] reports 445 galaxies were studied which were within 400 million light years of Earth. The discovery is reported that “the galaxies rotating in a direction toward Earth had neighbors that were moving toward Earth, while those that were rotating in the opposite direction had neighbors moving away from Earth.” It is believed these synchronizations are somehow linked to the large scale structures.
It is reported that the secret of these synchronized galaxies may pose a threat to the cosmological principle, one of the basic assumptions about the universe. This principle states that the universe is basically uniform and homogenous at extremely large scales. The research on blackholes and quasars [2] and the reported correlations would constitute a serious anomaly for the cosmological principle. Currently, these observed results are not well understood and more scientific data needs to be collected. The quasar alignments are not the only problem. Another observation is how dwarf galaxies are aligned around their larger host galaxies, such as our Milky Way galaxy. These satellite galaxies pose a problem for what is known as the ACDM model, which is a theoretical timeline of the universe since the Big Bang. Simulations of the universe under the ACDM model predict that small satellite galaxies will end up in a swarm of random orbits around larger host galaxies. Over the past decade however, new observations have revealed that a huge chunk of the satellite galaxies around the Milky Way are synced up into one tidy orbital plane. At first, scientists wondered whether that simply meant something weird was going on with our own galaxy, but a similar plane of satellites was then observed around Andromeda our neighboring galaxy. This same phenomenon is observed around Centaurus A, [3] and elliptical galaxy about 10 million light years from the Milky Way. These observations suggest that something is wrong with the standard cosmological models. What is really fascinating about this research is how we are still at the pioneering precipice for understanding how the universe was created.
The spiritual insights we receive from this type of research is to what the Scriptures speak of regarding the hidden things of God, and those things which have been revealed to us. Yeshua said in Luke 12:2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. (NIV) He was speaking of how men go about in the darkness to conceal their sins. He says that there will come a day in which all will be made known, nothing will be concealed. This is not the Spiritual insight that we are trying to draw out from this research. The Scripture that came to my mind was straight out of the Torah, from Devarim / Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” These Scriptures speak of the revealed will of God. What Moshe is speaking about is on the will of God and how this must be determined or understood. We are to consider the various ways God speaks to us, via His Word, via His Spirit, via His creation, via the way we apply His Word to our lives in its particular distinctiveness from the world in righteousness, holiness, and truth. We find this distinction here in this week’s scientific research, the things that are revealed in the known observable universe, and the things that are hidden in relation to the mechanisms for our current understanding of cosmological models that are not fitting what we have observed, the mechanism of synchronisation of galaxies has been hidden. Our Creator has revealed some things to us, from the Scriptures He has revealed His plans, attributes, and character, but He has not told us everything. The simple explanation may be that we are finite beings, and God is infinite, and there is a limitation to our understanding, this is what has led to the motivations behind the desire to perform research in the applied and theoretical sciences, to understand what is unknown. Jewish tradition regards the idea of “Torah” to include not just the written words of Moses as we see them written in the Torah, or the words of the sages codified in the Mishnah (Oral Torah) and the Talmud , but also to a “hidden revelation” (תורת הנִסתָרTorat Ha-Nistar) the inner dimension of the Torah, which was eventually codified in the Zohar, a mystical commentary on the contents of the written Torah (Nigleh, the revealed aspects of the Torah). For example, to learn about the Torah, we begin with the Peshat level speaking about the things which are related to this world, righteousness, holiness, truth, godliness, etc, all of which has been revealed in the pages of the Scriptures. When studying the Mishnah and the Talmud, we learn about the various civil cases, damages, charges, etc, all of the things which are related to the practical application of God’s word that are distilled from the wisdom of the Torah in regards to the legal rulings of living in a community of people. In Pardes, the Sod level is on a kabbalistic level, a more esoteric level of studying Torah. The Pardes method of interpreting Torah, the rabbis say correspond to the four worlds of creation in the Zohar. The kabbalistic level of interpretation is said to not be an additional fifth level but one that permeates all of these four methods of interpretation (Peshat, Drash, Remez, Sod). The “hidden revelation” (תורת הנִסתָרTorat Ha-Nistar) the inner dimension of the Torah references the Sod (secretes/mysteries) and in Hassidism Judaism, it is taught that when studying the Torah today one must taste of the Tree of life in order to illuminate all other aspects of the Torah. This is why in the Shema (Devarim / Deuteronomy 6:4) which states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might” is immediately followed by the command to learn and teach the Torah to our family, children, and when raising and laying down, etc. This is what Yeshua may have been referring to when he said in John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. (NASB) Later Yeshua said in John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 7:38 ‘He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’‘ 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 7:40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the Prophet.’ 7:41 Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 7:42 ‘Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’ 7:43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. (NASB) Yeshua was speaking from Isaiah 55:1 Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (NIV) We may understand if a person wishes to quench his thirst with the passionate love of God, He must first believe in the Messiah Yeshua, receive the Spirit of God, and study the Word of God and these things will be revealed. The Word of God (John 1:1-14) that is contained within Yeshua, are compared to water and spiritual thirst, and thirst quenching and life supporting need for the Word of God in our lives!
The scientific research speaks of the observable known universe. The Torah speaks in Bereshit / Genesis 1:1 saying, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Notice how no additional detail or explanation is given. What we find here is simply the mysterious declaration of God’s eternal power that is behind the appearances of this world. When we begin studying God’s creation, it is only then that we begin to get some idea of God’s hidden creative power, just as we see in the scientific research of Astrophysics where galaxies millions of light years away seem to be connected by an unseen network of massive intergalactic structures which force them to synchronize in ways that cannot be explained by existing theories. At the beginning of the Torah we read of God’s eternal power, and at the end of Scripture, in Revelation 4:11 we read that “You created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created.” In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Maimonides, writes:
“According to Maimonides, all of Jewish law aims at two things: the improvement of the body and the improvement of the soul. The former is in every case a means to the latter. The soul is improved by acquiring correct opinions and eventually knowledge on everything humans are capable of knowing. The more knowledge the soul acquires, the more it is able to fulfill the commandments (Deuteronomy 6:5) to love God. The biggest stumbling block to the love of God is the belief that the only way to remain true to the Bible is to interpret it literally. The result of literal interpretation is a material conception of God, which, in Maimonides’ opinion, amounts to idolatry. The Guide has long been considered a controversial work and in some rabbinic circles was originally banned. By rejecting literal interpretation, it raises the question of whether Maimonides’ reading of the Torah corresponds to what the prophets understood or represents a philosophic reconstruction that owes more to Aristotle and Alfarabi than it does to Moses. It also raises the question of whether the real meaning of the Torah is too controversial to be taught to the average worshipper and should be restricted to the educated few; in short the question of esotericism.”
The Baal Shem Tov wrote that Mashiach would come when the teachings of godliness is widely dispersed. This is a foretaste of the coming of Mashiach as Maimonides wrote “Man will know God according to the extent of his ability.” This draws out an insight into the purpose of Scientific research is to know something more precisely. The reason we study the Scriptures, and for the coming of Mashiach, was for the purpose of knowing God, and knowing His will more precisely! The hidden will of God, those things which are not revealed to us, this is His will of decree, because it consists of the reasons behind why he has established his mitzvot (commandments), God’s eternal decrees ordains all things! Nothing can turn over His will, it will always come to pass (Job 42:2). This is what Isaiah wrote in ISaiah 55:10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 55:11 so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it. (BRB) We can only know God’s will in retrospect, as we look back on history and study out the particulars of what God has ordained because we know what has happened. This is what it means that He works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11) The revealed will of God is known by the written Word of God because it contains His commands, His statutes, and His precepts for our lives. The Scriptures reveal to us what is pleasing to God, our having faith and being faithful to His Word. The revealed will of God is His eternal holy character (See Tehillim / Psalms 119:105, 143:10). This is the peace of God in our lives, that we are able to seek the will of God for any particular circumstance. The Lord God says that He has plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and all we need to consider is knowing what He has revealed to us in His Word. As long as we seek to obey Him, we can do what is pleasing to Him no matter where we are in this world. This is what God created what He has created for the building of the kingdom based upon chesed (חסד) just as David said, “The world was built with grace/chesed” (Tehillim / Psalms 89:2). The foundation of God’s love is chesed (grace) as it is revealed to us in the life of Yeshua the Messiah. (1 Corinthians 3:11) These things are revealed to us in the very first mitzvah (commandment) given to mankind, פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ (p’ru ur’vu) meaning “be fruitful and multiply.” Simply speaking, this means we are to create families which become a picture of nurturing communities based on grace (chesed). The NT perspective teaches us how the family is to be centered on Yeshua the Messiah who led the way for His people to walk in God’s Ways. He revealed to us the proper interpretation to live in the kingdom of God. He was the rosh pinnah ראשׁ פִּנָּה, the cornerstone of the Temple of God. These things have been revealed to us. Everything else has been given for us to search out with fear and trembling!
