Perspective “Wandering stars” is actually a contradiction in terms. From the perspective of humans on Earth, stars do not move, much less wander. This is one difference between them and planets. Stars are stationary; planets move. In fact, the word, “planet,” comes from the Greek word, planetēs , which means, “wanderer.” Unlike planets, stars remain fixed in their places, and so much so that mariners set their courses by their reliable locations in the sky. Why, then, does Jude describe these men as “wandering stars”? Perhaps their brilliance leads others to believe that they are “stars,” but if they keep their eyes on them long enough, they will notice that they have changed positions. They might initially seem attractive and reliable, but when they become better known, one discovers that they are no longer spiritually where they once were. They “have wandered away from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:10). They are just “planets.” However, an even deeper truth is that stars themselves have their own independent movement, even apart from that which they seem to have from the rotation and revolution of Earth. It just appears that they are stationary, because they are so much farther away than planets. The only planets which can be seen by the naked eye lie within this solar system and relatively close to the Earth. Stars, on the other hand, are so far away that their distance from Earth is measured in light-years, while the distance of planets from Earth is measured in miles. Nevertheless, stars are so far away that humans cannot detect their movement. They seem fixed in place. This is called the parallax effect . In this phenomenon, the closer objects are to the viewer, the faster they seem to move, and vice versa. To a driver, mountains in the distance will hardly seem to move, while the trees on the side of the road appear to zoom past. This illustrates and emphasizes the importance of perspective. The closer people get to something, the more they perceive it as it really is. This principle is recognized in proverbs like “walk a mile in another’s shoes” or “familiarity breeds contempt.” To put it simply, distance changes perspective . For instance, many do not understand or like the Bible. To them, it appears that the Bible has many flaws and nothing to commend itself to them as worthy of their consideration, but this might only be because they have kept their distance from it. They have never gotten close enough to give it a careful and fair evaluation. Perhaps they listen too readily to others’ criticisms of it without looking at it for themselves. Yet, if they would just give themselves an opportunity to get to know the Bible “up close and personal,” they might come away with a much more favorable impression of it. It is also true that people can more accurately assess those they get to know. People often become more understanding and sympathetic toward others and lose their prejudices, if they are put in situations where they have to work with them and rely on them. Under such circumstances, even enemies might discover how much they have in common, or that the others are not what they thought, and befriend one another. However, if they put space between each other and maintain their distance, this allows them to harbor misimpressions about each other. One can never have a proper perspective on God as long as he keeps Him at a distance. As Paul put it to the Athenians, God made humans so “that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). Indeed, He is as close as the Bible and as near as prayer.

“These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 12,13).