Why Did God Create Such a Vast Universe? The Spiritual Meaning of Infinite Galaxies

Yaron asks: “Why did God create such a vast universe? Distant galaxies, countless stars we’ll never see — someone asked me this, and I didn’t have a clear answer.”

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Shalom Yaron, and thank you for your thoughtful question.

Think of it this way: If there were only a few stars, how could we truly sense that the Creator of the universe is infinite and eternal? In my view, this is one of the reasons why humanity gradually abandoned the belief in physical idols. Today, Jews and non-Jews alike believe in an infinite, spiritual God, precisely because everyone knows how immense and wondrous the universe is. In a cosmos this vast, no one can reasonably imagine a “sky-god” throwing lightning bolts; rather, the only conclusion is an eternal, infinite Creator who fills all worlds: “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord (Yirmiyahu 23:24).

The very fact that no person can count the stars or even imagine the true size of the universe is one of the strongest scientific testimonies to God’s infinite power. If His creation is beyond our ability to measure, then how much more so is the Creator Himself — who must be greater than everything He made. The entire universe exists only through His constant will.

Notice how the world is moving closer to the era of redemption foretold by the prophets, when all people will recognize God. Even today, the universe itself testifies to us: billions of stars act as billions of witnesses that the Creator is not a body, has no physical form, and transcends all material things. Only the true Infinite One could create a universe so vast and awe-inspiring. As the Torah says about the stars: “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, who calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power” (Yeshayahu 40:26). By contemplating the universe, we begin to grasp the greatness of our Creator.

You may ask, if the universe is so enormous, what is the significance of the tiny human being within it?

This is in fact a mistaken way of looking at God. God is not limited to human, dimensional perception. He is present everywhere, in the smallest particle and the largest galaxy, and for Him there is no difference between small and great. You yourself are made up of billions of cells, each more complex than the design of an entire city like New York. So what if the heavens contain billions of stars? Even here on earth, most of the surface is ocean, and in the dry land there are an estimated 28 million insects for every one human being! Yet humanity is still more significant than all of these, because the human being is the only creature in the universe with the capacity to recognize his Creator, to pray, to seek Him, and to choose between good and evil.

Consider a wealthy father who built a hundred-story skyscraper. Wouldn’t his tiny baby sitting in a stroller be more precious to him than all the towers and treasures he owns? Of course. And one day, he would wish to give it all to his child. In the same way, God gave the human being a divine soul, which our sages called “a portion of God above.” Man is more important than all the worlds, because, as the Torah says: “You are children of the Lord your God” (Devarim 14:1).

The very fact that humans seek God, ask about Him, and long for meaning is proof that God seeks them in return.

God created humanity with intellect, with free will to choose between good and evil, and with the inner drive to search for life’s purpose. This itself indicates His intention: that we would know Him, fulfill His will, and rise to our true role as the crown of creation. Our ability to choose right from wrong means that He is also testing us. These truths are so deeply embedded in human nature that all cultures and nations have, in some form, reached the same conclusions.