p. 5 | THE WITNESSING OF GOD by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 3, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 22.

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THE WITNESSING OF GOD

By Editor

THE BASIS OF OUR CONFIDENCE

By the Editor

IV. His Work Witnessing to His Word

HE concurring witness of God's word and works lends material for large development; and we propose, before this series is entirely ended, to present other evidences upon this great phase of the subject, perhaps by other writers. We will content ourselves, however, at this time, with mentioning one other great and mighty evidence which God has given us concerning the inspiration of His word; and in this, as in the last, we appeal to the heavens, which "declare the glory of God." In that constellation which the imagination of the ancients pictured as a wagon driver called Boötes, also called "the Bear Keeper" because near the Great Bear, shines one star of resplendent beauty known as Arcturus, made famous by its mention in classic lore, and especially in the 38th chapter of Job.

In our last study we quoted from Job's own words, but in this we have the words of the Almighty Himself to Job His servant. Job had been pleading that God would give him some evidence and some reason as to why He thus dealt with him; and finally we have God represented as speaking to Job, placing before him some of His works in the heavens and in nature, showing by these things which Job viewed daily, things which came under his continual observation, how little he knew; and carrying the necessary inference that if this was true in the material world, would it not be also in the spiritual world? And if Job could trust the great God who did all these things so far beyond knowledge, why could he not also trust Him regarding the things that pertained to his own life? At any rate, the revelation of God to Job was convincing, and it brought Job in humility before the great Creator. Among the questions which Jehovah asks of His servant are these:

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences ["the cluster"] of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" Job 38:31, 32.

Passing by the wonderful openings of truth and evidences of inspiration concerning the cluster of the Pleiades, bound together by the mighty power of God through all the ages, and the marvelous constellation of Orion, in the depths of the nebula of which is one of the most wonderful revelations in the skies, we note the question in the last part of verse 32:

"Canst Thou Guide Arcturus with His Sons?"

As before remarked, Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation of Boötes. Men have for many years endeavored to obtain its parallax so as to get its distance, and many conflicting measures of this parallax have been made. Dr. Garret P. Serviss has told us that the very latest made at Yale seem more probably correct than their predecessors. They fix the parallax of Arcturus at sixty-six thousandths of a second of arc. If this be correct, the distance of the star can be quite easily computed. Based on that parallax, the estimated distance of Arcturus is 290,000,000,000,000 miles. It would take three million times the distance between the earth and the sun to measure it. That is to say, if our measuring rod was 92,800,000 miles long, we would have to lay it down three million times to span that distance.

After the distance is once known, men can compute the amount of light shed by Arcturus, and what its actual brightness is as compared with that of our own sun, on the supposition that they were at the same distance from us. Arcturus at that distance away, with the light which it now gives, if it were brought as close to us as our own sun, would shine 2,500 times brighter than ours. In other words, it is equal to 2,500 of our suns. If conditions were such that it poured forth the same amount of heat as does our sun, we are told that all life would disappear from the surface of the earth as if swept by a blast of inconceivable heat. Summer temperature would arise to tens of thousands of degrees. Oceans would boil away and evaporate. Vegetation would be burned in the twinkling of an eye. The eyes of living creatures would be charred in their sockets. Plains and mountains and rocks would burst into flame, and minerals would run in molten streams. Under present conditions in this world, there would be no comfort in living nearer to Arcturus than about four billion miles.

On an Abnormal Basis

Of course all this reasoning is from the basis of conditions in our own world. Astronomers and scientists reason from how things are, and not as things were and will be in God's normal universe. The curse of sin has reached to the utmost bounds of the creation of God. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together." In God's normal universe, the beneficent light from the various planets and suns would not harm His intelligent creatures, who were sinless and immortal.

But it is not the wonderful size or light-giving or heat-giving power of Arcturus that we wish to discuss in this article, but the two thoughts that are expressed in "Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" First, "his sons." It has been found that Arcturus was so tremendously large, of such mighty attractive power, that there were other suns which were swung into its train, held and controlled by their mighty chief the same as our own sun holds and controls the planets of the solar system. Men did not know it in Job's day. They have only learned it in later years with the precise instruments which inventive science has provided. But God knew it then, and God by His Spirit foretold the fact in the question which He asks of His servant Job. It is God's word witnessing to a great fact in His works.

Secondly, there is more in the question than that, "Canst thou guide?" It was at one time believed that the whole universe was moving in harmonious and uniform revolutions. Men argued this from the few things that they knew. But now astronomers have found that parts of the universe are moving in altogether different cycles, some seemingly in straight lines, or at least with a circle so vast that all observation thus far would seem to make the portions of the ellipse or circle which they are traveling seem like straight lines. Arcturus is one of these. He is rushing on through the universe seemingly in a straight line, holding in his thrall other lesser suns, a wild runaway, so to speak, in the universe of God. And yet it shines on calmly to us, as it has been shining on during all the thousands of years since it was first observed. No damage comes to the universe, so far as mortals know, because of the course which it is pursuing. And the great thought, the mighty challenge, that is in the question from Jehovah to Job, is that the Master is guiding and controlling; that He who created the heavens and the earth by His mighty power, and fixed the very laws of their being, is Himself controlling Arcturus and his sons; and while to humanity they may seem to be doing that which is contrary to the laws that govern other great bodies in the sidereal heavens, yet they are just as truly moved on and on in the path appointed to them by the great Creator as is our own sun, or Sirius, or any other within our observation.

How did the writer of the book of Job (probably Moses) know these things?—He did not. All the knowledge of astronomy of that day held by Assyrians or Egyptians, could not, with the limited appliances which they then had, ascertain the facts implied in the question that is asked. God knew, however; and His Spirit, that "garnished the heavens," inspired the question. Through all the long centuries it has been asking the same question. Men have ignored it. They have called it a poem or a drama. They have told us that its inspiration was not worthy of our regard. It has been analyzed and ridiculed by higher critics. Its allusion to this fact or that has been questioned. The very men who have learned what they have concerning Arcturus and his mighty cavalcade, have not themselves known, perhaps, that the question was in the book; but the prophecy of God's question meets the facts which astronomy has developed and made clear. There can be no collusion between such witnesses. There was no time when they could get together in secret conference and say, We will testify to such and such things.

The star, with its constellation, was brought into existence we know not how long ago. The book itself was written more than three millenniums ago. The great facts implied in the question have been brought out in very recent years, but they testify conclusively and absolutely to the great truth of God's word. In it we may have confidence. In what it reveals con- cerning God's creative power we may take hope. We can turn from such passages as these to those found in that wonderful poem, the 40th chapter of Isaiah, and drink in of the comfort which God has there given to His children.

That chapter opens with a blessed thought: "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins." Evolution knows no pardon, knows no transforming power except that by the gradual process of ages, which is sometimes devolution, retrogression. God speaks to His children, and tells them that there is comfort for them in forgiving power, in regenerating power.

The chapter tells us of the good tidings which are to be borne to Zion, that the same

Lord God, the Mighty One, is coming again, and coming to reward His children; and then, that they may find rest of heart in these assurances, He tells them of the greatness of His power to bring about the purposes of His love. He has meted out heaven with a span, He has "comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure," and "weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance." He has "directed the Spirit of Jehovah" that "garnished the heavens" and that inspired His holy men. He sits "above the circle of the earth." All its inhabitants, in His sight, or compared with Him, "are as grasshoppers," and all the nations of the earth are "as a drop in the bucket," and "vanity." The heavens themselves are stretched out "as a curtain," seemingly spread out "as a tent" under which men dwell, and yet all that host of heaven has been called forth by Him. He asks His people to look above and "see who hath created these, that bringeth out their host by number; He calleth them all by name; by the greatness of His might, and for that He is strong in power, not one is lacking."

Remembering these, they should also remember that God does not forget them. He who is mighty in the maxima of nature is mighty also in the minima. He who has regard for the great things, has also for the little things, and He does not forget His children, those who swing midway between the tiny animalcula and the mighty suns. And then comes the comfort of the thought: "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint."

It is for the comfort with which God comforts His children that these assurances are given us. We may know that His word is true; we have the great, twofold witness of word and work. We may rest upon it. In our saddest, gloomiest, most despairing hours, we can turn from the darkness to the light of God, and in Him find illumination and rest.

[The next topic of this series will be "God's Word Twice Written in Prophecy and Fulfilment."]