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RE-ARRANGEMENT OF THE STARS

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 27, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 17.

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RE-ARRANGEMENT OF THE STARS.

By A. Smith

BY A. SMITH.
[It is designed that this article be studied as a Bible reading, the reader turning to and reading each reference given. The force of the article will be lost if this is not done.]
WHAT events in nature were to herald the second advent of Christ? Isa. 13:10-13 and 24:20-23; Joel 3:14-17; Matt. 24:29. See "Early Writings," page 33.
Why are the stars to be removed from their present relative positions in heaven? Heb. 12:27, last clause.
What can not be shaken, and because of which the stars are to be moved? Heb. 12:28, first clause.
Why can not the kingdom of the saints be removed from the earth? Ps. 115:16; Isa. 45:18.
Who rules and guides the stars in their courses? Isa. 40:26; Ps. 147:4; Job 31:33. Arcturus is a sun estimated to be many hundred thousand times larger than our sun. His orbital velocity is over 550 miles a second; being much more rapid than that of other stars in that quarter of the heavens. Astronomers can not account for it. Truly, Arcturus, with his sons (planets), needs a guide; and that Guide is Jehovah.
Will the dominion of the universe be transferred to the earth?—It is implied. Job 38:34. If such an event could not take place, and it was not God's purpose that it should, the question would have been entirely irrelevant. See Rev. 21:2, 3; 22:3. "The earth itself, the very field Satan claims as his, is to be not only ransomed, but exalted. Our little world, under the curse of sin, the one dark blot in His glorious creation, will be honored above all other worlds in the universe of God."—Desire of Ages, p. 26.
Is more than the earth embraced in the dominion to be given to God's people? Dan. 7:22; Eph. 1:17, 23; Rev. 3:21; Phil. 2:5; Matt. 28:18; John 16:15 and 17:20-24; Rev. 21:7. Because sin is abroad in the universe, the glory of God in heaven is now veiled in darkness. Ps. 97:2; Job 22:12-14.
The "mansions" that Jesus has gone to prepare (by atonement, Lev. 14:48-53) for His people, are doubtless those of the angels that sinned and were cast out of heaven. See Ezek. 28:18; Jude 6; John 14:2. "Are these [says Satan] the people who are to take my place in heaven, and the place of the angels who united with me?"
Sin originated in heaven, and, no doubt, the whole universe felt, more or less, the pulsations of the malady which soon developed in the earth into a malignant eruption. This is evidently why the entire creation must undergo a change. See Heb. 1:10-12; Rev. 21:5; 2 Peter 3:10.
What the ultimate destiny of the heavenly world will be is not certainly revealed. The New Jerusalem, the capital of the universe, and the home of the angels is to be removed to the earth, and the throne of God with it. "It was His [God's] purpose to re-populate heaven with the human race, if, after test and trial, they proved to be loyal to Him."
"They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Dan. 12:3.
Grandville, Mich.