THE HEAVENS

OF

OUR UNIVERSE.

LIBRARY OF GpNGRESS.
^/A^^.^tqtqrig^t

Shelf,

3fxu

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE HEAVENS
OF

OUR UNIVERSE:
THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

$ %

PHILADELPHIA:
CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER,
Nos.

624, 626

&

628

Market

1879.

Street.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by

CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER,

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at

STEREOTrPERS, PHILAD'A.

te

Washington.

PREAMBLE.
"

We

speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the

hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world."

1\

Corinthians

TYSTERY

A
it

be

is

ii.

truth not understood.

mystery may be

finite,

it

7.

finite

or

infinite.

can be solved, because

If

must

it

man, to be

have been intended as a study

for

discovered, and used, for

good, and the

glory of God.

Nature

his

is full

of such mysteries.

God

the

nature.

His

But, infinite mysteries belong to

Creator and Ruler over

man and

mysteries are not for us to know.

the supernatural, and the
finite

on

wisdom alone can

man

for

he

life

They

are of

of futurity.

In-

disclose their bearing

cannot

search

them

out.

Mortals cannot unveil any Divine mystery that

God has

not revealed in His word, or in His

works.
iii

PREAMBLE.

iv

The Holy

Bible holds the only written rec-

concerning

ord

To

man.

that

God with
book we must go if we would
the

dealings

of

seek the solution of the mysteries which sur-

round the beginning of the world, and the

liest

events of

In this

human

BOOK of books,

are

made known

marvellous mysteries of the creation.

in the revelation of

ear-

history.

the

There,

His own works, the Creator

has opened the knowledge of Science, as well

as of Duty.

In the myths of heathenism, there can be no

revelation of Divine truth

found

neither

in philosophical theories of

can

human

it

be

inven-

tion.

For the explanation of the ways of God

man, we must go to His revealed word
its

the

to

on

pages are stamped " the power of God, and

wisdom of God,"

and

only, the mysteries of the

years of time
vine Truth.

may be

there,

first

and there

two thousand

read in the light of Di-

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

THE HE A YENS.
" In the beginning

Earth."

Genesis

HUS
A

God

opens the

first

Heaven and

observe that both

used

in the singular

tinued through the

You

in the

Heaven and Earth are

number

first

only.

find the

This

word Heayens

is

made

con-

is

chapter of Genesis

second chapter the word

Then we

the

clause of the Mosaic

History of the six days of creation.

will

it

created the

but

plural.

signifying, as

must, more than one place with this name.

Thus, throughout the Bible, these terms, singular and plural, are used in referring to the

firmament or sky above

liarity

us.

of great importance,

Is

not this pecu-

when we

find
5

how

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

6
it

has been interpreted

pearing to have been

German

gians, a

Although never ap-

much noted by

theolo-

writer has interpreted this to

signify that " there

were other Heavens con-

nected with the creation of Earth, and thus

man was

not the only being in our universe."

This German has mistaken the meaning of the

Our Earth has two surround-

Mosaic record.

ings within her firmament or sky, and both are

united in our system.

Our Divine authority

Heaven
ber

is

for*

using the word

in the plural as well as singular

num-

That the term Heavens must

full.

in-

clude at least two places in the firmanient or

sky, both
used,

is

meant by
certain

Heaven or

term whenever thus

that the

singular

sky, includes the sun,

planets, that

zodiac

this

this

the.

is,

is

the

whole solar

number,

moon and

circle of the

Heaven of Earth, and must

belong to the lowermost region, or that nearest to the Earth.

The Heavens,

or the uppermost region, in-

cludes the fixed stars and

all

the undiscovered

THE HEAVENS.

portion of the firmamentpf our Universe.

This

the second Heaven, thus forming the plural

is

the Heavens.

as,

But may not

this plural

mean more Heavens

than the two of our Universe

May

not three

or four be included in the uppermost region

Astronomers term

it

researches, and speak

" infinite space."
stars to

" infinite

space " in their

and write of seeing

They have supposed

into

the fixed

be suns, some of them "a thousand

times larger than Dur sun," and that millions

of worlds are revolving in this "infinite space."
In answer to the

first

more than two places

Universe,

the

we have

question.

St.

idea that there

called

Heaven

may be
in

our

Bible authority that settles

Paul declares that " in a

trance he was caught up to the third Heaven,

where he heard things unutterable."

saw nothing.
Universe
is

is

The second Heaven

But he
of

our

the place where the glory of

God

displayed, as the inspired Psalmist teaches.

And

also the term "

meaning

in

Heavens

every verse where

"

has the same

it

is

found.

St.

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

Paul could not have**been in the "Heavens"

we

of the Universe

inhabit, but in the

third

Heaven, above our Heavens.

"

The Heavens

declare the glory of

God

and the Firmament showeth His handywork."

Psalm xix.

Here

I.

two positive assertions of Divine

are

truth for the guidance of our researches into

the meaning and the method of creation.

light

was a

portray His

spiritual gift

own

from Almighty God to

glorious perfections to

kind and thus draw the

The

human

man-

soul to obey

and worship Him.

Another lesson was taught by the firmament:

as

God's handywork

it

left

His laws

for the

guidance, example and inspiration of men.

these laws

men would

By

fashion these things of

nature to the greatest perfection their skill will

admit.
first

And

yet

men have

never studied this

record written on the sky by His pencil

of light, where His " handywork " teaches the

immortal mind to look upwards, because the

Heavens declare the glory of God.

THE HEAVENS.
The

greatest astronomers^ ay, the best

and most earnest seekers

edge of God

after the true

men

knowl-

His works, have never sought

in

know why

to

Firmament was sometimes

the

"Heaven" and sometimes "the Heavens"

called

They have never discovered

that there are

Firmament, the

divisions in the

first

two

or lower-

most, being the region of the sun, which vivifies

or sustains
this

is

on earth by

life

light

its

always termed Heaven.

glory of

God

is

dealt with in

and heat

But when the

description or

adoration by connection with created beings

and works of God on Earth, the term

the

This

Heavens.

stars

God's

and contains
light,

Where

sown

shall

we

some

always

is

the region of the fixed

all

the planetary riches of

like flowers

find

on Earth.

good and great

gators of God's Divine

there not

is

Laws

investi?

Are

who

will

of Nature

Christian Astronomers

patiently search out these proofs of Unity of the

Universe, and thus conform the truths of Nature with the truths of Revelation?
cess of reasoning from

human

No

pro-

authority can

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

10

establish the belief of

two

distinct regions, in

The

the present miserable state of astronomy.

Bible must be our

We

Book

of reference.

must not forget that the Genesis as

Moses wrote the book, had neither chapter nor

verse.
ters

of

It

was a continuous

history.

The chap-

and headings of our Bible were the work

monks and

priests about the seventh century.

These men were ignorant of science, as we now

understand

it,

and made many mistakes that

have done serious injury to the Divine truths

of the Mosaic History.

One

of these blunders

first

chapter with the

was made by ending the

sixth day.

The seventh day should have been

incorporated in the

Then

first

record of the creation.

the second chapter

would have opened

with what has been so long sought for by true

Christians, a definite declaration that the Earth

and the Heavens were created

period of time which was

Here

I will

in

called

the

same

" the day!''

quote two verses from the sacred

text; these should be carefully studied:


THE HEAVENS.

I I

"

These are the generations of the Heavens

and of the Earth when they were created, in
the day that the Lord God made the Earth and
the Heavens, and every plant of the field before
it was in the Earth, and every herb of the field
for the Lord God had not
before it grew
caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there
was not a man tq till the ground." Genesis ii,
:

4, 5-

The above two

verses are quoted as one, be-

cause they contain no period.

do hold three
creation
"

2d,

That

world was made before

was

not a

That the

distinct assertions, 1st,

was one work, the period

the day! "

"

But these verses

all
it

man on Earth

assertions, as the reader

is

termed

the vegetation of the

That there

grew.

3d,

" until

Adam. These

may

see,

have Divine

authority.

Had

these verses opened the second chapter,

they would have settled questions which have

been

fertile in

leading the minds of

men

errors concerning the age of the world.

first

verse,

into

In the

of twenty-eight words, the Lord God

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH,

12

declares twice positively, that the

Heavens and

the Earth were created at the same time.

More-

over, in the 2d verse there are other important

facts revealed that settle the absolute truth of

Divine Revelation, concerning the vegetation

of Earth.

Had

these two verses been studied and con-

sidered, there need have been

no

Neither would

point has been fully settled.

there

have been any doubt

Hugh

Miller,

which are

He would
made

cavil, for this,

in the

mind of

about the fragments of vegetation

fossilized

in

the secondary rocks.

have known that these things were

in the Earth.

And now

let

us consider the Heavens ; not

as a mysterious problem to unfold, but as a

sphere of truth to penetrate and

make

the development of true science.

If

new

of use in

two

divi-

sions are found in the skies above us, they

must belong

to our Universe, because the twain

are both included in the plural of the second

division

As

let

us call this the Heavens of the sun.

the Earth was included in the creation with

THE HEAVENS.
Heaven then

the

may

revealed,

it

not justly be

styled the Heaven of the Earth ?

This

title

is

due to the sun, he dominates our world by his

light,

giving heat and light by his

own

wealth

make

of lustrous rays, and colors of light that

the day-time glorious for beauty and use, above

the treasures of Earth.

all

pours forth a

It is

measure of

full

into the horns of the waiting

fills

the night with his

own

favors

the

until

moon, and she

glory reflected from

-Nor does he cease

her ever-changing form.

his

the sun that

luminous light

his

Earth

his

bride

clothed in robe and veil of shining light

wondrous beauty no language

is

whose

can express.

While her attending planets are revealed by

their splendor of light in the nightly

queen

to their

breathe their

and with the fixed

own

light into the

the nights of Earth are

God whose

Now
title

dwelling-place

this third use of

must have a

plexing
2

full

is

life

homage

stars that

of the sun,

of the goodness of

Heaven.

one name while each

different signification

is

per-

and doubtless the manner of printing

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

14

each name as a common noun with the small

"

heavens" also

and

" heaven," or

for the dwelling-place of

His hosts of angels and

all

Beings

"heavens/' for the skies, and

who

dwell

in

His

God

immortal

HEAVEN has

been the source of errors concerning these

places.
I shall

therefore take the liberty of changing

the style of printing these three names; considering each as a proper noun,

the firmament that

Heaven

encircles Earth

first

holds the whole solar system in

Heavens will represent

will signify

this

its

man

eyes,

fill,

many

of

The

scope.

Heaven of Earth and

also include the higher portion of the skies

the fixed stars,

and

them

where

invisible to

adorn and glorify His

hu-

Temple

not made with hands," for the worship of the

only living and true God.

place will be

And

His dwelling-

Heaven.

That the meaning of these names, Heaven,

and

the

Heavens of the Mosaic history, must

contain important truths, although not understood, seems inevitable.

And

the grave errpr

THE HEAVENS.

of considering the whole firmament, above

and

around the Earth, as one Heaven, has so benighted astronomical science, that the
creative plan of

God

by the wisest and most

this progressive age,

faithful

and the

in the

into the rocks,

the

creator,
first

seekers after His

efforts to exalt the

physical creation into a god

own

glory of the

Hence comes the irreverence of

Divine truths.

found only

full

has never been understood

is

while the

fossil,

dark depths of Earth, stamped

considered to have been

its

and also the only true witness of

ages of creation,

long ago that

has forgotten and can only put

even the

fossil

forth the

problem

seems rather

so

"

myriads of ages

indefinite

to

me

as

!"

This

do not

reckon time by the aid of logarithms.

But even these dark mysteries become deepened as we ascend into the regions of day, and
find that the cold increases in its intensity as

we draw
This

is

nearer to the source of

all light.

an important matter, that should be

gravely considered.

Has

power of generating heat?

light

the

inherent

Will not cold be

THE TEMPLE OE JEHOVAH.

ever increasing from the surface of the Earth to

the skies, unless the light of the sun comes in
contact with a substance of
If light in its

own

do not minerals and

How

its

sort

essence or nature,
their gases

is

cold

form the most

producing by contact with

effective agents in

the sun,

some

heat from light

Earth, and the Heaven of Earth are

Maintained.

Earth

is

consuming
life,

or fed

the sphere of
life.

Every

by food

life;

it

supports

living creature

life

is

by

fed on

that has lived, either as veg-

etable or as animal

life

and

all life is

depend-

ent on Light.

Heaven

is

the sphere of light.

light supported

Is

not

its

Are not

by consuming light?

the fixed stars and the nebulae, the forces of

light that nourish the sun
its

life-giving light

and enable

it

to

and heat on the Earth?

Let us examine some of the important

tinctions

pour

between the

dis-

Heaven of Earth and

the Heavens of the sun, in the nature of the

THE HEAVENS.
things
it

made and placed

in the

firmament.

If

can be shown that two distinct offices were

needed

for the perfect

work of

creation,

which

included not merely a finished work, but also

the pozver

of self-preservation

so

to

speak,

then there will appear good reasons for the

division of the firmament.

Earth had been furnished with means of

fertility,

materials.

first

by absorbing her own waste

Then she had substances prepared

for her use " in the

the

self-

beginning

"

and

laid

up

in

inorganic store-house below her surface.

She drew from the sun

that nourishes

life,

all

her light and heat

and from the atmosphere

above her reach, and the oceans beneath her

feet

came

influences and

substances that had

been prepared purposely by Divine Providence,

to build

up her waste places and keep the

integrity of Earth as a whole, in

its

weight and action, as long

time should

as

full force,

endure.
In return for these great benefits and blessings, the

2*

Earth supported
B

in

her

bosom and on

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH,

and even

her

soil,

ble,

animal and human, that had been created

and made

in the seaSj all

But she did not send back to the

sun any tribute of light for

If tithes

to the sun,

vegeta-

her use and entrusted to her

for

protection.

ceived.

life,

it

all

that she re-

had been paid by the Earth

must have been

effected

through

the agency of the gases from her mineral stores

in the depths

of Earth

it

below her surface

would not seem

from the face

that the sun could

be replenished.

And

yet what oceans of light have been

poured from
ical

this great

Universe

luminary over the phys-

The sun

lavishes on the Earth

his wealth of glorious light,

and

also

their

splendor that

God's
beings

is

all

make her nights of

charm the human eye, and thus

contributions

Earth

and she absorbs

draws from the moon and planets

to

the attractive centre of our Universe.

human children are here

who live to be prepared for

immortal
the service

of Jehovah.

And

what part has the second region of the

THE HE A VENS.
Heavens

in the

economy

very important part

Light

is

it

of the Universe

is

by

fixed stars

were made

for the

their

own

light.

but

they also

or mines of
stages of development which

form the star-depths

compared

The
They

purpose of aiding to adorn

the skies and brighten night,

ferent

a region where the

prepared to replenish the sun.

shine

stars in dif-

may be

to the

mines or depths below the

surface of Earth,

where the unorganized sub-

stances are laid up, for man's use.

pose the masses of light

They com-

for the use of the great

sun.

Do we

not find on the face of the Heavens,

proofs of this truth of unity with our world of

life ?

Are not the

useful to

men ?

constellations of the skies

Astronomers,

who now doubt

the star-depths, the " milky-way," and the bi-

nary

stars

to

be within the dominion of our

great Sun, unite in

making the comets (which

must come from a greater distance within the

upper sky-depths) quite useful to their knowledge of the Earth and the Heaven.

Were

the

THE TEMPLE OE J E H OVA H.

20

grand scope of the uppermost Heavens, now

unveiled to the

and open as now

to

human eye by

become mere space

the telescope,

human

sight,

or blank darkness,

would

for the

study of

among these gifted men

their own birthright?
And

there not be mourning

as for the loss of

would they not search

for reasons to

prove that

the whole creation, from the daiK depths of the

centre of our earth to the star-depths in the upper
skies,

belonged to our system ? Would they not

prove

this truth

by showing, as they

can, that the

mineral substances of Earth had been drawn

upward by the law of God

skies,

the

(" creation ") to

and form there the frame-work, so

speak, and substances of the

tary system

all

to

plane-

Earth cannot be included with

the planets, because

bosom,

moon and

from the matter

other things were made.

was from her mineral

stores' that the

in

her

And

many

it

col-

ored gases which form the marvellous pavilion

of the great sun were drawn and

These are now the boast of the

omer, for he has discovered them

made

glorious.

scientific astron!

Go,

listen to

THE HEAVENS,
his

21

Lecture while describing the awful splen-

monarch of Light, heaving the

dors of this
crest

fiery heat

of his

metallic

like

and tossing the brilliancy of

his

billows,

many-colored

clouds aloft like surges of foam on the stormy

ocean.

And yet the

sun

is

which the Lord God

at rest in his "tabernacle,"

" set for the

fourth day of creation.

"

work was

Do

sun

And God saw

"

on the

that His

good."

not these mutual benefits flowing from

Earth to Heaven, and returned from Heaven to

Earth, prove they were

made

for

each other?

All constellations and stars seen by the eyes of

men seem

And

to

belong to the Heaven of Earth.

does not the plural

Heavens prove

that the upper division belongs to the lower-

most, and must have been or rather

be of use

The

in

the

economy

" milky-way,"

is,

made

to

of the stellar system?

the Magellan

clouds, the

great clusters and other stars were familiar to

astronomical science before the age of Galileo.

Yet

till

that era the astronomer

had only

his

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

22

own eyes

for aid in searching the

Heavens ; and
knowledge acquired by the patient study

this

of the stars was remarkable.

The ancient philosophers, like Job, seem to

have known all the great laws of astronomical
science, excepting those governing the Earth

that
the sun moved and the Earth was stationary
in her orbitical motion.

Their mistake

had no influence that unsettled the

real truth in

the results.

The Masterful Law.

Let us examine
that

briefly, this

masterful law,

bound the Heavens and the Earth by the

indissoluble cord of affinity.

of the Earth in

The

her orbit around the

revolution
sun,

is

the

perfection of the ideal and the real, or the ap-

parent and the true, in the irresistible and un-

ending movement of Earth.

the

a law where

thought and the thing exactly represent

each other
ably,

It is

and these can be used interchange-

by human

ability,

when searching

laws that govern the physical creation.

out the

But as

THE HEAVENS.

23

human

eye,

the apparent or ideal was the truth to those

who

the only optical power used was the

saw the great sun

The
real

and

rise

set.

telescope was needed to teach

movement of Earth

made no change

or literature.

"The sun

in

our language

and the sun sets"

rises

our modes of speech, as he did to

his sons

when they came

The change

is

the

and yet the important

discovery has

in

men

forth

chiefly in our

Noah and

from the Ark.

almanacs and

in

our arithmetical calculations.

That the

secrets of the

not revealed to

men

upper Heavens were

during the long ages of

barbarism and tyranny, of ignorance and traditions, is not surprising.

The

nations were never

prepared to act on the motives that this knowl-

edge required.

There was no peace on Earth

no mode of concentrating the power of public

opinion save by the sv/ord
for the

no moral

people save the teachings of

culture

false reli-

gions, or the spiritual religion of Christ

mockery by

superstition

or selfishness of priest-craft.

made

and the ignorance

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

24
'

At

the time that Galileo invented the tele-

scope and the microscope, there was an impor-

movement

tant
to

of the power of

the world of action.

stir

science were then needed that

mind beginning
These

of

aids

men might

gain

a better knowledge of the laws and duties bind-

ing on

human beings by

knowledge, since the

fall

the laws of God.

of the

This

Roman Empire

and the supremacy of the Romish

religion,

had

been nearly obliterated.

If the Bible

printed,

and

had

in the

meaning of the

at this time,

hands

plural

been as now,

of Galileo, the real

word Heavens, might

have been reached and by him understood,

when he beheld

the increasing hosts of stars.

Thus accepted, the magnificent glory of the

upper skies would have been used as a type of
the glory of God, revealed to
his

own

doubt

faith in a

this is

man

heavenly inheritance.

human

race.

dependent on

No

one of the most important uses

which Omnipotent wisdom sought

the

to perfect

this

An

to confer

on

important duty was also

knowledge.

THE HEAVENS.

2$

That man was the appointed sovereign of

Earth and of

supreme

therein,

So

far

made him

searching out the

in his authority for

whole universe.

make

things

all

his

as

nature could

the creatures he needed and the things

he discovered useful and good

for

the right to rule over them.

But man could

hyn, he had

not add the Heaven of Earth to his possessions,

nor use

as

it

The

he did the things of Earth.

uppermost Heavens were not only above

reach, but

beyond

his sight,

perfected humanity

Creator:

God

over

by the
all,

and held

his

for his

divine love of his

be loved and wor-

to

shipped forevermore.

To

this

therefore

God mankind were made responsible;

men needed the knowledge of Heav-

enly things to guide

life

on Earth.

them

in their duties of

This knowledge should have

been the chief object of astronomical research

after the great

wonders discovered by the

tele-

scope had been added to the knowledge of men's

philosophy.

But the glories unfolded proved

too magnificent for

3

human

reason to appreciate;

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH,

26

men seem

to have forgotten their

own promised

immortality in a Heavenly inheritance; that

their

Almighty God should have a Temple

for

human contemplation above our low-browed

World;

He

that

might draw the soul by

fervent imagination to look upward,

His footstool of Earth, worship

its

and from

Him

dome of our Universe, the Heavens,

The microscope was discovered by

in

the

Galileo

about the same time as his telescope, but the

former was

far

more

rationally estimated

They soon found

men.

it

would be

by

useful in

their researches into the mysteries of nature

it

was put

to such uses, even

ments or instruments
telescope
benefit

to

its

making imple-

for the perfection of the

manifold uses were of wonderful

science.

Without the microscope,

astronomical discoveries in the uppermost Heavens

would have been impeded,

ble.

heard

if

not impossi-

The Herschels might never have been

of,

and the

foolish theories of a plurality

of worlds beyond our sun, would never have

been imagined.

THE HE A VE NS.
The microscope was an
that could

27

infinitesimal

power

show the images of atoms and the

living things that lived within life itself of a

But no doubt was cast on the

larger growth,
truths

that

it

No

displayed.

somewhere

in

philosopher suggested

our underground creation

there must be worlds invisible to us, even with

the microscope, and therefore these minute creations did not

And
stars

belong to our Universe.

yet astronomers have cast ofTthe fixed

from our system as beyond the scope of

God's plan

His creation of "the Heaven

for

These wise men can

and the Earth."

use for the stars

they

make out

find

even of the constellations

that Sirius

is

a sun five and a

half times larger than our sun; and that

have worlds revolving around

have not yet been discovered.
that "

by

God made

their

names"

no

it,

must

But the Record

the stars, and called

that

it

although these

them

all

these "were given for

signs and for seasons, for days and for years

that

is,

ment of

for the uses of

men

in the

"

measure-

time, the changes of season^ and for

THE TEMPLE OE JEHOVAH.

28
the

highest

this

our astronomy has so circumscribed and

belittled that

the

it is

and

skies

thrown

of rational beings:

studies

a pitiful sight to look up to

that

find

on our Earth has the right

fulfil

the uses of

all

their glories are

all

and the

to the owls

Are not

all

no being

bats, as

to find his

God

there.

things that tend to

the purposes of the Creator good for the

children

of

men

And would

not the in-

fluences of a belief that this glory of the upper

skies belonged to our Universe, have

had the

tendency to draw the hearts of mankind in

faith,

of

hope, and love, nearer the dwelling-place

God in Heaven?
And now look!

What monstrous stumDay

bling-blocks are here in this region of

Astronomical philosophy has

of God's glory with

imaginary
our sun

human
scope

"

suns " a

its

own

filled

idols of discovery:

thousand times larger than

and millions of worlds,

sight even

and

the place

invisible to

by the most powerful

tele-

myriads of millions of suns and

worlds in embryo, heaped in " the star depths"

THE HE A VENS.

opening

2g

these

out into "infinite space,"

are the creations of man's

unbelief in God's

work.
In the
stars,

book of Job we

find a lesson

on the

which was taught by the Lord God to

this servant of

His

and as

it

bled the pride of Job in his

may be

studied by

completely

hum-

own wisdom,

some astronomical

it

profes-

sors with advantage to the true science.

The wonderful

discoveries,

made by

troscope, are so amazing, that

the

it

is

the spec-

not strange

wisdom of men has become exalted

their

own

in

estimation.

" Canst thou bind the

Pleiades, or loose the

sweet influences of

bands of Orion

"

Job

xxxviii. 31.

Such were the questions which the Lord

quired Job to answer.

Thus we

re-

find that these

constellations (or the stars that

composed them)

wore bands or colored

stripes

on their surfaces,

in that early period of

astronomical study.

The spectroscope has

3*

lately revealed to our

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

30

generation of astronomers, that there are colored

appearances

red, blue, yellow, etc.

on

all

the great orbs of light, which Job was required

to

move,

if

he could.

As he gave up

periment of intermeddling

the

in

the ex-

work of

Almighty power, with the deepest humility

and submission, even to the repentance "in*
dust and ashes " before the Lord,

we have no

Bible authority which accounts for these colored

Yet they must have

appearances.

their uses

they must be of great strength and importance

in the

economy of the Heavens

not have

felt

so utterly

"By means

would

or Job

bowed down.

of spectroscopic analysis

it

has

been established that the constituent elements

of the sun and other heavenly bodies are substantially the

same

as those of the earth.

The

examination of the meteorites which have fallen

on the earth from the interplanetary spaces,

shows that they also contain nothing foreign

to the constituents of the earth.

seems

The

legitimate, corroborated as

it

inference
is

by the

manifest connection between the sun and the

planetary bodies circulating around

it,

that the

THE HEAVENS.

31

whole solar system is formed of matter of the

same description, and subject to the same general physical laws."

Thus,

we

learn, that

it

by the new philosophy,

they were at

as

first

now acknowledged

is

that

all

created

things continue
that

no radical

changes such as the geological philosophy has

invented for the Earth, have been discovered

This truth being acknowl-

the Heavens.

in

edged,

we have

also the declaration of Presi-

dent Strachey that

all

things

on the Earth

have continued as they were created, that

that

is,

no knowledge of any development has

ever been proven to have been possessed

by

any race of men that have lived on the Earth.

The substances of which the earth is now

composed are identical with those of which it
has always been made up so far as is known
"

it

has lost nothing and has gained nothing, ex-

cept what has been added in extremely minute

quantities

by the

or ever has been

earth, has

fall

All that

of meteorites.

upon the earth

is

sprung from the earth,

is

part of the

is

sustained

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

32

by the earth, and returns to the earth taking

back thither what it withdrew, making good
the materials on which life depends, without
which it would cease, and which are destined
again to enter into new forms, and contribute
to the ever onward flow of the great current of
;

,,

existence.

And
tific

"

here

is

the opinion of the greatest scien-

philosopher the old world can boast

Some

scientists say the planet

lions of ages old.

years

must be mil-

Cuvier says six thousand

long enough to account for every

is

formation found in the British

Isles,

and we

rather think those isles are a miniature of the

whole."

The years of God are one

Eternity.
The capacity of man cannot conceive of
unity; nor can he use
time,

it.

He

is

limited

and confined by circumference.

this

by

In the

circle

of time, and surrounded by the firma-

ment,

lies

the world for man's work.

The firmament- the

vault or

sky enclosing the Earth, was

the

word

on the second day.

canopy of blue

made

mark

Nothing more

THE HEAVENS.
was done

in the

this

Must

twenty-four hours.

not have been an important work

the

33

wisdom of God have intended

to

Must not

show

that

firmament was the boundary of time, and

made

for

man ?

Within

mind had freedom

for

this

limit, the

discovery, and

search into the glories of the Creator.

the

it

Temple of Nature

the

for

could
It

was

Temple of God.

Looking upward man could breathe

aspirations

finite

his holiest

wisdom, and pour forth

his

thanksgivings of joy.

The Psalmist expresses this idea when he says

1. The Heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth His handywork.
2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night sheweth knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language, where

their voice

is

Their

4.

not heard.

line

gone out through all the

words to the end of the world.

and their
them hath He

earth,

In

5.

his

Which

is

is

set a tabernacle for the sun,

as a

bridegroom coming out of

chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong

run a race.

man

to

THE TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH.

34

6. His going forth is from the end of the

Heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it
and there is nothing hid from the heat therePsalm xix. 1-6.
of."

There

not a text. in the Bible indicating

is

that the

created

Heaven was made

for

any-

other purpose than the physical, moral*, and

religious

development of human nature.

Sun, moon, and

must

stars

were

for

have been a very abject

who would

give

up

this

very daring enthusiast for

who would

man.

It

philosopher

birthright
scientific

or

discovery

venture to put forth the theory

of a plurality of worlds.

This plurality system, with suns "a thousand

times " larger than the sun
the firmament

made and

by the Almighty

placed in

architect,

is

in-

compatible with the word of God.

The

creation of inanimate things was closed.

Can there be found

in the record of the four

days any evidence of "a plurality of worlds "J

Would

it

not have destroyed

the plan as

shown

in

the unity of

the Bible?

poses of the Creator were developed

The

pur-

in unity.

THE HEAVENS.
He

not institute

did

35

pluralities.

These are

the inventions of man.

But

this is

questions

work

in

not the place to consider these

ultimate

their

of creation must be

first

few only of the most obvious

new systems
I

The

tendencies.

examined

fallacies

of these

of astronomical belief are

all

that

shall notice.
Infinite space

Man may

capacity.

Heaven

cannot be understood by

and study the

of the Earth, but this boundary

useless for

him

to attempt to pass

and presumptuous
has passed

No

explain

for

him

finite

it is

it

is

false

to pretend that

he

it.

mortal eye has ever looked through a

telescope into infinite space

human hand
faculties

as well

try to measure eternity.

might a

Human

have no power to work beyond the

sphere for which they were formed.

No

astronomer has ever yet taken up the

only authority that can guide him aright in his

researches for truth.

Word

This Authority

of Almighty God.

is

the