February, 1937
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form, and void.” The implication is not that it is an empty spot such as the so-called “ hole in the sky,” but rather that it is sim ply a great barrenness in the midst of which there may be seen many stars. It must be remembered that the stars which seem so numerous to us are but tiny spots in space, and the unoccupied space between the stars is far greater than the space occupied by the stars themselves. T he C ompassion of the A lm ighty G od Is it any wonder that the psalmist ex claimed: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Even as we cannot imagine any mechanism which man may form—a watch, for in stance—as being a mere happenstance, neither can we conceive of the galaxies as being a product of chance. As there is a master mind behind every watch, so there is a Master Mind—the Infinite God—be hind the galaxies themselves. It would seem that surely the One who deals with such stupendous distances and such vast creations as those which we have been con sidering could not be concerned about mi nute specks which crawl about on the sur face of another minute speck, which in turn revolves around a tiny dot of light in the midst of multiplied billions of other dots of light. How could God possibly be in terested in matters that pertain to man? But God tells us in His Word that He is interested in us—that even the hairs of our heads are numbered. He who controls the revolutions of innumerable and measure less suns is the One who also marks the sparrow’s fall. How wonderful in power and grace is God, the believer’s heavenly Father! If, heretofore, we have thought of Him as being great, surely our sense of awe and reverence will increase as we realize that He holds all things as in the hollow of His hand. The One who fashioned the stars and who set them in their courses, came to this planet and lived atnong men, was known to His fellow's as Jesus, and was recognized by many as Christ the Saviour. He went to Calvary’s cross and there was subjected to cruel agony and suffered death— all be cause mankind had fallen into the depths of sin, and God, in' love, would provide a Deliverer. By His atonement, all who be lieve on Jesus Christ receive everlasting life (cf. John 3:16), perfect fellowship with God and all that is good. Death—eternal separation from God and all that is good— awaits all those who reject the Saviour. “ The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Man has the opportunity to choose between life and death. “Therefore choose life” (Deut. 30:19). How can man willfully turn his back upon God who is infinite in all His attri butes, who fills space according to His will? How can he crucify afresh the Lord of glory, putting Him to an open shame, and in effect say to Him, “ I will have nothing to do with Thee” ? Such superegotism as this should have no place whatever in the mind of man. Let us get the true perspec tive; and when God speaks, our reason able answer must be, “Lord, I believe.”
this earth there are yet other island uni verses as yet unknown to man 1 The one- hundred-inch telescope on Mount Wilson, near Pasadena, California, reveals galaxies about 500,000,000 light years distant. When completed, the two-hundred-inch telescope to be located on Mount Palomar near San Diego, California, will be able to reveal galaxies at twice that distance. S tar D ust and th e S o -C alled D ark S pot in th e S k t One of the problems which confronted astronomers a few years ago was the ques tion as to why no island universes could be observed in the direction of the Milky Way. Quite recently there has been brought to light evidence pointing to the possibility that surrounding our galactic system there is a dark band of star dust or cosmic clouds. As one looks at a photograph of a galaxy seen on edge, a dark streak may be dis cerned which blots out portions of the gal axy from our view. Astronomers believe this dark streak to be a similar band of star dust which surrounds that island uni verse. We hear from time to time that there is a dark spot in the sky near the Northern Cross which is utterly devoid of stars. It has been suggested that this spot marked the direction of heaven. As a matter of fact, this so-called dark spot is not devoid of stars. Astronomers now believe that this dark spot in the northern sky is caused by a cloud of our galactic star dust, and that were it removed, the spot would doubtless reveal stars out as far as our telescopes could reach. It is interesting to note that a similar dark spot, or “coal sack” as it is known in astronomical circles, is to be ob served in the sky near the Southern Cross. We believe heaven is a place. When Jesus Christ said to His followers, “ I go to pre pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself,” we believe He meant exactly what He said. But wherever that place is, it is far bigger than any one spot which we can view in the sky above us. The verse found in Job 26:7, “ He stretch- eth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” is used in support of the idea that this dark spot is the location of heaven. It is to be noted, however, that “ the empty place” does not refer to a particular spot which is empty of stars. Rather, it is the same word which is translated in Genesis 1:2 “ without form,” where we read, “ The earth was without
IN THE HOLLOW OF GOD’S HAND [Continued from page 47]
belong definitely to it. This island universe, of which we are a part, becomes 200,000 light years distant from one part of the outer rim to the opposite side, and the dis tance through our galaxy becomes 20,000 light years. As the giant telescopes have pierced the night sky taking photographs of the stars, many spiral galaxies have been discovered. Tw o or three of these are visible to the naked eye, but most of them are revealed only by long photographic exposure of the heavens. At one time it was considered that these spiral galaxies were within the realm of the Milky Way, but now it is well established that they are completely outside our Milky Way galaxy and wholly independent of it. It takes light 200,000 years to travel from one extremity of our Milky Way galaxy to the other extremity, but it takes light nearly a million years to reach us from the closer island universes. Instead of thinking of these island uni verses—such as the spiral galaxy of An dromeda—as belonging to us, we find that they are independent of us and many of them are larger than our own. Millions of these galactic systems have been photo graphed, some at much greater distances than others. Who knows but that out in the infinite regions of space beyond those galaxies which have been observed from Bible Questions Answered By William L. Pettimrill 429 pages : including Table of Contents, Scripture Index and Subject Index. Cloth, $1; Paper, 50c; postpaid. Send for full list of Author's works. JUST A WORD INCORPORATED Wilmington Delaware A B IB LE GAM E For Every Christian Home The interesting and instructive game of “Bible Families,” dealing with 52 characters of the Bible as family groups. Many Bible teachers give it first place among Bible games. Ideal gift for birthday, Easter or for rewards. By mail, 55c or 3 for $1.25 MRS. F. T. BROWNING 9628 So. Hobart Loa Angeles, Calif.
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