222 ASTRONOMYANDTHEBIBLE
And ifwewere abletomeasurethetimerequired
bythesun tomake one circle ofthe centeraround
whichitrevolves,wemightfindothersunsthatrequire
vastly longer periods to compass their orbits. Out
of the innumerable stars that glimmer inthe heav-
ens, there are infinite possibilities forthe measure-
mentofmightycycles. Thustheclockoftheuniverse
mayeverbemarkingofftheeternalagesofGod,and
neverbenearertheendthanitwasbefore.
Andendlessthoughthatdurationmaybe,Godwill
neverchange. Heisthesameyesterday,to-day,and
forevermore. ItisfromHisunchangingfaithfulness
thatwegatherourlessonsofhopeandtrust.
AndtheWorddeclaresthattheonewhodoesGod's
willshallabide forever. Heshalllivewhilethesun,
hurrying on its 700 miles a minute, traverses the
mightyorbitmarkedoutforitintheheavens,though
itmaybecountlessmillionsofmillionsofagesofages.
Andwhenthattimehasgoneby,andthesunismaking
the secondcycle, the child of God can say, "I still
havejustasmanyagestoliveasI hadwhenthesun
begansolongago." Andnomatterhow manymil-
lionsofagesthecircuitofthesunmayrequire,and
no matterhow many times the sun may circle this
orbit round,there hasbeen nothingtaken from the
infinite ages of the immortal life; for eternity has
neveranend.
AndO,tothinkofit,beloved,"Hethatdoeththe
willofGodabideth forever." "Theythatturn many
torighteousness [shallshine]asthestarsforeverand
ever."