The
silence of God, as it were, falls upon the scene; we hear nothing more
about the heavens, and nothing of the earth between the time of its
creation and its state as described in the next verse--a desolate, watery
waste, upon which darkness brooded.
It is a great thing to know how to listen when God speaks to us, and to
be silent when He is silent. "By faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God"; this is what He has been pleased to tell us,
and we cannot go beyond it.
In the chapter called "Ruin and Darkness," we learnt a little about the
"crust" of the earth; and I told you that those who have studied it believe
that they can read in it, as in a book, marks of the many changes which
have passed over it since the Creation.
As they search into its depths and bring out to the light of day remains of
plants and animals which lie buried there, they point to these "footprints
on the sands of time," and tell us that our earth is very, very old; _how_
old they do not say; they can only guess.
But long before anyone began to lay bare the recesses of the earth and to
ponder its age, God had told us that it is older than our little minds can
conceive, for He created it "in the beginning."
Men of science also when they speak of the work of God on the SIX DAYS
of His Creation, say they could not have been actual days of twenty-four
hours, as time is now measured. I have told you that in speaking of what
God does we must never say a thing _could_ not be; but rather lay our hand
upon our mouth, or speak as Job did when he answered the Lord and said, "I
know that Thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden
from Thee.
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