16. Destruction and death say, “We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof; for he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heavens, to make the weight of the winds, and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did he see it and declare it.” But how shall man gain this true wisdom of causes? “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” It is the voice of the Saviour, he who “walked in the garden.” Men must be drawn toward God before they can see him in his word. “And unto man he said, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” It cannot be doubted that more reverence for God, and less egotistical trust in self, would greatly aid the wisest thinker of the present day. We have had altogether too much of that feigned or real pity for the Bible, as unfortunate in its allusions to science, deserving to be ranked with the superstitions of the untutored masses of the unlettered ages. It is true that prophetic allusions to scientific subjects are usually poetic, but none the less specific and definite for this. These allusions embody a true objective view, leaving to science the task to subjectively work out the true condition of things presenting such phenomena. Thus prophecy poetized upon the “Place for light, and the home and house for darkness; and the path leading to the bounds between them.” Scientifically explained, one pole of the Earth must have pointed steadily to the sun, leaving half the globe in perpetual darkness. 17. Joshua is said to have commanded the sun and the moon to stand still, and they obeyed him. Subjectively rendered the sun went not down, during one night, which could have been objectively accomplished by a mirage. As this would answer the purpose for which the phenomena is reported, it is highly probable that this is all that is meant. Again, God made a firmament. But firmaments called heaven are not things made. Subjectively rendered, he made a globe, from which the visible expanse is seen. These figures of speech, and especially the one called metonymy, run all through prophetic sayings. The heart’s willingness to accept the truth is often necessary to the intellect’s perceiving it. 18. The Reformation has made some considerable progress, and Job’s three mistaken friends begin to see their errors, and acknowledge themselves silenced. Job’s renewed ability to speak, and the readiness with which he handles the subject of each passing event, shows that the darkness is passing away, and the teachings of these dismal ages are being counteracted.