ations" of
the earth, prescribed "its measures," made a "decreed place" for the
sea, and framed the "ordinances of heaven," and this in presence of the
heavenly host assembled--

"When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted
for joy.[1]"

[Footnote 1: Job xxxviii. 7. The sons of God are clearly the angels
(_cf_. Job i, 6).]

The same idea can be gathered from the text which I have placed on the
title-page of this book. "By faith we understand that the aeons (the
whole system of nature in its various branches, physical, moral, and
social) were ordained ([Greek: kataertisthai]) by the word of God." The
_process_ of actual development is here passed over, as not being the
main thing; what attracts attention is the Divine Design, the "framing"
of the wonderful ideal or ordinance without which the "aeons" could not
proceed to unfold themselves. I do not mean, of course, for a moment to
imply that, after God had formulated the laws and designed the forms, He
left the working out of the results to themselves. I should be sorry if,
in bringing into prominence what has generally been overlooked, I seemed
to throw the rest in the shade. God's providence and continued
supervision are as important in themselves as the original design:--but
this is not the central idea embodied in the passage.

There is another Scriptural allusion which suggests the idea of a
Heavenly Conclave, and great act of Creation in heaven. It may be
considered somewhat remote, and even fanciful--but the fact is recorded
_both_ in the Old Testament and the New, and _something_ must be meant
by it. And, moreover, other and very meaningless interpretations have
been from the earliest times given, so that I can hardly omit the
subject if I would. I refer to the permanent presence in heaven, around
the Divine Throne, of the singular forms of being called _Cherubim_,
which seem to indicate some mysterious connection between the life-forms
of earth and the inhabitants of heaven, and some permanent
representation of typical created forms in heaven. In Ezekiel, chapter
i., and again in chapter x., this vision is presented to us.

The prophet was to be prepared, by a very vivid exhibition of the power
and glory of God as the Author and Ruler of the universe, to appreciate
the depth of degradation to which the Jews had fallen in their rejection
of such a God as their Lord and King and of the justice of the terrible
overthrow which was t