ts application, in
Proverbs viii. 28: "He _established_ the clouds," the most fleeting of
all things. Nor is the Hebrew word _kun_ (whence our English word,
cunning), inconsistent with motion; else, the Psalmist had not said that
"a good man's footsteps are _established_ by the Lord."[304] "He
_established_ my goings." Wise arrangement is the idea, not permanent
fixture.

The same remarks apply to Psalm xciii. 1; xcvi. 10; 1 Chronicles xvi.
30, and many other similar passages.

"The world is established, that it can not be moved;
Thy throne is established of old:
Thou art from everlasting."

Where the establishment, which is contrasted with the impossible
removal, and which explains its import, is evidently not a local fixing
of some material seat, in one place, but the everlasting duration of
God's authority. The idea is not that of position in space, at all, but
of continued duration.

Space does not allow us to quote all the passages which refer to this
subject; but after an examination of every passage in the Bible usually
referred to in this connection, and of a multitude of others bearing
upon it, I have no hesitation in saying, that it does not contain a
single text which asserts or implies the immobility of the earth in
space. The notion was drawn from the absurdities of the Greek
philosophy, and the superstitions of popery, but was never gathered from
the Word of God.

But it is alleged that other passages of Scripture do plainly and
unequivocally express the motion of the sun, and his course in a
circuit; as, for instance, the Nineteenth Psalm:

"In them he hath set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of heaven,
And his circuit unto the ends of it."

And again, in the account of Joshua's miracle, in the tenth chapter of
his book, it is quite evident that the writer supposed the sun to be in
motion, in the same way as the moon, for he commanded them both to stand
still: "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley
of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the
people had avenged themselves upon their enemies." Now, it is said, if
the writer had known what he was about, he would have known that the sun
was already standing still, and would have told the earth to stop its
rotation. And if the earth had obeye