He alone declares the ' System of the Heavens.'' 375
eternal preaching. Whence the Lord now also says rightly Book
to blessed Job; Wlio ivill declare the system of the Jteavens, ^^^
and who will make the harmony of heaven to sleep ? For
what is meant by the system of the heavens, but the inward
power of secrets? What is signified by the harmony of
heaven, but the accordant language of preachers? When
our Creator therefore has begun to relate the system of the
heavens. He makes the harmony of heaven to sleep; doubt-
less, because when He is manifested to us in visible appear-
ance, the words of preachers are withdrawn. For hence the
Lord says by Jeremiah; A man shall no longer teach his Jer. 3],
neighbour and his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all
shall know Me, from the least of 1hem unto the greatest,
sailh the Lord. Hence Paul says. Whether prophecies, i Cor.
they shall be made void; whether tongues, they shall cease; '^' ^*
tvhether knowledge, it shall be destroyed. Or certainly the
system of the heavens is that very vivifying power which forms
the spirits of angels. For as God is the Cause of causes,
and as He is the Life of the living, so is He the Reason^ of"Ratio.'
reasonable creatures. The Lord therefore then declares the
system^ of the heavens, when He brings Himself before us,^ 'Ra-
as to the way in which He rules over Elect spirits. He
' " ^'
then relates the system of the heavens, when the mist of our
mind is wiped away, and He manifests Himself to us in
bright vision. Whence the Lord also says in the Gospel;
The hour comelh when I shall no longer speak unto youm John 1
6,
proverbs, but I shall sheiv you plainly of the Father. For^^*
He asserts that He shews plainly of the Father, because by
the appearance of His Majesty, which was then manifested,
He shews both how He springs from the Father not un-
equal to Himself, and how the Spirit of Both proceeds
coeternal with Both. For we shall then openly behold, how
That Which Is by an origin, is not subsequent to Him from
Whom It springs; how He Who is produced by procession,
is not preceded by Those ^ from Whom He proceeded. We ^ Plural,
shall then behold openly how both The One is divisiblyg^gj''
Three, and the Three indivisibly One. The tongue ofGod note.
then Who then speaks, is the visible brightness of God
exalting us. And the harmony of heaven will then sleep,
because when the Rewarder ofour works appears in judgment.