"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:3)

The setting of this beautiful verse is after the resurrection of the saved to everlasting life, and the unsaved to eternal shame (v. 2). Its glorious promise to those who are "wise" and who "turn many to righteousness" through Jesus Christ is that of "shining" forever like the stars.

Evolutionary astronomers believe that stars evolve through a long cycle of stellar life and death, but this idea contradicts God's revelation that He has created this physical universe to last forever. Speaking of these stellar heavens, the majestic 148th Psalm, centered on God's creation, says that God "hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass" (Psalm 148:6).

It is true that, because of sin, "the whole creation groaneth . . . until now" (Romans 8:22), and the heavens "shall wax old as doth a garment; . . . and they shall be changed" (Hebrews 1:11- 12). In fact, the earth and its atmospheric heaven (not the sidereal heaven) one day will "pass away" (Matthew 24:35), and then will be transformed by God into "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:13) which will never pass away.

But the infinite cosmos of space and time, created in the beginning by God, was created to last forever, and God cannot fail in His purposes. "I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

The stars are innumerable, each one unique, each one with a divine purpose, and they will shine forever. We can never reach them in this life, but in our glorified bodies, we shall have endless time to explore the infinite heavens. HMM