As far as the east is from the west
That is, an ever widening gap. The east is infinitely far from the west due to the spin of the earth. If you set your course east (or west) and never altered it, you'd never go the opposite direction. If you went north or south, you would eventually head in the opposite direction.
So wise of God to use this metaphor. I had this thought the other day:
The earth spins about 1000 miles per hour. Suppose the moment you confess a sin, you fix it in its place on the earth. The earth then continues spinning its 1000 mph. In one hour from the time you confess it, it is 1000 miles away from you. Then suppose the lump sum of all your sins were dealt with in this manner in Christ on Golgotha say 1982 years ago (using the date 30 AD for the crucifixion). In a rough estimate that is 24000 miles per day for 365 days each year (give or take) for 1982 years. This comes to 17,362,320,000 miles. The sun is about 93 million miles from earth. So, this would allow 186 times to the sun and back. I looked it up just now and theorists say the heliopause- that part of space where the sun's particles stop- of our solar system is 200 astronomical units (AU). It is 1 AU from the earth to the sun or 93 million miles. So, in our above scenario, we are dealing with 186 AU. From another angle Pluto is only 40 AU from the sun.
This astronomical distance of our sins removed from us and it increases all the time! A quarter mile every second. Just something to think about.
So wise of God to use this metaphor. I had this thought the other day:
The earth spins about 1000 miles per hour. Suppose the moment you confess a sin, you fix it in its place on the earth. The earth then continues spinning its 1000 mph. In one hour from the time you confess it, it is 1000 miles away from you. Then suppose the lump sum of all your sins were dealt with in this manner in Christ on Golgotha say 1982 years ago (using the date 30 AD for the crucifixion). In a rough estimate that is 24000 miles per day for 365 days each year (give or take) for 1982 years. This comes to 17,362,320,000 miles. The sun is about 93 million miles from earth. So, this would allow 186 times to the sun and back. I looked it up just now and theorists say the heliopause- that part of space where the sun's particles stop- of our solar system is 200 astronomical units (AU). It is 1 AU from the earth to the sun or 93 million miles. So, in our above scenario, we are dealing with 186 AU. From another angle Pluto is only 40 AU from the sun.
This astronomical distance of our sins removed from us and it increases all the time! A quarter mile every second. Just something to think about.