The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-03-26
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
tenth Discourse Of the Series ON
Tho Marriage Ring"

a Sister's Influence In the Family n
Moulding the Characters Of Her
Brothers-The Love Of Blirlam
For Moses and Aaron.
We give below the tenth discourse OF
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage's series ON "The
Marriage Ring" delivered in the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, the subject being 1.-THE Sisters
influence Upon the Brothers," The text
was:
And the sister stood afar OF, to Wit v hat
would be done to him--[Exodus II.
DR.. Talmage said:
Princess Thermutis, daughter Of Phar.
aoh, looking out through the lattice of her
bathing house. on the banks of the Nile,
saw O curious boat on the river. 1t had
neither oar nor helm, and they would have
been useless anyhow. There was only one
passenger and that baby boy. But the
Mayfiower that brought the Pilgrim ia
theirs to America carried not SO precious
load. The boat was made of the broad
leaves Of papyrus frightened together by
bitu,nen. Boats were sometimes made of
that material, as we learn from Pilny and
Herodotus and Theophrastus. "Kill all
the Hebrew children borr," had been
Pharaoh's order. To save her boy, Joche-
bed, the mother of little Moses, had put
him in that queer boat and launched him.
His sister Miriam stood on the bank watch
ing that precious craft. She was far
enough of not to draw attention to the
boat, but near enough to offer pro-
lection. There she stands on the
bank. Miriam the poetess, Miriam, the
quick witted, Miriam the faithful, though
very human, for in after time she became
so mad with that very brother for marry
ing woman she did not like, that she
made great family row and was struck
with leprosy.
Miriam was q splendid sister. but had
her faults, like all the rest CT us. How
carefully she watched the boat containing
her brother! A strong wind might upset
IT. The buffaloes found there might in a
sudden plunge of thirst sink it. Some
ravenous water fowl might swoop and
pick his eyes out with iron beak. Some
crocodile or hippopotamus crawling
through the rushes might crunch the Labe.
Miriam watched ard watched until
Princess Thermutis, . maiden on each
side of her holding palm leaves over her
head to shelter her from the sun, came
down and entered her bathing house.
When from the lattice she saw that boat
she ordered it brought, and when the
leaves were pulled back from the face of
the child and the boy looked up he cried
aloud. for he was hungry and frightened.
and would not even let the Princess
take him. The infant would rather
stay hungry than acknowledge any
one of the court as mother. Now Miriam,
the sister, incognito, no one suspecting her
relation to the child, leaps from the bank
and rushes down and offers to get nurse
to pacify the child. Consent is given.
She brings Jochebed, the baby's mother,
incognitO, not sure Of the court knowing
that she was the mother, and when Joche-
bed arrived the child stopped crying, for
its fright was claimed and its hunger
appeased. You may admire Jochebed,
the mother, and all the ages may admire
Moses, but clap my hands in applause at
tho behavior Of Miriam, the faithful,
brilliant and strategic sister.
"Go home" some one might have said to
Miriam. "Why risk yourself out there
alone Oh the banks of the Nile, breathing
the miasms and in danger of being
attacked Of wild beast or rufian; 20
home" No; Miriam, the sister, most
lovingly watched and bravely defended
Moses, the brother. Is he worthy of her
care and courage! Oh, yes; the sixty
centuries of the worlds history have never
had so much involved in the arrival OF any
ship at any port as in the landing Of that
papyrus boat caulked with bitumen. Its
one passenger was to be a none such in
history. Lawyer, statesman, politician,
legislator, organizer, cOnqueror, deliverer,
He had such remarkable beauty in child
hood that Josephus says, when he was
carried along the road people stopped to
gaze at him, and wcrkmen would leave
their work to admire him. When the
King play fully put his GROWN upon this
boy he threw it OF Indignantly and put
his foot on it. The King, fearing that this
might be q sign that the child might yet
take down his crown, applied another test.
According to the Jewish legend the King
ordered two bowls to be put before the
child, one containing rubies and the other
burning Goals. And II he took the Goals he
was to live, and il he took the rubies he
was to die. For some reason the child
took one Of the Goals and put it in his
mouth, 90 that his life was spared,
although it burned his tongue till he was
indistinct Of utterance ever after. Having
cJme to manhood, he spread open the
palms of his hands in prayer, and the Red
Sea parted to let 2,50O.Oo0 people escape.
And he put the palms of his hands togeth-
or in prayer, and the Red Sea closed on
strangulsted host.
His life was unutterably grand, his
burial must be on the same scale. God
would let neither man nor saint, nor arch
angel, have anything to do with weaving
for him . shroud or digging for him
grave. The omnipotent God left his throne
in heaven one day, and il the question was
asked, "Whither is the king of the universe
going?" the answer was II am
going down to bury Noses" And the
Lord took this mightiess Of men to the top
Of hill. and the day was clear and Moses
ran his eye over the magnificent range Of
country. Here, the Valley of Esdraelon,
where the final battle of all nations is to
be fought: and yonder the mountains Her
mon and Lebanon and Gerizim. and hills
of Judea; and the village Of Bethlehem
there, and the city of Jerusalem yonder,
and the vast stretch of landscape that
almost took the old lawgiver's breath away
as he looked at it. And then, without
pang, as learn from the statement that
the eye of Moses was undimmed and his
natural force undated, God touched the
great lawgissr's eyes, and they closed;