Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-03-21
AMOS OF TEKOA.
The PROPHET FARMER BIDS THE PEOPLE
SEEK THE LORD.
Dr.. Talmage Ealargss on the Injunction Of Amos
seek Him That Make;h the Seven Stars
and 0rioa"-A Pretty Picture Of
TIE meaning Of Heaven.


day lessons, based on the text, Amos
SIS: seek him that maketh the seven
stars and Orion"
A country farmer wrote this text
Amos Of Tekoa. lie plowed the earth
and threShed the grain by anew thresh-
ing machine Just invented, as formerly
the cattle trOd Out the grain. he
gathered the fruit Of the sycamore-tree,
and sacrificed il with an iron comb just
before il was getting ripe, as IL was ne
cessary and customary in that way TO
take from IL the bitterness. he was
the son OF q poor shepherd, and stntter-
ed; but before the stammering rustic
the PhiliStineS, and SyrianS, and Ph9-
nicians, and MOabites, and Ammonites,
and EdOmiteS, and Israelites tremoled.
Moses was a law-giver, Daniel was a
prince, Isaiah . cOutier, and David 4
king; but Amos, the author OF our text,
was a peasant, and, as might be sup
posed, nearly all his parallelisms are
pastoral, his prophecy full Of the odor
OF new mown hay, aRd the rattle OF To-
Gusts. and the rumble of carts and
sheaves, and the roar OF wild beasts de-
youring the flOcks while the shepherd
the herds by day, and by night lnhao-
tied booth made out OF bushes, so that
through these branches he could see
the stars all night long, and was more
familiar with them than we who have
tight roofs 10 our houses, and hardly
ever see the stars except among the tall
black ehimneyS Of the great towns.
But at seasons of the year when the
herds were in special danger, he would
STAY out in the open field all through
the darkness, his only shelter the cur
tain OF the nlght-heaven, with the stel-
lar embroideries and silyered tassels OF
lunar light.
WHAT A LIFE or SOLITUDE,
all alone with his herds. Poor Amos.
And at twelve O'Clock at night, bark to
the VOLTS bark, and the lions roar, and
the bears growl, and the OWLS te-whit-
te-who, and the serDent'S hiss, as he un-
Willingly steps too near while moving
through the thickets, So Amos, like
other herdSmen, got the habit OF study
ing the map Of the heavens, because II
was so much Of the time spread out be-
fore him. He noticed some stars ad-
vancing and others receding. tie aSso-
ciated their dawn and setting with
certain seasons of the year. He had
a poetic nature, and he read night by
night, and month by month, and year
by year, the poem OF the consultations,
diyinely rhythmic. But two rOsettes OF
stars especially attracted his attention
while seated on the ground, or lying on
his back under the open scroll of the mid
night heaveus-the PleiadeS, or Seven
Stars, and Orion. The former group
this rustic prophet associated with the
spring. as 10 rises about the first OF May.
The latter he associated with the WIN
ter, as 10 comes 20 the meridian in JaDu-
airy. The Pleiades, or Seven Stars, con-
nected with all sweetness and joy;
Orion, the herrld OF the tempest. The
anciants were the more apt 20 study tue
phYsiognOmy and juxtapOSition Of the
heavenly bodies, because they thought
they had a special influence upon the
earth, and perhaps they were right II
the moon every few hours lifts and lets
down the tides Of the Atlantic Ocean,
and the electric storms of the sun, by
I'll scientific admissions, affect the
arth, why not the stars have proper
donate effect?
AND THERE ARE SOME THINGS
which make me think that il may not
nave been all superstition which con-
nected the movements and appearance
Of the heavenly bodies with great moral
events on earth. Did not meteor
run on an evaugeliStic errand on the
first Christmas night, and designate the
rough cradle Of our Lord? Did not the
stars i'm their courses fight against Sis
era? Was il merely cOincidetal that
before the destruction OF Jerusalem the
moon was eclipSed for twelve cOnSecu-
tive nights? Did il merely happen so
that a new star appeared In conStella-
tion CasSiperia and then disappeared
just before King Charles IN OF France,
who was responsible for st. BarthOl-
Omew massacre, died? Was it without
significance that in the days Of the
Roman Justinian war and famine were
preceded by the dimneSS Of the sun,
which for nearly year gave no more
light than the moon, although there
were no clouds TO obscure il?
Astrology, after all, may have been
something more than brilliant heath
enism. No wonder that Amos Of the
text, having heard these two anthems
of the stars, put down the stout rough
staff of the herdSman and took into his
brown hand, aud cut and knOtted flu
gers the pen OF a prophet. and ad-
dressed the recreant people OF his time
10 return 10 God, saying, "Seek Him
that maketh the Seven Stars aud
Orion This command, which Amos
gave 7Sj years II. c., is just as appro-
pirate for Us, 1,S99 A..
N THE FIRST PLACE
Amos saw, as we must see, that the God
who made the Pleiades and Orion must
be the God Of order. II was not so
much a star here and star there that
impressed the inspired herdSman, but
seven in one group, and seven in the
other group. He saw that night after
night and season after season and de-
cade after decade, they had kept step
OF light, each one In its own place, sis
terhoOd never clashing and never con-
testing precedence. From the time
Hesiod called the Pleiades the 'seven
daughters of Atlas" and Virgil wrote
in his Eneid Of stormy Orion" until
now. they have observed the order eS-
tablished for their coming and going;
order written not in manuscript that
may be pigeOn-holed, but with the hand
OF the Almighty on the dome of the sky,
so that all nations may read IL, Order
Persistent order. Sabine order.
OmnipOtent order.
What a sedative to you aud me. to
raf.u mi mt nd
times seem going pell-mell, and world
ruled BY some fend at hap-hazard, and
In ali directions NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., The