The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-03-30
A GIANTS BEDSTEAD.
d.. Talmage Draws a Practical
Lesson From an Obscure Text.
King Og, Of BashDn, and How He Was
Defeated By the Israelites-"Doubt"
and "If'' the Two Giants That
Confront Mankind In
These Days

his text Deut ill.,, IL: only Og, king
OF Bashan, remained of the remnant OF
giants; behold his bedstead was bed
stead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of
the children of Ammon? Nine cubits
was the length thereof and four cubits
the breadth of it." The noted divine
spoke as follows:
The story of giants is mixed with
myth. William the Conqueror was said
to have been of overtowering altitude,
but, when, in after time, his tomb was
opened, his bones indicated that he had
been physically of only ordinary size.
Roland the hero, was said to have been
of astounding stature, but when his
sepulcher was examined, his armor was
found only large enough to fit an ordi-
nary man. Alexander the Great had
helmets and shields of enormous size
made and left among the people whom
he had conquered, so as to give the i'm
preston that he was giant, although
he was rather under than over the usual
height of man. But that in other days
and lands there were real giants is au-
thentic. One of the guards of the Duke
of Brunswick was eight and half feet
high. In museum in London is the
skeleton OF Charles Brine, eight feet four
inches in stature. The Emperor Maxi
min was over eight feet Pliny tells of
giant nine feet high, and two other
giants nine and half feet. SO am
not incredulous when come to my text
and find King Og giant, and the size
of his bedstead, turning the cubits of
the text into feet--the bedstead of Og,
the king, must have been about thirteen
and half feet long. Judging from
that, the giant who occupied it was
probably about eleven feet in stature,
or nearly twice the average human
size. There was no need of Rabbinical
writer's trying to account for the pres
ence of this giant, King Og, as they did,
by saying that he came down from the
other side of the flood, being tall enough
to wade the waters beside Noah's ark,
or that he rode on top of the ark the
passengers inside the ark daily provid-
ing him with food There was nothing
supernatural about him. He was Sim
ply monster in size.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of
COLE, and Sardanapalus had $50 bed
steads of gold burned up with him, but
this bedstead of my text was of IRON
everything sacrificed for strength to
hold his excessive avoirdupois, this Alp
of bone and flesh. No wonder this
couch was kept as curiosity at Rab-
bath, and people went from far and
near to see it, just as now people 60 to
museums to behold the armor of the
ancients. You say what a fighter this
gicnt, King Og, must have been. No
doubt of it. suppose the size Of his
sword and breastplate corresponded to
the size of his bcdstead, and his stride
across the battlefield and the full
stroke of his arm must have been appal-
ling With an armed host he comes
down to drive back the Israelitea who
who are marching on from Egypt to
Canaan. We have no particulars Of the
battle. but think the Israelites t-cm-
bled when they saw this monster of a
man moving down to crush them. Alas
for the Israelitcs! Will their troubles
never cease? What can men five and a
half feet high do against this warrior
of eleven feet, and what can short
swords do against sword whose CLEAN
must have been like flash of lightning?
The battle of Edrei opened. Moses and
his army met the giant and his army.
1,a If al ;,4,
fight, and the gigantic strides Og had
made when advancing into the battle
were more than equaled by the gigan-
tic strides with which ne reiterated.
Huzza for triumphant Israel Sixty
fortified cities surrendered to them. A
land Of indescribable opuleocs comes
into their possession, Snd All chs. is left
of the giant king is an trsr ,edstead.
mine cubits was the leIg-a thereof,
and four cubits the breadth of it"
Why did not the Cible give us the size
of the giart instead of the size of the
bedstcad? Why did it not indicate that
the man was eleven feet high instead of
telling us that his couch was thirteen
and half feet long? No doubt, among
other things. it was to teach us that
you can Judge ola man by his surround
ing. Show me mans associates, show
me mans books, show me mans
home. and I will tell you what he is
without your telling me one word about
him. You can not only tell a man &C.
cording to the old adage, "by the com.
pany he keeps" but by the books he
reads, by the pictures he admires. by
the eburch he attends, by the places he
visits Moral giants and moral pigmies,
intellectual giants and intellectual pig
mics, like physical giants or physical
pigmies, may be judged BY their sur
roundings That man has been thirty
years faithful in attendance upon
churches and prayer meetings and Sun
day-schools, and putting himself among
intense religious associations He may
have his imperfections, but he is very
good man. Great i. his religious stat.
ure. That other man has been for
thirty years among influences intensely
worldly, and he has shut himself out
from all other influences, and his reli.
Cious stature is that Of dwarf. Nc
man ever has been or can hc independ,
ent of his surroundings, social, intel
lectual. moral. religious The Bible in
dicates the length of the giant in the
length of his bedstead. Let no man
say: y will be good" and yet keep
evil surroundings Let no man say: al
will be faithful as Christian" and vet
eonsort chiefly with worldlinps. You