Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-03-25
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: log, King of Bashan."


cubits t0ds the length thereof and four
cubits the breadth of it."-Deuteronomy
ill.,, II.
The story of giants is mixed with myth.
William the Coneueror was said to have
been of overtowering altitude, but when in
aftertime his tomb was opened his bones in
dictated that he had been physically of only
ordinary size. Roland the Hero was said to
have been Of astounding stature, but when
his sepulchre was examined his armor was
found only large enough to fit an ordinary
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 impression that he was
giant although he VS. rather under than
over the usual height of man. But that
in other days and lands there were real
giants is authentic. One of the guards of
the Duke of Brunswick was eight and a
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 a giant nine feet high and
two other giants nine and half feet. So I
am not incredulous when l come to my text
and find King Og a 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 oc-
cupied it was probably about eleven feet in
stature, or nearly twice the average human
size. There was need of RabbinIcal
writers trying to account for the presence 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 wa
tiers beside Noah's ark. or that he rode on the
top of the ark, the passengers inside the ark
daily providing him with foot. There was
nothing supernatural about him. He was
simply monster in size.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of gold,
and Sardanapalus had $50 bedsteads of gold
l. l,,,% A.
my text was of iron-everything sacrificed
for strength to hold this excessive avoir1u-
pois, this Alp Of bone and flesh No wonder
this couch was kept as curiosity at Rab-
bath, and the people went from far and near
to see it. just as now people go to museums
to behold the armor Of the ancients. You
say what a fighter this giant King Og,
must have been. No doubt Of it, l suppose
the size of his sword and breastplate CORE
sponded to the size of his beadstead, and his
stride across the battlefield and the full
stroke Of his arm must have been appalling.
With an armed host he comes down to drive
back the Israelites, who are marching on
from Egypt to Canaan.
w g have no particulars Of the battle, but
think the Israelites trembled when they
saw this monster of a man moving down to
crush them. Alas for the lsraeltes! Will
their troubles never cease? What can men
five and half feet high do against this war
rior of eleven feet, and what can short
swords do against a sword whose CLEAN
must have been like fash of lightning?
The battle of Edrei opened. Moses and his
army met the giant and his army. The Lord
of Hosts descended into the fight, and the
gigantic strides that Og had made when adj
vancing into the battle were more than
eGualed by the gigantic strides with which
he reiterated. Huzza for triumphant Israel!
Sixty fortified cities surrendered to them.
A land of understandable opuence comes into
their possession, and all that is left of the
giant king is the iron bedstead. mine cubits
was the length thereof and four cublts the
breadth of it."
Why did not the Bible give us the
size of the giant instead of the size of the
bedstead? Why did it not indicate that the
giant 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 of man
associates show me mans books, show me
a mans home and l will tell you what he is
without your telling me one word about
him. You cannot only tell a man accord
ing to the old adage, by the company he
keeps" but by the books he reads, by the
pictures he admires, by the church he at
tends by the places he visits. Moral
giants and moral pygmies, intellectual
giants and intellectual pygmies, like physical
giants or physical pygmles may be judged
bv their surroundings.
, When a man departs this life you can tell
what has been his influence in community
for good by those who mourn for him and
by how sincere and long continued are the
regrets of his taking Off There may be no
1}cmp or Obsequies and no pretenSe at cpl
tapheolOgv, but you can tell how high he
was in conservation, and how high in use
fulness by how long is his shadow when he
comes to lie down. What is true of indi-
viduals is true of cities and nations. Show
ME the free libraries and schools of a city,
and [ will tell you the intelligence OF It's
people, Show me its gallary OF painting and
cupture and I will tell you the artistic ad-
vancement of its citizens Show me its
churches, and l will tell you the moral and
religious status OF the place
From the fact that Og's bedstead was
thirteen and half feet long, l conclude the
giant himself was about eleven feet high.
But let no one by this thought be induced t0
man can make his own bedstead. Chantrey
and Hugh Miller were born stonemasons,
but the one became an immortal sculptor
and the other Christian scientist whose
name will never die. Turner, the painter,
in whose praise John Ruskin expended the
greatest genius of his life. the son of a
barber who advertised "a penny shave"
DR.. Prideaux, one of the greatest scholars Of
all time, earned his way through college by
securing pots and pans. The late Judge
Bradley worked his own way up from a
charcoal burner to the bench of the supreme
court of the United States. Yes, a man can
decide the size of his own bedstead
Notice furthermore that even giants must
rest. Such enormous physical endowment
on the part of King Og might suggest the
capacity to stride across all fatigue and
omit slumber. No. He required an iron
bedstead. Giants must rest. Not apprecia-
ting that fact how many of the giants
giants in art, giants in eloquence, giants in
usefulness TheV live out more than