Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-03-23
KING OG.
He Was a Giant Feared by
Every One,
But Not Greater Than the Little Word
"Ir"-This Fiend Attacks Many in Their
Dying Moments. After Lives Spent in
Holy Deeds-Talmag e's Sermon.

Dying Moments. After Lives spent I'm
Holy Deeds-Taimage's Sermon.
DIR. Talmage's text last Sunday was
Deut iii. IL: only Og, king of Bashan,
remained of the remnant of giants; be-
hold, his bedstead was a bedstead of
iron; is it not in Rabbath of the chill
dren of Ammon? Nine cubits was the
length thereof and four cubits the
breadth of it."
The story of giants is mixed with
myth. William the Conqueror was said
to have been of overtowcring altitude,
but when. in after time, his tomb was
opened. his bones indicated that be 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
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, al
though he was rather under than over
the usual height of a 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 half feet high. In n museum in
London is the skeleton of Charles
Brine, eight feet four inches in stat
ure. The Emperor MaXimin was
over eight feet. Pliny tells of giant
nine feet high, and two other giants
nine and half feet So / am not in
credulous when / come to my text and
find King Og n giant. and the size of
his bedstcad, 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 use of Rabbinical writer's
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 waters beside
Noah's ark or that he rode on the top
of the ark, the passengers inside the
ark daily providing him with food
There was nothing supernatural about
him. He was simply monster in size.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of
steads of gold burned up with him. but
this bedstead of my text was iron
every thing sacrificed for strength to
hold this excessive avoirdupois, this
Alp of bone and flesh No wonder this
couch was kept as n curiosity at Rab-
bath and people went from far and near
to see it, just as now people go to mus
Gums to behold the armor of the an
clients.
You say what fighter this giant,
King Og, must have been. No doubt of
1t. ] suppose the size of his sword and
breastplate correspcnded to the size of
his bedstead, 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 maching
on from Egypt to Canaan. We have
no particulars of the battle. but
think the Israelites tremb led when
they saw this monster of n man moving
down to crush them. Alas for the
Israelites!
VIII their troubles never cease?
What can man five and a half
feet high do against n warrior of eleven
feet, and what can short swords do
against sword whose CLEAN must have
been like flash of lightning?
The battle of Adrei opened Moses
and his army met the giant and his
army The Lord and Hosts descended
into the fight and the gigantic strides
that Og had made when advancing into
the battle were more than equaled by
the gigantic strides with which he re-
treated. Huzza for triumphant Israel.
Sixty fortified cities surrendered to
them. A land of indescribable opulence
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 cubits 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 man was eleven feet high in
stead 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 by his sur
roundings.
Show me n mans associates. show
me mans books, show me mans
home. and ! will tell you what he i.
without your telling me one word about
/ him. You can not only tell &
man according TO the old adj
age "by the company he keeps,
/ but by the books he reads, by the
pictures he admires, by the church
he attends, by the places he visits.
| Moral giants and moral pigmies, in
tellectual giants and intellectual pig
mics, like physical giants or physica
! pigmies, may be judged by their sur
roundings That man has been thirty
! years faithful in attendance upor
churches and prayer meetings and Sun
day schools and putting himself among
intense religious associations He may
have his impcrfections. But he is very
good man. Great is his religious sta
ture. That other man has been fol
thirty years among influences in
I tensely worldly, and he has shu
himself out from all other in
6ucnces, and his religious statur,
is that OF dwarf No man has eve
been or can be Independent OF his sur
roundings, social, intellectual moral
religious The Bible indicates tn,
length OF the giant by the length of hi
bedstead Let no man say. If will bl
good" and yet keep evil surroundings
Let no man say, II will be faithful a
I fhrfrffwv, a. "a