Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-03-31
~ THE TABERNACLE.
-uE DIVINE ASTRONOMY AS DE-
ecRlgep BY The PROPHETS.

n Is Written That Ood is 1od OF
,.e,ite OrIer and without Variable
mas ar shadow of Turning.
pr,oTLYy, March 20-ln this sermon
H. Talmage traverses wild realms of
,honeht to teach useful everyday lessons.
b,.ed on the text, Amos V, 8, Seek him
Mat makcth ihe Seven Stars and Orion"
A country farmer wrote this text-Amos
n Tekoa X plowed the earth and
thrsbed the grain by new thrashing
nscbiue lust invented as formerly the cat
Il. trod out the grain He gathered the
fr,t Of the sycamore tree and scarified it
Win mn iron comb just before it was get
ting ripe. as it was necessary and custom
ory in that way to take from ii the bitter
moss He was the son of a poor shepherd
and suffered but before the stainmering
rn.tic the Philstines and Syrians and
pbppicians and Moabites and Annonites
and Edomites aud lsraelites trembled.
Noses was II awgver Daniel was
,rince Isaiah a courtier and David king.
Int Amos, the author of my text, was a
ne,sant, and gs might be supposed, nearly
all his paralcisms are pastoral. his proph
ecy full Of the odor Of new mown hay, and
the rattle Of l0custs, AMI the rumble Of carts
with sheayes aud the roar of wild beasts
Jpyouring the flock while the shepherd
c,mp ont in their defense He watched the
herds by day. and by night inhabited booth
nude ont Of bushes, 50 that through these
he could see the stars all night long, and
WAS more familiar with them than we who
have tight roofs TO our HOUSES and hardly
ever see the stars, except among the tall
brick chimneys Of the great towns But at
seasons of the year when the herds were in
special danger, he would stay out in the
amen field all through the darkness, his
onlyshelter the curtain Of the night heaven
with the stellar embroideres aud silvered
tassels Of lunar light.
What life Of solitude, all alone with
his herds Poor Amos And nj u o'clock
At might bark to the VOLTS bark. and the
lions roar, and The bears growl. and the
owls te wlit-te.who. and the serpent's
hiss as he Guwittingly steps too near
while moving through the thickets, So
Amos. like other herdSmcn, got the habit
Of studying the map of the heavens. be
cause il was so much Of the time spread
out before him He noticed some stars
advancing and others receding. He asso
ciated their dawn and setting with certain
SEASONS Of the year. He had appetite nature,
and he read night by night. and month 10y
month, and year by year the poem Of the
considerations, divinely rhythmic But
two rosettes of stars especially attracted
his attention while seated ON the ground
or lying on bis back under the open scroll
Of the midnight heavens-the Pleiades, OF
Seven Stars, aud Orion The former group
this rustic prophet associated with the
spring, as il rises about the first of May.
The latter he associated with the winter,
as it comes to the meridian in January.
The Pleades, or Seven Stars, connected
with all sweetness and joy; Orion, the |
herald OF the tempest The ancients were
the more apt to study the physiognomy |
and iuXiaposition 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 aud lets down the tides Of the Atlantic |
ocean, and the electric storms of the sun,
by all scientific admission, affect the |
earth why not the stars have proportionate |
efect7
WAS IT ALL suPERsTITiONi
And there are some things which make |
me think that il may not have been all su |
perStition which connected the movements |
and appearance of the heavenly bodies |
with great moral events on earth. Did not |
anete0r run on evangelistic errand on the |
inst Christmas night and designate the |
rough cradle Of our Lordg Did not the
stars IN iher courses fight against Sisera'
Was II merely coincidental that before the
destruction Of Jerusalem the moon was
eelipsed for twelve consecutive nightsy
hd It merely happen so that "A new star
appeared in constellation Cassiopeia. and |
Then disappeared just before King Charles
~ o. Faucc, who was responsible for the !
~ Bartholomew massacre, diedy Was il
Without significance that in the days OF
lhe Roman emperor Iustinian war and
famine We're preceded by the dimness Of
'he sun Fhieh for nearly year gave 10
more light than the moon. although there
were no clouds to obscure it,
AStrology. after all, may have been
something more than brilliant heather
ISM No wonder that Amos Of the text.
having heard these two anthems Of the
!, F"t 'tsffi Tue ~Abut Fbu-n stdu "
we herlSnan aud took into his brown
LAND aud cut and knntted fingers the pen
y prophet and advised the recrcsnt PEG
pe o. NJ time to return TO God, saying
seek him that maketh the seven stars
az" Orloh This command. which Amos
gave ~ years Il. C.. Is just ~ appropriate
forus, ls.r. A.D
III lhe iirst place, Amos saw. as we must
~ That the God who made the Pleiades
euu Orlon must be the God Of order. Ii
vas Dot 30 much a star here and star
'-ele that impressed the inspired herds
man out seven in one group and seven in
eIe o'her group. He saw hat night after
-,snt aud season after season and decade
al'eT decade they had kept step Of light,
~ one IN its own place, sisterhood
liver clashing and never contes,ing pnec
s ~, From the time Hesiod called the
e'aaes the seven daughtes Of Atlas"
eau lrgll wrote ia his Isneid Of stormy
ol,on until how. they have observed the
Oeer established for their coming and
lug order written not in manuscript
,-at may be pigeonholed but with the
-1uu o. The Almighty on the dome Of the
~, % that an uaffous a., ~ rs..d IL Order