Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-03-17
OG. KING OF BASHAN.
Or. TALMACE BREACHES ABOUT THE
GtA:iT'S BEDsTEAp.

OF the Encounter OF the 1sraclitcs with
the Eleven Ecnt Hcathon warricr-A
Powerful Srrn, J..
BROOKLYN, March 13.--Dr. Talmage gave
another illustration this morning in his
Sermon at the Tabernacle of his wonderful
power of drawing useful, practical lesson.
from an obscure text, which, to the ordi-
harry mind, seemed incapable of Yielding
any spiritual edificatiun. The text Was
Deuteronomy iii, II: "Only Og, king o!
Bashan, remained Of the remnant of giants.
behold, his bedstead was n bedstead of iron.
is it not in Rabbath of the children of Am.
mon? 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 overtowering altitude, but when iii
nftertime his tomb was opened his bones
indicated that he had been physically o!
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 Fl:
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 a giant, although 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 a half feet high. In a mll-
scum in London is the skeleton Of Charles
Brine, eight feet four inches in stature.
The Emperor Maximum was over eight
feet.
Pliny tells of giant nine feet high and
two other giants nine and a 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 "A 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 Rab-
biniCal 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
20 wade the waters beside Ndal's ark, or
that he rode on the top of the ark, the pas
sengers inside the ark daily providing him
with food. There was nothing supernat-
ural about him. He was simply monster
in size
90 WAS \ FIGHTER
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds Of gold,
and Sardanapalus had 1850 bedsteads of
gold burned nm with him. but this bed
stead of my text was Of irou-eycrythinr
sacrificed for strength to hold this cxces.
sive avoirlupois. thi, Alp of bone and
flesh No wonder this couch WIS kent as
q curiosity ut Rabbath. and peoule went
from far and near to see it. lust as now
DcoDlg 90 TO museums TO behold the arnor
of tL. ancieuts. You say what n fighter
this giant. King o.. must have been. No
doubt Of if. [ elpposr the size of his
nyor, and breo.tplatr corrr-uondad to the
size of his beGstrad. aud his stride across
the battlefield and the full stroke of his
arm must have been aDpaIIiug. With an
armed host he come, down to drive back
the Israelte.. who are marching on from
Cgvnt to Cullaan.
We have no part icuiai,S OF the battle. bllt
Think the Israplitc. trpnblpI when they
saw this monster. Of "A man moving down
to crush them. Alas for the I,rnclite,l
VIII thcirtroubIes ncverccasc. What can
men five and Il half feet hi.h do against
this warrior of eleven feet. and what can
short swords do apainst u sword whose
CLEAN must have been like n flash of light
ming? The battle of Edrci opened. Moses
and his army met the giant and his army.
The Lord of Host descended iutothe fivht
and the gigantic strides that Og had made
when advancing into the battle were more
than cuualed bv the pieautic strides with
which he retreated. IIuz2n fortrjumphant.
Israeli Sixty fortified cities surrendered
to them. A land of indcsoribabIe oDulenr.
comes into their possession. and alI that is
left of the giant king is the iron bed,teod
"Nine cubifs was the lcuuth thereof and
four cubits the brendlb ofitu
ny THE COMPANY Irr I,i-I.p.
WHY did not the Bible rive us the size of
tho giant instead of the sizeof the hedsteudy
WHY did il not Indicate that the oiant was
eleven feet Ligh ipetead of trllin,. ms tI.,r
his couch was thirteen and n half feet lonng
No doubt among other thiugs il was ia
teach rs THAT Won can iudo,. Of = man nv
his surroundings. Show me q mans asso-
riates. show me a mans books. show me q
mans home. and | will fell van what bo j.
without YOUR telling me one word about
him. You cannot only tell a man accord
ing to the old adape. "By the compapv he
keeps" but bv the books he reads Inv the
pictures ne ejmires. by the church he at.
topds bv the nlaces he visits Moral