Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-03-21
WORD OF THE LORD
The Divine Astronomy as Seen
by the Prophets
TALaADGE'S SUNDAY SERMON
Il Is Wntrrn That God . = God OF Infinite
osa=r and Without vanao.=n-ss
or Shallow OF Tuning.

i3sooKLYs. March 7o--In this sermon
DIR. Talmage traverses wild rsalaaz Of
raoasEt 10 teach useful everyday le.ons,
bs-sed sn the tsxs, Amos v, s, Seek him
thai nsaxsth the Seven Stars AAd Ori0a-"
A coaatFy farmer sro-e tAls tezt-AIaos
q TsAoa- he piswsd tao earth ana
thrlzhsd the graia by q pew thrAshing
machine just Laysnted. ~ formerly the eat
lie trod out tie grain. he gathered the
.rals OF the sycamore tree and scarified il
with an iron esznb Just before il was get
Tag ripe, Is it was necessary aad custom
AIRY IA that way 70 take from il the bitter
Cess He Was the soo az a poor shepherd
and suffered, bat before the stamnering
rustic the Paiiisfinss Aad Syrians and
Phoenieians and Aoabites and Anmsnites
and Edosaites and Israelites treEnblsd
Moses was a lawgiver. Daniel was q
prince. Isaiah couTtisr and David king;
bat ARos, the aGtAor Of nay text. was a
peasant, and. As might be supposed. nearly
all his paralielislns are pastoral. his proph-
reg full Of the oder Of new mown hay. and
the rattle Of locusSs, aad the rumble Of carts
with sheayes. and lie roar Of wild beasts
eev0uring the hoek while the shepherd
came oat in their dsfssse He watched the
herds by day, and BY night inhabited q booth
made out Of bushes, 50 that through these
be could see the stars all night long. and
was msc- familiar with them than we who
have tight roefs 10 our houses and hardly
ever see the stars, except among the tall
brick chimneys Of the great towns. But ct
seasons OF the year when the herds were In
special danger. he would stay out in the
open feld AL through the darkness, his
pnly shelter the curtain Of the nj ght heaven.
with the stellar smbroideries and silvered
tsssels Of lunar light.
What a life Of solitude. all alone with
ais herds! Poor Anosl And At ~ O'Clock
AZ night bark 70 the VOLTS bark and tho
ions rear. and the bears growl and the
wis te-.hit-te-wAo. and the serpent's
hiss. az he uawittingiy steps too near
while moving through the thiekeEs So
Amos like other herdsmsn, got the habit
" studying the map of the heavens, be-
ause it wAs so much Of the time spread
,ut before him. He noticed some stars
advancing and others recediRg. He asso-
lated their dawn and setting with certain
easons Of the year. He had poetic nature,
md be read night By night, and month by
month, and year by year, the poem of the
installations. divinely rhythmic. But
sVo rosettes OK stars especially attracted
lis attention while seated on the ground
lying on his back under the open scroll
4 the midnight heavens-the Pieiades, or
even Stars, and Orion. The former group
his rustic prophet associated with the
pring, a. IL rises about the drst of May.
she latter he associated with the winter.
sit comes to the meridian in January
NE Pleiades, or Seven Stars, connected
nth all sweetness and Joy; Orion, the
1ofS - ~
ne more apt to study the physiognomy
nd juxtspesition Of the heavenly bodies,
ecause they thought they had a special
bfueaoe upon the earth, and perhaps they
scrs right II the moon every few hours
Lfts and lets down the tides OF the Atlantic
scs&n. and the electric storms of the sur,
BY all scientific admission, affect the
Arsh. Why not she stars have propor.ionsso
Gects
wA IT ALL sUPyRsTYrroSi
And there are some things which make
ne think that il may not have been all SUI
Derseition which connected the movements
Ind appearance VI the heavenly bodies
wfsh great neral events on earth. Did not
meteor run on cvangeAstie sFrand on the
brst ChristmAs night and designate the
sough cradle cf our Lord, Did not the
nars in their courses fight against Siseral
Was Il merely eoincidental that before the
destruction of Jerusalem the moon was
sciipscd for twelve consecutive nights'
Did 10 merely happen 30 that new star
appeared in constellation Cassiopeia. and
lhen disappeared just before King Charles
TX Of France. who was rcspopaiele for the
IT, Bartholomew massacre, died' Was it
without significance that in the days of
he Roman emperor Justinisn war and
s<mine were preceded by the dirnncss Of
he sun. which for nearly year gave no
more light than the moon although there
we're no clouds tn obscure it.
Astrology. after all, asay have been
something more than a brilliant heathen-
szn- No woGder that Amos OF the text,
having heard these two anthems Of the
rtars, put down the stcgt rough staff of
HE herisman and took into his brown
hand and cut and knsstsd fingers the pen
II q prophet and advised the rscrosnt peo-
pie II his time to return 70 God, saying,
seek bin that maketh the Seven Stars
md Oricn." This command. which Amos
gave rs years b. c.. is iast as appropriate
for us. isse A. d.
In the first place. Amos saw. as we must
-, that ths God Who made the Plsia4es
asd Orion must BE the God Of order IL
VA nss - mach a star here ard a star
here that impressed the inspired herds
man, but seven m one groap and seven in
he other groop. he saw that night after
ni9as and season after season and decade
After decade they Esd kept step OF light,
rseh one IN ia own place, sisserhood
sevr eiasAi,g and never contestsng prcc-
e&recr From she time Hesiod called the
pleiaAes the seven dsslgstes Of Atlas :"
anA Virgil vr-se in his lSsnesa OF stormy
Drsas'' ussil now, they have observed the
w1er established for their ceaing aad
rcsng ertier written not in manuscripts
sAa4 mar be pig~nhoIed. bus with the
hAna II The Almighty On she do-ns OF the
ny. 80 thai All .stiens may resa it Order.
psrsssssnt order Sublime order. On
sfpssens order
rws CONSOLATION IN MATURE
Whsk a sedasi~s 20 ysa and rse. TO wherl
s~1snuostics and nations sometimes seem
rosag pesirneH. and verdi raled BY some
fsna - hsphsxar3 and in al direetieas
rai.sl uiniserssio1l Th- Ged who keeps
wen ws~ists IN right circuit fer six thoaa-
Md yo~vs can certainly keep AL lie affairs
t,<ifvt<is~ls and nations and seattaerss
n a<S5~~<xneps We lad net better fret
mach To- sss p-seasts ayra nent Of the
sxt was right II Ged can take care Of
ne seven wsrsts sf the Pieissies asd the
nur chs~f worlds II Orion. he can PRECISELY
ale care az the ese world We inkahit
80 feel very much mr. father felt
~~ asy ~s~n -. ver- goszg 20 he coaesry
ssH ~ <-s sv<sa ground. snd !, Dor II