The Red Cloud chief., 1892-12-23
BIBLE ASTRONOMY.
DIR. Talmage Discourses Upon an
Interesting Subject.
ne Relieves u Il Time to widen out and
Heighten Religious Thought-Oid
Ruts should lie Avoided In
ChristIan Work.

In a late sermon at Brooklyn Rev. 7.
Dewitt Talmage took for his subject
''The Astronomy of the Bible, or God
Among the. Stars" the text being from
Amos. TX. o: 1T Is He that buildeth
His stories in the heaven Preceding
the scrmon the congregation sang DIR.
Watts hymn:
Tho heavens declare Thy glory, LORD
In every star Thy wisdom shines.
DIR. Talmage said:
That is first rate poetry from Ar,Os,
the herdsmnn. While guarding his
Hocks nj night he watched the heavens.
lie saw stars above stars and the uni
verse seemed To him like a great man
sion many stories high, silver
above silver room, silver pillars beside
silver pillars, and windows Of silver and
doors of silver, and turrcts and domes
of silver rising into the ~immensities,
and the prophets sanctiied imagina-
ton walks through that great silver
palace of the universe, through the
first story, through the second story,
through the third story, through the
twentieth story, through the hundredth
story, through the t~housandth story,
and realizing that God is the architect
and carpenter and mason Of all that
upheaved %splendor, he cried out In the
words Of the text: TT Is He that
buildeth His stories In the heaven"
My hearers, IL is time that we widencd
out and heightened our religious
thoughts. In our pulpits and Sabbath
classes and Christian work Of all sorts
we ring the changes on u few verses Of
Scripture until they excite no interest.
Many Of the best parts Of the Bible
indeed even noticed. Hence I to-day
begin a series Of sermons, not for con
secutivc Sabbath mornings, but as often
rs | think IL best for varicty's sake, on
the Astronomy of the Bible. or God
among the Stars; the Geology of
the Bible, or God among the Rocks;
the O~rnithology OF the Bible, or
God among the Birds; the Ic~hthyology
of the Bible, or God among the Fishes;
the Pomology Of the Bible. or God
among the Orchards; the Precious Stones
Of the Bible, or God among the Anne.
thysts; the C~onchotogy Of the Bible, or
Nbh uuiOuk Vic bIiCiiSs tuC Otuu VI
the Bible. or God among the Flowers;
the Chronology of the Bible, or God
among the Centuries. The fact Is that
wa have all spent too much time on one
story OF the great mansion of Gods uni
verse. We need occasionally to go up
stairs or downstairs In this mansion;
downstairs and in the cellar study the
rocks, or upstairs and see God in some
OF the higher stories, and learn the
meaning Of the text when IL says: III
Is lie that buildeth His stories in the
heaven"
Astronomy was born in Chaldca. II.
mother was astrology or the science Of
f~oretelling events by juxtaposition OF
stars. The orientals, living much out
of doors and In q very clear atmosphere
through which the stars shonc especial
-1y lustrous, got the habit of studying
the night heavens. In the hot seasons
caravans ~journeyed chiefly Mt night
and that gave travellers much oppor
tunity OF stellar information. On the
first page Of the Bible the sun ant
moon and stars roll In. The SUM-, q
body nearly 5000, 900 miles In circum
ference and more than IL, 900 times n
large rs our earth; the moon, NOR
than 1000 miles In diameter. But God Il
used to doing things On such an omnip
otent scale that he takes only one vers
TO tell Of this stellar and lunar manu-
fscture. Yea, In three words all tn
other worlds are thrown In. The rec
ord says: 1.-THE stars also!" 1t take
whole pages for n nan to extol tn
making Of q telescope or microscope q
n magnetic telegraph or u threshinI
machine, or to describe u fine paintin
or statute, but It was so easy for God I
hang the celestial upholstery that Tn
story is compasscd In one verse: $50
made two great lights, the greater ligh
to rule the day and the lesser light
rule the night. The stars also!"
Read on In your Bibles, and afte
awhile the Bible flashes with the auror
borealis or northern lights, that strang
illumination, as mysterious and und'
fined now ms when, In the book Of Jol
II was written: 'Men see not the brigh
light which il in the clouds. Fai
weather cometh out of the north.
While all the nations supposed that I'll
earth was built on a foundation of SON
sort, and many supposed that 1t stoo
ON u huge turtle, or some great marir
creature. Job knew enough of astrol
omy to say II had no foundation, but ",
suspended on the invisible arm Of u
Almighty, declaring that "He hanget
the earth upon nothing" While all n
tions thought the earth was level, Il
sky spread over 1t like a tent over
fiat surface, Isaiah declared the wor
to be globular, saying of God: "He 81
teth upon the circle Of the earth
While running your fingers throul
the leaves of your Bible with the u
Economical thought in your mind "
sec two worlds stop-the sun and &
moon. But what does that Christi,
know about that miracle who does n
understand something of those I,
'iuminaries? Unless you watch mode
astronomy, put those two worlds in
,steelyards and weigh them, You are
ignorant as a Hottentot about the 81
righteousness of that scene in the II
of Joshua. But a easily
iieve IL. What confounds me Is q
that He could stop and start again tho