Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-03-19
REV. DR.. TALMAGH.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun.
day Sermon
subject: cog. King of Ba.han."

Subject: cog, King of Bashan."
TEXT; "Only Og king of Bashan, re.
rndinfd offhe remnant of giants, behold his
bedstedd tros a bsdstead of iron. is 10 not in
RGbbath of the children of Anlnon? Nine
cubits tcds the length thereof and four
cubfts the breadth of it."-Deuteronomy
iii, IL.
The story of giants is mixed with myth
William the Conqueror was said to have
been of cveItcwering altitude. but when in
aftertime his tomb was opened his bones iu-
Dictated that he had been physically of only
ordinary size. Roland the Hero was said to
have been of astounding stature but when
his sepulchre 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 conquere1,
SO as TO give the impression that he was a
giant, although he was rather under than
over the usual height of 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 museum in London is
the skeleton of Charles Brine, eight feet
four inches in stature The Emperor Maxi
min was over ii yht feet.
Pliny tells of a giant nine feet high and
two other giants nine and half feet So l
am not lncredulous when | come to my text
and find King Og a 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 oc-
cupied it was probably about eleven feet in
stature, or nearly twics the average human
size. There was no need 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 site of
the flood, being tall enough to wade the wa
tiers beside Noah's ark, or that he rode on the
top of the ark, the passengers inside the ark
daily providing him with foo. There was
/ nothing supernatural about him. He was
simply monster in size
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of gold.
and SardanapaluS had 80 beisteads of gold
burned up with him, but this bedstead OF
my text was of iron-everything sacri6csi
for strength to hold this excessive avoir iu-
pois, this Alp OF bone and flesh. No wonder
this couch was kept as a curiosity at Rab-
bath, and the people went from far and near
to see it, just as now people go to museums
to behold the arnor OF the ancients. You
say what fighter this giant, King Og,
must have been. No doubt of ii. | suppose
the size of his sword and breastplate CORE
sponded to the size of his beadstead, 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 marching on
from Egypt to Canaan.
We have no particulars of the battle, but
think the Israelites tremblei when they
saw this monster Of a man moving down to
crush them. Alas for the lsraelites! Will
their troubles never cease? What can men
five and half feet high do against this war
rlor of eleven feet, and what can short
swords do against a sword whose CLEAN
must have been like a fash of lightning?
The battle of Edrei opened. Moses and his
army met the giant and his army. The Lord
of Hosts descended into the fight, and the
gigantic strides that Og had made wnen ad-
vanclng into the battle were more than
equaled by the gigantic strides with which
he retreated. Huzza for triumphant Israeli
Sixty fortified cities surrenl ered to them.
A land of indescribabie opulence comes into
their possession, ana 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
giant was eleven feet high instead of telling
us that his couch was thirteen and a half
feet longS No doubt among other things it
was to teach MS that you can JUICE of man
by his surroundings. Show me mans
associates, show me mans books, show me
a mans home, aud will tell you what he is
without YOUR telling me one word about
him. You cannot only tell man accor,-
ing TO the Old adaSe, by the company he
keeps" but by the books he reads, by tne
pictures he admres, by the churca he at
tends by the places he visits. Moral
giants and moral pygmies intellectual
giants and intellectual pygmies like physical
giants or physical pygmies may be judged
by their surroundings.
When man departs this life you can tel
what has been his influence in a community
for good by those who mourn for him and
by how sincere and long continued are the
regrets of his taking of. There may be no
pomp or o5Sequies and no pretense at ep!-
tapheoloGv, Luz you can tell how higa he
was in conservation, and how high in use
fulness by how long is his shadow when he
comes to lie down. " hat is true of ind
viduals IS true of cities and nations. Show
me the free libraries AMI schools OF CITY,
and | will tell you the intelligence OF its
people. Show Inc its gallary of painting and
sculpture, and will tell you the artistic a :,
/ vancemelt of its citizsns. Show me its
/ churches, ana | viii tell you the moral and
religious status OF the place.
From the fact that Og's bedstead was
thirteen and half feet long, | concu 1e the
giant himself was about e.eveu feet high.
/ But let no one by this thought be inluced to
surrender to untavoraoie environments. A
man can make his own be lstea1 Chantray
and Hugh Miller were born stonemasons,
but the one became an immortal sculptor
and the other a Christian scientist wnoss
name will never die Turner, the painter.
in whose praise John Rus;in expended the
| greatest genius of his life, Was the son of
barber who advertised "a penny shave"
| DR.. Prideaux, one of the greatest scholars of
all time, earned his way through college by
securing pots and pans The late Judge
/ Bradley worked his own way up from
charcoal burner to the bench of the supreme
/ court of the United States. Yes, man can
decide the SIZE of his own bedstead.
Notice Furthermore that even giants must
rest Such enormous physical endowment
4 on the part of King o. mi yht suggest the
| capacity to stride across all fatigue and
! omit slumber. No. He required an iron
, bedstead. Giants must rest. Not apprecia-
ting that fact how many of the giants
/ yearly break down. Giants in business,
! giants in art giants in eloqusnce, giants in
usefulness They live not out more than
half Their days. They try to escape the
/ consequence OF overwOrk by a voyage
across the sea or a sail in summer yacht,
or call on physicians for relief from insom-
MIA or restoration of unstrung nerves or the
arrest of apoplexies, when all they need is
what this giant of my text resorted to-an
iron bedstead
Lei no one think because he has great
strength of body or mind that he can afford
to tr,he with his unusual gifts. The com
mercial world. the literary world, the artis-
tic world, the political world, the religious
world, are all the time aqulke with thscrash
Of falling giants. King Og no DOUBT had q
throne, but the Bible new mentions his
thr, ne. King o. no doubt had crown, but
the B be never mentions his crown.
King o. No doubt had a scepter, but
the Bible does not mention his scepter.
Yet one of the largest verses of the Bible is
taken up in describing his be istead. So God
all up and down the Bible honurS sleep.
Adam, with his head on pillow of Eienic
roses, has his s,umber blest by divine gift
of BEAUTIFUL companionship. Jacob. with
his head on a pillow of rock, has his sleep
glor.fied with a la ider filled with descending
and ascan ling angels. Christ, with pillow
made out of the folded up coat of fisher
man honors slunber in the back part of the
storm tossed boat.
In Bible tines. when people arose at the
voice of the bird, they retired at th, tima
the bird puts his hea1 under his wing O,a
OF our national sins is robbery of sleep
water scott was so urgent about this duty
OF slumoer that, when arriving at a hotal
where there was no room to sleep in except
1nae IN winch there was corpse, inquire if
the deceased had died of contagious disease
and, when assured he had not, took the other
ned IN the room and fell into profouniest
sium6er Those of small endurance must
certainly require rest if even the giant needs
an iron bedstead
Notice, furthermore, that Gods people Oh
the way TO Canaan need not be surprised it
they confront some sort of giant. Had not
the lsraelitish host had trouble enough al