The morning news., 1892-03-14
THE GIANTS BEDSTEAD.
90, KING OF BAS SaAN, TIE LAST
OF A MIGHTY RACE

VI bAc RestlHB F4dCo VI tAo G4auo
Monarch.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, March l3-Dr. Tai
mage gave another illustration this morn-
Ing in his sermon at the tabernacle of his
wonderful power Of drawing useful, practi<
cal lessons from an obscure text, which, to
the ordinary mind, seemed incapable Of
yielding any spiritual edilcation. The text
was Duet ill.,, IL: "Oaly Og, King OF
Bashan, remained of the remnants OF
giants; behold. his bedstead was a bedstead
OF iron; is it not in Rabbath Of the children
of Ammoni 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 overtoweriug altitude, but. when
in after time his tomb was opened, his
bones indicated that he had been physically
OF 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 fis
an ordinary man. Alexander the Great had
helmets and shields of enormous size nade
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 hight of a man.
But that in other days and lands there were
OF the Duke of Brunswick was eight and
half feet high. In a museum ia Lon
don 10 the skeleton of Charles Birne,
eight feet four inches in stature. The
Emperor Maximin was over eight feet.
Phny tells OF giant nine feet high, aad
two osher giants nine and half feet So
| am not incredulous when l 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 thrteen and a half
feet long. Judging from that. tho 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 Ox, as they did.
by saying that he came down from the other
side of the food, being tall enough to wade
the waters beside Noah's ark. or that be
rode on the top of the ark. the passengers
inside the ark daily providing him with
| food. There was nothing supernatural
| about him. He was simply a monster in
size.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds OF gold,
and Sardauapalus had l50 bedsteads OF
gold burned up with him, but this bedstead
os my text was OF iron-everythin sacri-
| feed for strength 60 hold this excessive
avoirdupois, thislAip of bone and flesh. No
wonder this couch was kept as a curiosity 40
| Rabbath, and peo3ie went far aad near To
see 1t, just as now people go TO museums to
| behold the armor OF the ancients. You say
what fighter this giant. King Og, must
have been. No doubt OF 1t. | suppose the
size Of bis sword and breastplate corres
| sponded to the size of his bedstead, and his
| stride across the battle field 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
IA TT la ra nf ha huE fila Ia.
raelites trembled when they saw this nous
ster OF a man moving down to
crush them. Alas for the Israelitesi
Will their troubles ever ceassl What can
| men five and half feet high do again,t
this warrior of eleven feet, and what can
short swords do against a sword whose
CLEAN must have been like flash Of lght-
| ning7 The battle OF Edrei opened. Noses
and his army met the giant and his army.
| The Lord OF Hosts descended into tue fight
and the gigantic strides that Og had made
when advancing into the battle were more
| than equaled by the gigantic strides with
which he retreated. Huzza for triumphant
Israeli Sixty fortified cities surrendered TO
them. A land of indescribable opulence
comes into their possession, aud all thas 10
left Of the giant king Is the iron bedstead.
mine cubitsw 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 o. the bei-
steadl Why did 1t not indicate that the
man was eleven feet high instead OF telling
us that mis- couch was thirteen and a-hale
feet long5 No doubt among other things 10
was to teach us that you can judge Of u
man by his surroundings. Show me a
| mans associates, show me q mans books,
| show me a mans home, aud will tell you
what he is without your telling me ons
word about him. You can not o lly tell a
man according to the old adage. by tho
company he keeps" but by the books he
reads. by the pictures he admires by the
church he attends, by the places he visits.
Moral giants aud moral pigmies. intellectual
giants and intellectual pignies, like phy-
stcal giants or physical pigmics may be
Judged by their surroundings. That man
has boen thirty years faithful in attends
ance upon churches and prayer meetings
and Sunday schools. aud putting himself
among intense religious associations He
| may have his imperfections. but he Is a very
| good man. Great is his religious stature.
That other man has been for thirty years
among influences intensely worldly, and hs
has shut himself out from all other in-
| fuences, and his religious stature is that oe
| dwarf. No man ever has been or can q
independent of his surroundings, social, in%
| telectual, moral, religious. The Bible in.
dicates the length Of the giant by the leng b
Of his bedstead. Let no man say, II will be-
good" and yet keep evil surroundings Let
no man say, Will De I0lClIul
as Christian" and yet conscrt
chiefly with worldlings. You are
proposing an everlasting impossibility.
When a man departs this life you can tell
what has been his influence in q 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 obsequies and no pretense at epi-
tapheology, but you can tell how high he
was in conservation. and how high in use
fulness by how long Is his shadow when he
comes TO lie down. What is true OF individ-
uals Is true Of cities and nat ons Show me
the free libraries and schools of city. and
will tell you the intelligence Of its people.
Show me it's gallery of painting and sculpt-
ure and will tell you the artistic advance
ment OF its citizens. Show me its churches
and will tell you the moral and religious
status of the place. From the fact that
Og's bedstead was thirteen and a half
feet long. conclude the giant himself
was about eleven feet high. But let no
one by this thought be induced 10 SUR
render TO unfayorabe environments A
man can make his own bedstead. Chantrey
and hugh Miller we're born stone masons,
but the one became an immortal sculptor
and the other a Christian scientist whose
name will never die. Turner, the painter,
In whose praise John Ruskin expended the
greatest genius Of his life, was the son OF q
ha thar uvho adyfsrffaat ga nanny a sbaga y