Milford chronicle., 1892-03-18
OG. KING OF BASHkN
DR.. TALMAeE breaches ABOUT THE
GIANTS BEDSTEAD.

lessons Drawn from the Bible Recita
of the Encounter of Tee Israelites will
the Eleven Foot Heather Warrior
Powerful Sermon.
BRooKLYN, March 1s.-Dr. Talmage gav
another illustration this morning in hi
sermon at the Tabernacle of his wonderful
power of drawing useful, practical lesson
/ from an obscure text, which, to the ordi
nary mind, seemed incapable of yielding
any spiritual edification. The text wa
Deuteronomy iii, II; only Og, king o
I Bashan, remained Of the remnant Of giants
behold, his bedstead was 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 il"
| The story OF giants is mixed with myth
William the COnquerOr WAS said to have
been of overtowering altitude, but when in
aftertime 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 fit
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 ii mu-
scum in London is the skeleton of Charles
Brine, eight feet four inches in stature.
The Emperor Maximin was over eight
feet.
Pliny tells of giant nine feet high and
two other giants nine and half feet. So
am not incredulous 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 occupied it was probably about eleven
feet i'm stature, or nearly twice the average
human size. There was no need Of Rab-
binical writer's trying to account for the
presence of this giant, King Og, as they
did, hy 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 ne 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.
OG WAS A FIGHTER.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds Of gold,
and Sarfanapalus had I50 bedsteads Of
gold burned up with him, but this bed
stead of my text was of iron-everything
sacrificed for strength to hold this exces-
sive avoirdupois, this Alp of bone and
flesh. No wonder this couch was Kept as
a curiosity at Rabbath, and people went
from far and near to see it, just as now
people 20 to museums to behold the GrnOr
of the ancients. You say what fighter
this giant, King Og, must have been. No
doubt of it. | suppose the size Of his
sword and breastplate cOrTesponded to the
size of his hedstead, and his stride across
the battlefield and the full stroke of his
arm must have been appalling, With au
armed host he comes down to drive bFck
the Israelites, who are marching on from
Egypt to Canaan.
We have no particulars Of the battle, but
/ think the Israelites tTembled when they
saw this monster Of man moving down
to crush them. Alas for the Israelites!
VIII their troubles never cease? What can
men five and half feet high do against
this warrior Of eleven feet, and what can
short swords do against a sword whose
CLEAN must have been like a fash of light
ming? The battle Of Edrei opened, Nose
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
when advancing into the battle were more
than equaled by the gigantic strides with
" vhich he retreated. Huzza for triumphant
Israeli Sixty fortified cities surrendered
to them. a land OF indescribable opulencc
comes into their possession, and all that is
left ef the giant king is the iron bedstcad.
mine cubits was the length thereof and /
four cubits the breadth of it."
BY THE COMPANY HE KEEPS.
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 lOngf |
No doubt among other things it was to |
each us that you can judge of a man by |
MS surroundings. Show me a mans asso-
,iates show me a mans books, show me n /
mans home, and / win tell you what he l.
without your telling me one word about
lim. You cannot only tell man accord
ng to the old adage, "By the company he
Keeps" but by the books he reads, by tie
he admires, by the church he at
ends by the places he visits. Moral
giants and moral pygmies intellectual
giants and intellectual pygmies, like phys
cal giants or physical pygmies may be
judged by their surroundings
That man has been thirty years faithful
n attendance upon churches and prayer
meetings. and Sunday schools, and putting
limself among intense religious associa-
ions. He may have his imperfections, but
le is a very good man. Great is his reli
ious stature. The other man has been for
hirty years among influences intensely
Worldly, and he has shut himself out from
II other influences, and his religious stat
ire is that of dwarf No man ever las
een or can be independent of his surround
nes-social, Intellectual, moral, religious.
he Bible indicates the length Of the giant
v the length Of his bedstead Let no man
ay, II will be good, and yet keep evil
Let no man say, Il will be
aithful as Christian" and yet consort
hiefy with worldlings You are propos-
lg an everlasting impossibility.
When man departs this life you can
I'll what has been his influence in com
lunlIy IOE BODA ny luoSc WIN ulOuAn Aoi
i'm and by how sincere and long con
nued are the regrets Of his taking off.
here may be no pomp or obsequies and no
retense at epitapheology, but you can tell
ow high he was in conservation, and how
Ugh in usefulness by how long is his
ladow when he comes to lie down. What
true Of individuals is true of cities and
ations, Show me the free libraries and
shools of city, and I will tell you the IN
diligence of its people. Show me its gal
.ry of painting and sculpture, and will
III you the artistic advancement Of its
tizens. Show me its churches, and will
III you the moral and religious status Of
ne place.
From the fact that Og's bedstead was
lirteen and a half feet long, conclude the
liant himself was about eleven feet high.
ut let no one by this thought be induced
surrender to unfavorable environments.
man can make his own bedstead. Chan
'ey and Hugh Miller were born stonema-
ms, but the one became an immortal
.ulptor and the other a Christian sci
ltist whose name will never die, Turner,
le painter, in whose praise John Ruskin
zpended the greatest genius Of his life,