Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-03-18
THE GIANTS BEDSTEAD.
DR.. TALMAOE'S SERMON IN
TABERNACLE PULPIT.
The Eloquent Divine Draws N Practical
and Useful Lesson from AN Obscure
Text-Giant King Og and
Ills Bedstead.


Talmage's text this morning was taken
from Deut. Y, H.: ''Only Og, king of
Bashan, remained of the remnant OF
giants; behold his bedstead was bed
stead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of
the children of Ammon? Nine cubits
was the length thereof and four cubits
the breadth of it," DR. Talmage spoke
as follows:
The story of giants is mixed with
myth. William the Conquerer was
said To have been of overtowering alti-
tude, but, when in after time, his tomb
was opened, his bones indicated that
he had been physically of only or
binary size Roland the hero was said
TO have been of astonishing 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 enor-
nous size made and left among the
people he had conquered, SO as To give
the impression that he was a giant, al
though 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 stat
ure. The Emperor Maximin was over
eight feet. Pliny tells of giant nine
feet high, and two other giants nine
and n half feet. So am not incredu-
lous when / 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 thirteen
and n half feet long. Judging from
that, the giant who occupied it was
probably about eleven feet in stature,
or nearly twice the average human
size. There was no need of Rabbinical
writers trying to account for the pres
ence of this giant, King Og, as they
did, by saying that he came down from
the other side of the flood, being tall
enough to wade the waters beside
Noah's ark; or that he 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 monster in size.
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 man was eleven
feet high instead of telling us that his
couch was thirteen and a-half feet
long? No doubt among other things
1t was TO teach us that you can Judge
of man by his surroundings. Show
me mans associates, show me mans
books, show me a mans home. and |
will tell you what he is without your
telling me a word about him You
can not only tell a man according TO
the old adage, by the 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
and moral pigmies, intellectual
giants and intellectual pigmies, like
physical giants or physical pigmies may
be judged by their surroundings. That
man has been thirty years faithful i'm
attendance upon churches and prayer
meetings and Sunday Schools, and put
ting himself among intense religious
associations. He may have his imper-
fections, but he is very good man.
Great is his religious stature The
other man has been for thirty years
among influences intensely worldly.
and he has shut himself out from all
othe.' influences, and his religious stat
ure is that of dwarf. No man ever
has been or can be Independent
of his surroundings, social, intellectual
moral, religious. The Bible indicates
the length of the giant by the
length of his bedstead. Let no man
say, Il will be good" and yet keep
evil surroundings. Let no man say. Il
will be faithful as a Christian" and
yet consort chiefly with worldlings.
You are proposing an everlasting inn
possibility. When "A man departs this
life you can tell what has been his in
fluepce in community for good by
those who mourn for him and by how
sincere and long-continued are the re-
grets of his taking off. There may be
no pomp or obsequies and no pretense
at epitapheology, but you can tell how
high he was in conservation.
and how high in usefulness by
how long is his shadow when
he comes TO lie down.
Notice furthermore that even giants
must rest. Such enormous physical en-
dowment on the part of King Og might
suggest the capacity to stride across all
fatigue and omit slumber. No He re-
! quired an iron bedstead. Giants must
rest. Not approaching that fact. how
many of the giants yearly break down?
Giants in business. giants in art, giants
in eloquence, giants in usefulness.
They live not out more than half their
days. They try 90 escape the conse-
| quence of over-work by voyage across
the sea or a sail in summer yacht, or
call on physicians for relief from in
/ somnia or restoration OF unstrung