Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-01-07
GOD IN THE CENTURIES.
A'Cons.der the Years Of Many Gener-
atoms"
-Tima Is Only Piece of Eternlty-Chron'
ology Engagedin Dividing Up Portion
of Eternity-Rev. 7. Dewitt Tall
IMAGES New Years Sermon

Rev. Dr. Talmage Sunday morning
appropriately took for the subject OF his
New Years day sermon THE Chronol-
ogy of the Bible, or God Among the
Centuries"
The text chosen was Deuteronomy
xxi, :. Consider the years OF many
generations"
At ~ o'clock last night while so
many good people were watching. an
old friend passed out of our homes and
a stranger entered The old friend
making valcdictory was 1892; the
stranger arriving is 1898. The old
friend was garrulous with the occur
renccs Of many days, but the stranger
put his finger over his lip and said moth
ing and seemed charged with many
secrets and mysteries. ! did not see
either the departure or the arrival, but
was sound asleep, thinking that was
for me the best way to be wide awake
now. Good-by, 1892! Welcome, 1898.
As an army is divided into brigades
and regiments and companies, and they
observe this 'er in their march and
their tread is majestic, so the time OF
the worlds existence is divided into an
army divinely commanded: the eras are
the brigades, the centuries are the regi-
ments, and the years are the companies.
Forward into the eternity past, out OF
the eternity to come! Forward is the
command, and nothing can halt them,
even though the world should die.
While obeying my text Consider the
years of many generations" l propose
to speak of the Chronology OF the
Bible, or God Among the Centuries.
We make distinction between time
and eternity, but time is only piece OF
eternity, and chronology has been en-
gagged in the divine work OF dividing
up this portion of eternity that we call
time into compartments and putting
events in their right compartment 1t
is as much an injustice against the past
to wrongly arrange its events asst would
be an injustice if, through neglect OF
chronological accuracy, it should in the
far distant future be said that America
was discovered in 1916, and the declara-
ton of independence was signed in 1892,
and Washington born on the 22d OF
March, and the civil war of the United
States was fought in 1910.
AsGod puts all the events OF time in
the right place, let us be careful that
we do not put them in the wrong place.
The chronology OF the Bible takes six
steps, but they are steps so long 1t
makes us hold our breath as we watch
the movement. From Adam to
Abraham. FROM Abraham to the
exodus out of Egypt. From the exodus
to the foundation Solomon's temple.
From the foundation of Solomon's
temple to the destruction of that
temple. From the destruction of the
temple to the return from Babylonish
captivity. From Babylonish captivity
to the birth of Christ.
Chronology takes pen and pencil, and
calling astronomy and history to help
says: Let us fix one event from which
TO calculate everything. Let it be a
star, the bethlehem star, the Christmas
star" And from that we go back and
see the world was created 4,0O4 years
before Christ; the deluge came 2,S4s
years before Christ; the exodus out OF
Egypt occurred /, 49l years before Christ,
and Solomon's temple was DESTROYED
ESQ years before Christ.
Chronology enters the first chapter
of Genesis and says the day mentioned
there is not day of twenty-four hours,
but of ages, the word there translated
as day" in other places meaning ages,
and so the Bible account of the crea-
ntion and the biologists account OF the
creation are completely harmonious
Chronology enters the book OF Daniel
and says that the words time and a
half" mean year and half.
Chronology enters at another point
and shows US that the seasons OF the
year were then only MIDSUMMER and
winter. We find that the Bible year
was $50 days instead of 1895; that the
day was calculated from 6 o'clock in the
morning to o'clock at night; that the
night was divided into four Watches
namely, the late watch, the midnight,
the cock Growing the early watch. Tho
clock and watch were invented SO long
after the world began their mission
thai the day was not very sharply di-
vided in Bible times Ahaz had a sun
dial, or n flight of stairs with column
Mt the top, and the shadow which that
column threw on the steps beneath in
Dictated the hour, the shadow lengthen-
ing or withdrawing from step to step.
But the events of life and the events
of the world moved so slowly for the
most part in Bible times that they had
no need of such time pieces as we stand
on our mantels or carry in our pockets
in an age when a man may have half
dozen or a dozen engagements for one
day and needs to know the exact minute
for each one Of them. The earth itself
in Bible times was the chief time piece,
and it turned once on its axis and that
was day, and once around the sun and
that was year.