Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-01-06
REV. DR.. qALMAGR.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divins's Sun.
day Sermon.
Subject. God Among the Centuries"

tered The old friend making valAdictorv
was 1877; the stranger arriving is 1892. The
Cd fr1eni was gaTrulous with the occur
rences OF many davs, but the stranye,. MT
his finger over his liz AMI said nothing and
seemed charged with many secrats and ms
teries. did not see either the deoartuvs or
the arrival, hut was soun1 asleep. thinking
taat was Tor m the best wav to be wide
awake now. Gooihv. 'S93, Welcone 1SQ3i
AS an army is divided into brivales aud
REGIMENTS AMI companies, ani thew observe
this order in their march and their treat Is
majestic. So the time OF the worlds exist.
ence 10 divided into an army divinslv COM
manded; the erSs are the briSa les the CEN
turles are the regiments, and thu years are
the comDanieS. Forward into the 4ternity
past, out OF the eternity to GOMEZ Farwsrl
Is the command. and nothing can halt them
even though the world should die. While
obeying my text, consider the wears OF
MANY generations" [ prooose tn sDeak OF
the Chronology Of the Bible, or God Among
the Centuries"
We make distinction between time and
eternity but time is only plecs OF eternity.
and chronology has been engaged in the
suollire work OF dividing W TIL. .ortion oi
eternity that we call time into comrsrt.
ments snt ruttiug events in their right
compartment. 1t is as much IN ipiustics
against the past to wrongly ARRANGE il,
events rs it would be an injustice H. through
neglect Of chrome OF cal accuracy. il should
in the far distant future be said that Amer.
"a was discovered in l176. aud the Dacl.ra-
ton Of lndenendence was signed in 1892.
and Washington born on tho 22l of March.
and the Civil War Of the United States was
fought in 1917.
As God puts all the events OF time in the
right place. let us be careful that ws do not
put them in the wrong place. The chron-
olOey OF the Bible takes six steps. but thew
are steps so long it makes US hol1 our breath
as We watch the uovSm mt. From Adam
TO AbraAam. From Abraham to the exodus
cut Of Egypt. From the exodus to the
foundation Of Solomon's temple. From ths
foundation Of Sol0mon's temple to the de-
structi0n Of that temple. From the destruc-
ton Of ths temple 10 the return from Baby
ionlsh clptivity. From Babyionish cap.
i:vity to the birth Of Christ.
Chronology takes pen and pencil. an cali
ing astronomy and history 20 help says:
Let us fix one ev mt from which n slcu-
late everything. Let it bs star, the Beth
lebem star. ths Christmas star AMI from
that We 20 bacS am see the world was
created 1904 years before Christ: the deluZe
came 234S years before Christ: the exodus
out OF Egypt occurred 1891 years before
Chris-, and Solomon's temple was destroyed
5SG years before Christ.
Chronology enters the first chapter Of
Genesis and says the dag mentioned there is
DOT day OF t1enty-four hours. but OF ages.
&c word there translated as Jay in other
siscss meaning ages. sni 50 the Bible &c.
count of the creation aud the geolozistS &C.
cunt OF the creation ara completely har-
nonious. Chronology enters the book OF
Daniel and saws that the words time AMI
half mean year and half.
Chronology enters at another point aud
shows Gs that the seasons Of the wear were
then only two-Summer AMI winter. We
Gnd that tbs Bible year was $50 DAYS instead
II S55; that tbs CAV was calculated from
5o'clock in the morning TO O'Clock at night:
bat the night was divided into four watches
-namely, the late watch, the midnight, the
,ock Growing, the early watch. The clocS
md watch were invented 50 long after ths
world besSa their mission that the day was
oot very sharply divided in Bible times
Ahsz had sundlal. or flight OF stairs with
column at tue top. and the shadow which
hat co umn throw 4 the steps beneath in
Heated the hour, the shadow lengthening
u withdrawing from step to step.
But the events OF life aud the events OF
Tue world moved so slowly FOR tbs most
cart in Bible times that they had no
need OF sucn timepieces as we stand on our
Mantels or carry in our pockets in an age
Nheu man may have a half dozen or a
dozen engagements for One day and needs
10 know thu exact minute for each one OF
them The earth Itself in Bible times was
the chief timep!ece, ami it turned once on
IS axis and that was day. ami ones aroun
he sun and that was a year.
IL was not until the Fourteenth Century
hat the almanac was born. ths alm9uEc
that We toss careleSSiy about not realizing
hat It TOOK the accumulated ingenuity Of
more than 500 years to make one. Chroa-
)lOgy bad TO bring into its services the monu-
nenls Of Egypt and the cylinders OF Assyria.
and the bricks OF Babylon AMI the pottery
Of Nineveh and tbs metals struck at An
siOch for tie battle OF Actium, and all the
hierOglyphics that could be deciDhered, aud
bad TO go into the extremely delicate bust
aess OF asking the ages OF Adam aud Seth
aud EnOch and Methuseah who after their
9O0th year wanted 20 be thou yht young.
think il must have been in recognition
81 the Stupendous work OF making an alma
Gac that all the days Of the week are named
after the gods. Sunday, after the sun,
which was Of Old wcrshipe1 as = go'. Mon
day. after thu moon, which was also wor-
snIpen as goo. tuesday, after Tuesco. tho
god OF war. We lnesday, after Woiep. the
chief god Of the Scandinavians. Thursday,
after Thor, the god Of thunder. Friday.
after Frea. the goddess Of marriage. And
Saturday after Saturn. The old Bible year
began with the 18th Of March. Not until
l759 did the first OF the month OF January
get the honor in legal documents ia England
D, being called tue first day Of the year
improvements all along have been made
IN chronology until the calendar and tho
almanac, and the CLOCK, aud the watch seem
10 have reached perfection, aud all the Ma
lions OF ChristsudOm have similarity Of tina
calculations and have adopted what Is
called new style excspt Russia. which
keeps what is callei the 'old styls'' and is
twelve days different. ~ that, writing from
there. II you wish 10 be- accurate, you date
your letter January aud January 10, or
December 10 aud Dsoembe %. Il Is some.
thing to thank God for that the modes
are so complete FOR calculating the cycles
the centuries, the decades. the years, the
months, the days. the hours, the seconds.
Think OF making appointments as in the
Bible days for the time of the new moon.
Think Of making one OF the watc hes of the
night IN Bible times a rooster Growing. The
Bible says; Before the cock crow thou
shalt deny me thrice If the Master COM
sth at the cockcrowing," aud that was the
way the midnight watch was indicated.
the Growing OF that barnYari bird has al
ways been most uncertain. The Gro wing is
at the lowest temp nature oil the night an l
he amount Of dew and the direction OF tho
wind may bring the lowest temOerature at
IL o'c.ocK at night or 2 O'CLOCK in tbs mora
ing, AMI at any one Of six hours. Just be.
ore a rain the Growing OF chantlcleer in the
aight Is almost perpetual.
Compare these modes of marking tune
with our modes OF marking time, when 1,
o'clo-k is IL O'Clock, and 9 O'Clock is {
O'Clock. and 10 o'clock is 10 O'Clock, and in
dependent OF all weathers, and then thank
God that you live now. But notwithstand
ing ali the imperfect modes OF marking
hours or years or centuries Bible chronol-
ogy never trips up never falters never con.
tradlcts itself. and here is ons OF the best ar
yuments for the authenticity Of the Scrip,
lures.
II you can prove an abb in the courts,
and you can prove beyond doubt that you
we're in some particular place at the tins
you were charged vita doing or saying
fnmetning IN quite another place. YOU gaiu
the victory, aud in6delity has tried 70 prove
an abb BY contending that events and cir
cumstances in the Bible ascribsi To certain
times must have taken place at some other
time. IL they took place at all. But this
books chronology has never been caught At
fault. II has been proved that when the
Hebrews went into Egypt there were only
seventy Of them. aud that when they came
out there were 800 900 Of them.
Nov" says infidelity. with gufaw that
&c cannot cunDrasS eWhat an ahQurdfv I