The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-01-06

Or. TALMsee's DISCOURSE AT THE
BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.

Was Regarding THE Chronology of tho
Bible, or God Among the Centuries"
BROOKLYN, Jan. Rev. DR.. Talmage
this morning appropriately took for the
subject of his New Years day sermon
1.-The Chronology of the Bible, or God
Among the Centuries" Before the dis
course the great audience which fully
crowded the Tabernacle sang the hymn;
Our God, our help In ages past,
Our hope for years to come
The text chosen was Deuteronomy
xxi, Z, Consider the years of many
generations"
At 10 o'clock last night, while so many
good people were watching, an old friend
| passed out Of our homes and stranger
entered. The old friend making valedic-
tory was 1892; the stranger arriving is
1893 The old friend was garrulous with
the occurrences of many days, but the
stranger put his finger over his lip and
said nothing 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 Goodby, 1892! Welcome, 1898!
AS an army is divided into brigades
md regiments and companies, and they
observe this order in their march and
their tread is majestic. so the time of the
worlds existence is divided into an
army diviaely commanded; the eras are
the origades, 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.
evril though the world should lie. While
oboying my text CONSIDER the years of
many generations, | propose to speak Of
the Chronology of the Bible, or God
Among the Centuries.
ARRANGING EVENTS.
We make distinction between time
and eternity, but time is only piece Of
eternity, and chronology has been en-
gagged III the sublime work of dividing
up this portion of eternity that we cali
time into compartments and putting
events in their right compartment. Il
is MS much an injustice against the past
to wrongly arrange its events as it would
be an injuS, !ue if, through neglect of
chronological accuracy, it should in the
far distant future be said that America
WAS discovered in 1716, and the DECLARE
ton of Independence was signed in 1852,
and Washington born on the 22d of
March. and the civil war of the United
States was fought in 1840
AS God puts all the events of time in
the right pla e, 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 it makes us
hold our breath as we watch the move
ment From Adam to Abraham. From
Abraham to the exodus out of Egypt
From the exodus to the foundation of
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 Baby
lonish captivity. From Babylcnish cap
tivity 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 Il star
the Bethlehem star the Christmas star. '
And from that we go back and see the
world was created 4,O04 years before
Christ; the de!uge came . ,348 years before
Christ; the exodus out Of Egypt occurred
1,49l years before Christ, and Solomon s
temple was destroyed $50 years before
| Christ.
Chronology enters the first chapter OF
Genesis and says the day mentioned
there is not a day of twenty four hours,
but of ages the word there translated as
day in other. places meaning ages
and so the Eihle account Of the creation
and the biologists account of the crca-
ton are completely harmonious. Giro
nology enters the book of Daniel and says
| that the words time and half mean
a year and Il 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
800 days instead of 1865; that the day was
| calculated from 6 O'Clock in the morning
to 6 clock at night; that the night was
| divided into four watches namely, the
late watch, the midnight, the cock crow
| ing the early watch. The clock and
watch were invented SO long after tn.
world began their mission that the day
was not very sharply divided in Bible
times Ahaz had sundial. or flight
of stairs with column at the top. an
the shadow which that column threw on
the steps beneath indicated the hour. the
shadow lengthening 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 !ch timepieces rs we stanC
on our mant, Is or carry in our pockets
in an age when man may have hail
dozen or a dozen engagements for one
day and needs to know the exact minute
for each one of them. The earth itseli
III Bible times was the chief timepiecn
and it turned once on its axis and thai
was day. and once around the sun ant
that was year.
| HE AI4MANAI.
1t was not until the Fourteenth century
that the almanac was born, the almanac
that we toss csrelessly about. not realiz
ing flat it took the accumulated inge
mutt VI more than 5000 years TO max,
one Chronology had to bring init
It's service the monuments of Egypt
and the cylinders of Assyria. and The
bricks of Babylon. and the pottery o
Nineveh. and the medals struck ut An
tioch for the battle of Actium, and al
the hieroslyphics that could be dc
ciphered. and bad to go into the ex
grenely delicate business of asking Ia
age3 of Adam and Seth and Enoch AM
Methuselah who after their 30oth yea
wanted to be Thought young.
think it ic~~t have been in recogni
ton of the stupendous work of making
an almanac that all the days of the weel
are ramed after the gods Sunday, aetel
TIE sun. which was OF old worshiped IA
a god. Monday. after the moon. whiel
was also worshiped rs u god. Tuesday
| after Tl1c,,,.C thp rod of war Wc0ngS