The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1893-03-10
Bible COnchOlOgy.

L
Shells.
Bible COncholOgy.
Rev. DR.. Talmage's subject was tho
'Conch0logy Of the Bible; or, God
Among the Shells" the text being taken
from Exodus. 3Oth chapter, 34th verse.
':And the Lord said unto Moses. Take
unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and
onycha"
| You may not have noticed the shells
Of the Bible, although in this early part
of the sacred book God calls YOU to con-
| slider and employ them as he called
Moses to consider and employ them.
| The onycha OF my text is she'll found
| on the banks o. the Red Sea. and Moses
| and his army must have crushed many
! OF them under foot as they crossed the
bisected waters, onycha on the beach
and Onvcha in the unfolded bed of the
| deep. l shall speak Of this shell as .
beautiful and practical revelation CT God,
| and as true as the first chapter Of Genesis
! and the last chapter Of Revelation or
everything between.
Not only is this shell, the onycha.
found at the Red Sea, but in the waters
of India. 1t not only DELEGATES the eye
and lustrous and serrated, but blesses
the nostril with pungent aroma This
shellfish, accustomed to feed on spike
nard. is redolent with that odorOus
plant-redolent when alive and redolent
when dead. Its shells when burned be-
witch the air with fragrance.
In my text God commands Moses to
mix this onchya with the perfumes of
ho q N in no fohaPMQPIn
l propose to mix some of its perfumes 1t
the altar of Brooklyn Tabernacle, for,
having spoken to you on the Astronomy
of the Bible: or, God Among the Stars"
the Chronology of the Bible; or. God
Among the Centuries;" the ''Ornithology
of the Bible: or, God Among the Birds:
the 'Mineraloghy of the Bible; or. God
Among the Amethysts:" the ''lchthyoloSy
of the Bible; or, God Among the Fishes"
now come to speak of the 'COncholoky
of the Bible; or, God Among the Shells"
Riches of the Ocean.
1t Is secret that you may keep for
me for have never before told it to
any one, that in all the realms of the nat
ural world there is nothing to me so
fascinating, so completely absorbing, so
full of suggestivcness, as a shell. What?
More entertaining than a bird, which
can sing, when she'll cannot sing?
Well, there you have made great
mistake. Pick up the onycha from the
banks of the Red Sea or.,pick up BIZ
valve from the beach of the Atlantic
ocean and listen, and you hear whole
choir of marine voices-bass, alto.
soprano-in an unknown tongue, but
seeming to chant, as put them to my
ear, 1.-THE sea is His. and He made it,
others singing. ''Thy way, o God, is in
the sea-" others hymning, HE ruleth
the raging of the sea-"
'What," says some one else, ''does the
she'll impress you more than the starr"
In some respects, yes, because l can
handle the she'll and closely study the
she'll, while cannot handle the star. and
If study it. must study it at a distance
Of millions and millions of miles.
''What," says some one else, ''are YOU
more impressed BY the shell than the
fower?" Yes, for it has far greater va
rieties and far greater richness in color,
as could show you in thousands of
specimens. and because the she'll does
not fade, as does the rose leaf, but main
tainS its beauty century after century,
so that the onycha which the hoOf of
Pharaoh's horse knocked aside in the
chase of the Israelites across the Red Sea
may have kept its luster to this hour.
Yes. they are so particolored and many |
colored that you might pile them up I'M !
til you wOlld have wall with all the |
colors of the wall OF Heaven, from the |
jasper at the bottom to the amethyst at /
the top.
Oh. the shells! The petrfied foam of |
a. L. IL I,t TO- 81
bubbles of the deep. Oh, the shells, |
which are the diadems thrown by the
ocean to the feet Of the continents. How
the shells are ribbed, grooved. cylin-
dered, notified, iridescent! They were |
used as coin by some OF the nations. |
They we fastened in belts by others, and
made in handles of wooden implements
BY still others. MO!lusks not only of
the sea, but mollusks of the land. Do
you know ho v much they have had to
do with the worlds history? They saved
the church of God from extinguishment
The Israelites marched out of Egypt
2, 900, 600 strong, besides flOcks and
herds. The Bible says 1.-THE people took
their dough before it was leavened, their
kneading troughs being bound up IN the
clothes on their shoulders. They were
lEIUSG III Ou' VI A/Py w ohu Nou'N NV
tarry; neither had they prepared for
themselves any victuals." just think Of
it! Forty years in the wilderness. Inf
deity triumphant!y asks, How could
they live forty years in the wilderness
without food? You say mama fell. Oh,
that was after long while. They
would have starved fifty times before
the mama fell The fact is. they were
chiefly kept alive by the mollusks Of the
land or shelled creatures. Mr.. Fronton
and Mr.. Sicard took the same route from
Egypt toward Canaan that the Israel
ties took, and they gave this as their
testimony:
IsraeI's Route to Canaan.
although the children of Israel must
hive consisted of about 2, 1000, 900 souls.
with baggage and innumerable focks
and herds. they were not likely to ex-
perience any Inconvenience in their
march. Several thousand persons might
walk abreast with the greatest case il
the very narrowest part OF the valley In
which they first began to file of. Il
soon afterward expands to above three
leagres in width. With respect to forage