The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1893-01-06
ANEW YEARS SERMON
bR. TALMAGE's DISCOURSE AT THE
BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.


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
hxxii. 7, 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 valedic-
tory was 1899; the stranger arriving is
hS93 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
bee 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, 1893!
AS an army is divided into brigades
and 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 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 comet 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" 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 in the sublime work of dividing
tp this portion of eternity that we call
time into compartments and putting
events in their right compartment. II
is as mach an injustice against the past
TO wrongly arrange its events as it would |
be an injustice if, through neglect of
chronological accuracy, it should in the
far distant future be said that America |
was discovered in l776. and the Declara-
ton Of independence was signed in 1902,
and Washington born on the 22d of |
March, and the civil war of the United |
States was fought in 1870
! AS God puts all the events of time in
the right place, let us he 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
VI abraham to TIE exodus out of Egypt. |
From the exodus to the foundatiCg, of |
Solomon temple. Froin 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 Babylonish 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 star,
the Bethlehem star. the Christmas star"
And from that we go back and see the
world was created 1904 years before
Christ; the deluge came 2,348 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 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 creation
and the biologists account of the crea-
ton are completely harmonious. Chro-
nOlogy enters the book of Daniel and says
that the words time and half mean
a year and ii half,
Chronology enters at another point
and shows us that the seasons of the
year We're then only two-summer and
winter. We find that the Bible year was
$50 days instead of 365; that the day was
calculated from o'clock in the morning
10 6 o'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 th- :
world began their mission that the day I
was not very sharply divided in Bible +
times. Ahaz had IA sundial. or flight s
Of stairs with column at the top. and !
the shadow which that column threw on
the steps beneath indicated the hour, the
shadow lengthening or Withdrawing I
from step to step. !
But the events of life and the events |
If the world moved so slowly for the |
most part in Bible times that they had a
10 need of such timepieces as we stand I
N our mantels or carry in our pockets L
n an age when man may have half I
iozen or a dozen engagements for one '
lay and needs to know the exact minute q
or each one of them. The earth itself /
n Bible times was the chief timepiece, &
nd it turned once on its axis and that I
ras day, and once around the sun and q
hat was a s,ar. y
THE ALMANAC.
II was not until the Fourteenth century a
hat the almanac was born. the almanac
hat we toss carelessly about, not realiz- Q