Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-09-22

ana put tnem together, an now long Wouh
they stay together? B)ots o. elegant ex-
tracts" compiled from many authors are
prOverbially short lived. | meyer knew ono
such book which. b us@ the publisher
phrase, "hai life in II" for llys years.
Why is it that the Bible. made up OF the
writings OF Mt elst 81 authors. has kept to-
gether for long limo oi centuries when the
natural tendency w0ll have been TO fly
apart like loose sheets o paper when Il gust
OF wind blows upon them? Il is because Col
stuck them together AMI keeps them to-
gcther. But for that Joshua would hav3
wandered of in one direction. AMI Paul into
another. AMI Ezekiel into another, and Ha-
bakkuk into another, and the 80 authors in
to 80 directions.
Put the writings OF Shakespeare and Ten
nyson and LOngfelow, or anypart otthem,
together. How lony would they stay to-
gether2 No book bindery could keep them
together. But the cannon OF the Scripture
is loaded now with the same ammunition
with which prophet AMI apostle loaded II.
Bring me all the Bibles OF the earth into
vne pile. ana blindfold me so that cannottv"
the differences between day and night. and
put into nv hand any one OF all that Alpine
mountain OF slcred books. aad put my finger
on the last page OF Genesis and let me know
it, and can tell you what IS on the next page
namely. the first chapter OF Exodus; or
while thus Embodied put my finger on the
last chapter OF Matthew AMI let me know 1t.
and | will tell you what is on the next page
-l1mey. the first chapter OF Marx. In the
pile OF SOC, 600. 900 Bibles there will be no
exception. In other woris. the book gives
mo confidence By its supernatural adhesion
OF writing TO writing.
Even the stoutest ship sometimes shifts ITS
4 A.. II naril tho
greater in the ship Greece OF the National
line when the cyclone strucSu5 OF the coast
Of Newfoundland, and the cargo OF iron had
shifted as the ship swung from larboari to
starOoard. and from starOOlr1 TO larD0ard.
But, thanks be 10 God, this old Bible ship,
though Il has been IN thousands OF years OF
tempest. has kept its cargo OF gold and pre-
cious stones cOmplct and sure, and in all the
centuries nothing about 1t has shifted. There
they stand. shoulder 10 shoulder, David and
Solomon and Isaiah and jeremiah and Eze-
kiel and Daniel and Hosea and Joel and
Amos and Obadiah and Jonah and Micah AID
Nahum and Hlb5akkuk and Iephaniah ana
Haggai and Z schariah and Malachi AMI Mat
thew and Mark and Luke and John and Paul
AMI Peter, all there. AMI with certainty OF
being there until the heavens an the earth,
the creation Of which is described in the first
book OF the Bible, shall have collapsed, and
the white hOrsa OF the conqueror, described
in the last book oithe Bible, shall paw the
dust in universal demolition. By that tire
mendous fact my faith is REINFORCED.
The discussion is abroad rs 10 who wrote
those books Of the Bible called the Penta-
teu,h. whether Moses OF Hlkah. or Ezra or
Samuel, or jeremiah, or another group OF
ancients. None of them wrote IL. God
wrote the Pentateuch, and in this day Of
stenography and typswrting that ought not
10 be a difficult thing to understand. The
great merchants and lawyers. AMI editors
aud business men OF our towns and cities
dictate nearly all their letters they only
sign them after they ara dictated. The
prophet ami evangelist and apostle we're