Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-02-20
TBIBLE tN0NCHOLOGY.
DR. TALMAGE- CONTINUES HIS SER
: MONS ON GOD IN NATURE.

q TtSweet Spices, Stzese and Onycha''-Won-
,-derful Force. and Variety of the Bibles
. Imagery From Nature-How the Divine
Care Is Shown.In the Oceans Shells.
Brooklyn Feb. Ia.-In the Tabernacle
= this forenoon Rev. DR.. Talmage contin-
fued his course. of sermons on God every
where. His subject was the ''Conchology
pf the Bible; or, God Among the Shells"
the text being taken from Exodus, 3Oth
ehapter, 34th verse. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices.
stacte and onycha."
/ You may not have noticed the shells
pf the Bible, although in this early part
tf 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 a shell found on the
banks of the Red sea, and Moses and his
hr1ny must have crushed many of them
under foot as they crossed the bisected
waters. onycha on the beach and onycha
hn the unfolded bed of the deep. l shall
speak of this shell as a beautiful and
practical revelation of God, and as true
ks the first chapter of Genesis and the
Hast chapter of Revelation or everything
between.
!. Not only is this shell, the onycha.
found at the Red Sea-, but in the waters
.sof India. 1t not only DELEGATES the eye
with its convolutions, of beauty, white
and lustrous and serrated, but blesses
the ;nostril with a pungent aroma. This
Ehellfsh. accustomed to feed on spike
hard. is redolent with that odorous
-, Iola oil o,,1
mhen dead Its shells when burned be-
witch the air with fragrance.
. In my text God commands Moses to
imix this onchya with the perfumes of
the altar in the ancient tabernacle, and
II propose to mix some of its perfumes at
the altar of Brooklyn Tabernacle, for,
having spoken to you on the Astronomy
fof the Bible; or. God Among the Stars
the Chronology of the Bible; Or, God
EAmong the Centuries" the ''Ornithology
of the Bible; or. God Among the Birds;
the 'Mineralogy of the Bible; or, God
lAmong the Amethysts;" the ''Ichthyolo-
Ivy of, the. Bible: or. God Among the
Fishes, l. now come to speak of the
f-ConchoIogy of the Bible: or. God Among
ithe Shells.
! RICHES OF THE OCEAN.
1T is a secret that you may keep for
sme. for have never before told it to any
tone, that i'll all the realms of the natural
world there is nothing to me so fascinat
smg..so completely absorbing, SO full of
suggestiveness as shell What? More |
entertaining than a bird, which can sing,
when shell cannot sing? Well. there |
.you have made a great mistake. Pick |
lap the onycha from the banks of the Red |
sea or pick up a bivalve from tie beach |
of the ,Atlantic ocean and listen, and you
hear whole choir of marine voices
sbass. alto, soprano-in an unknown
tongue. but seeming to chant, as put |
5them to my ear. THE sea is his, and he
made. it, others singing, 'Thy way. o |
iGod, is in the sea- Others hymning. He |
sruieth the raging of thessea.'
What" says some ONE else, docs the |
shell impress you more than the starr
Mn some respects, yes. because can ham
die the shell and closely study the shell,
ifEhile cannot handle the star, and If ]
fstidy it must study it at a distance of
inaillions and millions of males
What. : says some one else, ARE you
fIriease impressed by. the shell than the |.
flower: Yes. for it has far greater va +
Fle1aes and far greater richness of color,
as could show you in thousands OF !
sslesaEaenS.. and because the shell does not |
fade as does the0ose leaf. bat maintains
hts beianty century after century, so that
the onycha which, the hoof OF ,pharaoh's |
morse knocked aside in the CHASE of the
Israe4ites across the Red sea may have
Kept itslluster. to this hour Yes, they
are so ,particolorea and many colored
would haze Il wall Wi tn all the ceolors of
the wall of heaven. from the jasper at
the bottom to the amethyst at the top.
Oh. thesshells, The petriied foam of
the sea oh. the shells! The hardened
bubbles of the deep. Oh. the SHELLS,
which are the diadenas thrown hV the
ocean to the;feet of the sentiments. 1low
the shells ARE ribbed, grOoved eYlin-
dered notified, iridescent! They were
used as coin by some "a the nations.
They were fastened in belts by others.
and made in handles of wooden nipple
ments by still others MoA1sks not only
of the sea. but mollusks OF the land Do
you know how much they&have had to
do with the worlds history? They saved
the church of God from extiRguishment.
The Israelites marched out of Egypt
9. 900 GOO strong, besides focks and herds
The Bible says 'fthe people took their
dough before it was leavened, their
kneading troughs being bound up in the :,
clothes on their shoulders. They were
thrust forth out Of Egypt and could not
tarry; neither had they prepared for
any victuals." Just think of
i'll Forty gears in the wilderness. In
fidelity triuanphantly asks, How could
they live 40 gears in thewilderness with
put food? You say mama fell. Oh,
that was after a long while. They would
have starved 20 times before the mama
fell The fact IS, they We're chiefly kept