Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1893-03-03
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIViNES SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: God Among the Shells"

TEXT: "And the LORI said unto Noses,
Take unto thee stceet 81 .c2s stdcte and
onychd."-Exodus Xxx, 81
You may not have noticed the shells Of
the Bible, although in this e1riy part Of the
sacred book God calls you to consider and
employ them as He C lied 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 MS armv must have crushed
many of them under foot as they crossed
the bisected waters, onycha on the beach
and onycha In the unfolded bed Of the deep.
shall speak of this shell as beautiful and
practical revelation of God, and as true as
tne first chapter Of Genesis and the last
chapter of Revelation or everything be-
tween.
Not only is this she'll the onycha. found
at the Red Sea, but jim the waters of India.
It not only DELEGATES the eye with its convo-
lutions of beauty, white and Iustrous and
serrated, but blesses che nostril with pun
gent aroma. This shellfish. accustomed to
feed on spikenard, is redolent with that
oiorous plant-redolent when alive and re-
dolent when dead. It's shells when burned
bewitch the air with fragrance.
In my text God commands Moses to mix
this onchya with the perfumes of the altar
In the ancient tabernacle, and [ propose to
mix some of its perfumes at the altar of
Brooklyn Tabernacle, for, having spoken 10
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 'sMineralogy of the
Bible: or, God Among the Amethysts;"
the "Ichthyology Of the Bible; or God
Among the Fishes" [ now come to speak Of
the "Conchology Of the Bible; or, Col
Among the Shells"
1t is a secret that you may keep for rae,
for have never before told it to any one,
that in all the realms of the natural world
there is nothing to me SO fascinating, so
completely Absorbing SO full of suggestive
ness, shell. What? More enter aiming
than bird. which can sing, when shell
cannot sing? Well, there you have made
great mistake. Pick up the onycha from
the banks of the Red Sea or PICK up bivalve
from the beach of the Atlantic OCEAN and
listen, and you hear whole choir Of marine
voices-bass, alto, sopraEo-in an unknown
tongue, but seeming to chant, as put them
to my ear, "The sea is His and He made it,"
others singing, ''Ch7 way, o God, is in the
sea-" others hymning. "Heruleth the raging
of the sea-"
what" says some one else, 'does the
she'll impress you more than the star" In
some respects. yes, because I can handle the
shell ana closely study the she'll, while [
cannot handle the star, and if L study it
must study it at distance Of millions and
millions OF miles
"What," says some one else, 'tare you
more impressed by the shell than the
AO"eT! Is, lot III ueS lar greater Varl0-
ties and far greater richness OF color, as L
could show you in thousands of specimens
and because the she'll does not fade, as does
the rose leaf, but maintains its beauty CEN
fury 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 ulster to this
hour. Yes, they are SO particolored and
many colored that you might pile them up
until you would 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 petrified foam of the
sea. Oh, the shellsl The hardened 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, cylindered, notified. iridescent!
They were used as coin by some Of the Ma
tons. They were fastened in belts by
others, and made in handles Of wooden i'm
plements by still others. Molusks 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 extinguishment.
The lsraeiites marched out Of Egypt
2,000 900 strong, besides docks and herds,
The Bible says the 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
Just think of it? Forty years in the wilder
ness, lnfidelity triumphantly asks, How
could they live forty years in tue wilderness
withCct food2 You say mama fell. Oh
that was after a long while. They would
have starved fifty times before the mamma
fell. The fact is, they were chiefly kept
alive by the mollusks OF the land or sheled
creatures. Mr.. Fronton and Mr.. Sicard
took the same route from Egypt toward
Canaan that the 1sraelites took, and they
give this as their testimony.
although tho children of Israel must
have consisted Of about 1000, 600 souls, with
baggage and lnnumerab!e fOcEs and herds,
they were not likely to experience any in.
convenience in their march. Several thou
sand persons might walk abreast with Jhe
greatest ease IN the very narrowest part Of
the valley in which they first began to file
off. 1t soon afterward expands to above
three leagues in width. With respect to
forage they would be at no loss. The
ground is covered with tamarisk, broom
clover and saint foin, Of which latter
especially camels are passlOnately fool, be.
SIDES almost every variety OF cdoriferous
plant aDd her6 proper for pasturage.
1.-The whole sides of the valley through
| which the children of Israel marched are
| still tufted with brushwood which do 1bt-
| less afforded food for their beasts together
! with many drier sorts for lighting fire, or
| which the Israelites could with the greatest
| ease bake the dough they brought with them
! on smalllrCn plates, which form a constant
| appendage to the baggage of an orl7uta
| traveller. Lastly. the heritage underneath
| these trees and shrubs is completely covered
| with snalis OF a prodigiOus size and of the
best sort, and, however uninviting such
| repast ought appear to US, they are here es-
! teemed great delicacy. They are so plenti
full in this valley that 1t may be literally sale
! that it is difficult to take one step withou