The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-03-08
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN
DAY SERMON
Subject: 'tGod Among the Ehells.n

TEXT: "And the Lord said unto Noses
1ohe unto thee s,oeet spices, stacte and
ongchd. Xxx, "a.
You may not have noticed the shells Of
tne Bible, although In this early part of the
sacred book God calls you to Consider and
employ them as he calied Moses to consider
and employ them. The onycha Of my text
Is SMELL found on the banks Of the Red Sea.
ana moses and his armv must have crushed
many OF them under foot as they crossed
the blsected waters, onycha on the beach
ana onycha In the unfolded bed Of the deep.
snail speak OF this shell as q beautiful and
practical revelation of God, and as true as
tne nrst chapter OF Genesis and the last
tween.
Not only is this shell. the onycha. found
at the Red Sea. but In the waters of India.
1t not only delectates the eye with its conyo-
Iutlons OF beauty, white and lustrous and
serrated, but blesses the nostril with a pun.
gent aroma. This shellhsh, accustomed to
feed on spikenard, Is redolent with that
odorous 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 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 '.Mineraiogy Of the
Bible; or. God Among the Amethysts;n
the "1chthyology Of the Bible: or, God
Among the Fishes" now come to speak Of
the 'Conchology Of the. Bible. OF: God
Among the Snefls.n
1t Is q secret that you may keep for me,
for have never before told it to any one,
that In all the realms ofthe natural world
there Is nothing to me so fascinating, so
completely absorbing, 80 full Of suggestive.
ness, as "a shell. What! More entertaining
than bird, which can sing, when shell
cannot sings Well, there you have made q
great mistake. Pick up the onycha from
the banks Of the Red Sea or picx up a bivalve
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 J. put them
to my ear, "The sea Is His and Ee made it,"
others singing, ''Thy 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 start In
some respects, yes, because I can handle the
shell and closely study the shell. while
cahnot handle the star, and if study IL
must study 1t at distance Of millions and
millions Of miles. ...-. ..f...
"What," says some one else "are you
more impressed by the shall than the
aowsrf' Yes, for it has far greater varie-
ties and far greater richuess OF color, as /
could show you In thousands Of specimens
n,.l kho ,boII f.J.
the rose Leaf, but maintains it's beauty cen-
tury after century, 50 that the onyoiia
which the hoof OF Pharaohs horse knocked
aside In the chase OF the Israelites aseoss che
Red Sea may have kept its luster 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 petrifei 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. Bow the shells are ribbed,
grooved. cylindered, mottled. iridescent!
They were used as coin BY some Of the Ma.
tions. They were fastened in belts by
Others and made in handles Of wooden i'm.
plements by still others. Mollusks 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 Israelites marched out Of Egypt
2,000, 900 strong, besides hocks and herds,
The Bible says ''the people took their dough
before it was leavened, their kneading
troughs being bound uo IN the clothes on
their shoulders. They were thrust forth out
of Egypt and could not tarry; neither had
they prepared for themselves any victuals."
Just think of its Forty years In the wilder.
could they live forty years in tue wilderness
without foodf You say mama fell. Oh.
that was after a long while. They would
have starved fifty times before the mama
fell. The fact is. they were chiefly kept
alive by the mouusks OF the land or shelled
creatures. Mr.. Fronton and Mr.. Sicard
took the same route from Egypt toward
Canaan that the Israelites took, and they
give this as their testimony.
although the children OF Israel must
have consisted OF about 1000 900 souls, with
baggage and innumerable hocxs and herds,
they were not likely to experience any in.
convenience in their march. Several thou.
sand persons might walk abreast with the
greatest ease III the very nsrrowest part Of
the valley in which they first began to file
of. 1t soon afterwari 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
<pecially camels are passionately foo !. be.
sides almost every variety OF odoriferous
plant and herb proper for pasturage.
THE whole sides of the valley through
which the children Of Israel marched are
still tufted with brush ood, which doubt
loao af al Nd fNr boi~ fOv
with many drier sorts for lighting fire, on
which the Israelites could with the greatest
ease bake the dough they brought with them
on small iron plates, which form constant
appendage to the baggage Of an oriental
traveller. Lastly, the heroage underneath
these trees and shrubs is completely covered
with snails OF q prodigious slze and Of the
best sort, and, however uninvlting such q
repast ought appear to us, they are here es-
teemed a great delicacy. They are so plenti.
ful in this valley that it may be literally said
that it Is difficult. to take one step without
treading on them"
So the shelled creatures saved the host Of
Israelites on the march to the promised
land, and the attack of infdelity at this
point is defeated by the facts, as infidelity is
always defeated by facts since it's founded
on ignorance. In writing and printing our
interrogation point has at the bottom mark
like period and over it flourish liks the
swing OF teamster's whip, and we put this
Interrogation point at the end Of a question,
but in the Spanish language the interroga-
tion point is twice used for each question.
At the beginning of the question the inter-
rogation point IS presented upside down,
and at the close Of the question right side
up. When inddelity puts q question about
the Scriptures as it always indicates igno-
rance. the question ought to be printed with
two Interrogation points, one at the Begin
ming and one at the close, but both upside
down. >,