Democratic messenger., 1893-02-25
BIBLE CONCHOLOGY.
DR. TALMAGE CONTINUES HIS SER
MONS ON GOD IN NATURE.

Or. TAlMAGE CONTINUES HIS SER
MONS ON GOD IN NATURE.
sweet Spices, Siactc and Onycha''-Won
derfui Force and Variety of the BIBLE,
Imagery From Nature-iIow the Divin.
Care u shown In the Oceans shells.
BRooKLYN. Feb. l9-ln the Tabernacle
this forenoon Rev DR. Talmagc contin
ued ms course of sermons on God every
whcre His s9bjcct WAS the "Conchology
Of the Bible: or, God Anon: the Shells.
the text being taken from Exodus. 30t}
chapter. 3ith verse And the Lord said
unto Moses. Take unto thee sweet spices
stactc and onycha.
! You may not have noticed the shells
OF the Bible. although in this early part
al the sacred book tiod calls YOU TO con
slider and employ them rs he called
MoSes Ia consider ard employ them. The
onycha OF my text is II shell found on the
banks of the Red sea. and Moses and his
army must have crushed many Of them
under foot as they crossed the bisected
waters. onyc.la 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 rs true
as the first chapter of Genesis and the
last chapter of Revelation or everything
between
Not only Is this shell. the onvcha.
found at the Red Sea. but in the waters
of India II not only delcctaics the eye
with lis convolutions of beauty. white
and lus;rouS and serratea. but blesses
the noStril with a pungent aroma. This
shelltish accustomed to feed on spike
nard. Is redolent with that odorous
plant-re,lolcnt when alive and redolcnt
when dead It's shells when burned be-
witch the air with fragrance.
In my tex; God commands Moses to
mix this onchya with :he perfumes of
the altar in the ancient tabernacle. and
propose to mix some of its perfumes Mt
the altar of Brooklyn Tabernacle. for.
having spoken Ia you ON the Astronomy
OF the Bible. or. God Among the Stars"
the Chronology Of the Bible: or. God
Among the Centuries" the "Orniihology
OF the Bible. or. God Among the Birds.
the "Mineralogy of the Bible; or, God
Among the Amethysts:" the "Ichthyolo-
" OF the Bible: or God Among the
Fishes" | now come TO speak of the
'Conchology of the Bible: or. God Among
the Shells,
RICHES OF THE OCEAN.
1t Is Il secret that you may keep for
me. for have never before told it to any
one. that III all the realms of the natural
world there is nothing to me SO fascinat-
ing So completely absorbing. so full of
suggestivenesS rs IA shell What? More
entertaining than bird. which can sing,
when Il shell cannot sing: Well. there
you have made Il great mistake. Pick
up the onycha from the banks of the Red
sea or pick upa bivalve from the beach
of the Atlantic ocean and listen. and you
hear whole choir of marine voices
ton.I.c ~ ~ ...t:.s 10 chant. rs put
them 10 my ear The sea is his. and he
made it, others singing. Thy way, o
God. is III the sea-" others hymning. He
ruleth 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 can han
die the shell and closely study the she'll
while cannot handle the star. and if
study II must study il ut Il distance of
millions and millions of miles
What. SAYS some one else. ARE you
more Impressed by the shell than the
flower Yes for i, has far greater va
rletics and far greater richness of color.
as | could show you in thousands of
specimens. ana because the shell does not
fade. ts does the rose leaf, but maintains
lis oeaniy century after century. 50 that
the onvcha which the hoof of pharaoh's
morse Knocked aside in the chase of the
lsraelics across the Red sea may have
kept its uster tp this hour. Yes. they
are 50 Iarticolorcl and many colorca
that ynu might pile them up until You
would have a wall with all the colors of
the wall Of heaven. from the jasper III
the bottom 10 the amethyst 1T the top.
Oh. the shells. The pc;riiied foam of
the sea OH the shells. The hardened
bubbles of the deep. oh. the shells.
which are the dialcms thrown by the
ocean 10 the lee; of the continents. How
the shells are ribbed. Sroovcd, cylin-
lcrcfi moitlcl irdrsccnt. They We're
used aS coin b: some of the nations.
They were fastened i'll belts by others.
and made III handles of wooden imple-
ments bv still others Mollusks not only
of the sea ba, mollus.ls Of the land. Do
you know how much they have had to
do with the worlds history? They saved
the church of God from extingEishment.
The IsraelitcS marched ont of Egypt
= 900 900 strong besides fiocks and herds.
The Bible says the people took their
dough before il waS leavened. their
kneading iroughS being bound mp in the
clothes on their shoulders. They were
thrust forth out of Egypt and could not
tarry. neither had they prepared for
themselves amy victualS just think of
it! Forty years in the Wilderness. In
fidelity triumphantly asks, How could
they live 10 years III the wilderness with
out food: Iou say mamma fell. Oh,
that WAS after Il long while. They would
have starved 30 times before the mamma
fell The fact is. they We're 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 lsraeli;es took
and they give this rs their testimony
IsRAEi.'s RotTE To CANAAN
Although the children of Israel must
have consisted of about 1000. 600 souls.
with baggage and innumcrable flocks
and herds they were not likely TO ex
pcricEcc any Inconvenience III their
march Several Thousand persons might
walk abreast with the greatest ease III
the very narrowest part of the valley in
which they first began to file off. 1t soon
afterwaTd expands to above three leagues
in width. With respcc; to forage they
would be Mt no loss The ground is COW
cred with tamarisk broom clover and