Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-01-13
REV. DR.. TAlMAGE.
DAY SERMON.
SUBJKCT: "GoD AMONG THE CEN
TURIEs."

TURIEs."
TEXT: "Consider the years OF many gen.
srutions. s."-Deuteronomy xxi, Z.
At l2 o'clock last night, while so many
good people were watching, an old friend
passed out of our homes aud a stranger en-
tered The old friend making valedictorY
was 1892; the stranger arriving is 1899. The
old friend was garrulous with the occur
rences of many days, but the stranger put
| his finger over his liD and said nothing aud
seemed charged with many secrets and mys-
teries. Idid not see either the departure or
| the arrival, but was sound asleep, thinking
that was for me the best way 10 be wide
awake now. Goodhy. 1921 Welcome, lSl3!
AS an army is divided into brizaieS an
| regiments AMI companies, AMI they observe
this order in their march and their tread is
majestic, so the time of the worlds exist
| ence is divided into an army divinely COM
| manded; the eras are the brga les, the cen
turieS are the regiments ana the years are
| the companies. Forward into the eter nifty
past, out of the eternity to come Forward
| Is the command and nothing can halt them
even though the world should die. While
obeying my text, "Consider the years OF
many generations" | propose to speak OF
the Chronology of the Bible, or God Among
| the Centuries"
We make a distinction between time and
eternity. but time is only piece Of eternity,
and chronology has been engaged in the
sublime work Of dividiny up this portion OF
eternity that we call time into compart.
ments and putting events in their right
compartment. 1t is as much an njustics
against the past to wrongly arrange its
events as it would be an injustice IT, through
neglect of chronological accuracy, it should
in the far distant future be said that Amer
ca was discovered in ITO and the Decara.
ton Of Independence was signed in 1872,
and Washington born on the - of MerCl,
and the Civil War Of the United States was
fought in lS40.
AS God puts all the events of time in the
right place. let US be careful that we do not
put them in the wrong place. The chron-
ology OF the Bible takes six steps but they
are steps SO long it makes us holt our breath
as We watch the movem mt. From Adam
J TO Abraham. From Abraham TO ths cx1iu,
out OF Egypt. From the exodus to the
foundation OF Solomun's temp.e, From the
foundation Of Solomon's temple to the de-
struction of that temple. From the de,tru,.
tion OF the temple to tho return from Bioy-
lonish captivity. From Babyionish cap
tiv!ty to the birth OF Christ
Chronology takes pen aud pencil, an cali
ing astronomy aud history 10 help says.
"Iet us fix one event from which 10 cilcu-
lehem star, the Christmls star" And from
| that We go bacs AMI see the world was
created 1904 years Le!ore Christ; the deuEe
came 234S years before Christ; the exodus
out OF Egypt occurred l49l years before
Christ, and Solomon's temple was destroyed
$50 years before Christ.
| Chronology enters the first chapter OF
Genesis and says Che day mentioned there is
not a day OF twenty-four hours. but OF ages,
the word there translated aS "iayi in other
places meaning ages, AMI 50 the Bible ac.
count of the creation andths GeolOgists' az.
count Of the creation are completely har-
monious. Chronology enters the book OF
Daniel and says that the words time an
q half" mean a wear AMI n half
| Chronology enters nt another point and
shows us that the seasons OF the year were
then only two-summcr and winter. We
find that the Bible year was 800 days instead
| OF 36j; that tho dav was calculated from
6 o'clock in the morning to q oclocG at night; ;
that the night was divided INTO four watches
namely, the late watch, the midnight, the
cock Growing, the early watch. The clock
and watch were invented - long after the
world began their mission that the day was
not very sharply divided in BIole times
Ahsz had a suntia', or flight OF stairs with
a column at the top. and the shadow which
that co.umn threw on ths steps beneath in.
dicated the hour, the shadow lengthening
or Withdrawing from step ~ step.
But the events Of life and the events Of
the world moved SO slowly for the most
part in Bible times that they had no
| need OF sucl tim opieceS as we stand on our
mantels or carry in our pcckets in an age
when a man may have a half dozen or a
dozen engagements for one day aud needs
| to know the exact minute for each one OF
them. The earth itself in Bible times was
the chief timepiece, and it turned once on
its axis and that was a day, and once around
the sun and that was year.
| 1t was not until the Fourteenth Century
| that the almanac was born the almanac
| that we toss carelessIy about, not realizing
| that 1t took the accumulated ingenuity of
| more than 5000 years to make one. Chron-
| oogy had to bring into its service the monu-
ments of Egypt aud the cy finders OF Assyria,
( and the bricks OF Babylon and the pottery
| Of Nineveb, and the metals struck at An
tioch for tire battle of Actium, and all the
| hieroglyphics that could be decipherel, and
| had to go into the extremely delicate busi-
ness of asking the ages OF Adam and Seth
| and Enoch and Methusclah, who after their
3O0th year wanted to be thought young.
think 1t must have been In recognition
| Of the stupendous work OF making an alma
nae that all the days of the week are named
after the gods. Sunday. after the sun,
which was of old worshiped as god. Mon.
| ud1, lHb IhOOu, WHICH was tlSO "Oi-
SHIPPED as god. Tuesday, after Tuesco the
| god of war. Wednesday, after WoIen, the
, chief god of the Scandnavians. Thursday,
after Thor, the god of thunder. Friday,
after Frea the goddess Of marriage. And
Saturday after Saturn The old Bible year
! began with the 25th Of March. Not until
1862 did the first OF the month of January
| get the honor in legal documentsin England
| OF being called the first day of the year.
u 10 all alonu bnva bPan na1p
in chronology until the calendar and the
| a,L1anoc and the clock, and the watch sc 1m
to hays reached perfection, aud all tho Ma
Sus of ChrisvsAdom have similarity OF time
| calculations and have adopted what Is
called .'nsv style" except Russia, which
1 keeps what is called the ''old style" and is
| twelve days different, SO that, writing from
| there, IL YOU wish to be accurate you date
4 your letter January and January l3, or
December 10 and d scember 22. 1t is some
4 thing TO thank God for that the modes
are so complete for calculating the cycles,
the centuries. tue decades, the years, the
months the days, the hours, the seconds.
Thiuk of making appointments as in the
4 Bible days for the time of the new moon
\ Think OF making one OF the waite hes OF the
| night in Bible times q rooster Growing. The
| Bible saws: Before the cock crow thou
shalt deny me thrice" 'lf the Master com
eth at the cockcrowing," and that was The
way the midnight watch was indicated.
The growing of that barnYard bird has al
ways been most uncertain. The growing Is
at the lowest temp nature OF tho night anC
the amount Of dew aud the direction OF the
wind may bring the lowest temperature a
IL o'clock at night OF 3 o'clock in the morn
ing, and at any one OF six hours. Just be
fore rain the growing OF chantlcleer IN tn
night is almost perpetual.
Compare these modes Of marking tim
with our modes of marking time, when l
! O'clock is 19 O'Clock, and 6 o'clock is
o'clock, and 10 o'clock is 10 o'clock, and in
dependent of all weathers, and then than
God that you live now. But notwithsta nd
ing all the imperfect modes OF markin!