The Penn's Grove record., 1897-02-05
REV. DR.. TAIMAGE
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY TUE
NOTED DIVINE,
Subject: ga Farmers Counsel"
efars anJ nrfau " An,oo q q


A country farmer wrote this text, Amos OF
Tekoa, He plowsd the earth and threshed
the grain by a new thteshing machine Just
invented, as formerly the cattle trod out the
grain. He gathered thS fruit OF the syca-
more tree and seariAei 1t with an iron comb
Just before II was getting ripe, rs II was nee.
essary and customary in that way to take
from it the bitterness. He was the son OF n
poor shepherd and suffered, but before the
stanmeringr rustic the Philistines and Syriaus
md, Phoenicians and Moabites and Ammon-
.es1snd Edomites and Ieraeliies trembled.
Moses was n law giver, Daniel was a
prince, Isaiah n courier and David q king,
but Amos, the author Of my text, was a peas
ant, and, as might be supposed, nearly all
his parallellsms are pastoral. his prophecy
full OF the odor OF new mown hay, and the
rattle OF locus,s, and the rumble OF carts
with sheaves, and the roar OF wild beasts de-
vouring the flock while the shepherd came
out in their defence. He watched tho herds
by day, and by night inhabited a booth made
out of bushes, so that through these branches
he could see the stnrs all night long, and
was more familiar wi h them than we who
have tight roofs to our houses and hardly
ever see the stars except among the tall
brick ehfmneys Of the great towns. But at
seasons of the year when the herds were in
special danger he would stay out in the
open field all through the darkness. his only
shelter the curtain OF the night heaven, with
the stellar embroideries and silvered tassels
of lunar light.
What n life OF solitude, all alone with his
herdsi Poo Amosi And at IL o'clock at
night bark to the VOLTS bark. and the lions
roar, and the bears growl, and the owls te-
whit. te-who, and the serpent's hiss rs he
unwitlingly steps too near while moving
through tue thicketsl SO Amos, like other
herdsmen, got the habit OF studying the map
of the heavens because 1t was SO much OF the
time spread out before him. He noticed
some stars Advancing and others receding.
He associated their dawn an | setting with
certain seasons OF the year. He had q poetic
nature, and he al night by night, and
month by month, and year by year, the poem
OF the considerations, divinity rhythmic:
But two ~rosettes OF stars especially attracted
his attention while seated on tho ground or
lying on his back under the open scroll OF
the midnight heavens-the Pleiades. or
seven stars, aud Orion. tn former group
this rustic prophet associated with spring,
as 1t rises about the list of May. The latter
he associated with the winter, as 1t comes TO
the meridian in January. The Pleiades, or
seven stars. connected with all sweetness
and Joy; Orion, the herald OF the tempest.
TIL anclents were the more apt to study the
physiognomy and juxtaposition Of the
heavenly bodies because they thought they
had O special influence upon the earth, n
perhaps they were right. II the moon every
few hours lifts md lets down the tides Of
the Atlantic ocean and the electric storms In
the sun. by oil sc 'entidc admission, affect
the earth. why not the stars have proper
tionate effect?
And there are some things which make me
think that it may not have been all super
s~titution which connected the movements
and appearance OF the heavenly bodies with
great moral events on earth. Did not a
meteor run on evangelistic errand on the
first Christmas night and designate the
rough cradle of our Lord2 Did net the stars
In their course fight against Sisera? Wa it
merely eoincldental that before the destruc-
ton of Jerusalem the moon was hidden for
twelve consecutive nights? Did 1t merely
happen so that a new star appeared in con-
stelIation Cassiopeia, and then disappeared
Just before Charles TX Of France, who was
responsible for the ST. Bartholomew mas
saere died? Was 1t without Significance
that in the days OF the Roman Emperor
Juslinian war and famine were preceded by
the dimness OF the sun which for nearly a
year gave no more light than the moon, al
though there were no clouds to obscure il?
Astrology, aficr all, may have been some
thing more than n brilliant heathenism. No
wonder that Amos OF the text, having beard
these two anthems OF the stars, put down
the stout, rough staff Of the herdsman and
took into his brown hand and cut and
knotted fingers the pen OF a prophet and ad-
vlsed the recreant people of his time to re-
turn to God. saying, Seek him that maketh
the seven stars and Orion" This command,
which Amos gave 1855 years D. c., Is just as
appropriate for us, 1897 A. d.
In the frat place Amos saw, as we must
see, that the God who made the Pleiades and
Orion must be the God OF order. 1t was not
so much a star here and a star there that i'm
pressed the inspired herdsmaD, but seven in
one group and seven in another group. He
saw that night after night and season after
season, and decade after decade, they had
kept step of light, each one in Its own place, a
sisterhood never clashing and never contest
ing precedence. From the time Hesiod called
the Pleiades the .'seven daughters of Atlas"
and Virgil wrote in his "Eueid" OF STORMY
Orion" until now. they have observed the
order established for their coming and 60
ing; order written, not In manuscript that
they may be p~igeon.holed, but with the hand
OF the Almighty on the dome OF the sky, so
that all Nations may read it-order, persist
ent order, sublime order, omnipotent order.
What a sedative 10 you and me. to whom
communities and Nations sometimes seem
going pellmell, and the world ruled by some
fiend at haphazard. and in all directions mall
administration The God who keeps seven
worlds in right circuit for 5000 years can
certainly keep all the affairs OF individuals
and Nations and continents In adjustment.
We had not better fret much, for the peas
ants argument ofthe text was right. II God
can take care OF the seven worlds Of the
Pleiades and the four chief worlds OF Orion,
He can probably take care OF tho one world
we inhabit.
So l feel very much as my father felt one
day when We were going to the country mill
TO get a grist ground, and j, q boy OF seven
years, sat In the back part OF the wagon, and
our yoke Of oxen ran away with us, and
along a labyrinthine road through the
woods, so that l thought every moment we
would be dashed TO pieces, and / made a
terrible cutlery of fright, aud my father
turned to me with a face perfectly calm and
said: "De Witt, what are YOU crying about2
/ guess we can ride as fast as the oxen can
lun." And, my hearers, why should We be
affrighted and lose our equilibrium In the
swift movement OF worldly events, especially
when we are insured that 1t is not a yoke OF
unbroken steers that ara drawing us on, but
that order and wise government are in the
yoke?
In your occupation, your mission, your
sphere, do the best you can aud then trust
TO God, and II things arc all mixed and dis
quieting and your brain is hot aud your
heart sick get some one TO go ont with you
into the starlight and point out to you the
Pleiades, or, bitter than that, get into some
observatory, and through the telescope SEQ
farther Than Amos with the naked eye could
namely, 200 stars in the Pleiades, I'M that
in what is called the sword Of Orion there is
q nebula computed to be two frillion two
hundred thousand billion of times larger
than the sun. Oh, be ut peace with the God
who made that and controls all that, the
wheel Of tho consultations turning in the
wheel of galaxies for thousands OF years
without the breaking OF u cog. or the slipping
OF a band, or the snap Il an axle. For your
placidity md comfort through the Lord
Jesus Christ l charge you, Seek Him that
maketh the seven stars and Orion"
Again, Amos a " AS we must see. that tire
God who made these two groups OF the text
was the God Of Light. Amos saw that God
was not satisfied with making one star or
two or three stars. but He makes seven, and.
having finished that group Of worlds, makes
another group-sroup after group. To tho
Pleiades He adds Orio~. II seems that God
likes light so we'll that He keeps making II.
Only ono being in the universe knows the
satisfies of solar, lunar, stellar, Ineteoric
creations, and that is tbs Creator Himself.
And they have all been lovingly christened.
each one a name as distinct as the names OF
your children. HE telleth the number OF
tho stars. He caiie,h them all by their
names. The seven Pleiades had names
given TO them, and they are Aleyone. Merope,
Celeno, Electra, Sserope, Taygete and Maia.
But think of the billions and t~ritilOns of