Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-02-10
RRV. DIR. TALMAGB.
The Eminent Divine's SUNDAY
Discourse,
TEXT. "Seek Him that maSeth the sevaI
stars and Orion. Amos VS.

TEXT 'Seek Him that maSeth the seven
stars and Orion. Amos ", 8.
country farmer wrote this text, Amos OF
Tekoa. He plowsd the earth and threshed
the gram by a new threshing machine just
Invented, as formerly the cattle trod Out the
grain. He gathered the fruit OF the syca-
more tree aud scarii.1 it with An iron comb
Just before it WAS getting ripe, as II WIS nsc-
sssary and customary In tnat way to take
from il the bitterness. He was the son OF q
poor shepherd and suffered. but before the
stammering rustic the Philistines and Svrians
and PhRniciaus and Moabites and Ammon-
ties and Edomi,es and Iaraslites trembiei.
Moses was law giver, Daniel was
prince, Isaiah u courtier and David king,
but Amos, the author OF my text. WAS psas-
ant, aad, as might be supposed, nesriy all
his paralielisms are pastoral. his prophecy
full Of the odor OF new mown hay, and the
rattle OF locusts. and the rumble OF carts
with sheaves. and the roar OF wild beasts de-
vouring the flock while the shepherd cam.
out in their defence. He watched the herds
by day, AMI hy night Inhabited q booth made
out OF bushes, so that through these branches
he could see the stars all night long, and
was more familiar wi b them than we who
have tight roofs to our houses and hardly
ever see the stars except among the tall
brick chimneys of the great towns. But ut
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 life OF solitude, all alone with his
herds! Poor Amos! And at II O'Clock At
night bark to the VOLTS bark, and the hon's
roar, and the bears growl, and the owls te-
whit te-who, aud the serpent's hiss as he
unwittingly steps too near while moving
through tue thicketsi SO Amos, like other
herdsmen, got the habit OF studying the map
of the heavens because II was 50 much Of the
time spread out before him. He noticed
some stars a iyancing and Others recedinR,
He associated their dawn ami setting with
certain seasons OF the year. He had a poetic
nature, and he rad night by night. and
month by month, and year by year, the poem
of the consultations, divinity rhythmic.
But two rosettes OF stars especially attracted
his atteni ion while seated on the ground or
lying on his back under the open scroll OF
the midnight beavens-the Pleiades- or
seven stars, and Orion. Tue former group
this rustic prophet associated with spring,
as it rises about the 1st Of May. The latter
he associated with the winter, as 1t comes TO
the meridian In January. The Pieiades, or
seven stars. connected with all sweetness
and Joy; Orion. the herald Of the tempest,
The ancients were the more apt to study the
physiognomy and juxtaposition of the
heavenly bodies because they thought they
had special influence upon the earth, and
perhaps they were right. II the moon every
few hours lifts and lets down the tides Of
the Atlantic ocean and the electric storms in
the sun. by all sc entifc admission, affect
the EARTH why not the stars have proper.
tionate effectY
And there are some things which make me
think that 1t may not have been all SUPER
stitution which connected the movements
and appearance OF the heavenly bodies with
meteor run on evangeistic errand on the
first Christmas night and designate the
rough cradle of our Lord2 Did NOT the stars
In their course fght against 6isera? Was IT
merely coincidenfal that before the destrue-
ss.I,s son.scufiss ssss ~ 81 81 sss % ssS
happen so that now star appeared In oon-
steliation Cassiopeia. and then disappeared
Just before Charles TX OF France, who was
responsible for the St. Bartholomew mas
sacre died? Was it without significance
that in the days of the Roman Emperor
Justinian war and famine wers 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 ii?
Astrology. after all, may have been some
thing more than a brilliant heathenism. No
wonder that Amos of the text, having heard
these two anthems of the stars. put down
the stout, rough staff OF the herdsman and
took into his brown hand and cut aud
knotted fingers the pen Of a prophet an al
vised the recreant people Of his time to re.
turn to God. saying. ''Seek him that maketh
the seven stars an Orion" This command,
which Amos gave iS5 years B. C., iS Just as
appropriate for Us, 1897 A. D.
In the frat place Amos saw, as We must
see, tina: the God who mado the P.eiades aud
Orion must be the God of order. It was not
50 much a star here aud = star there that i'm
pressed the inspired her lsman, but seven in
and aayan In nnnfhar Ha
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, q
ststerhOod 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 20
ing; order written, not In manuscript that
they may be pigeon-holed, but with the hand
Of the Almighty on the dome Of the sky, 80
that all Nations may read it-order, persist
ent order sublime order, omnipotent order.
What a sedative to you and me. to whom
communities and Nations sometimes seem
going pellmeli and the world ruled by some
hend at haphazard. and in all directions NAL
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 the one world
We inhabit.
So feel very much as my father felt ono
day when We were going to the country mill
to get Rrist ground. and l, q boy OF seven
years, sat in the back part OF the wagon, and
our yoke Of oxen ran away with uss, and
along labyrinthine road through the
woods, 80 that thought every moment va
would be dashed to pieces, and made q
terrible outcry of fright, and my father
turned to NE With face perfectly calm and
said: "De Witt, what are YOU crying about?
guess we can ride as fast rs the oxen can
run" And, my hearers, why should We be
Afrighted and lose our equilibrium in the
swift movement OF worldly events, especially
when We are assured that IL 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 and then trust
to God, and II things are ali mixed and dis.
Quieting and your brain is hot and your
heart sick get some one to go out with you
into the starlight and point out to you the
Pleiades. or. better than that, get into some
observatory, and through the telescope ses
farther than Amos wth-the nskei eye could
namely, 200 stars in the Pleiadss. and that
IN what Is called the sword OF Orion there is
q nebula computed to ee two triiiion two
hundred thousand billion OF times larger
than the sun. On, be at peace will the God
who made that and controls all that. the
wheel of the consultations turning in tho
wheel of gHlaxes for thousands OF years
without the breaking Of 4 cog, or the slipping
of a band, or the snap OF m axle. For your
placidity and comfort through the Lord
Jesus Christ charge You, Seek Him that
maketh the seven stars ana Orion.
An,nz UA m mats he
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 OF
two or three stars, but He makes seven, aud,
having finished ttat group OF worlds, makes
another group-;roup after group. To the
Pleiades He adds Orion. 1t seems that God
likes light so will that He keeps making II.
Only one being in the universe knows the
statistics Of solar, lunar, stellar. meteoric
And they have all been lovingly christensd.
each one name as distinct as the names o!