The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-05-14

N8M Y MrENV EAS their children. Inc
&Lk * & eagle symbolizing
A1EiHh AAMglnriches which take
Ul ''''''V''''' 'N"]1'O wings and fly away.
REV TALMAGE' The pelican en-
blemizing solitude. The bat, a flake
of the darkness. The night hawk, the
ossifrage, the cuckoo, the lapwing, the
osprey, by the command of God in Lee
viticus. flung out of the worlds bill of
fare. | would like to have been with
Audubon as he went through the
woods, with gun and pencil, bringing
down and sketching the fowls of
Heaven. his unfolded portfolio thrilling
all Christendom. What wonderful
creatures of God the birds are! Some
of them, this morning, like the songs
of Heaven let loose, bursting through
the gates of Heaven. Consider their
feathers, which are clothing and con-
veyance at the same time; the nine
vertebrae of the neck; the three eyelids
to each eye, the third eyelid an extra
curtain for graduating the light OF
the sun. Some of these bird scaven-
gers and some of them orchestra.
Thank God for quaiFs whistle, and
lark's carol, and the twitter of the
wren, called by the ancients the king
| of birds, because when the fowls of
| Heaven went into a contest as to who
should fly the highest, and the eagle
swung nearest the sun, a wren on back
of the eagle, after the eagle was ex-
hausted, sprang up much higher, and
so was called by the ancients the king
of birds Consider those of them that
have golden crowns and crests, show
ing them to be feathered imperials
And listen to the humming birds sere-
made in the ear of the honeysuckle.
Look at the belted kiRgfisher, striking
like a dart from sky to water. Listen
to the voice of the owl, giving the key
note to all croakers. And behold the
condor among the Andes, battling
with the reindeer. l do not know
whether an aquarium or aviary is the
best altar from which to worship God.
There is an incident in my text that
battles all the archaeological wonders
of the world. The grain crop had been
cut off. Famine was in the land In
a cave by the Brook Cherith sat min
ister of God, Elijah, waiting for some
thing to eat. Why did he not go to
the neighbors? There were no neigh
hers; it was wilderness. Why did he
rot pick some of the berries? There
we're none. II there had been they
would have been dried up. Seated one
morning at the mouth of his cave, the
prophet sees flock of birds approach
ing. Oh, if they were only cartridges,
or if he only bad an arrow with which
70 bring them down! But as they come
nearer he finds that they are not
c0mestible, but unclean, and the eat
ipg of them would be spiritual death.
The strength of their beak, the length
of their wings, the blackness of their
eoIor, their lond, harsh ''c~uck! cruck~
prove them to be ravens.
They whirr around about the
prophets head, and then come on flut-
tering wing and pause OB the level of
his lips. and one of the ravens brings
bread, and another raven brings meat,
and after they have discharged their
tiny cargo they wheel past, and others
come, until after awhile the prophet
has enough, and these black servants
of the wilderness table are gone. For
six months, and some say whole
year, morning and evening, break
fast and supper bell sounded as these
ravens rang out on the air their ''cruck!
cruckr' Guess where they got the
food from The old rabbins say they
got it from the kitchen of King Ahab.
Others say that the ravens got their
food from piOus Obadiah, who was in the
habit of feeding the prosecuted. Some
say that the ravens brought the food
to their young in the trees, and that
Elijah had only to climb up and get it.
Some say that the whole story is i'm
probable: for these were carnivorous
birds. and the food they carried was
the torn flesh of living beasts, and
therefore ceremonially unclean; or 1T
was carrion, and would not have been
fit for the prophet. Some say they
were not ravens at all, but that the
word translated ravens" in my text
ought to have been translated ARABS"
so it would have read: 1.-The Arabs
brought bread and flesh in the morn
ing" Anything but admit the Bible
to be true.
Hew away at this miracle until all
the miracle is gone. Go on with the
depleting process, but know, my BROTH
er, that you are robbing only one man
and that is yourself-of one of the
most comforting, beautiful, pathetic
and triumphant lessons in all the ages.
I can tell you who these purveyors
were-they were ravens. l can tell
you who freighted them with provis-
ions-God. can tell you who launched
them-God. 1 can, tell you who
taught them which way to fiy-God. l
can tell you who told them at what
cave to swoop-God. lean tell You who
introduced raven to prophet and proph-