Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-05-14
IALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME ~ THI
.sIIINS-oN PREACHER

He Takes for His subject a Thought Most
Interesting to Al Who Are Trying ts
Achieve a IIseIihood-Th- Ravens of
God That brought Bread and Flesh.
TExr. And the ravens brought him bread
and flesh In III. morning and bread and
flesh ia the evening. Il Kings xvii, &.
The ornithoiogy Of the Bible Is a very in
teresting study the >tork which knoweih
her appointed time: the common sparroWs
teaching the lesson ~ Gods providence;
the ostriches Of the desert, hy careless IN
cuhation, illustrating the rrcklr>sntss Of
parents who do not take enough pains with
their children: the eagle symhohzing
riches which take wings and ily away; the
pelican emhlemiZing solitude; the bat, u
flake Of the darkness; the night hawk the
ossifrage, the cuckoo. the lapwing, the os-
prey, by the command of God. in Levitirus,
flung out Of the worlds bill Of fare.
1 would like to have been with Audubon
as he went through the woods, with gun
and pencil, bringing down and sketrhing
| the fowls Of heaven, his unfolded portfolio
| thrilling all Christendom. What wonder
| full 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 conveyance az the
same time; the nine vertcbrP 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 birds scav-
engerS and some OF them orchestra. Thank
/ God for qual's whistle, and lark's carol,
/ and the twittcr Of the wren. called 10y the
] ancients the king Of birds because when
/ the fowls of heaven went into a contest rs
I TO who should fly the highest. and the eagle
| swung nearest the sun, Il wren on back Of
the eagle, after the eagle was exhausted,
sprang up much higher and 50 was called
| by the ancients the king of birds. Consider
\ those Of them that have golden crowns and
/ crests showing them 10 be feathcrcd inn
/ perias And listen to the humming birds
/ serenade in the ear of the hOneysuckle.
/ Look at the beted knGhsher. striking
! dart from sky TO water. Listen to the
/ voice of the owl, giving the keynote 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 pathological wonders Of
| the world. The grain crop has been cut
of. Famine was in the land. In n cave by
| the brook Cherith sat a minister of God,
| Elijah, waiting for something To eat. Why
did he not go to the neighhor-? There
were no neghhOrs. IL was Il wilderness.
Why did he not pick some of the herries2
There were none. II there had been, they
/ would have been dried up. Seatcd one
morning at the mouth of the cave. the
prophet sees flock Of birds approaching
oh, if they We're only partridGes or If he
| only had an arrow with which to bring
them down. But as they come nearer he
finds that they are not cOmestihlp hut un-
clean, and the eating OF them would be
| spiritual death. The strength OF their heak
the length of their wings, the blackness of
flafr Iua ,..l-
cruck!' prove them to be ravens.
They whir around about the prophet 5
head, and then they come on nuttering
wing and pause on the level OF his lips, and
one of the ravens brings bread and another
raven brings meat, and after they have dis
charged their tiny cargo they wheel past ,
and Others come, until after awhile the
prophet has enough. and these black ser
wants Of the wilderness table are gone. For
six months, and some say a whole year
morning and evening, n breakfast and Il
supper bell sounded rs these ravens rang
out on the air their "cruck cruck!' Guess
where they got the food from. The old
rabbns say they got it from the Kitchen OF
King Ahab. Others say that the ravens got
their food from pious Obadiah VINO was in
the habit OF feeding the prosecuted. Some
saw that the ravens brought the food to
Ineir young in the trees, and that Elijah
had only to climb up and get it, Some say
that the whole story is improbable for
these were carnivorous birds, and the food
they carried was the torn flesh of living
beasts and therefore ceremoniallv uu-
clean, or il was carriOn ana 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, 80 50
it would have read, The Arabs brought
bread and flesh in the morning, and bread
and flesh in the evening Anything but
admit the Bible to be true.
Hew away at this miracle until all the
miracle is gone. Go on with the depicting
process, but know, my brother, that You
are rohbing only the man-and that is your
self-of one Of the most comforting, beauti.
ful, pathetic and triumphant lessons in all
ages. | can tell YOU who these purveyOrs
were-they were ravens. | can tell Won
who freighted them with provisions God
! can tell you who launched them-God.
can tell You who taught them which way tC
fly God. | can tell you who told them At
what cave to swoop-GOd. | can tell you
who introduced raven to prophet and pro
| phct to raven-God There is one passag,
! will whisper in your ear, for | would not
want to utter it aloud lest some one shoult
drop down under its power, 'If any MAI
shall take away from the words of the pro
Phecy of this book, God shall take away hi,
part out of the book Of life and out of tn,
Holy City"
Whlle, then, we Watch the ravens feeding
El9ah, let the swift uOVe OF Goa splrll
sweep down the SKY with divine lood' ant
on outspread wing pause al the mp "l every
soul hqngerlng Tor comfort.
On the banks OF what rivers nave peer
the great battles OF the world WINE you
are looking over 1 In ne, map oL the worla u
answer that' VIII tell you that lhc Grea
, conil1ct to-day Is on tne f"tomar on TIT
hudson, on the MISSISSIPPI on the thames
on the savannah on the hhlhe' on the Nile
on the uanses' on the hoahS-Ho' 1t Is 4
pattle tnat mas peeh gong on Tor 6OV
| years. Inc troops engaged IN II are 6OU,