The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-02-24


and the Other Is Like q Black Euoy-A
Weird Scene.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14.-D!- TAI,
mage in MS sermon uses q we!fd any
strange scene of ancient times 10 IL
lustrate the behavior OF modern p3o,,
ple who 6esecrate sacred things ana
for their arrogance get a oao tEtn3ae. ,1t;ns.
His subject was "a hins h*t1MS ~
Grass" and the text DAME! ", So
ssThe same hour was the talng 1Gl-
filed upon Nebuchadnezzar, ana ne
was driven from men and did est
grass as oxen, and his body was wet
with the dew of heaven, till his hairs
were grown like eagles feathers ana
his nails like birds claws.
Better shade your eyes lest they be
put out with the splendor OF Daoylon,
as some morning you walk out w:th
Nebuchadnezzar on the suspension
bridges which hang from the mouse
tops and he shows you the vastneSS OF
his realm. as the sun klndIeS the
domes with glistenings almost lnSui-
ferable, and the great streets tnunoer
up their pomp into the ear OF the
nouarch, snd armed towers stanc
around, adorned with the spol.S CT
conquered empires. Neouchaonez-
zar waves his hand above tne stopen-
dous scene and exclaims, rs not tals
great Babylon, that l have oulif 1or
the house of the kingdom oy the
might of my power, and for the hon
or OF my maissty?" But IN anlnStant
all that splendor is gone from his Wis
ion.rfor q voice falls from heaven,
saying: 80, King Nebuchadnezzar,
to the it is spoken, The kingdom IS ee,
parted from thee, and they snail Grlve or
thee from men, and thy oWe!llng
shall be with the beasts OF the neio.
seaseEvz|sll make thee to eat grass as
zen, snd seven years shall pass over
thee, until you know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdonef men
and giveth it to whomsoever ne Will.
One hour from the time that ne made
the boast be is on the way to the
fields, maniac, and rushing INTO the
forests he becomes one Of the beasts,
covered with eagles feathers for pro
lection from the cold, and his nails
growing to birds claws IN order that
ne might dig the earth for roots and
climb the trees for nuts.
You see. there is great variety N
the Scriptural landscape. In several
discourses we have looked at noun
tains of excellence, but now we LOOK
down into great, dark chasm OF
wickedness as we come to speak OF
Nebuchadnezzsr. God in his Word
sets before US the beauty Of self denial,
Of sobriety, Of devotion, OF courage,
and then, lest we should not thor
oughly understand hira, he introduced
Daniel and Paul and Deborah as illus
trations of those virtues. God also
speaks to US in his Word as to the
hatefulness of pride, of folly, OF impi-
ETY., and lest we should not Thorough
Iy understand him introduces Neou.
chadnezzar as the impersonat!on OF
these forms of depravity. The former
style OF character is lighthouse,
showing us way into safe haroor,
and the latter style of character IS q
black buoy, swinging on the ROCKS, 70
show where vessels wreck themselves.
Thanks unto God for both the buoy
and the lighthouse! The host OF Neo-
uchadnezzar IS laundering at the gates
of Jerusalem. The crown Of that So
cred city is struck into the dust oy the
: hand Of Babylonish insolence. The
vessels of the temple, which had never
been desecrated by profane toUch,
were ruthlessly seized for sacrileges
and transportation. Oh, what sad
hour when those Jews, at the com
mand of the invading army. are
obliged to leave the home OF their na-
tivity! How their hearts must have
been wrung with anguish when, on
the day they departed, they
heard the trumpets from the top OF the
temple announcing the hour for morn
ing sscri6ce and saw the smoke of the
altars ascending around the holy hill
of Zion, For well they knew that IN
far distant land they would never
hear that trumpet call nor behoIo the
majestic ascent of the sacrifice. Be-
hold those captives on the roso from
Jerusalem to Babylon! Worn and
weary they dare not halt, for rounoa-
bout are armed men urging them on
with hoot and shout and blasphemy.
Aged men tottered along on their
slaves, weeping that they could not
lay their bones in the sleeping place
of their fathers, and children wo1-
dered at the length OF the way and
sobbed themselves to sleep when the
night had fallen. It seemed as If at
every step a heart broke. But at a
turn of the road Babylon sud
denly springs upon the view OF the
captives, with its gardens and palaces.
a shout goes up from the army as
they behold their native city, but not
one huzza is heard from the captlves.
These eSiles saw no splend0r there,
for it was not home. The Euphrates
did not have the water CLEAN of the
brook Kedron or the pool of Sloan.
The willows of Babylon, on which
they hung their untuned harps, were
not as graceful as the trees which at
the foot of Mount Moriah seemed to
weep at the departed glory OF judah,
and all the fragrance that descended
from the hanging gardens upon that
great city was not so sweet as one
breath OF the acacia and frankincense
that the high priest kinoled IN the
sanctuary at Jerusalem.
On certain night little while af-
ter these captives had been brought to
his city Nebuchadnezzar is scared with
a night vision. A bad mans pillow
is apt to be stuffed with deeds and
forebodings which keep talking in the
night. He will find that the eagles
down in his pillow will stick him like
porcupine quills. The ghosts of old
transgressions are sure to wander about
in the darkness and beckon and hiss.
Yet, when the morning came, ne
found that the vision had entirely
fled from him. Dreams drop no an
chC,rs and therefore are ant to sail