The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-08-03
BIBLE MATHEMATICS.
Dr.. Talmage Discourses on the Mum.
eral Seven.
A Fayorite Number with the Divine
Mind-Take Care of the Pres
ent; God VIII Take Care
of the Future.
copyright, 1899. by Louis Klopsch.l

copyright, 1s99 by Louis Klopsch.l
Washington,
Many of the important doctrines OF
the Bible are by DR.. Talmage presented
in this sermon in a very unusual way.
Genesis ii, 8: "God blessed the seventh
day."
The mathematics of the Bible is no.
ticeable; the geometry and the arith-
metic, the square in Ezekiel, the cir
Gle spoken of in Isaiah, the curve al
luled to in Job, the rule of fractions
mentioned in Daniel, the rule of loss
and gain in Mark, where Christ asks the
people to cipher out by that rule what
it would profit man it he gain the
whole world and lose his soul.". But
there is one mathematical figure that
is crowned above all others in the
Bible. 1t is the numeral seven, which
the Arabians got from India and all
following ages have taken from the
Arabians. 1t stands between the fig
ure six and the figure eight. In the
Bible all the other numerals bow to II.
Over 800 times it is mentioned in the
Scriptures, either alone or compound
cd with other words. In Genesis the
| week is rounded into seven days, and
use nv text because there this NIL
neral is for the first time introduced IN
| Journey which halts not until In the
close of the book of Revelation its mon-
| ument is built into the wall of Heaven
l - ~ oh in strata
| precious stones is the seventh.
In the Bible we find that Jacob had
TO serve seven years to get Rachel, but
she was well worth it, ana, foretelhng
the years of prosperity and famine IN
Pharoah's time, the seven fat oxen were
eaten up of the seven lean oxen, and
wisdom is said to be built on seven
pillars, and the ark was left with the
| Philistines seven years, and Naaman,
| for the cure of his leprosy, plunged IN
the Jordan seven times; to the house
that Ezekiel saw in vision there were
seven steps; the walls of Jericho, be-
| fore they fell down, were compassed
seven days; Zechariah describes
stone with seven eyes; to cleanse
leprous house the door must be
sprinkled with pigeons blood seven
times; in Canaan were overthrown
seven nations; on one occasion christ
cast out seven devils; on mountain ne
fed muntitude of people with seven
loaves, the fragments left filling seven
baskets, and the closing passages OF
the Bible are magnificent and over
whelming with the imagery made uI
of seven churches, seven stars, seven
candlesticks, seven seals, seven angels
and seven heads and seven crowns and
seven horns and seven spirits and sever
phials and seven plaques and sever
thunders.
Yea, the numeral seven seems ia
yorite with the Divine mind outside a:
well as inside the Bible, for are there
| not seven prismatic colors? And wher
God with the rainbow wrote the com
forting thought that the world woult
never have another deluge He wrote
it on the scroll of the sky in ink OF sever
colors. He grouped into the Pleiade
seven stars. Rome, the capital of tn
world. sat on seven hills. When Coz
would make the most intelligent thinl
} on earth, the human countenance, IL
fashioned it with seven features-th
two ears, the two eyes, the two nos
! trils and the mouth. Yea, our bod
lasts only seven years, and we grad
: ually shed it for another body after an
: other seven years, and SO on, for W
. are as to our bodies septennial animals
So the numeral seven ranges throug
} nature and through revelation. 1t
l the number of perfection, and SO / us
E it while speak of the seven candle
l sticks, the seven stars. the seven seal
/ and the seven thunders.
g The seven golden candlesticks wer
/ and are the churches. Mark you, tn
churches never were and never can b
|. candles. They are only candlestick
= They are not the light, but they al
Q to hold the light. A room in the nigf
|. might have in it 500 candlesticks an
n vet you could not see your hand b.
t fore your face. The only use of cal
|. dlestick, and the only use Of churc
d is to hold up the light. You see it
r a dark world, the night Of sin, the nigl
of trouble, the night of superstitio
the night of persecution, the night :
poverty, the night of sickness, Il
= night of death; aye, about SO nigh
], have interlocked their shadows. II
y whole race goes stumbling over pro
trated hopes and fallen fortunes al
0, empty -four barrels and desolate CT
Is dies and deathbeds. How much ,
n have use for all the seven candlesticl
e with lights blazing from the top
each one of them! Light of pard'
:. for all sin! Light of comfort for I
trouble! Light of encouragement +
all despondency! Light of etern
lg riches for all poverty! Light Of n
70 cue for all persecution! Light OF
b. union for all the bereft! Light
1r Heaven for all the dying: And th
to light is Christ. who is the light II
= shall yet irradiate the hemispheres.
=. hut 1eark you. when I say church
srs not c4adles. but candlesticks, ! y