JOSHUA'S LONG DAY (Continued from Page 13)
Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings, in dependence and peace; and that it may please Him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the la bor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so neces sary for cultivating the principles o f true liberty, virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which con- sisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And it is further recommended, that servile labor, and such recreation as, though at other times, innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appoint ment, be omitted on so solemn an occa sion. Jabez knew God—and what joy this must have been to his once sorrowing mother—and knew that the highest and truest blessings come from God alone. It is the child seeking the smile of the Heavenly Father. It is also the ex pression of his conviction of God’s will ingness to bless, for his expectation of God’s blessing was based upon trust in Him for realized experience. For us in this generation God’s will ingness to bless is revealed in the Cross of Calvary. No greater manifestation of that willingness could have been given to the world. It is the eternal “hall mark” of God’s love and yearning to bestow upon us His love gifts. In Christ is the fullness of blessing, and through Him the channel for the riches of God to every humble, believing soul crown ing the Son as Saviour and Lord. “And enlarge my coast.” What vision in the prayer! And this petition of the Old Testament saint can most fittingly be ours. The self-dependent man looks to his own efforts to enlarge his coast, the God-dependent man rests upon God and works with Him as a fellow-laborer. In the widening of our coast is it right to ask for temporal as well as spiritual enlargement? Yes, indeed, pro vided that in our temporal affairs we seek first God’s kingdom and His glory. God ought to be in all our life. For the Christian man or woman there can be no difference between the temporal and the spiritual in relation to God. God must be in all if he is to have all of us. All that concerns us concerns Him, with, on our part, the joyful recognition that all is under His control. But the spir itual must be paramount. How great is the need for the enlarged heart in which God’s perfect love and the Spirit’s full ness may reside; enlarged power for boldness in witnessing for Christ, and (Continued on Page 28) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S THE ENLARGED COAST ( Continued from Page 11)
The First Thanksgiving
Gathering together the army of the five remaining nations, he planned to fall upon Gibeon and exterminate the Hivites. Thus he would not only punish their treachery to the league, but would at the same time destroy an added menace. He seems to have reasoned that they m i g h t successfully resist Joshua or overcome the Gibeonites sepa rately, but that together the combina tion would be too strong. The king of the Hivites, however, seems to have kept a close watch upon the movements of the league, and his spies at once in formed him of the coming of the puni tive column. Fearing for the safety of his nation, he sent to Joshua, who was camped with the horde at Gilgal, and called for help. Joshua immediately an swered, and after one of the most re markable forced marches of history, Joshua’s company flanked the army of the league. Thus, when the host under Adoni-zedec fell upon Gibeon, Joshua smote their rear and right flank. The Gibeonites made a sortie and attacked the head and the left flank of the column. Caught between the jaws of a pincer movement, the army of the league retreated across the plains of Beth-horon. The retreat soon turned into a rout, until with the Gibeonites pressing on one side and the Israelites on the other, the army of the five kings was utterly destroyed. So much for the setting of the battle. Now let us look at the incidents of the battle itself. It is evident that the his torical significance of the battle is usually forgotten and the event is now remembered almost solely because of the miracle of the long day that oc curred in connection with that battle. The higher critic still thinks that this is a weak spot in the Bible’s claim to inspiration and infallibility. But then, if it were not for scholarly ignorance there would be no higher criticism, so we will meet their objections and show once more that the so-called “weak points” of the Bible are its strongest defense! This is the passage that is under critical assault: “And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: there were more which died from hail stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites be fore the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until (Continued on Page 18) Page Sixteen
The Original Proclamation of The Continental Congress of 1777. F ORASMUCH as it is the indispen sable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God ; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received, and to implore such further blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased Him in His abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of His common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our inalienable rights and liberties; particularly in that He hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with the most signal success : it is therefore recommended to the legislative or ex ecutive powers of these United States to set apart Thursday, the 18th day of December next, for solemn thanksgiv ing and praise; that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feeling of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had for feited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplications that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please Him graciously to afford His blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the pub lic council of the whole; to prosper our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of
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