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th e ir memories as to how it was done. Doubtless, Jo shua and Caleb and the p riests would recall How tney had crossed th e Red Sea when th e situ ation was even worse, for they had Ph araoh and his arm y behind th e and no means of escape. How the past experi ence of God’s power com forted and encouraged a t th is try ing hour! The second item in th e program was th a t Jo shu a was to conquer th e nations, who up un til then, had been in posses sion of th e land. L ast Sunday’s lesson, w ith its account of the peoples of the land and th e ir fortified cities, will be fresh in th e m inds of everybody, and th e class will be able to appreciate w hat th e command involved. It is in te rest ing to read the archaeological accounts of th e walls of ancient Jericho which have been uncovered in comparatively recent years, and which prove th a t the Bible rep resen tation of it is true. F o r m idable as th is p a rt of th e command seemed, it would no t be beyond the power of men who were in step w ith God, and for whom God h ad made a way th rough Jordan. We sometimes liken th e riv er Jordan, to death, and th e land of Cannan, to Heaven, b u t th e comparison does not seem very happy when we stop and th in k abou t it. Believers certainly will no t be called upon in Heaven, to w ar again st C anaanites and Amalekites and sim ilar foes. A tru e r comparison, or figure, would be to th in k of Jo rd an as of th a t definite act of consecration and su rrender, which precedes in Christian experience, th e filling w ith th e Holy Spirit, and which m arks th e entrance of th e believer upon th a t life of victory which is, nevertheless, a life of con flict. It is only those who by faith have reckoned themselves dead w ith Christ, who en ter into th e experience of the life which is hid w ith Christ in God. The th ird item in the program was to divide the land, afte r it was con quered, among th e tribes. The gen erals now gathered around th e Peace
Moses prayed it was Jo shua who led th e troops to victory. When th e T ent of Meeting, was reared (Ex. 3 3 :1 1 ), th e place where God m anifested His presence before th e Tabernacle was completed, th is devoted, young soldier was placed in charge of it. He knew how to worship as well as how to war. T hank God for Jo shua and th a n k God for his modern successors— Generals like Pershing, and Haig, and Joffre, and Allenby, for Adm iral Beatty, and o th er men in both arm y and navy who, under God, have defeated Amelek’s suc cessors. Moses, type of th e law, could lead Israel to the border of th e land, h u t they needed Joshua, type of Jesus, to lead them into it. “Moses is dead, therefo re arise, go over th is Jo rd an , unto th e land .” In selecting Joshua, God was no t pu tting an inexperienced and un tried man in a place of v ital importance. The man who would be a good leader m ust first have been a good obeyer. The man who would he pro moted m ust prove him self w orthy in th e lower place. Would you he more faith fu l in your p resen t place if you knew th a t a higher place was all ready fo r you as soon as you proved yourself The first item in th e new program was to ta k e th e people across th e river Jordan. In itself, it presented almost unsurm ountahle difficulties. F o r one thing, it was in the tim e of harvest when th e Jo rd an became a fast flowing river, perhaps a couple of m iles wide or more. Our generals in F rance would have though t it no small problem to get even an arm y across, b u t when we remember th a t in addition to th e fight ing men Jo shua had to get a g reat com pany of women, and children, and cattle, and other belongings across, we realize th a t th e problem was a ra th e r complex one. As we do not have any lesson on it, it would be well for th e teacher and the class to read Jo shu a 3 to refresh fit for it? See Matt. 25:21. K. The Program Presented.
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