S C R I B N E R ' S M A G A Z I N E Important ... - Rparchives.org
S C R I B N E R ' S M A G A Z I N E Important ... - Rparchives.org
S C R I B N E R ' S M A G A Z I N E Important ... - Rparchives.org
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November Vi, 1913.<br />
A t'AMlLY PAPER.<br />
j)[3(-e. .\t the Joi dan<br />
River, before Jericho.<br />
ANALYSIS AND COMMENT.<br />
Soon after assuming the leadership in<br />
Israel, Joshua sent two spies across the Jordan<br />
to learn the lay of the land about Jericho<br />
and find out the attitude of their enemies<br />
toward them. And the men returned<br />
and told Joshua that the heart of the people<br />
did melt because of them. Israel then moved<br />
forward from Shittim to the bank<br />
of the Jordan, and sanctified themselves in<br />
preparation for their miraculous passage<br />
through the river.<br />
"And the Lord said unto Joshua, this day<br />
mil I fct'""'to magnify thee in the sight of<br />
all Israel, that they may kno:^' th.it, as I was<br />
with iloses so zvill I be zvith thee." Tha<br />
most satisfactory credentials that any minister<br />
can have is an evidence of the di\'ine presence<br />
with him. This God promised to Joshua,<br />
Moses had enjoyed God's presence with<br />
him and Israel recognized him as the servant<br />
of God. And now^ the Lord promised<br />
Joshua that He would cause Israel to have<br />
confidence in him because of the wonders<br />
which he would be able to perform in (jod'.s<br />
name. The promise which God made to<br />
Joshua is to every servant of the Lord wha<br />
will "be strong and of good courage," and<br />
"turn not to the right hand nor to the left"<br />
hand from the word of the Lord,<br />
"And thou shalt command the priests that<br />
bear the ark of the covenant, saying, JVhen<br />
ye arc come to the brink of the zvater of Jordan,<br />
ye shall stand still in Jordan." The<br />
main object of the miraculous crossing of<br />
the Jordan was to reaffirm the confidence of<br />
Israel in the presence and power of God<br />
and to put dismay in the hearts of their enemies.<br />
In order to do this special prominence<br />
was given to the fact that it was by<br />
the intervention of Jehovah, the God of Israel,<br />
that the waters of the Jordan were driven<br />
back. Therefore the priests were commanded<br />
to pass on before the people to the<br />
brink of the river, bearing the ark of the covenant,<br />
the symbol of the divine presence, ,and<br />
when the soles of the feet of the priests<br />
touched the water the river was turned back.<br />
Although this was at a season of the year<br />
when the waters of the Jordan were at their<br />
height, the waters were dammed up by the<br />
hand of God so that all Israel was permitted<br />
to pass over, as they had once done through<br />
the Red Sea, on dry land. In this incident<br />
we may see the place that God expects his<br />
ministering servants to take in leading His<br />
people into any undertaking that is seemingly<br />
perilous or impossible, and that requires the<br />
exercise of strong faith and courage. And<br />
we may also see the wonderful works that<br />
f'lod will perform in behalf of His people<br />
when His servants are faithful to directions.<br />
"Nozi', therefore take you tzvelve men out<br />
of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a<br />
"'«".'• As we learn from the following chapter<br />
each one of these men was to take a stone<br />
from the place wltere the priests' feet stood<br />
firm in the midst of Jordan and carry them<br />
to the place where Israel lodged the first<br />
ifight in the land of promise. These stones<br />
were to be set up as a memorial to Israel of<br />
the wonderful work of God in bringing them<br />
across the Jordan, This memorial was to be<br />
a witness to them of the faithfulness and<br />
power of God and a constant encouragement<br />
to them to commit their wa)' unto the Lord.<br />
Eskridge, Kansas.<br />
THE STOPPAGE OP THE JORDAN,<br />
In connection with the Sabbath School Lesson<br />
"Crossing the Jordan," an extract from Sir William<br />
Muir's The Mameluke or Slave Dynasty of<br />
Egypt (p. 21), should be of interest,<br />
"In the spring of 126'6 A, D., Beomund Sixth of<br />
Antioch having, with both Orders of Knights, attacked<br />
Hims, Beibars (one of the Mameluke sultans)<br />
sent a force to relieve it; and then, with<br />
all the troops at his command, set out upon his<br />
third campaign. He visited Jerusalem, .* * ' _<br />
Then he crossed the Jordan by a bridge lately<br />
built by him, a little above the Dead Sea."<br />
Foot note: "See also Quatermere's Macrlzy,<br />
ii. p. 2C, and Palestine Exploration Fund, July,<br />
1895, p 253, where, in an article entitled 'Stoppage<br />
of the Jordan in 1267 A. D.,' Colonel Watson,<br />
C. M, G„ quotes the account of Noweiry (d.<br />
1332) as to how the Jordan was temporarily cut<br />
off, as in the days of Joshua, which is briefly as<br />
follows:<br />
" 'In February, 1266, A, D,, the Sultan Beibars<br />
ordered a bridge of five arches to be built over<br />
the Jordan near Duma; and a marvellous thing<br />
happened, the like whereof was never heard before.<br />
After being erected, one ot the piers got<br />
displaced, and the Sultan being angry, sent the<br />
builders back to have it righted; but the current<br />
was so strong as to interfere with their<br />
work. When, lo! after a time, on the night of<br />
December 8, 1267, the water ceased to flow;<br />
and the bed being dry they lighted fires and<br />
torches, and hastly using the opportunity, completed<br />
repairs that would otherwise have been impossible.<br />
Riders sent to find out the cause discovered<br />
that a mound some way up had fallen<br />
into the channel and dammed the water up. By<br />
degrees the mass melted into mud and broke<br />
away. And so, at the fourth hour of the following<br />
day, the flood came down upon the bridge,<br />
with a volume as high as a lance. But the repairs<br />
had been completed, and only the scaffolding<br />
was carried away. Truly,' concludes Noweiry,<br />
'a marvellous thing; and the bridge is there to<br />
the present day.' "<br />
S, A, S. METHENY.<br />
THE NATIONAL REFORM<br />
TION.<br />
ASSOCIA<br />
The annual meeting of the National Reform<br />
Association is to be held in Pittsburgh,<br />
on Monday, December<br />
i, and Tuesday, December<br />
2. A reproduction to some extent of<br />
the Portland Conference is planned in connection<br />
with this meeting.<br />
Afternoon section<br />
meetings are to be held in the First and Second<br />
Presbyterian Churches, and evening meeting's<br />
in the Exposition Building,<br />
Lesson XI. November 31,<br />
LESSON FOR THE CHILDREN,<br />
By Anna Pritchard Ge<strong>org</strong>e.<br />
CROSSINGi THB JORDAN,—Joshua 3:1-17;<br />
Psalm 114,<br />
In today's lesson the Jews have learned to take<br />
God at His word and obey, no matter how hard<br />
it seems, and they find that God is there to protect<br />
them.<br />
On the sand table hollow out lhe course of the<br />
Jordan River and the Dead Sea into whicn It<br />
flows. Pile up the sand for the mountains on<br />
each side of the river. On the righ't of the Jordan<br />
among the Moab mountains are several terraces.<br />
The lowest plateau slopes gently away<br />
from the river. On the next plateau higher up is<br />
Shittim, where the Israelites are camping. All<br />
these Bticlis are they and these paper animals<br />
the.r nocks. Use cardboard tents. How long<br />
have the Jews been wandering In the Wilderness,<br />
Ge<strong>org</strong>e'.' "Forty years," Now they are trusting<br />
wholly on God and are ready to go into Canaan<br />
and (possess the Promised Land,<br />
When you were packing up getting ready to<br />
move South, Adeline, did it seem to take a long<br />
time? And when you went to bed the last night<br />
in the old home were you excted? "I couian't<br />
wa.t till morning," The Jews have been preparing<br />
for this day for forty years. Now they are<br />
about to enter their new home. Are they excited,<br />
James? Yes, and they are brave, tuo.<br />
They see the rushing torrent before them—500<br />
feet in width—with Canaan on the other side.<br />
How can they cross? They do not know, God<br />
has not yet told them. He has helped them betore<br />
and twill do it again,<br />
God says to Joshua, "This day will I begin to<br />
magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they<br />
may know that, as I was with Moses, so I wUl<br />
be with thee." Joshua calls all the people together.<br />
"Hereby ye shall know that the living<br />
God is among you," He tells the people to follow<br />
the ark of the covenant of the r^ord into the<br />
river and that God will open tup a way through<br />
the r.ver, Noiw the Jordan is from tbree to five<br />
feet deep—if woud cover your head, Alvin—and<br />
500 feet to half a mile in width. Then, too, the<br />
current is too strong and the water rushes too<br />
fast for any but the strongest to swim across.<br />
Would you feel like walking into it. Buster? "I'd<br />
be afraid I'd lose my feet." But when God says<br />
"Go,'' it is alright to go no matter how dangerous<br />
it seems. And today the Jews do not wait<br />
till the 'way is opened in the river betore starting.<br />
They take God at His word and go.<br />
Pirst the priests start ahead can ying the ark.<br />
Then all the people leave their tents and follow<br />
half a mile behind the ark so all can see it leading<br />
the way. Here they come down to the<br />
plateau on the river shore. Now the priests<br />
come to the brink of the river and step in the<br />
water. Immediately something happens up the<br />
river a piece, for the waters coming down from<br />
•above to that spot stand up in a heap form.ng<br />
a wall and a lake, just as if a dam were built, and<br />
the waters helow swiftly flow on into tlie sea,<br />
leaving all this space between—23 miles—dry<br />
ground. The priests go on into the midst of<br />
the river bed and stand with the ark of the covenant,<br />
while all the people pass by them over<br />
into Canaan, Here they go, old and young, with<br />
their flocks. Then when the last tiny child and<br />
little lamb are safe and the big ones too, the'<br />
ipriests follow with the ark.<br />
These twelve men place twelve stones in the<br />
midst of Jordan where the priests stood, and<br />
these twelve other men, one from each tribe,<br />
take twelve stones out of the river bed and<br />
carry them ashore. They build a monument with<br />
them at Gilgal as a reminder of this day.<br />
So you see, children, even in the midst of the<br />
rushing mighty river, God can stay the waters<br />
and protect His children. He says, "Pear thou<br />
not, for I am with thee," We may be sent on<br />
an errand that seems dangerous—as to carry butter<br />
us Israel Jordan, night ing to our away protect a in duty lonely today's off we us camp, from need as lesson He or anyone—but not be protects from fear, left the at God the home waters if will Children we alone be are of with of the at do