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