The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1888-11-01
DEFEAT AT hi

DEFEAT AT
lEssoa v. FOURTH ouARTsa, IN
TERNATloNAL SERIES NOV. 4.
Text of the Lesson. Josh. w lz1c Com
init Versus 1o-Ie-Gelaen TEXT, Ps.
cxix. se-Commentary - Hev. D. M.
Stearns.
fCondensed from Lesson Helper Quarteriy, BY
permission Of II. S. Hoffman. Ii1ilad lphia, pub
hsher.1
! The promises of God are generally con
ditioned upon obedience and stparation from
sin on our part. 'fhere sha1( MOI any man
be able to stand before thee n tho davs of
thy life,n was the promise 4 Joshua Il, 81,
but the conditions were fait1 Hnd obedience
on his part Il. 60.
l. s.The children of Isxs comfnitted a
trespass in the accursed u4g The city
and all in it had been accur1e1 q devoted to
utter destruction wi, II, me- compared
with v. 81. where utterly . dtroyedu is the
same word, and see also SaI IN, 81; Zach.
xiv, IL, and the people bad Zen Forbidden
20 Take lOT bfic1<<A<>AtE-4 llI4EyIUiI0 OF
the accursed or dev9fet city How
fearful is the sin ~ ebed6eaca and
how far reaching the effee6 ~ ~ Dne man
sees, covets and takes that y ilick ~ had been
forbidden to touch, ". n aud = result is
that tho whole nation suffers - Be Sdf .
broken law through his 81. Gaxdea
of Eden there was only or 3 Adafn
and Eve were forbidden ~ nl but the
tempter came. and EvasE:s s;s<ed and
took and did eat, and gaHesalsb ifiito her
husband with her and he did eat. and to this
day the result is manifest.
Q. "Ai and Bethel" These names carry
US back some five hundred years to the
time when Abram first entered the
land and having pitched his tent between
Bethel and Al, he builded an altar unto
the Lord (Gen. xii. s; xiii, 3, having
Al fhe heap of ruins behind him, and
Bethel the house of God before him. At
Bethel, as Jacob left his home, fleeing from
Esau, God appeared to him in a vision, and
there he erected and anointed pillar; and
twenty years later, as he returned with his
wives and children, God appeared to him
again at the same place, calling his name Is
rael, and confirming to him the covenant.
3. LET not all the people go up; for they
are but few" Such was the advice of the
men sent to view the country, but they had
not the mind Of God, for his command was:
Take all the people of war with thee''
viii, y. 1t was wretched self confidence, for
getfulness of God, and making light of diff
culties. 1t will not do to make too much nor
too little Of the enemy; we must not be anx-
ious nor discouraged, neither should we be
careless or boastful; but having on the whole
Of G@1 x,l.c
and especially when the occasion seems q
till he was strong; but when he was strong
his heart was lifted up to his destruction" !"
III Chr. XVI. Is, 16.I
4. "They fed before the men Of Al"
This was not according to the prom
Use that one should chase a thou
sand and two put ten thousand to
fight Deut xxxii, so, but the fault was
their own; they wero unmindful of their
Rock, and puffed up by the victory at Jeri-
cho, as if their arm had dono it,
). ''The hearts of the people melted, and
became as water" And yet it was not a
very great defeat; they had only lost thirty
six men, and there was an army of over
500 coo ready for war. Why was this trem-
bling of heart and this great and seemingly
uncalled for fear? 1t was all through fail ng
to see the Lord and hear His voice. He sent
IL faintness into their hearts, and the sound of
shaken leaf chased them Lsv XVI, 81, 36
there was sin in the camp, and it was uncon-
fessed; not only the sin of self confidence and
lack Of reliance upon the Lord, but the sin of
Achan was troubling ell Israel.
g. "Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the
earth upon his face before the ark This
was a new experience to him as the leader of
Israel, and to humble himself before God
was the right thing to do; but who can tell
what the result might have been if Joshua
assi the elders of israel bad sloae this iscfore
setting out to attack Ais Where was
the man with the drawn sword, the
captain of the Lords host all this time.
Had he made mistake, CT failed them, or
been defeated? No, lie was simply left out,
and they had gone without him, and Ho had
let them do it.
Z. "Alasl Q Lord God, wherefore hast
thou!'- In this and the next two verses We
have Joshua's prayer. He begins a little
hastily and impatiently, for God had no'
brought them over Jordan to destroy them
or to deliver them to tho Amorites; but
Gather to deliver the Amorites unto then
and give them all that good land. We art
apt to say that God has brought us into this
or that trial, when we have brought it upor
ourselves by disebedience or by failing tt
follow Him. "Wisdom's ways are ways oi
pieasantness, and all her paths are peace
8. 80, Lord, what shall l say when Israe
turneth their backs before their enemies?
Thero is more of q right spirit in this utter
once, and would to God that we wero moro
troubled than we seem to be when Christian!
are overcome instead of being overcomers
8. "What wilt Thou do unto Thy great
ramer Joshua suggests the possibility Of
their name as nation being cut off from the
earth and identifying them with Him, ht
asks this question. God had chosen Israel tc
make Him namc. II Chron- xvii, 21.) The
queen of Sheba came to Solomon because she
heard of his famo concerning the name q
tho Lord. II Kings x, ~ So we should re
member that we are chosen to bear Lii
name, and in all things glorify Him. Act
tx, Is; Peter ii, 0; iv, 1l)
10-11. SECT thee up; Israel hath sinned.
There is time to pray and time to oct, {
time to confess sin, and a timc to rise ant
search out and put away sip- Joshua knew
not the cause of Israel's failure, he went il
humiliation and prayer to Him who is per
feet i'll knowledge and now that God has re
vealed the matter to him, it is time for hin
to rise end put away the sin from Israel
II. This then was the cause of IsraerS fail
ure and they could not stand before theil
enemies, much less subdue them, nor would
the Lord be with them any moro except tin
accursed thing be taken away and the accur
sed person be destroyed So the tribes ar,
brought before him, probably by their heads
and the lot falls upon Judah, them of th,
families of Judah the Zarhites are taken; o
the Zarhites, Zabdi is taken; and of th
household of Zabdi, Achan is taken. . Achan
why did you sins Having sinned why die
you not come and confess it with
out waiting to DO found outa Were you no
sure that your sin would find you outi Num
xxxii, 23.) Did you not know, that ''he tina
covereth his sins shall not prosper, but who's
confesseth and forsaxeth them shall hav
mercyr prov. xxviii) Why did you do it
For the sake of little gold and silver and
goodly Babylonish garment Tell me, dea
reader, have you profited by the fall o
Achan, or are you dishonoring the name o
Christ and proving hindrance rather thai
a blessngsin your home or church or Sunda,
school, because you have an inordinate desir
for goodly raiment, or that silver and gold
tho love Of which is the root of all evil7
=