The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1888-11-02

temptcr came, and Eve saw and coveted and
took and did eat; and gave also unto 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 All, he builded an altar unto
the Lord Gen. xii, g.; xiii, 81, having
Al the 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 vision, and
there ho 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
8. s'Let not all the people go up; for they
arc but few." Such was tho advice of the
men sent to view the country, but they had
ssTake all the people of war with thee'
viii, ~. 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
ar1nor Of God, we must ever be watchful,
and especially when the occasion seems O
| little one "Uzziah was lnarvelously helped
till he was strong; but when he was strong
his heart was lifted up to his destruction"
QI Chr. XVI, Is, 16)
4. "They fled before the men of All"
This was not according to the prom
Use that one should chase thou
sand and two put ten thousand to
fight Deut. xxi, S0), but the fault was
their own; they were unmindful Of their
Rock, and puffed up By the victory at Jeri-
cho, as if their arm had done it.
s. srho hearts of the people melted, and
became as water" And yet it was not q
very great defeat; they had only lost thirty
six men, and there was an army Of over
600, 900 ready for war. Why was this trenl-
bling of heart and this great and seemingly
uncalled for feara 1t was all through failing
to SEQ the Lord and hear His voice. He sent
faintncss into their hearts, and the sound Of
shaken leaf chased them Q4ev. XVI, 81, S6);
there was sin in the camp, and it was uncon-
fessed; not only thesin of self confidence and
lack of reliance upon the Lord, but the sin of
Achan was troubling all Israel.
G. "Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the
earth upon his face before the ark" This
was new experience to him as tho leader OF
Israel, and to humble himself before God
was the right thing to do; but who can tel
what the result might have been if Joshua
and the elders of Israel had done this before
setting out to attack All? Where wa:
tho man with tho drawn sword, the
captain of tho Lords host, all this time
Had he made a mistake, or failed them, o.
been defeated2 No, He vas Simply left out
and they had gone without him, and He hat
let them do it.
Z. "Alas o Lord God. wherefore has
thoua'- In this and the next two verses W
have Joshua's prayer. He begins O. httl
, hastily and impatiently, for God had inc
: brought them over Jordan to destroy the1
or to deliver them to the Amorites; bu
!, rather to deliver the Amorites unto the1
! and give them all that good land. We ar
= apt to say that God has brought us into th
:, :, or that trial, when we have brought it upo
I ourselves by digobedience or by failing /
y follow Him. "Wisdonl's ways are ways
plcasantness, and oil her paths are peac
S. so, Lord, what shall say when lsra
a turneth their backs before their enemies
!, There is more Of O right spirit in this utte
:, ance, and would to God that we were mo
g troubled than we seem to be when Christian
i are overcome instead OF being overcome,
% 9. "What wilt Thou do unto Thy gre
pOSohOAAApJ
:, their name as a nation being cut off from Il
earth and identifying them with Him,
asks this question. God had chosen Israel
e make Him name. u Chron. xvii, 21.) T
IS queen Of Sheba came to Solomon because S
IS heard of his famo concerning the name
r. tho Lord. Il Kings x, 1.) So VIC should ]
e, member that we arc chosen to bear f
te name, and in all things glorify Him. IA
at tx, Is; Peter ii, 8; iv, 11)
n. 10-11. "Get thee up; Israel hath sinnes
IN There is a time to pray and a time to act,
time to confess sin, and o time to rise a
search outand put away sin. Joshua kn
not the cause of Israel's failure, ho went
es humiliation and prayer to Him who is p
o, feet in knowledge, and now that God has
III vealed the matter to him, it is time for b
III to rise and put away the sin from Israel.
e. 12 This then was tho cause Of Israels f
1e ure and they could not stand before th
We enemies, much less subdue them, nor wo
J. the Lord be with them any moro except
accursed thing be taken away and the acc
M. sed person bo destroyed. So the tribes
os brought before him, probably by their hes
,rS and the lot falls upon Judah, them Of
La families of Judah the zarhites are taken
nc the Zarhites Zabdi is taken; and of
ITO household of Zabdi, Achan is taken. o Act
a,.s why did you sina Having sinned why
N you not como and confess it W
out waiting to be found out? Were you
sure that your sin would find you out? On
les xxi, 23) Did you not know that ''he
rec covereth his SINS shall not prosper, but WI
ng coniesseth and forsaketh II. them Shall
let mercy| (Prov. xxvlllJ Why did you'd
nj For the sake OF little gold and silver a
goodly Babylonish garment. Tell me,
,rIor Lu1,o ta1 1,1yf f1,of f,,
Achan, or are you dishonoring the nan
tch Christ and proving hindrance father
nut q blessing in your homo or church or SUI
Of school, because you have aA inordinate d
has for goodly raiment, or that silver and {
the love of which Is tha root of allaYili