Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-11-03
DEFEAT AT Al.
LESSON v, FoURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, NOV. 4.

stearns.
CONDENSED from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by
Usher
The promises Of God are generally con-
diticned upon obedience and separation from
sin on our part There shall not any man
be able 10 stand before thee all, the days Of
thy life," was the promise TO Joshua Il, 81,
but the conditions were faith and obedience
on his part q, 60.
l. ''The children of Israel committed q
trespass in the accused thing.n The city
and all in it had been accused, or devoted to
utter destruction wi, IL, margin, compared
with V. 81, where utterly destroyed is the
same word, and see also Sam. XIV, 81; Zach.
xiv, III, and the people had been forbidden
to take for themselves anything Of
the nccursed or devoted city. How
fearful is the sin OF disobedience, and
how far reaching the effects of sin. One man
sees, covets and takes that which he had been
forbidden to touch, w. 2l) and the result is
that the whole nation suffers because of
broken law through his sin. In the Garden
Of Eden there was only one tree which Adam
and Eve were forbidden to touch, but the
tempter 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.
2 All 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 bmlded an altar unto
the Lord Gen. xii, s; 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 hina i'm 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
.. LET not all the people go up; for they
are but few" Such was tho 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, u. 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
armor of God, we must ever be watchful,
and especially when the occasion seems q
little one. "Uzziah was marvelously helped
till he was strong; but when he was strong
his heart was lifted up to his destruction
(II Chr. XVI, Is, 16)
4. "They fed before tho men of All"
This was not according to the prom
isc that one should chase thou
sand and two put ten thousand to
fight Deut xxi, 30), but the fault was
their own; they were unmindSul of their
Rock, and pulled up by the victory at Jeri-
cho, as il their arm had done It,
5. "The hearts of tho people melted, and
became as water" And yet it was not q
very great defeat; they bad only lost thirty
six men, and there was an army of over
GOO, 600 ready for war; Why was this trem-
bling of heart and this great and seemingly
uncalled for fearl 1t was all through failing
to see the Lord and hear His voice. He sent
faintness into their hearts, and the sound of
shaken leaf chased them LEV. XVI, 81, 36);
there was sin in the camp, and 1t was uncon-
fessed; not only the sin of self confidence and
lack of reliance upon tho Lord, but the sin Of
Achan was troubling all Israel
6. Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the
earth upon his face before the ark This
was 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
and the elders of Israel had done this before
setting out to attack Ali Where was
the man with the drawn sword, the
captain of the Lords host, all this timei
Had he made mistake, or failed them, or
been defeated No. He was simply left out,
and they had gone without him, and He had
let them do it,
z. "Alasl . Lord God, wherefore hast
thouW- In this and the next two verses we
have Joshua's prayer He begins little
hastily and impatiently, for God had not
brought them over Jordan to destroy them
or to deliver them to tho Amorites; but
rather to deliver the Amorites unto them
and give them all that good land. We are
apt to say that God has brought us into this
or that trial, when we have brought it upon
ourselves by disobedience or by failing to
follow Him. "Wistom's ways are ways Of
pleasantneSs, and ALI her paths arc peace
s. 20, Lord, what shall say when Israel
turneth their backs before their enemiesF'
There is more of right spirit in this utter
ancc, and would to God that we werc more
troubled than we seem to be when Christians
arc overcome instead of being overcomers.
Q. 'What wilt Thou do unto Thy great
nameg' Joshua suggests the possibility Of
their nanlo Is a nation being cut Off from the
earth and identifying them with Him, he
make Him a name Il Chron. xvii, 21) Tho
queen of Sheba came to Solomon because shc
heard of his famc concerning tho name Of
the Lord Il Kings K. IL SO we should re-
member that We are chosen to bear His
name, and in all things glorify Him. (Acts
TX, 10; Peter ii, 8; iv, H.
10-1L Get thee up; Israel hath sinned"
There is a timo to pray and time to act, a
time to confess sin, and time to rise and
search out and put away sin. Joshua knew
not the cause of Israels failure, he went in
humiliation and prayer TO Him who is per-
feet in knowledge, and now that God has re-
vealed tho matter to him, it is time for him
to rise and Put away tho sin from Israel
IL. This then was the cause of Israels fall
ure and they could not stand before their
enemies, much less subdue them, nor would
the Lord be with them any more except the
accused thing be taken away and the accur-
sed person DO destroyed. So the tribes are
brought before him, probably by their heads.