The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-12-27
JOsHUA'S TRIUMPH.
Dr. Talmage on the Intrepid War
rior of Israel.
vhs story of the Parting of the Waters of
J~ordan-The Overthrow of Jericho
Last Hours of the Old
Commander.

lures ON the Holy Land, delivered at
Brooklyn, Rev. Il. De Witt Talmage re-
Gently took his text from Joshua, XII. 8:
'And when all these Kings were met to-
gether, they came and pitched together
at the waters of Merom to fight against
Israel" He said:
We are encamped tonight in Pales-
tine by the waters of Merom. After
n long march we have found u tents
pitched, our fires kindled, and though
far away from civilization, a variety of
food that would not compromise a first
class American hotel, for the most of
u arava starts an hour and a half
earlier in the morning. The malarias
o this Lake Merom are so poison
Gus that at any other season of the year
encampment here IS perilous, but this
winter night the air is tonic and health
full. In this neighborhood Joshua
fought his last great battle. The ma
tions had banded themselves together to
crush this Joshua, but along the banks
of these waters Joshua left their car
casses. Indeed it is time that we more
infinitely examine this Joshua of whom
we have in these discourses caught only
n ~momentary glimpse, although he
crossed and ~recrossed Palestine, and
next to Jesus is the most stirring and
mighty character whose foot ever
touched the Holy Land.
Moses has passed off the stage and
Joshua, the hero, puts his foot on the
platform of history SO solidly that all
the ages echo with the tread. He was
magnificent fighter. He got his military
equipment from God, who gave him the
promise ut the start: '"rhere shall not
any man be able to stand before thee
all the days of thy life" God fulfilled
this promise, although Joshua's first
battle was with the spring freshet; and
the next with n stone wall; and the
next, leading on a regiment of whipped
towards; and the text battle, against
darkness, wheeling the sun and the
moon into his battalion, and the last,
against the king of t%errors, death-ive
great victories.
For the most part, when the general
of an army starts out in Il conflict he
would like to have a small battle In or
der that he may get his courage up and
he may rally his troops and get them
drilled for greater conflicts; but this
first undertaking of Joshua was greater
than the leveling of Fort Pulaski, or
the laundering down of Gibraltar, or
the overthrow of the Bastile. 1t was
the crossing of the Jordan at the time
of the spring freshet. The SHOWS of
Mount Lebanon had just been melting
and they poured down into the valley,
and the whole valley was a raging tor
rent. So the Canaanites stand on one
bank and they look across and see
Joshua and the ~Israelites, and they
laugh and say: "Aha! aha! they can
not disturb US in time-until the fresh
cts fall; it is impossible for them to
reach u.s." But after awhile they look
across the water and they sea- move
ment in the army of Joshua. They say,
whats the natter now? Why, there
must be a~paiic among these troops
and they are going to fly, : aperhaps
they are goir-g to try to march across
Jordan. Joshua Isl lunatic." But
Joshua, the chfeftnin, looks at his army
and exiKs. forward, march, and they
stArtsfor the bank of the Jordan.
One mile ahead go two priests. carry
ing a glittering box four feet long and
two feet wide. 1t is the ark of the COW
enant. And they come down, and no
sooner do they just touch the rim of the
water with their feet than by an al
mighty fiat, Jordan parts. The army
of Joshua marches right on without
getting their feet wet, over the bottom
of the river, a path of chalk and broken
shells and pebbles, until they get to the
other bank. Then they lay hold of the
oleanders and tamarisks and willows
and pull themselves up IL bank thirty or
forty feet high and, having gained the
other bank, they clap their shields and
their cymbals, and sing h praises of
the God of Joshua. But no sooner nave
they reached the bank than the waters
begin to dash and roar, and with a terrific
rush they break loose from their strange
anchorage. Out yonder, thirty miles of
distanf& N.cy halted. On this side the
wafe<s tI ri toward the salt sea. But
a < htr1f ~ the Lord God is taken
<lze| he thus uplifted waters
maps uplifted half a mile-as
<hty hand is taken away, those
rush down, and some of the un-
wing Israelibes say: ALAS. a,or
rat a misfortunc; WIZ
hose waters Hs<r "a Sorted
cause, per;st & 1.a5
W 81 s1me through and kept
tttea y let us go back If we are
My friends, God makes no
provision for a Christians retreat. He
1isAis the path all the way to Canaan.
To 60 back is to die.
- Io.L... ai..- Al..-.----l IN