The Red Cloud chief., 1891-01-02
J06HUAB TRIUMPH
d. rslnass On ths Insrspld wa1
F3oe q Israel


OSA0S WOA AAS UcAt 1IOm JO8nu H. 5:
, and when all these Kings were met to-
gether, they came and pitched together
y at the waters Of Merom to fight against
Israel" He said:
We are encamped tonight in Pales-
tine by the waters of Merom. After
a long march we have found our tents
pitched. n fires kindled, and though
far away from civilization, 4 variety of
food that would not compromise a first
class American hotel, for the most of
our caravan starts an hour and a half
earlier in the morning. The malarias
- around this Lake Merom are 90 poison
ous 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
ton had banded themselves together 70
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
a momentaTy 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 was dead. A beautiful tradi-
ton says the Lord kissed him, and in
that act drew forth the soul of the dy-
ing lawgiver. He had been buried: only
one Person at the funeral, the same One
who kissed him. But God never takes a
man away from any place of usefulness
but he has some one ready.
Moses has passed off the stage and
Joshua, the hero. puts his foot on the
platform OF history 80 solidly that all
the ages echo with the tread. He was
magnificent fighter. lie got his military
equipment from God, who gave him the
promise at the start: There 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 XXI with a stone wall: and the
next. leading on a regiment Of whipped
towards; and the next battle, against
darkness, wheeling the sun and the
into his battalion, and the last.
against the king of t~errors, death-6ve
great victories.
For the most part, when the general
OF an army starts out in a conflict he
would like TO lave 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 wa 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; il is impossible for them to
reach u.s." But after awhile they look
across the water and they see a move
ment in the army of Joshua. They say, |
whats the matter now? Why, there
must be a panic among these troops, |
and they are going to fly, or perhaps
they are going to try TO march across
Jordan. Joshua is a lunatic." But
Joshua. the c~hieftain, looks at his army
and cries: Forward, march," and they
start for 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
and tamarisks and willows
and pull themselves up a bank thirty or
forty feet high and, having gained the
other bank, they clap their shields and
their cymbals. and sing the praises of
the God of Joshua. But no sooner have
they reached the bank thar the waters
begin to dash and roar. and with a terrific
rush they break loose from their strange
anchorage. Out yonder. thirty miles Of
distance they halted. On this side the
waters roll off toward the salt sea. But
as the hand Of the Lord God is taken
away from the thus uplifted waters
waters perhaps uplifted half a mile-aS
the almighty land is taken away. those
waters rush down. and some of the un-
believing Israelites say: ALAS. alas.
what a misfortune. WHY could not
those waters have STAYED parted? Be
cause. perhaps. we may a TO go back.
Would it not have been a more COM
,laHA ~n,l "a ~. -
waters to let us come through and kept
them parted to let us 60 back if we are
defeated?' My friends, God makes no
provision for a Christians retreat. He
clears the path all the way t o Canaan.
To go back is TO die. The same gate
keepers that swing back the amethys-
tine-and crystalline gates of the Jordan
to let Israel pass through now swing
shut the amethystine and crystalline
gate of the Jordan to keep the ~Israelites
from going back. 1 declare it in your
hearing to-day, victory ahead. water
thirty feet deep in the rear, triumph
ahead, Canaan ahead, behind you death
and darkness and woe and hell.
But this is no place for the host t.
stop. Joshua gives the command. For
Wdxu uldIO1l. LII kAC oGSO0AhCC tk1CIC -
q long grove of trees and at the end of
the grove is a city. 1t is q city Of ar-
bors. a city with the walls seeming to
reach TO the heaven. to buttress the
cry sky. 1t is the great metropolis
that commands the mountain pass. Il
is Jericho. That city was afterward
captured by Pompey, and it was after
ward captured by Herod the Great, and
it was afterward captured by the No
hammedans, but this campaign the
Lord plans. There shall be no swords,
no shields, no battering ram. There
shall be only one weapon Of wa and
that . rams horn. The horn of the
slain ram was sometimes taken and
holes were punctured in it and then the
musician would put the instrument TO
his lips and he would run his fingers
over this rude musical instrument and
make a great deal of sweet harmony for