The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-01-01
THE LONDONDERRY SITTER,

account OF inc credtion. ran Uackl
Friends of the church have never had
any right to fall back,
JOSHUA HUMAN LIKE THE REST OF U.s.
Joshua falls on his face in chagrin.
1t is the only time you ever see the
back of his head. He falls on his face
and begins to whine, and he says: "Oh,
Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all
brought this people over Jordan to de-
liver us into the hand of the Arnorites
to destroy us2 Would to God we had
been content and dwelt on the other
side of .Jordan For the Canaanites
and. all the inhabitants of the land
shall hear of il, and shall environ us
round and cut off our name from the
earth.
/ am very glad Joshua said that. Be,
fore it seemed as If he were super
natural being, and therefore could not
be an example 10 us; but find he is a
man, he is only man. Just as some,
times you find man under severe OPP
position, or in a bad state OF physical
health, or worn out with overwork,
lying down and signing about every
thing being defeated. am encour-
aged when hear this cry of Joshua as
he lies in the dust.
God comes and rouses him. How
does he rouse himi BY complimentary
apostrophe2 No. He says: Get thee
up. Wherefore lest thou upon thy
facew Joshua rises, and warrant
you with a mortified look. But his
old courage comes back. The fact was,
that was not his battle. If he had
been in it he would have gone ON to
victory. He gathers his troops around
him and says: snow, let us go up and
capture the city of Al; let us go up
right away"
They march on. He puts the major
ity of the troops behind ledge of
rocks in the night, and then he sends
comparatively small regiments up in
front of the city. The men of All come
out with shout. The small regiments
of Israelites in stratagcin fall back and
fall back, and when all the men of All
have left the city and are in pursuit of
these scattered or seemingly scattered
regiments, Joshua stands on rock.
see his locks flying in the wind as he
points his spear toward the doomed
city, and that is the signal. The men
rush out from behind the rocks and
take the city, and it is put to the torch,
and then these Israelites in the city
march down and the flying regiments
of Israclites return, and between these
two waves of Israeltish proves the
men of Al are destroyed, and the Is
raelites gain the victory, and while l
see the curling smoke of that destroyed
city on the sky, and while l hear the
hrzza of the Israelites and the groan of
the Canaanites, Joshua hears some
thing louder than it all, ringing and
echoing through his soul, "There shall
not any man be able to stand before
thee all the days of thy life"
FORWARD, MARCH!
But this is no place for the host OF
Joshua to stop. Forward, march ~
cries Joshua to the troops. There is
tile city of Gideon. 1t has put itself
under the protection of Joshua. They
send word, "There are five kings after
us; they are going to destroy us; send
troops quick; send us help right away
Joshua has three days march at more
than double quick On the morning
of the third day he is before the enemy.
There are two long lines of battle. The
battle opens with great slaughter, but
the Canaanites coon discover some
thing. They say: ''That is Joshua
that is the man who conquered the
spring freshet, and knocked down the
stone wall and destroyed the city of All.
There is no use fighting" And they
sound retreat, and as they begin to
retreat Joshua and his host spring upon
their like panther, pursuing them
over the rocks, and as these Canaanites
with sprained ankles and gashed fore
heads retreat the carapults of the sky
pour a volley of hailstones into the
valley, and all the artillery of the
heavens with bullets of iron pound the
Canaanites against the lodges of Beth
heron.
"Oh" says Joshua, this is surely a
victory. But do you not see the sun
is going downf Those Amorites are
going to get away after all, and then
they will come up some other time and
bother us, and perhaps destroy us. y
See, the sun is going down! Oh, for a
longer day than has ever been seen in
this climate! What is the matter with
Joshual Has he fallen in an apoplec-
tic fit? No. He is in prayer. Look
out when good man makes the Lord
his ally. Joshua raises his face, radi.
ant with prayer, and looks at the de
scending sun over Gideon and at the
faint crescent of the moon, for you
know the queen of the night sometimes
will linger around the palaces of the
day. Pointing one hand at the de
scending sun and the other hand at the
faint crescent of the moon, in the name
of that God who shaped the worlds
and moves the worlds he cries, Sun
stand thou still upon Gideon; ant
thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
They halted.
Whether it was by refraction of tn
suns rays or by the stopping of til,
whole planetary system do not know
and do not care. 1 leave it to tn,
Christian scientists and the infide
scientists to settle that question, Will
tell you have seen the same thing
What" say you, mot the sun stand
ing still" Yes. The same miracle i
performed nowadays. The wicked d
not live out half their day, and the sui
sets at noon. But let a man start on
in battle for God and the truth an,
against sin, and the day of his useful
ness is prolonged and prolonged an,
prolonged.
THOUGH DEAD THEIP WORKS DO Fol
LOW THEM