The National tribune., 1895-08-22

article on =" A Program of Biblical Studies,
| says of the Holy Scripture:
1.-THE Bible is to all other books that Heaven
is to earth, SO far as it is above them all. 1t
| has nights and depths Of thought reaching into
the in finite 1t is full of the mysteries of time
and eternity of God and man. of Heaven and
| earth, of life and death. of sin and grace, OF
struggles. defeats and victory. II is so simple
| that children can understand 1t; SO profound
| that an Augustine cannot fathom it, Itspeaks
of God in Thousand ways through dogma,
moral law, ethics, philosophy, history and BIZ
| ography; in prose and poetry, in psalms,
| hymns and canticles, in sacrifices and sacra.
| ments, in the pillar of fire and in the cloud,
in allegories and parallels. i'll dreams, visions.
| theophanies and prophecies; all so many golden
links in tho long chain of divine self revelation
of God extending down through the ages and
terminating in tho last great theophany in
which the Word of Cod the Revealer and the
! Revealed, appeared in the flesh and 'dwelt
amongst ms, and we saw his glory. the glory OF
the Only Begotten, full of grace and truth"
JERICHO TAKEN.
Data
Joshua, 6: 1-16 One should study the entire
chapter. Also read Heb, II: 80 Josephus
| (Ant., 3, /, 49, casts light on this subject
Time.
We date A. NJ. 1858.
| Place
The city was about six to seven miles west
of tho Jordan. 1t was just in the face of the
| Israelites and must be overcome first Of all by
| Joshua in his work of driving out the idola-
trous inhabitants. The word Jericho, some
| claim means {" the city of the moon" 1t was
the seat of the worship Of Ashtoretb, the SYM
boil of which was the moon. It head
quarters. therefore, OF all that was foulest,
most revolving in the Canaanitish religion.
| In b. c. 9lS, which was 533 years after the
destruction of Jericho. it was rebuilt by Hiel
and advanced to great prosperity. 1t became
| known as the "City of Palm Trees"
Jericho is associated with the stories of Ra-
hab, the two spies, Achan Elijah and Elisha;
later it was a Levitical city. 1t suggests the
stories Of Zaccheus, Bartimeus, the Good Sa-
| marian, etc.
Gesonius says tho primary meaning Of the
| Hebrew namo for Jericho is place Of fragrance.
| So at times il was called 1.-THE City OF Roses"
The Paradise of God" Its location was
the borders of the Plain of Jordan. the most
| luxuriant spot in Palestine, with its groves of
| honey-yieldng palms. its famous crops of figs
and dates and its abundance of the elsewhere
rare balsam plant, which furnished the costli-
est perfume and was held cure for wounds.
Circumstances.
The Children of Israel were on tho west side
| of the Jordan. Their work of subjugatng Ca
| nasn lay before them. Just in the way of their
| Their success depended on victory at the start.
The Canaanites saw that present safety lay i'll
| holding their city, They shnt up the gates
| and went into siege awaiting results. The ques-
ton with Joshua was as to what to do. While
he was meditating, ready for anything which
promised success, and very likely praying for
| light from Heaven, God appeared as JehoyRhs
Captain temporarily incarDated as man. He
gave Joshua all of the particulars as TO the taxi
ing of the city, and informed him that at the
shout on the seventh circuit Of the city the
walls would fall Cat. 3 1915: 6: 10. There
should not have been break in the account OF
the visitation to Joshua of the God Man. Verse
/ is a parenthcss thrown into the account. AS
soon as Joshua was informed of his duty he
proceeded TO execute it. Verses to l6, in
elusive, give the report.
Suggestions.
l. As rule rise early. u, 10. There is
ad vantage in this rs a rule. II. When special
duties are before us it is necessary to make
carly start. Is. The Duke of Wellington once
remarked that had he not been an early riser
the conqueror of Waterloo might have been
different person. Benjamin Franklin's maxim,
Is well known: EARLY to bed and early to rise,
make man healthy, wealthy. and wise"
a. Rise before the sun.
And make n breakfast of the morning dew,
Served up by Nature some grassy hill;
You'll iud it nectar"
If general rule do not require early rising,
emergencies certainly demand it.
g Men must act with God; do their part.
| We carry arks. blow trumpets, march. God
requires our efforts. 6-S; st. Matt, "a: ID
st. John, 2: 5-8; 6: 10, H. 9: g. z; Gal, 20;
Heb, IL: z, 8. Wo see in Neb., l. 10, how God
| and man work together: 1T came to pass
when our enemies heard that it was known
unto u.s. and God had brought their counsel to
nought, that we returned all of US to the wall,
every one unto his work"
Two powers cooperate in the development
OF all force. One is finite the other infinite.
One human, the other Divine. God created the
world, but it was for man. Man discovers,
develops. employs, but under the immediate
control and influence of Deity. Had We been
present when this earth was spoken into ex-
istence, or did we study only the workings of
nature, we ght imagine that tho Omnipo,ent
performed all the labor. On the contrary, were
we to extend our Investigations only to the
mechanical employments OF the race, We might
make the great mistake OF ostracising Jeho-
vah."4
g. Be on hand when duty calls. Be ready at
the moment Of opportunity. 5, IL. st. Luke,
1876; Acts, 8: 90 BE prompt. Act straight
way. BE in an eKpectaut state of mind. There
is no room for laggsrds. The world is ali astir.
Men who will not keep up must not blame any
body if they be left behind. There is in the
religious realm the property of inertia; a want
of reguative force is needed; we must not stop,
nor keep going but be always in readiness for
action. Energy must not be so active as not TO
pause for orders, and thus be able to exercise
itself most effectively.
4. Wemust exercise faith. Heb. IL: 30. We
have no reason to believe the Israelites knew
the sequel of their curious march i'll silence
around the walls of Jericho. They simply
were confident. They trusted their leader.
They knew some wise plan was being ex-
ecuted. On they went. The people OF Jeri-
cho doubtless, made much fun Of the SEEM
ingy senscless daily perigrination of the Israeli
ties. Rationaiism did not serve them. Nero
human reason did not guide them. What they
did may have seemed not only to the Canaan
ties useless and silly, but to the lsraeites also
as absurd. rod
If we suppose the Jsraeites were all in the
secret, still their march was n circumamb ient
tread Of faith. Then, the shout was one of ex.
pectation. They believed that with the shout
would really come victory. There was faith
manifest in the unsnimity and righteousness
of tho shout. Believing. it was not necessary
they hasten. They conld afford to be deliberate.
The commentator Henry said "As promised
deliverances must be cxp ected in Gods ways,
SO they must be expected in his time. He that
believes does not make hasts-no more haste
than God would have him make. Go &c seven
times before anything hopeful appears" XII,
IS: i3.
5. Rely on God for the efficient cause. Trum-
pet blowing, silence, great and unanimous
shouting. continuous patient marching fear,
L.,