The Yale expositor., 1895-05-31

huzza OF the Israelites and the groan
of the Canaanites, Joshua hears some-
thing louder than IL all, ringing and
echoing through his soud: There shall
not any man be able TO stand before
thee all the days of thy life"
But this Is no place for the host of
Joshua to stop. Forward. march,
cries Joshua to the troops. There is the
city of Gideon. 1t has put itself under
the protection of Joshua. They sent
word: There are five kings after us;
they are going to destroy us; send
troops quick; send us help right away"
Joshua has a three days march 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 soon 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 Al. There
is no use fighting" And they sound
n retreat, and as they begin to retreat
Joshua and his host spring upon them
like a panther, pursuing them over the
rocks, and as these Canaanites with
sprained ankles and gashed forehead5
retreat, the catapults of the sky pour a
yolley OF hailstones into the valley and
all the artillery OF the heavens with
bullets of iron pounds the Canaanite5
against the Lodges of Beth-horon.
"Oh! says Joshua, this is surely a
victory" But do you not see the sun
Is going down? Those Amorites are
going TO get away after all, and they
will come up some other time and both
er us. and perhaps destroy u.s." See, the
sun is going down. Oh, for longer day
than has ever been seen in this climate!
What Is the matter with Joshua? Has
he fallen in an apoplectic fit? No. He
is in prayer Look out when a good man
makes the Lord his ally. Joshua raises
his face. radiant with prayer, and looks
at the descending sun over Gideon, and
at the faint crescent OF the moon, for
you know the queen Of the night some
times will linger around the palaces
of the day. Pointing one hand at the
descending 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;
and thou moon, in the valley of Ala
Ion" And they stood still. Whether IL
was by refraction Of the suns rays, or
by the stopping of the whole planetary
system. / do not know, and do not
care. / leave it to the Christian scien-
lists and the infidel scientists to settle
that question, while 1 tell you 1 have
seen the same thing. WHAT say
you, mot the sun standing still?" Yes.
The same miracle is performed nova
dave Tho xNfclgaH live ha1f
their day. and the sun sets at noon.
But let a man start out and battle for
God, and the truth, and against sin,
and the day of his usefulness is pro-
longed, and prolonged, and prolonged
But 1t is time for Joshua to go home.
He is a hundred and ten years old
Washington went down the Potomac
and at Mount Vernon closed his days
Wellington died peacefully at Apsley
House. Now, where shall Joshua rest
| Why. he is TO have his greatest battle
| now, After a hundred and ten years
he has 10 meet a king who has more
subjects than all the present population
| of the earth, his throne a pyramid OF
skulls, his parterre the graveyards and
| cemeteries of the world, his chariot the
worlds hearse-the King of Terrors
| il is going to be Joshua's greatest VIC
| tory. He gathers his friends around
him and gives his valedlctory, and II
what they are going to do; old men tell
what they have done
And as you have heard a grandpa
| Their, or a great-grandfather, seated by
the evening fire. tell of Monmouth, OF
| Yorktown. and then lift the crutch OF
ct of 20
| fight, and show how the old battles
We're won-so Joshua gathers his
! friends around his dying couch. and
he tells them the story of what he has
| been through. and as he lies there, his
! white locks showing down On his wrln'
! killed. forehead, 1 wonder If God has
| kept his promise all the way through
! the promise of the text. AS he lies
| there he tells the story one, two. OF
! three times-you have heard old people
! tell a story two or three times over
! and he answers: Il go the way OF al
! of the promise has failed
not one word thereof ha.
] failed; all has come - pass, not one
word thereof has failed" And then III
| turns to his family, as n dying parent
| VIII, ana SdNSs CHOOSE now WnOH
you will serve, the God of Israel, or the
| God of the Amorites. AS for me am
my house, we will serve the Lord"
dying parent can not be reckless oil
thoughtless in regard to his children
Consent to part with them at the dool
of the tomb we cannot. BY the cradle
! in which their infancy was rocked, by
the bosom on which they first lay, by
the blood Of the Covenant, by the Goo
of Joshua, it shall not be. We will no
| part. we cannot part. Jehovah Jireh
! we take thee at thy promise: II will
be a God to thee and thy seed aftel
| thee"
| Dead, the ola chieftain must be laiC
out. Handle him very gently; that sa
! cred body is over a hundred and ter
years of age. Lay him out, stretch gu
those feet that walked dry shod tn,
| parted Jordan. Close those lips which
helped blow the blast at which TIT
! walls of Jericho fell. Fold the arm tina
lifted the spear toward the doomed
city of Al. Fold 1t right over the hear
that exulted when the five kings fell
But where shall we get the FURNISHED
granite for the headstQne and the foot
stone? 1 bethink myself now. / mag
inc that for the head 1t shall be the SUI