Milford chronicle., 1895-05-31

"FOfWaruS MArchl"
For the most part when the general OF
an army starts out in conflict he would
like to have n small battle in order 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 Bastille
1t was tho crossing of the Jordan at the
| time of tho spring freshet The SHOWS Of
Mount Lebanon had just been melting and
! they poured down into the valley, and the
| whole valley was raging torrent. So the
! Canaanites stand on one bank and they
! look across and SEQ Joshua and the Israel
| ties, and they laugh and say, "Aha! ahal
cannot disturb us until the freshets
l.... it is impossible for them to reach us. "
/ But after awhile they look across the wa
ter and they see a movement in the army
of Joshua. They say; "What's the matter
now? Why, there must be panic among
these troops and they are going to fly, or
perhaps they are going to try to march
across the river Jordan. Joshua is a luna
tic" But Joshua, the chioftain Of the text,
looks at his army and cries, Forward
marchp' and they start for the bank Of the
Jordan.
One mile ahead go two priests carry
ing a glittering box 4 feet long and 2
feet wide. 1t is the ark Of the covenant.
And they come down. and no sooner do
phey just touch tho rim Of the water with
their feet than by an almighty fat Jordan
parts. The army of Joshua marches right
on without getting their feet wet over the |
bottom Of tho river, path of chalk and |
broken shells and pebbles, until they get |
to the other bank. Then they lay hold of /
the oleanders and tamarislIs and willows |
and pull themselves up "a bank 80 or 40 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 than the waters begin to dash and
roar, and with terrific rush they break
loose from their strange anchorage Out
yonder they have stopped; 80 miles up yon-
der they halted On this side the waters
roll of 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
hand is taken away, those waters rush
down, and some Of the unbelieving Israel
ties say; "Alas, alas, what misfortunel
Why could not those waters have staid
parted2 Because perhaps we may want to
go back o Lord, we are engaged in a
risky business. Those Cannanites may eat
US up. How if we want to 60 back? Would
1t not have boon u more complete miracle +.
# the Lord had parted the waters to let us
come through and kept them parted to let
US 60 back if we are defeatedY' My friends, 9
Sod makes no provision for a Christians
retrent He clears the path all the way to q
Canaan. To go back is to die. The same t
ya.ekeepers that swing back tLeamethys- c
inc and crystalline gate Of the Jordan to S
ct Israel pass through now swing shut the
and crystalline gate Of the 0
Jordan to keep the Israelites from going 0
ack- declare it in your hearing today, b
ictory ahead, water 40 feet deep in the h
ear. Triumph ahead, Canaan ahead; be- b
ind You death and darkness and woo and q
ell But you say, "Nhy didn't those Ca b
aanitcs, when they had such a splendid Is
on the top Of the bank il
0 or 40 fcct high, completely demolish Il
hose poor Israelites down in the riverg' b
viii tell you why. God had made prom p
q and he was going to keen t. There q