The Tupelo journal., 1902-10-10
LYDIA E. PINKHAM'S
VEGETABLE
COMPOUND
WOMAN,S
FOR
L L
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International Series
for October IL, 10O2-Crossing
the Jordan
THE LESSON TEXT.

for October IL, OOx-CrOB8tnG
the Jordan.
THE LESSON TEXT.
(Joshua 3:9-17).
g.. And Joshua said unto the children Of
Israel: Come higher, and hear the words
of the Lord your God.
10. And Joshua said: Hereby We shall
know that the living God is among you.
and that he will without fail drive out
from before you the Canaanites, and the
Hitites and the Invites, and the Perizzites.
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and
the Jebusites.
IL. Behold. the ark Of the covenant of
the Lord of all the earth passeth over be-
fore you into Jordan.
IL. Now therefore take you II men out OF
the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a
man.
ID. And it shall come to pass, as soon as
the soles of the feet of the priests that
bear the ark of the Lord. the Lord of all
the earth, shall rest In the waters of Jor-
dan, that the waters Of Jordan shall be
cut off from the waters that come down
from above; and they shall stand upon an
heap.
IA. And 1t came to pass, when the people
removed from their tents to pass over
Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark Of
the covenant before the people;
Is. And as they that bare the ark were
come unto Jordan, and the feet Of the
priests that bare the ark were dipped in
the brim of the water Qor Jordan over
oweth all it's banks all the time of harvest),
Is. That the waters which came down
from above stood and rose up upon an
heap very far from the city Adam, that
Is beside Zaretan; and those that came
down toward the sea of the plain, even
the salt sea-, failed, and were cut off: and
the pp0n1o naSSpd oVQr right opainCf Ter
icho.
II. And the priests that bare the ark of
the covenant of the Lord stood firm on
dry ground in the midst of Jordan. and all
the Israelites passed over on dry ground,
until all the people were passed clean over
Jordan.
GOLDEN TEXT-When thou passest
through the waters, i will he with
thee; and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee.-Is. 43:2.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
The preparation osh 81 6
The crossing S:7-17
Inc memorials 4:l-za
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Preparation.-Theh osthad been
encamped on the upper terraces of the
Jordan valley. Early on the morning
of the 18th of Nissan they broke camp
and descended to the waters edge.
1t was on this day that Joshua made
arrangements for the food supply
(1:10, III. Here, as if watching their
chance to cross, they remained for
three days. But for their faith that
somehow God would find a way, this
would have been very hopeless bust
ness. Joshua used the days of wait
ing to perfect the arrangement for
the crossing, and directed hat the peo-
pie sanctify themselves (see Elk. 10: 10Y.
The Crossing.-The Jordan valley
may be described as a great trench
'160 miles long, and from two to Is
broad, which falls from the sea level
to as low as 1892 feet below ito. A.
Smith. The river itself is a small, tur
bulent shallow stream. about 90 feet
in width-about the width of many Of
our city streets. At certain seasons.
however, it overf1ows its regular bed,
and spreads out over the bottom lands,
becoming quite a formidable stream.
The river was high at the time of our
lesson, and the fords, usually covered
ny IN tulC i00Go VI "aiS lIoGl
been impossible. The two spies prob
ably crossed by swimming. Hereby
We shall know that the living God is
among you In the few encouraging
words which Joshua spoke to the peo-
pie before the start, he centered their
attention on God, who was a living.
helping present person. In Him was
their strength. "The Lord of all the
earth:'' An idea. of God vastly supe-
rior to that of the surrounding ma
tions. ga significant title of the Most
High at a time when the conquest of
the land was contemplating. F.
Maclear. when they that bare the
ark were come unto the Jordan:" The
priests, whose duty it was to carry it.
They were over half a mile in advance
of the people. Remember that Israel
was a great company, and was spread
out for a long distance up and down
the river. The movement of the ark
could not have been seen if the people
had swarmed in all around it. From
this time on the ark, and not the pill
lar of cloud, was to be the symbol of
Gods guiding presence. "Rose up in
one heap, a great way off, at ADAM"
This damming up of the river took
place over IS miles above the point of
crossing, probably near Tell Damien,
where the mountains crowd the river,
and where a landslide or ".jam" of
floating trees could easily accomplish
the result described. At the crossing
of the Red sea God used "a strong
east wind" to accomplish His purpose.
Here it was probably some unusual OBJ
ter of fact, exactly this thing happened
in the yea 1867 A. d. at this very place.
"What occurred $50 years ago, by
what we call natural causes, may well
have occurred 5000 years before, timed
by Divine interposition."-Canon iris
tram in Sunday-School Times. "The
people passed over:" Probably below
the place where the priests stood in
the river bed, that they might feel
that God stood between them and the
returning waters. The crossing was
hurried, and effected at many differ
ent points.
The Memorials.-This memorial was
a constant reminder of what God had
done for them as a nation. Think, in
this connection, OF. the value to us Of
Gus various memorials-soldiers' mon
uments, national holidays, Christmas,
the Lords Supper. etc.
The Irony of Fate.
"There goes a poor fellow who has hard
work to make ends meet" says my friend,
indicating a portly person across the street,
$50" INQUIRED.