The Tupelo journal., 1904-07-22

UlIlMn V-&ANWjtUf llDS dnu ldhSe
IIgdTgE NN1d1EaS,. it seems to find
hILpN 49, her name among
IEAFK WRIhAaNEEycxks those of Abraham,
lNh M~pN1TuE4R Isaac and Jacob
WaAM G4IssAMgO and Moses; yea
more, that, as
Matthew'S genealogy shows us, she
should have become the ancestor or
the Christ. But when we consider
that it was God who lifted her TO such
heavenly associations, that it was Gods
finger which inscribed her name there
along side those of the patriarchs and
prophets, we must recognize her eXalt-
ed place in sacred history and seek to
learn the lesson which this woman and
her remarkable story would teach. Let
us urn to the book of Joshua and
read how and why she persisted not,
why it was hat around her n the
members of her family was thrown the
protection of the Divine arms, while
all the rest in her native city misera-
bly, persisted. 1t is a strange and beau
tiful story. bringing out as it does in
such clearness and strength the
blessed Gospel story of Gods mex
haustible love and infinite mercy. Ra-
hab, a type of the sinner, a stranger to
God and doomed to destruction; and
further. Rahab, a type of the repent
ant sinner who is found of God. The
scarlet thread letting the spies down
to safety and tied in her window
bringing salvation to her house in the
day when judgment fell, a type of the
Christ in His work of preserving the
saint and sa.ing the sinner. Jericho.
a type of the world lost in sin and
doomed to destruction. This in out
line is the story and its teaching.
ERICHO is to be destroyed. Rahab
y as a resident of that city is in aw-
full peril. She, with the other inhabi-
tants. is under judgment for sin. The
city and all therein are to be de-
stroyed. Rahab is in peril; she is face
to face with death. See her within
that doomed city. Each day as It
passes brings the day of judgment
nearer. Destruction is sure to fall.
No human power can deliver. And
here we have a perfect picture of the
world and the people of the world to-
day, for the world is under condemna-
ton for sin. The people of Jericho
are characterized in our text as DISC
bedient, and Paul in the fifth of Ephe-
slams calls the people of the world the
children of disobedience.r' And be
cause of these things cometh the wrath
of Goo upon them. GOD hath de-
clared all under sin, for among men
there is none that doeth good, no not
one" All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God" AS you turn
back and read the story of Jericho, you,
can realize, as the inhabitants of that
doomed city could not, perhaps, that
it was under the judgment of God, and
that destruction came swiftly and
surely, but be not blind, oh soul, TO
the present condition and the impend-
ing Judgment. In Jericho you are
given in miniature a picture of the
world and the destruction which is
coming upon it. The peril of Rahab and
OF Jericho is our peril, to-day, oh
soul! You cannot escape God.
A ND note, now, the attitude of Rahab
~ and of the inhabitants of Jericho in
the face of the peril which threatened |
them. Reports had reached the city OF
the movements of the people whose God |
was able to dry up the water of the Red |
sea before them" They had heard with
increasing terror of how their God had
delivered into their hands the mighty |
kings of the Amorites. Their heather
gods were never able so to 90. But here |
was a people with a God who was a liv-
ing presence, One who was powerful to
overcome every obstacle and mighty to
crush every foe. The consciousness oil |
the true God was being crowded home
upon them. Surely, this must be the
true God, the n great God. And to-day |
the thought of God is being crowded
home upon the world. A thousand prov
licences are compelling people to think.
An ~Iroquois fire in Chicago, steamboat
disaster in New York, and the multitude
vi L oStutllhS udIIg
in the lives of individuals everywhere
are bringing people face to face with
God. In Jericho there was only one per-
son who wanted to know the true God, |
and to obey Him, and in the world to-
day the proportion is nearly the same.
One listening to Gods voice and turning
to Him. where there are thousands who
are in disobedience and unbelief going
down to death and destruction. When
two of Gods messengers came to Jeri-
cho the people were eager and fierce to
kill them. There was only one person,
and'that a woman, who was willing to re-
ceive them. And how Jericho is a pic
ture of the world to-day. M~ultitudes,
m%ultitudes in disobedience and unbelief
going down to death, while the few like
Rahab are being saved. Many are
called, but few are chosen" How is it
with you? oh, soul! You who are in the
Jericho of sin and rebellion against God,
are you anxious, like Rahab, to know
the true God and to be saved from your
awful peril of soul death, or are you, as
did the people OF Jericho, shutting up the
gates of your heart tight. thinking to
keep God out? The citadel OF your
soul must some day fall before the on
ward march of God. For a time you may
think yourself secure. but at last your
walls of defense will fall with an awful
crash. and you will enter the presence
=. D4+tAc thn