The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-10-15
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COZ
MENTS FOR OCT. 20 BY THE
REV. /. w. HENDERSON.
Subject: The Capture Of Jericho,
Josh. 1870 Golden Text, Heb.
11:3O-Memory Verse, 90


11:3O-Memory Verse, go
Commentary.
Jericho was walled city of en-
trenched power Israel was an I'M
armed host The contest appeared
to be unequal But the inequality
was merely apparent. AS it turned
out, faith without armament was
mightiest.
1t must have seemed silly to those
who sat on the wall in fancied secur-
ity and laughed, to see such an army
march in silence around Jericho
twelve times in seven days and be
ready for more. The besieged were
doubtless as curious about the out
come as were they who marched With
silent faith in and at the word of
God. Israel had learned persever-
ance through privation and conf
dence through experience. The citi-
zens of Jericho were to learn that the
apparent unwisdom of God is the Sc
cret of the salvation of men. The ST
lence of Israel was destined to be the
lull before the storm
The victory at Jericho is a lesson
in the fruits of faithful obedience and
demonstration of the effectiveness
of the unusual and apparently fool
ish methods God uses to force the full
fillment of His purposes.
The falling walls of Jericho sound
ed the praises of faithful human ODE
lience to divine DEGREES. 1t may have
seemed unwise to Israel to do as they
did, but they put their trust in God
The tactics we're as unmilitary as the,
were original. The whole proceedins
was odd. To the men on the wall i
must have been strikingly fantastic
Judged by the accepted methods OF
military procedure. 1t was not il
the code. After six trials marching
brought no results. 1t was, on the
surface, thoroughly absurd What
ever the opinions of the Israelites
may have been, they obeyed the wore
of Jehovah with conspicuous fidelity
they may have grown weary but they
never stopped until they were tole
to do So They were under march
ing orders. The spectacle of the ST
lent, tramping thousands must have
been terrific.
The tumbling battlements of Jeri.
cho demonstrated the finality Oh
Gods odd way. The likelihood il
that, whatever the terror that ulti-
mately surged through the minds o.
the defeated city men, they were
scornfully amused at the strategy OF
Joshua for some days.
If he had besieged them in due ant
ancient form they might have fore
seen the possibility of their over
throw. But to walk wall to pieces
was new to them. II they had beer
shrewder they might have perceived
haf \
guilty of such movement had he
not been certain of an outcome favor
able to himself
The lesson is supremely applicable
to modern conditions and to the war.
fare of the church against militan,
! sinners and entrenched sin. To-day
America is dominated by sinful anc
rapacious men who sit snug and SNUG
and tight within the city of their
self-interest and of self-aggrandize
ment at the expense of the public
| welfare and the common need
Politicians and journalists, mer
chants and financiers, a greedy, god.
less lot, make up the census of the
modern Jericho. They laugh at mo.
| rality. They scoff at religion The
| counsels of the church are idle
| preachments to them. The councils
of the sincere souls who desire to
| destroy their city and their power
simply excite their derision They
:, disdain that simple declaration of the
Gospel of God in Christ
But Just as surely as Joshua saw
| the walls of Jericho totter and crash
| to earth, so shall we if we are faith.
| fully obedient to the will Of God, sec
the destruction of the city and the
| citizens of sin which affront and in.
suit and flaunt and exploit us. For
God lives.
The method is SO simple in com.
parison with the devious and diverse
| procedure of the forces of sin that
| oftentimes we wonder whether it wiz
| pay to do the bidding of Jehovah
But it will. The continued and cumu.
lative reiteration of the truth that is
inseparable from moral and religious
| principles will surely have effect We
may wonder why our earnest proc
lamations of divine verities do not
destroy sin at once and why in the
| face of ages of testimony for right.
eousness and for God so many YIELD
themselves to sin. But the fact re
mains that no force has been so eff.
ficient as this; no factor in life IL
| so able and likely to destroy mod
ern sin and undo the guilty machina-,
lions of modern men.
God is able to reward obedience
now as He was at Jordan in the
days OF Joshua. He is as able tC
| win Victories by apparently insuf
ficient means as He was there and
then. His strength has not failed
Nor is His wisdom weakened His
90 nc nj ic fefo y.