Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-11-27
In The Religious World;
(REvIEW OF SUNDAY SCHOOL LESsON)

THE CRISIS AND THE CROSSING.
The international Sunday School Les.
son for November 80 10 "Crossln0
The Jordan" Joshua Sill; Psalm
ia.
Rivers ever have been the great
geographical dividers; none more 80
than the Jordan. In fact, as well
as a figure of speech, the Jordan is
the great line Of crisis and crossing
1t is today, as 1t has been for mil
lenn;ums, the stream that separates
the land of law from the Wilderness
So long as one remains on this side
of the Jordan when travelling In the
Holy Land, he Is reasonably safe.
On my first night est of the Jor-
dan I was attacked by highwaymen.
l we'll remember the panic of our chief
muleteer at being left alone for a
short time on the other side of Jordan.
AS my party drew near to the Jordan
river, various lone travellers attached
themselves to us, that they might have
the protection of 1.-The man with hat"
Only the law of the gun runs east OF
the Jordan. A Circassian settlement
recently established there found the
outlawry SO great that they had to
serve notice upon the Arab sheiks
round about that thereafter, for every
Circassian killed, two Arabs would be
killed irrespective of their personal
relation to the crime.
About where the Israelites crossed
the Jordan there Is now small cover
ed bridge, to pass over which costs
toll. Loud and long are the wrangles
of the poor Arabs who want to go one
way or another. One young chap had
to leave his cloak with the toll-keeper,
until a foreigner redeemed 1t for him.
The Old Testament story Is true
to the facts Of all history, and Of pre-
sent day life, when it makes the cross.
ing of the Jordan a crisis In the az
fairs of the children of Israel. The
seriousness Of 1t Is implied In the fig
ure of speech which makes the river
of death the river Jordan. separating
the pilgrim from the Promised Land
zone More River To Cross"
Vague notions of Eastern geography
will prevent many persons from catch
ing the significance Of this whole
Bible story. The Jordan represented
the end of Israel's wanderings. Across
it's tawny flood lay the land Of promise
The Israelites had come down the
steep descent from the uplands Of Mo-
alb. Before their desert-tired eyes
spread the stately palms and luxuriant
greens of the Jordan valley. Only the
river interviewed between them and a
tropical luxuriance equal to anything
they had seen along the Nile.
The situation was dramatic. Spies
had crossed the river and had brought
back a good report. They found that
the fame Of Jehovah, had preceded the
people Of Jehovah. The mighty provi-
dences Of the pilgrimage through the
wilderness had run as tidings of warn
ing ahead Of the hosts Of Israel. In
the fortified city of Jericho, the first
point of attack to be faced by the
Jews, the hearts of the people had be-
come as water. They had heard that
these strangers were the special pro-
teges Of Jehovah; how he led them.
and fed them and brought them thith-
erto, had gone before them, magni-
flying his name.
These same spies had received hos
pitality from Rahab, and by her been
protected in her house on the city
wall, so that they pledged her that
when they should come in conquest,
AS she, in common with the rest Of
the city, believed would be the case
her family would be spared from
punishment. All this news was heart
ening to the waiting children Of Israel.
They knew that they had but to "go
up and possess the land" as they had
so often been assured.
The plight Of the Israelites is a pic
ture of the state of mind of many per-
sons who will read these lines. They
are perturbed over the future. The