The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-12-12
SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson Xl.-Fourth Quarter, For
Dec. Ia, 1918.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES
Text of the Lesson, Josh. vii, els
Memory Verse, 13- Golden Text
Numbers xxi, 23-commentary b,
Rev. D. M. Stearns.

Numbers xxi, 23-Commentary by
Rev. D. M. Stearns.
Although our lesson is in chapter vii.
we are asked to read to chapter Xi,
ending with the words, $50 Joshua
took the whole land, according to all
that the Lord said unto Moses
and the land vested from war (xi 23).
The section tells of the conquering and
destruction of many cities after the
taking of Jericho, but begins with the
defeat at Al and the reason of it.
Defeat seems strange after the word
of the Lord to Joshua, There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee
all the days of thy life DO, but the
fulfillment of the Lords promises
sometimes depends upon conditions to
be fulfilled on our part, as when
He said, IF ye abide in Me and My
words abide in you ye shall ask what
We will and it shall be done unto you"
John XIV. y.
We have seen that Israel had been
forbidden to appropriate anything OF
the goods of Jericho, and unknown to
Joshua there had been transgression.
We do not wonder that he in his igno-
rance of this rent his clothes and fell
upon his face before the ark and that
he and the elders of Israel put dust
upon their heads and that he said:
so Lord, what shall l say when Israel
turneth their backs before their enc
mics? What wilt Thou do unto Thy
great name" (Verses 6, 81
We do well to consider whether our
name or His name is most in our es-
timation. Joshua was Jealous for the
honor of Jehovah. The Lord explain
ed the cause of the defeat by the sad
| announcement that Israel had sinned,
had stolen and dissembled, and He
said that He would not be with them
any more until the sin was confessed
and put away Oversees 1912. AL
though only one man had sinned, note
that the Lord said that the nation was
guilty. Israel hath sinned; they have
| transgressed; they have taken" Verse
III. Consider how the welfare of a
family or a church may be affected by
the wrongdoing of one person.
On the morrow Joshua began to
search for the guilty one, and, proba-
bly, by lot, the guilt was found to be
in the tribe of Judah. Then the fami-
ly was found and then the household
and finally the individual, and Achan
began to realize that his sin had found
him out xiii, IS, and Golden Text.
Joshua then urged Achan to make
confession, which he did, and, the
stolen things being found in his tent
he and all his We're stoned and burned
and the sin put away xix, 26).
The valley of Achor is therefore
spoken of as door of hope (Hos. ii,
15), for where there are confession and
putting away of sin there will always
be blessing. Achan's confession, Il
saw, l coveted, l took" Verse 2D,
takes us back to Eden, where Eve
saw and desired and took the forbid
den fruit.
Our eyes affect our hearts for good
or evil (Sam. iii, 81, and we are prone
to follow our inclinations; therefore
we need to pray, "Turn away mine
eyes from beholding vanity" Ps.
cXix, 80. When we behold the beauty
of the Lord and follow Him fully, as
Caleb and Joshua did and as Simon
Peter was eXhorted to do, all will be
well Ps. xvii, 4; Mum. XXXii, l.;
John xxi, 90.
There was a secondary cause of Is
raeps defeat at All, and that was un-
derestimating the enemy and thinking
that 2O00'o or 5000 men We're sufficient
to conquer such a city (verses 2-5).
When the sin of Achan was put away
and the Lord encouraged Joshua to go
up and take Al, saying, "Fear not; nei-
ther be thou dismayed," He also said,
Take all the people of war with
thee" Chapter viii, /, p.
This time the city was taken and de-
stroyed, as fully recorded in viii, 3-29.
Then Joshua offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings unto the Lord
wrote copy of the Law of Moses and
read every word before all the congre-
cation viii, 30-35y.
Chapter 8 tells of Joshua forgetting
his instructions from the other cap
tain to loose his shoe from off his foot
", 1915, for he made a league with
| lHS ~ ms OlbNOiilto hlluOuI NOllSui
ing his captain; he asked not counsel
at the mouth of the Lord Gx, IA. We
cannot expect that He will direct us if
we fail to acknowledge Him prov
iii, @.
In chapter X, 7-43, we learn that Gil
gal continued to be Joshua's headquar.
ters, from which he set forth and to
which he returned. Gibeon was great
city, and because of her submission to
Israel five kings made war with heI
*, 10.
The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua
and he took all the people of war and
all the mighty men of valor and went
to their relief, for the Lord had said tC
him; Fear them not Not q
man of them shall stand before thee
*, 6-S). After an all night march the