The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1946-03-01
A PEOPLE FINDING
A HOMELAND

A HOMELAND
LESSON TEXT: Joshua lila; 23:1.11.
MEMORY SELECTION: Thou shalt bless
the Lord thy God for the good land which
he hath given thee.-Deuteronomy $50.
God is the Lord of nations as well
as of homes, and he is concerned
that those who honor him in their
homes have opportunity to serve
him in their national life. This was
true in a special way with Israel,
but it is also true of us today.
Ready to enter the Promised
Land, the people had to part with
their great leader, Moses, who was
not permitted to enter. The time
comes when even the mightiest OF
men fall, but life must go on and
new leadership must be found.
I. The Changed Leader (Josh. /:
1-4).
|. Workers Die-God's Work Goes
On wv. /, q.
God buries his workmen at the
end of their day of labor, but Gods
work goes on. The people had be-
come attached to Moses and had
learned to trust his leadership, even
though they often murmured. With
his death we might have assumed
that there would be letdown, but
that was not in Gods plan.
The Lord works through men. He
gives them abilities and uses them
for his glory, often in a way which
astonishe& them and others. But let
them not become proud, for God
has someone to take their place
when they are gone. They are not
indispensable.
2. The Need Is the Same, So Is
the Blessing wv. 3, A..
The promise given to Moses was
still good. Gods promises are al
ways good. They are the only really
stable thing in trembling universe.
The question is, Are we ready to
take him at his word?
They were to step out by faith.
The land was promised to them
only as the sole Of their foot should
tread upon it. Israel never took
out the full promise of verse 4. They
lacked faith.
God hos1ors those who believe him
and who move forward by faith to
plant the foot of spiritual conquest
in new territory. Some are doing
it now. Are we? se
The enemies Of Gods people were
many and mighty, but they were not
able to stand in the way Of Gods
people when they were moving for
ward for him. Here again, Israel
failed. They did not drive them out,
because they did not take God at
his word. The application of that
truth to us is obvious.
ii. The Exchanging God Josh. %:
1-115.
Between our first scripture and
this selection will be found the his
tory of the conquest of the land Cat
least, of the larger part of it), and
the division Of the territory between
the tribes.
Years have passed quickly, and
the new leader, Joshua, is now an
old man, soon to 60 to his reward.
He gathers the elders who repre-
: scented the people and gave them
good counsel for the days ahead,
even as he recalls the blessings Of
the past.
l. God Did Help wv. 1-3).
Israel had been in many hard bat
ties. They had gone through the tri-
ais of pioneer days in a new and
unfamiliar land. Now they were
established and at peace. Perhaps
they were recalling their mighty ex-
ploits ami their own sacrificial eff
forts.
Joshua reminds them that it was
God who fought for them ". 81.
We need just such a reminder in
our land today.
2. God Will Help wv. 4, 50. Joshua
had a word Of encouragement for
the days ahead. There was much
yet to ba done. The land had not
been fully taken. He reminded them
of Gods help in the past, so that
they would depend on it in the fu-
ture.
1t is one mark Of great man that
he looks beyond the end of his own
short existence and plans for the
future.
What about the future? Joshua
reminded them that every blessing
they had received, every victory
they had won, everything had &C me
from the hand Of God. There and
there alone was their hope for the
future. And it was enough!
5. Help Yourself wv. GID. To
keep true in the land where their
neighbors engaged in idol worship
and all manner of immortality re-
quired definite action on the part of
Israel.
They were not to deviate in the
slightest from Gods way, ''to the
right hand or to the left" ". 81,
for a little beginning in the wrong
direction winds up in awful depar-
ture from him.
They were not even to swear by
the heather gods, not even to men,
49, Ahaxxn TA~~x ,xvnw~ a.