to give them up. Then she began to show her faith. She was different from her fellow-citizens, in that, though all alike saw that Divine power must have led the Israelites through such a course of miracles, they tried to fight against that will, while she bent to it. She hid the spies under the stalks of flax which were laid out to dry on the flat roof of her house, which was built against the city walls, while she gave a false direction to the men who were in search of them; and before letting down her guests over the walls, she advised them to hide for three days in the hills of Abarim, lest they should meet their enemies returning from the pursuit. Then she besought that she and her family might be spared, and the spies bade her mark her house with the scarlet cord by which she was about to let them down. That cord would be her safeguard, as the blood of the Passover had been to the firstborn of Israel. The red streak would secure safety to those within. So does the red streak of our Blessed Lord's precious Blood mark the truly faithful for salvation, when this sinful world shall be destroyed.

LESSON III.

THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN.

B.C. 1451.-JOSHUA iii.

And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;

And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

* 1,500 yards, not much less than a mile.

And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify* thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea,† failed, and were cut off and the people passed over right against Jericho.

And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean + over Jordan.

No

COMMENT.-The name of Jordan means "Descender." large river has so swift or descending a course as this: rising in the hills of Dan, and rushing down its narrow wooded ravine to the steaming cauldron of the Dead Sea, the lowest piece of water in all the world. Bridges as yet were unknown; fords there were in some few places; but when the winter snows on the mountains melted in the spring (the harvest-time of Palestine), it overflowed its banks, and the fords could not be used. How carry the * Quite

* Make great.

The Dead Sea

multitude across-women, children, cattle, tents-in the face of an enemy alarmed and on the alert for a long time past, though no doubt relaxing their watch to gather in their crops, in the sure confidence that the swelling of the Jordan would render it a sufficient barrier, and certainly only guarding the fords? This was the time God chose to magnify Joshua; that is, to do him honour and make him great in the eyes of the people, by showing him to be as much His wonder-working servant as Moses had been.

And it was a wonderful command that Joshua was to give the priests. They were to take up the Ark of the Covenant and bear it on their shoulders, leaving a space not much short of a mile between them and the rest of the people, and with their holy charge they were to walk straight on into the overflowing water, never pausing till they had reached the middle of the bed of the river, where they were to stand still.

It was a command requiring more resolute faith than had been shown at the Red Sea, for there the waters had left their bed bare before any one entered it; here the priests were to go actually down, as it seemed, into the waters before the miracle was worked. No sooner, however, had they dipped their feet into the water, than at the city Adam, thirty miles up the river, a sudden check came on the rushing torrent. It stood still, and the water piled itself up in a heap waiting to be free again! "The waters saw Thee, O God, and were afraid: the depths also were troubled." This was to the north; to the south the water was cut off, and the stony bed of the river lay bare. There stood the priests in the midst, with the Ark on their shoulders, while the people crossed. First the men of Reuben, Gad, and Gilead, who, having no families or cattle to take care of, formed the vanguard, went over armed to protect the arrival of the rest, and then all the host, in their tribes, slowly and steadily marched across in their order, while all the time the Ark, on the shoulders of the priests, remained in the midst to guard their crossing.

[Such was the wonderful passage of the Jordan. To us it has two meanings, but one is enough for this day. When we think of the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness as foreshadowing the life of each Christian, the Red Sea represents our Baptism, and the

rapid, dangerous river between the wilderness and the Land of Promise is "the stream, the narrow stream of death." Our feet must enter the dark waters, we must go down into its depths, but the Ark of the Covenant, the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with His Church, is our stay; and when once passed, our Rest will be a more real rest than that of Israel.]

LESSON IV.

THE MEMORIAL OF THE PASSAGE.

B.C. 1451.-JOSHUA iv. 1-18.

And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.*

For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto

* At the time the Book of Joshua was written.

the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.

And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:

About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

COMMENT.-All the multitude of Israelites had crossed the river safely, but still the Ark, on the priests' shoulders, was left in the midst, waiting for a sign from God. There was more to be done; the wonderful deliverance was never to be forgotten, and therefore a solid monument of it was to be set up. Joshua then called one strong man out of each tribe, and bade him take up one of the large stones in the bottom of the river bed, and carry it out to the bank. Then twelve more stones, so large and tall that they would tower above the water, were carried down and set up in order in the midst of the channel. Thus every after generation of Israelites would see a row of twelve great water-worn rocks on the bank, and again a row of twelve pointing up above the river, and they would be told that they were the proofs that the whole host of Israel had marched on dry land through the midst of their boundary stream, by the great power of God. The stones were there when the Book of Joshua was put together, they were still visible in our Lord's time, and even up to the year 1217.

After this the priests came up out of the river, and the waters rushed down into their place as before; but never was the wonder forgotten. In memory thereof came those beautiful promises by the mouth of Isaiah, "When thou passest through the waters,