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النشر الإلكتروني
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the way, and to be to them a sign of the Divine Presence amongst them; a sign that the Lord was with them still to guide and protect them.

And Joshua said unto the people, as they stood on the edge of the river Jordan, “ Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God; hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you : behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. And it shall come to pass that 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 shall stand upon an heap.” And thus, Edward, it was. As soon as the feet of the priests touched the waters, the waters of Jordan went back, and stood upon an heap: thus a path was again opened for the people of God through the great waters, and they passed over on dry land, right against the city of Jericho. The same Almighty Hand which had divided the Red Sea before Moses, now opens a path through Jordan before Joshua, showing the people plainly, that as the Lord was with Moses, so he is now with Joshua. Again the waters obey the voice of their Maker. Jordan was now overflowing its banks, as it always did at the time of harvest; for the snows at this season of the year melted from the mountains, particularly from Mount Lebanon, at the foot of which it takes its rise; so that the waters were then at their very height. But what are times, or seasons, or fulness of tides, to that Almighty Being who made them all? The Lord of all the world approaches, and Jordan gives way before

him. Well may we exclaim with the holy David. "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest; and thou, Jordan, that thou wast driven back? The waters saw thee, oh God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid; the depths also were troubled: the waters returned at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. The sea saw God and fled; Jordan was driven back."

E. Those are very pretty verses, Mamma; I should like to learn them.

M. You may learn them, if you like, my love, to-morrow morning; I will mark them for you in your little Bible before you go to bed.

E. And now, dear Mamma, go on, if you please; I wish so much to hear what the children of Israel did when they got to the other side of the river.

M. As soon as they were safely passed over Jordan, and were come to Gilgal on the east side of Jericho, Joshua set up twelve large stones, which he had made the people take from the midst of the river Jordan, to be a kind of mark or remembrance to the people of Israel, and to their children, and their children's children, of the mighty work which the Lord their God had done for them in that place. So that when, in passing by, any little child might ask his father or mother what these great stones meant, they might tell him the wonderful story of the Lord drying up the waters of Jordan, that Israel might go through, and might teach him thus to fear the Lord for ever.

"And it came to pass, that when all the kings of the Canaanites and the kings of the Amorites heard what the Lord had done for his people, that their

B.C.

hearts melted for fear; neither was there any more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.” For this mighty miracle was done in the face of the sun, that is, in the very middle of the day in the sight of all the people who dwelt round about the river, so that the news spread far and wide, filling every heart among the nations with fear.

In Gilgal the children of Israel pitched their tents, and here they began to eat of the corn of the land of Canaan; and the manna with which 1451. they had so long been fed now ceased to fall around them; neither had they manna any more; for now all the corn and fruits of the land of Canaan were before them, so that there was no reason for their being fed by a miracle any longer.

E. Mamma, I should like to look at the river Jordan upon

the

map. M. Get the book then, my love, and you shall see Gilgal too, where the tents of Israel were pitched. - This Jordan, which is the chief river in Canaan , rises, as we have said, at the foot of Mount Lebanon ; runs to the South through the middle of the country for about a hundred miles, and falls with great violence into the Lake Asphaltis or Dead Sea. The banks of this river are thickly covered with bushes, reeds, tamarisks, willows, oleanders, and other shrubs and trees, which form a hiding-place for many wild animals. In these thickets they used to hide themselves till they were driven out by the overflowing of the river, which happened at thetime of barley harvest. Along the river Jordan there was also a good deal

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