STUDY XII

A NATION’S STRUGGLE FOR A HOME AND FREEDOM.

ISRAEL’S VICTORIES OVER THE CANAANITES.—­Josh. 2-9; Judg. 1, 4, 5.

Parallel Readings.

  Hist.  Bible II,1-4.1.
  Prin. of Politics X.

  That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
  That the people volunteered readily,
  Bless Jehovah!

  Zebulun was a people who exposed themselves to deadly peril,
  And Naphtali on the heights of the open field. 
  Kings came, they fought;
  They fought, the kings of Canaan,
  At Taanach by the Waters of Megiddo,
  They took no booty of silver. 
  Prom heaven fought the stars,
  From their courses fought against Sisera,
  The river Kishon swept them away,
  That ancient river, the river Kishon. 
  O my soul, march on with strength! 
  When did the horse-hoofs resound
  With the galloping, galloping of their steeds? 
    —­Judg. 5, 9, 18-22 (Hist.  Bible).

This was King Arthur’s dreame.  Him thought that there was comen into his lande many gryffons and serpents, and him thought that they brent and slew all the people in the land.  And then him thought that he fought with them, and they did him passing great damage and wounded him full sore, but at the last he slewe them all.—­Malory, Hist. of King Arthur; Mort d’ Arthur.

Young gentlemen, have a resolute life purpose.  Don’t get mad and don’t get scared.—­Burleson.

I.

THE CROSSING OF THE JORDAN.

In the light of the preceding studies, the motives that led the Hebrews to cross the Jordan become evident.  As the Pilgrim Fathers, to secure a home where they might enjoy and develop their own type of belief and methods of civilization, braved the dimly known dangers of the sea and the wilderness, the Hebrews braved the contests that unquestionably lay before them.  Between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea the Jordan is fordable at thirty points during certain parts of the year.  The first of the two main fords in the lower Jordan is just below the point where the Wady Kelt enters the Jordan from the west and deposits its mass of mud and silt.  The other ford is six miles further north below the point where the Wady Nimrin comes down from the highlands of Gilead.  Here to-day the main highway connecting the east and the west-Jordan country crosses the river.  This spot was probably the scene of the historic crossing at the beginning of Hebrew history.