The third and fourth chapters of Joshua present a proof of the presence of God in the experience of the children of Israel in their passage from the land of bondage to that of promise. Proof after proof had been given them,—deliverance, food, water, protection, the law of God in the Ten Commandments. As they neared Jericho, the ark of God was to be borne by the priests; and Joshua, inspired as Moses had been with confidence in God's direction, had said that as the feet of the priests touched the waters of the Jordan, the waters would part, and a passage could be made upon dry ground.
Then, as the people crossed this Jordan (called by one commentary "the river of judgment''), Joshua was told by the Lord to choose twelve men, representatives of their twelve tribes, who should select, from the place where the feet of the priests stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them to the place where they were to lodge. "And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal." Then Joshua said to the people: "When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saving. What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land." So it was for the children that this memorial was set up, a memorial of the power of God, of His care and tenderness for His children; not that those who had passed through this experience would forget, but that future generations might see and reverence, that they, too, might be encouraged and strengthened when the waters before them seemed impassable.
The day comes when these children of Israel are followed by the second and third generations, who in turn begin their progress Soulward. These have not served in Egypt; they have experienced nothing of the cruel treatment of the taskmasters who flayed and beat their parents, nothing of the cruel tyranny of material sense when it seems to have been victorious. These younger children have, perchance, seen the marks of the cruel stripe when some mother in Israel, to have her loved child see and learn from her own deep experience the price to be paid for servitude to matter, has endeavored to show that one the misery of Egyptian bondage; but with rosy hopes and buoyant expectations the child of the second or third generation of those who toiled long to emerge from darkest error, may joyously and confidently, albeit lovingly, say to such a mother: "Ah, but I will not have to become a slave! I know that God is good; for you have taught me so. All the world is full of joy and promise for me, because you have opened the way.''' So he may fare forth, with a heart of fervent prayer. The mother waits. God's grace must be sufficient for this dear one. Will the tender counsel, the memory of the many proofs of God's care, stay the pressure of temptation to this untried, trusting heart? She would save him, if she could, from learning by experience; but she finds that no two, however tender their relationship, can take the same steps Soulward; each must work out for himself this precious progress.
