Then Joshua led the Israelites forth; but when they came to the River
Jordan, again their courage failed them.
Although they had been led through the Red Sea in the times of their
fathers, and though all their lives they had been told of that wonderful
deliverance, still, when now they came to the River Jordan, their hearts
grew heavy, and fear took possession of them. But there lay the country,
fair and beautiful. They could see it; and, with Joshua so brave and
true to lead them on, they gathered up their courage, and the great
company marched down to the river banks.
Again the miracle of the parting of the waters was repeated; for the
waters roared and rushed, and heaped themselves, like great walls, on
either side while the Israelites passed through.
Meantime Joshua had sent forward two men into the city of Jericho to
learn what manner of people were there; for Jericho was one of the
cities upon which the Israelites must make war. These people of Canaan
were not likely to give the country into the hands of a new people
without a struggle. That the Israelites well knew. Then, too, these were
in the days when all nations were at war with each other, and the
possession of a country was always a matter of force and strength,--one
people overcoming the other.
When the two Israelites came into Jericho, they sought the house of a
woman named Rahab; and from her learned all those things about the city
that they needed to know.
But the king of Jericho heard that two Israelites were in the city, and
at once he suspected them of being spies. Accordingly he sent messengers
to seize them and put them in prison. The messengers came, bearing with
them the authority of the king; but the two men were hid away by Rahab,
and the messenger went away.
"I know," Rahab said, "that this land belongs to you; that God hath
promised it to you; for I have heard of the wonderful things that God
hath done for you and your people. Because of this I have hidden you
beneath the flax on the housetop; and now, when your people come to take
the city, forget not me. Tell your people the protection given you in
this house; then shall your soldiers spare me in the downfall of the
city."
Then the Israelites promised that, in the ransacking of the city, this
woman Rahab should be spared.
"When we are gone," they said, "fasten a red cord upon the window of the
house. Then, when we enter the city, the house in whose window the red
cord is, shall be spared."
At night the woman let the Israelites down from the roof of the house by
a rope, and they hurried away to join the Israelites.
In a few days the army of the Israelites appeared before the walls of
Jericho. The gates were closed, and the king's armies within were ready
to resist the attack.
What were the Israelites to do? Should they attack the city with
battering rams and meet the people with spears and swords?
This was the way of besieging cities in those days; and it was for this
kind of an attack that the people within were prepared. But this was
not the way the Israelites were to do their work; for God had told them,
even while in the wilderness, that the walls of Jericho were to be
beaten down in a way most strange. They were to take their Ark up to the
walls of the city. They were to draw up their soldiers in line. The
priests were to bear the Ark, and together all were to march around the
city, the priests blowing their trumpets as they passed before the Ark.
Not a spear was to be thrown; not a sword was to be drawn. For seven
days they were to do this; but on the seventh day they were to march
seven times around the city. Then, amid the shouting of the people and
the blowing of the trumpets, the walls would fall; and so the city would
lie open before them. All this the Israelites did; and on the seventh
day it came about even as Joshua said it should,--the walls fell with a
terrible crash. Then the Israelites marched in and took the city. The
house of Rahab they did not forget. They brought her and all her family
out from the burning city and placed her in safety among their own women
and children.
[Illustration: THE WALLS OF JERICHO FALLING DOWN.]
Great loads of gold and silver and brass and iron they took from the
city. All of this they saved for the building of a temple; for they had
been warned to save no part of the city's wealth for their own use.
In all this the Israelites obeyed, save one man. He, Achan, thinking no
one saw him, took some of the riches and carried them away and hid them.
Now, Joshua knew nothing of all this; but the next day, when the army
went against the little city of Ai, behold the Israelites were driven
back defeated. Even Joshua's heart was heavy. He could not see why it
should have been; but when he knelt before God, God said to him, "Never
can I fight for my people while there is sin among them. Go find Achan;
he hath hidden gold in the tent. Accuse him before the people and put
him to death. Then again shall success be with the Israelites."
Joshua went before his people and told them what God had said to him.
Then Achan was called before the Israelites and put to death.
"Now," said Joshua, "let us go against the city of Ai again." They went;
and this time the city was taken, and the people bowed before the power
of the Israelites, acknowledging them as their masters. THE GIBEONITES.
The sun stood still, the moon it stayed
Till Israel's vengeance was allayed
Upon his enemy,
Pausing all that awful day
And glowing brilliantly.
While these cities were being taken, the Gibeonites had heard of the
coming of the Israelites and of their great conquests. Now, these
Gibeonites were a strong people; and so, when they heard these things,
they made preparations for the attack which they feared. First, they
sent messengers to Joshua.
"We wish to make peace with you," the messenger said.
"If you are Canaanites," said Joshua, "we can make no peace with you."
"But we are not Canaanites," the messengers said. "Behold we come from
a great distance. Do you not see how dry our bread is, and how broken
our bottles are? Our shoes, too, see how they are worn! All these were
new when we began our journey; but we have been so long on the road,
they are worn. We have heard of your coming, as have all the kings round
about our country. We know how great is your power; and that is why we
have come to beg you to be at peace with our people."
Now, this story was in no wise true; but Joshua believed it, and the
Gibeonites went away pleased indeed that they had succeeded so well.
But a few days after, Joshua learned that these Gibeonites had been
untrue to him, and that they dwelt in the very midst of the country of
Canaan.
"Why have you deceived us?" he asked of their leaders.
The leaders could make no reply. They could only say, "But you promised
not to slay us."
"That is true," Joshua replied. "And we will not break our promise. We
will not slay you; but we will take all prisoners, and you shall serve
us as slaves all the days of your life."
The Gibeonites were heavy hearted indeed. They had fallen into their own
pit; for they would rather have died than become slaves. But now there
was no hope for them, and they could only bow their proud heads beneath
the yoke.
Hardly had the Israelites and the Gibeonites made peace with each other
in this way, when down came the Amorites upon the Gibeonites to fight
them.
[Illustration: JOSHUA COMMANDING THE SUN TO STAND STILL.]
The Gibeonites, frightened at the appearance of the great army, fled to
Joshua for help.
"We shall protect you as our servants and slaves," was the answer. And
so, when the Amorites came, it was the Israelites that marched out
against them.
A terrible battle followed. For a time no one could have told which army
was to be victorious. Many were falling among the Amorites; still their
army was pressing forward.
If only the day would not come to an end! If only the darkness would not
fall! If only they might keep on with the battle till the Amorites,
exhausted, should fall back! To give up the battle and begin again in
the morning would be to give the Amorites opportunity to regain strength
and courage.
Then the thought came to Joshua, "Why _should_ night come? Why should
not the sun and the moon stand still in the heavens until this battle is
finished and the Amorites are driven back?"
[Illustration: DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMY OF THE AMORITES.]
And as he thought, lo! the prayer was answered, and the sun and the moon
did stand still.
Hour after hour passed; the two armies fought on; the Amorites grew
weaker and weaker. Why did not the sun go down? Why did the darkness not
come to give them rest?
At last the Amorites could hold out no longer. The army turned and fled.
The Israelites pursued. The kings hid themselves in a great cave. But
Joshua pursued these still. He rolled great stones up before the cave
and held them there prisoners. Then, when the Amorites had been
scattered, Joshua came back to the cave, brought out the offending
kings and slew them all.
So the contention for the possession of the land of Canaan went on. One
by one the tribes were overcome; and at last Canaan was in the control
of the Israelites.
But now Joshua had grown to be an old man. He knew that the end of his
life was near at hand. So he called the people together and told them,
even as Moses had told them, of all the wonderful things that had
happened to God's chosen people in all the four hundred years since they
had come out of Egypt.
Then he appealed to them in the name of God, who had led them safely
into the land of Canaan; he begged them never to forget that they were
the Children of Israel, and that the religion of the people into whose
land they had come, an idolatrous religion, was not for them. Then the
people all promised to be true to the religion of their fathers; and
Joshua, taking the great book of the law, wrote their promise in it.
More than that, he rolled a great stone up beneath an oak tree and said,
"Look at the great stone. It has heard your promise that you will serve
always the one God. Guard that stone; and let it be a remembrance to you
of the promise you have made."
The people went away sad at heart; for they knew they should never look
again upon their patient leader and teacher, who had been so faithful
and true to them in all the years he had been with them.
[Illustration: DEBORAH]