GOD'S PROMISES FULFILLED

JUDGE SEPTIMUS J. HANNA.

The last chapter of Deuteronomy and the first two chapters of Joshua narrate an incident of that memorable journey of the Israelites to the promised land which will prove helpful and instructive and well repay careful study on the part of Christian Scientists. Joshua, we read, was Moses' minister, and as such became in a large sense the executor of the great trust which God had placed in Moses' hands; that is, God commanded this minister to go ahead and carry on the work which Moses had begun and which he had well established so far as he had gone. Moses had gotten, not into the promised land, but within sight of it.

From Pisgah's height the Lord showed to Moses "all the land of Gilead, unto Dan. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar,"—the land which the Lord had sworn unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, should be given to their seed. To Moses it was said: "I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither." The fulness of time for this final demonstration or achievement had not yet come. The conditions were not ready. There must be yet greater work done. There must be a higher understanding of the divine law or the divine purpose.

To Joshua, then, and to those who would accept his ministry and follow him, there was made this great promise: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Here was a definite and unqualified promise to fulfil to the utmost all that had been spoken to Moses and to his predecessors. The land to be inhabited was broad and almost unlimited; the work to be accomplished was unbounded. Then follows the loving admonition: "Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them." Again is the kindly admonition emphasized, with the inevitable condition attached: "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest."

Their great leader had apparently gone from the children of Israel, but this, it was pointed out, was no cause for discouragement; the work would go on, and the promises would be fulfilled, none the less. The narrative shows that the followers of Moses were obedient to the commands of Joshua; they declared that as they had hearkened unto Moses so would they hearken unto Joshua. For the third time they were admonished to be strong and of a good courage, and we read of the result at the close of the second chapter of Joshua: "And they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us."

This Scripture is plain. The lesson is easily understood. The analogy is complete. We have but to apply our spiritual key, and the book opens to us with unmistakable clearness. The cause for which Moses stood, and to the forwarding of which he had devoted his lifetime, went bravely and uninterruptedly on. What is true of Moses is true in much greater measure of Jesus the Christ. Christianity did not fail or falter because of his departure, his ascension. It continued to spread and grow apace.

God's promises are being fulfilled very surely today. Our cause is established on a firm foundation, not only in the way of human organization and propaganda, but in the spiritual consciousness of many thousands. This consciousness is perpetual. It can never be destroyed. As well might we think of the one divine consciousness being annihilated. We have our splendid literature, our great church services, our educational system for the perpetuation of our tenets, and above all we have our mighty text-book and the other invaluable writings of our beloved teacher and Leader. We have every proper and necessary means of carrying on the great work. All this Mrs. Eddy provided with bounteous hand and far-seeing wisdom. We have our Joshua in the Manual of The Mother Church, with its wise and far-reaching provisions for the advancement of the cause of Christian Science through efficient administration and watchful care on the part of those on whom the responsibility has been placed.

The most effective means of perpetuating the work are at our command. It remains only for us individually—for Christian Scientists everywhere—to grasp and hold fast to the spiritual side; and in this sense we can and must all be Joshuas,—ministers in the highest sense of ministry. Even as the children of Israel were loyal and obedient, and went forward to find that the Lord had delivered into their hands all the land, so it is our high privilege to stand resolutely and loyally by our fellow-workers at headquarters, upholding and supporting them in every possible way, ever moving bravely forward toward the ultimate vanquishing of the last enemy. We have every possible encouragement to this end in the writings of our beloved Leader, and especially in our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

We have also the great Master's command to heal the sick and raise the dead, a command as vital in this age as it was two thousand years ago. We have his sweet assurance also that he will be with us alway, even unto the end; and we have no reason to doubt its fulfilment if, on our own part, we are but "strong and of a good courage," and "do according to all the law."

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