Article June 5, 1948 Issue

"GO FORWARD"

LELA MAY AULTMAN

Most of us have experiences which require that we go forward even when we feel that there is no way, and that every door is closed and our path blocked. We need confidence in God's direction that we may start without misgiving, assured that His presence, light, and protection are with us.

The children of Israel journeyed forty years through the wilderness. Thus they were led out of bondage into some recognition of the promised land of spiritual peace, security, beauty, and abundance. When at length they were ready to claim the victory and enter the land to possess it, the river Jordan obstructed their path. Although it looked impossible to cross it on foot, divine inspiration led Joshua to direct his people to go forward. They were obedient to the command despite the evidence of the senses, and, the narrative continues, when the feet of the priests who were the vanguard touched the edge of the water, "it came to pass...that the waters . ..stood and rose up upon an heap. ...And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground" (Josh. 3:14, 16, 17).

The procession into the land of promise was led by the bearers of the ark of the covenant, which enclosed the tables of stone whereon were written the Ten Commandments. The ark typified God's guidance of His children, His requirement that they obey His law, and His promise of the safety and prosperity which always accompany obedience. The Israelites could not have gone fearlessly forward without a consciousness of the irresistible power of this covenant.

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