I AM now, as never before, impressed with this thought; that God’s plans and purposes never depend upon any one man. When Moses was no more, Joshua took up, and carried on to completion, his unfinished work. We also have here a beautiful example of how the labors of God’s servants are interlinked with each other. Moses liberated Israel from Egyptian bondage, but it was left for Joshua to lead them into the promised land. Forty years they had wandered in the wilderness, warring with the different tribes through whose territory they had passed; forty years they had been miraculously fed with manna; forty years they were guided by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night,—but at last the gladsome day came when they were to exchange the stony wilderness for the land that flowed with milk and honey. There was joy in the camp. With happy hearts and strong hands, three million Hebrews folded their tents and marched side by side, shoulder to shoulder, to the river’s brink. And I am sure that while there they sang in spirit, if not in letter: “On Jordan’s stormy banks we stand, And cast a wishful eye To Canaan’s fair and happy land, Where our possessions lie.” [Illustration: THE RIVER JORDAN WHERE IT IS SUPPOSED CHRIST WAS BAPTISED.] It is well to walk in the footsteps of great men; so having followed Moses out of Egypt, let us now follow Joshua into Canaan. Leaving Nebo’s summit, and coming down on the north side of the mountain, we find at its base a bold spring which bears the name of the great law-giver. Around this spring of Moses the hosts of Israel, it is supposed, pitched their tents. Still following Joshua, we soon find ourselves standing on the banks of the Jordan. Ah, sacred river! How it thrills me to be here! “Thy banks, winding in a thousand graceful mazes, are fringed with perpetual verdure; thy pathway is cheered with the sight and song of birds, and by thy own clear voice of gushing minstrelsy. There is a pleasure in the green-wooded banks, seen far along the sloping valley; a tracery of life, amid the death and dust that hem thee in, so like some trace of gentleness in a corrupt and wicked heart.”