Chapter 41—Apostasy at the Jordan
This chapter is based on
Numbers 25
.
With joyful hearts and renewed faith in God, the victorious armies
of Israel had returned from Bashan. They had already gained posses-
sion of a valuable territory, and they were confident of the immediate
conquest of Canaan. Only the river Jordan lay between them and the
Promised Land. Just across the river was a rich plain, covered with
verdure, watered with streams from copious fountains, and shaded
by luxuriant palm trees. On the western border of the plain rose the
towers and palaces of Jericho, so embosomed in its palm-tree groves
that it was called “the city of palm trees.”
On the eastern side of Jordan, between the river and the high
tableland which they had been traversing, was also a plain, several
miles in width and extending some distance along the river. This
sheltered valley had the climate of the tropics; here flourished the
shittim, or acacia, tree, giving to the plain the name, “Vale of Shittim.”
It was here that the Israelites encamped, and in the acacia groves by
the riverside they found an agreeable retreat.
But amid these attractive surroundings they were to encounter an
evil more deadly than mighty hosts of armed men or the wild beasts of
the wilderness. That country, so rich in natural advantages, had been
defiled by the inhabitants. In the public worship of Baal, the leading
deity, the most degrading and iniquitous scenes were constantly en-
acted. On every side were places noted for idolatry and licentiousness,
the very names being suggestive of the vileness and corruption of the
people.
These surroundings exerted a polluting influence upon the Is-
raelites. Their minds became familiar with the vile thoughts constantly
suggested; their life of ease and inaction produced its demoralizing
effect; and almost unconsciously to themselves they were departing
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from God and coming into a condition where they would fall an easy
prey to temptation.
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