{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42319/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42319","id":"gutenberg_42319","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42319","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Joshua -- Commentaries","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE\n\n\n EDITED BY THE REV.\n W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.\n _Editor of \"The Expositor\"_\n\n\n THE BOOK OF JOSHUA\n\n BY\n WILLIAM GARDEN BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D.\n\n\n London\n HODDER AND STOUGHTON\n 27, PATERNOSTER ROW\n MDCCCXCIII\n\n\n\n\nTHE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.\n\n_Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol._\n\n\nFIRST SERIES, 1887-8.\n\n Colossians.\n\n By A. MACLAREN, D.D.\n\n St. Mark.\n\n By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh.\n\n Genesis.\n\n By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D.\n\n 1 Samuel.\n\n By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.\n\n 2 Samuel.\n\n By the same Author.\n\n Hebrews.\n\n By Principal T.C. EDWARDS, D.D.\n\n\nSECOND SERIES, 1888-9.\n\n Galatians.\n\n By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.\n\n The Pastoral Epistles.\n\n By Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.\n\n Isaiah I.-XXXIX.\n\n By G. A. SMITH, M.A. Vol. I.\n\n The Book of Revelation.\n\n By Prof. W. MILLIGAN, D.D.\n\n 1 Corinthians.\n\n By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D.\n\n The Epistles of St. John.\n\n By Rt. Rev. W. ALEXANDER, D.D.\n\n\nTHIRD SERIES, 1889-90.\n\n Judges and Ruth.\n\n By Rev. R. A. WATSON, D.D.\n\n Jeremiah.\n\n By Rev. C. J. BALL, M.A.\n\n Isaiah XL.-LXVI.\n\n By G. A. SMITH, M.A. Vol. II.\n\n St. Matthew.\n\n By Rev. J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D.\n\n Exodus.\n\n By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh.\n\n St. Luke.\n\n By Rev. H. BURTON, B.A.\n\n\nFOURTH SERIES, 1890-1.\n\n Ecclesiastes.\n\n By Rev. SAMUEL COX, D.D.\n\n St. James and St. Jude.\n\n By Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.\n\n Proverbs.\n\n By Rev. R. F. HORTON, M.A.\n\n Leviticus.\n\n By Rev. S. H. KELLOGG, D.D.\n\n The Gospel of St. John.\n\n By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. I.\n\n The Acts of the Apostles.\n\n By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. I.\n\n\nFIFTH SERIES, 1891-2.\n\n The Psalms.\n\n By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I.\n\n 1 and 2 Thessalonians.\n\n By JAS. DENNEY, B.D.\n\n The Book of Job.\n\n By R. A. WATSON, D.D.\n\n Ephesians.\n\n By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A.\n\n The Gospel of St. John.\n\n By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II.\n\n The Acts of the Apostles.\n\n By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II.\n\n\nSIXTH SERIES, 1892-3.\n\n 1 Kings.\n\n By Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR.\n\n Philippians.\n\n By Principal RAINY, D.D.\n\n Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.\n\n By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.\n\n Joshua.\n\n By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.\n\n Daniel.\n\n By Prof. FULLER, M.A.\n\n The Psalms.\n\n By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II.\n\n\n\n\n THE BOOK OF JOSHUA\n\n BY\n\n WILLIAM GARDEN BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D.\n\n NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH\n\n London\n HODDER AND STOUGHTON\n 27, PATERNOSTER ROW\n MDCCCXCIII\n\n\n\n\n_Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTORY:--THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 1\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n JOSHUA'S ANTECEDENTS 22\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n A SUCCESSOR TO MOSES 37\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n JOSHUA'S CALL 48\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n JOSHUA'S ENCOURAGEMENT 60\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n JOSHUA'S CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE 70\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n THE SPIES IN JERICHO 82\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n JORDAN REACHED 95\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n JORDAN DIVIDED 106\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n CIRCUMCISION AND PASSOVER--MANNA AND CORN 117\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST 128\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n THE FATE OF JERICHO 140\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n RAHAB SAVED 153\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n ACHAN'S TRESPASS 165\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n ACHAN'S PUNISHMENT 177\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n THE CAPTURE OF AI 189\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n EBAL AND GERIZIM 201\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n THE STRATAGEM OF THE GIBEONITES 211\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n THE BATTLE OF BETHHORON 223\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n THE BATTLE OF MEROM 236\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n\n JOSHUA'S OLD AGE--DIVISION FOR THE EASTERN TRIBES 249\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n THE INHERITANCE OF CALEB 262\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND 275\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n THE INHERITANCE OF JUDAH 287\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n\n THE INHERITANCE OF JOSEPH 300\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n THE DISTRIBUTION COMPLETED 312\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n\n THE CITIES OF REFUGE 326\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n THE INHERITANCE OF THE LEVITES 340\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n NO FAILURE OF GOD'S PROMISE 353\n\n\n CHAPTER XXX.\n\n THE ALTAR ED 365\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXI.\n\n JEHOVAH THE CHAMPION OF ISRAEL 376\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXII.\n\n JOSHUA'S LAST APPEAL 388\n\n\n CHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n JOSHUA'S WORK FOR ISRAEL 402\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n_INTRODUCTORY: THE BOOK OF JOSHUA._\n\n\nWith a purely historical book like Joshua before us, it is of\nimportance to keep in view two ways of regarding Old Testament\nhistory, in accordance with one or other of which any exposition of\nsuch a book must be framed.\n\nAccording to one of these views, the historical books of Scripture,\nbeing given by inspiration of God, have for their _main_ object not to\ntell the story or dwell on the fortunes of the Hebrew nation, but to\nunfold God's progressive revelation of Himself made to the seed of\nAbraham, and to record the way in which that revelation was received,\nand the effects which it produced. The story of the Hebrew nation is\nbut the frame in which this Divine revelation is set. It was God's\npleasure to reveal Himself not through a formal treatise, but in\nconnection with the history of a nation, through announcements and\ninstitutions and practical dealings bearing in the first instance on\nthem. The historical books of the Hebrews therefore, while they give\nus an excellent view of the progress of the nation, must be studied in\nconnection with God's main purpose, and the supernatural\ninterpositions by which from time to time it was carried out.\n\nThe other view regards the historical books of the Hebrews in much the\nsame light as we look on those of other nations. Whatever may have\nbeen their origin, they are, as we find them, like other books, and\nour purpose in dealing with them should be the same as in dealing with\nbooks of similar contents. We are to deal with them, in the first\ninstance at least, from a natural point of view. We are to regard them\nas recording the history and development of an ancient nation--a very\nremarkable nation, no doubt, but a nation whose progress may be\nreferred to ascertainable causes. If we find natural causes sufficient\nto account for that progress, we are not to call in supernatural. It\nis an acknowledged law, at least as old as Lord Bacon, that no more\ncauses are to be assigned for phenomena than are true and sufficient\nto account for them. This law, and the investigations which have taken\nplace under it, have expunged much that used to be regarded as\nsupernatural from the history of other nations; and it will only be\naccording to analogy if the same result is reached in connection with\nthe history of Israel.\n\nIn this spirit we have recently had several treatises dealing with\nthat history from a purely natural standpoint. Very earnest endeavours\nhave been made to clear the atmosphere, to expiscate facts, to apply\nthe laws of history, to weigh statements in the balances of\nprobability, to reduce the Hebrew history to the principles of\nscience. The general effect of this method has been to bring out\nresults very different from those previously accepted. In particular,\nthere has been a thorough elimination of the supernatural from Hebrew\nhistory. Natural causes have been judged sufficient to explain all\nthat occurred. The introduction of the supernatural in the narrative\nwas due to those obvious causes that have operated in the case of\nother nations and other religions:--love of the mythical, a patriotic\ndesire to glorify the nation, the exaggerating tendency of tradition,\nand readiness to translate symbolical pictures into statements of\nliteral occurrences. Hebrew historians were not exempted from the\ntendencies and weaknesses of other historians, and were ready enough\nto colour and apply their narratives according to their own views. It\nis when we subject the Hebrew books to such principles as these (such\nwriters tell us) that we get at the real history of the nation,\ndeprived no doubt of much of the glory with which it has usually been\ninvested, but now for the first time reliable history, on which the\nmost scientific may depend. And as to its moral purpose, it is just\nthe moral purpose that runs through the scheme of the world, to show\nthat, amid much conflict and confusion, the true, the good, the just,\nand the merciful become victorious in the end over the false and the\nevil.\n\nThe difference between the two methods, as an able writer remarks, is\nsubstantially this, that \"the one regards the Hebrew books as an\nunfolding of God's nature, and the other as an unfolding of the nature\nof man.\"\n\nThe naturalistic method claims emphatically to be scientific. It\nreduces all events to historical law, and finds for them a natural\nexplanation. But what if the natural explanation is no explanation?\nWhat becomes of the claim to be scientific if the causes assigned are\nnot sufficient to account for the phenomena? If science will not\ntolerate unnatural causes, no more should it tolerate unnatural\neffects. A truly scientific method must show a fit proportion between\ncause and effect. Our contention is that, in this respect, the\nnaturalistic method is a failure. In many instances its causes are\nwholly inadequate to the effects. We are compelled to fall back on the\nsupernatural, otherwise we are confronted with a long series of\noccurrences for which no reasonable explanation can be found.\n\nWe are reminded of an incident which a popular writer, under the _nom\nde plume_ of Edna Lyall, has introduced in a novel, bearing the title\n\"We Two.\" Erica, the daughter of an atheist, assists her father in\nconducting a journal. She gets from him for review a Life of David\nLivingstone, with instructions to leave his religion entirely out. As\nshe proceeds with the work, she becomes convinced that the condition\nis impossible. To describe Livingstone without his religion would be\nlike playing _Hamlet_ without the part of Hamlet. Not only does she\nfind her task impossible, but when she comes to an incident where\nLivingstone, in most imminent danger of his life, gets entire\ncomposure of mind from an act of devotion, she becomes convinced that\nthis could not have happened had there not been an objective reality\ncorresponding to his belief; and she is an atheist no more. Erica now\nbelieves in God. _Se non e vero e bene trovato._\n\nIn like manner, we believe that to delineate Old Testament history\nwithout reference to the supernatural is as impossible as to describe\nLivingstone apart from his religion. You are baffled in trying to\nexplain actual events. Long ago, Edward Gibbon tried to account for\nthe rapid progress and brilliant success of Christianity in the early\ncenturies by what he called secondary causes. It was really an attempt\nto eliminate the supernatural from early Christian history. But the\nfive causes which he specified were really not causes, but\neffects,--effects of that supernatural action which had its source in\nthe supernatural person of Jesus Christ. These \"secondary causes\"\nnever could have existed had not Jesus Christ already commended\nHimself to all sorts of men as a Divine Saviour, sent by God to bless\nthe world. In like manner we maintain that behind the causes by which\nour naturalistic historians attempt to explain the remarkable history\nof the Jewish people, there lay a supernatural force, but for which\nthe Hebrews would not have been essentially different from the\nEdomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, or any other Semitic tribe in\ntheir neighbourhood. It was the supernatural element underlying Hebrew\nhistory that made it the marvellous development it was; and that\nelement began at the beginning, and continued more or less actively\ntill Jesus Christ came in the flesh.\n\nLet us try to make good this position. Let us select a few of the more\nremarkable occurrences of early Hebrew history, and, in the language\nof Gibbon, make \"a candid and reasonable inquiry\" whether or not they\ncan be accounted for, on the ordinary principles of human nature,\nwithout a supernatural cause.\n\n1. It is certain that from the earliest times, and during at least the\nfirst four centuries of their history, the Hebrew people had an\nimmovable conviction that the land of Canaan was divinely destined to\nbe theirs. Of the singular hold which this conviction took of the\nminds of the patriarchs, we have innumerable proofs. Abraham leaves\nthe rich plains of Chald\u00e6a to dwell in Canaan, and spends a hundred\nyears in it, a stranger and a pilgrim, without having a single acre of\nhis own. When he sends to Padan Aram for a wife to Isaac he conjures\nhis servant on no account to listen to any proposal that Isaac should\nsettle there; the damsel must at all hazards come to Canaan. When\nJacob determines to part from Laban, he sets his face resolutely\ntowards his native land across the Jordan, although his injured\nbrother is there, thirsting as he knows for his blood. When Joseph\nsends for his father to go down to Egypt, Jacob must get Divine\npermission at Beersheba before he can comfortably go. Joseph, for his\nservices to Egypt, might reasonably have looked for a magnificent tomb\nin that country to cover his remains and perpetuate his memory; but,\nstrange to say, he prefers to remain unburied for an indefinite time,\nand leaves a solemn charge to his people to bury him in Canaan,\ncarrying his bones with them when they leave Egypt. In the bitterness\nof their oppression by Pharaoh it would have been much more feasible\nfor their champions, Moses and Aaron, to try to obtain a relaxation of\ntheir burdens; but their demand was a singular one--liberty to go into\nthe wilderness, with the hardly concealed purpose of escaping to the\nland of their affections. Goshen was a goodly land, but Canaan had a\ndearer name--it was the land of their fathers, and of their brightest\nhopes. The uniform tradition was, that the God whom Abraham worshipped\nhad promised to give the land to his posterity, and along with the\nland other blessings of mysterious but glorious import. With this\npromise was connected that Messianic hope which like a golden thread\nran through all Hebrew history and literature, brightening it more and\nmore as the ages advanced.\n\nIt is vain to account for this extraordinary faith in the land as\ntheirs, and this remarkable assurance that it would be the scene of\nunwonted blessing, apart from a supernatural communication from God.\nTo suppose that it originated in some whim or fancy of Abraham's or in\nthe saga of some old bard like Thomas the Rhymer, and continued\nunimpaired century after century, is to suppose what was never\nrealized in the history of any people. In vain do we look among\nnatural causes for any that could have so impressed itself on a whole\nnation, and swayed their whole being for successive ages with\nirresistible force. That \"God spake to Abraham to give him the land\"\nwas the indefeasible conviction of his descendants; nor could any\nconsideration less powerful have sustained their hopes, or nerved them\nto the efforts and perils needful to realize it.\n\n2. No more can the leaving of Egypt, with all that followed, be\naccounted for without supernatural agency. It is the contention of the\nnaturalistic historian that the Israelites were very much fewer in\nnumber than the Scripture narrative alleges. But if so, how could an\nempire, with such immense resources as the monuments show Egypt to\nhave had, have been unable to retain them? Wellhausen affirms that at\nthe time Egypt was weakened by a pestilence. We know not his authority\nfor the statement; but if the Egyptians were weakened, the Israelites\n(unless supernaturally protected) must have been weakened too. Make\nwhat we may of the contest between Moses and Pharaoh, it is beyond\ndispute that Pharaoh's pride was thoroughly roused, and that his firm\ndetermination was not to let the children of Israel go. And if we\ngrant that his six hundred chariots were lost by some mishap in the\nRed Sea, what were these to the immense forces at his disposal, and\nwhat was there to hinder him from mustering a new force, and attacking\nthe fugitives in the wilderness of Sinai? Pharaoh himself does not\nseem to have entered the sea with his soldiers, and was therefore free\nto take other steps. How, then, are we to account for the sudden\nabandonment of the campaign?\n\n3. And as to the residence in the wilderness, even if we suppose that\nthe Israelites were much fewer in number than is stated, they were far\ntoo great a multitude to be supported from the scanty resources of the\ndesert. The wilderness already had its inhabitants, as Moses knew\nright well from his experience as a shepherd; it had its Midianites\nand Amalekites and other pastoral tribes, by whom the best of its\npastures were eagerly appropriated for the maintenance of their\nflocks. How, in addition to these, were the hosts of Israel to obtain\nsupport?\n\n4. And how are we to explain the extraordinary route which they took?\nWhy did they not advance towards Canaan by the ordinary way--the\nwilderness of Shur, Beersheba, and Hebron? Why cross the Red Sea at\nall, or have anything to do with Mount Sinai and its awful cliffs,\nwhich a glance at the map will show was entirely out of their way? And\nwhen they did take that route, what would have been easier than for\nPharaoh, if he had chosen to follow them with a new force, to hem them\nin among these tremendous mountains, and massacre or starve them at\nhis pleasure? If the Israelites had no supernatural power to fall back\non, their whole course was simply madness. We may talk of good fortune\nextricating men from difficulties, but what fortune that can be\nconceived could have availed a people, professing to be bound for the\nland of Canaan, that, without food or drink or stores of any kind, had\nwandered into the heart of a vast labyrinth, for no reasonable purpose\nunder the sun?\n\n5. Nor can the career of Moses be made intelligible without a\nsupernatural backing. The contention is, that the desire of the people\nin Egypt for deliverance having become very strong, especially in the\ntribe of Levi, they sent Aaron to find Moses, remembering his former\nattempt on their behalf; and that, under the able leadership of Moses,\ntheir deliverance was secured by natural means. But does this explain\nthe actual campaign in Sinai? Who ever heard of a leader that, after\nhe had roused the enthusiasm of his people by a brilliant deliverance,\narrested their further progress in order to preach to them for a\ntwelvemonth, and give them a system of law? Did Moses not possess that\ninstinct of a general that must have urged him to push on the moment\nthe Egyptians were drowned, and amid the enthusiasm of his own troops\nand the consternation of the Canaanites, fling his army upon the seven\nnations, and seize their land by a _coup de main_? Abraham before him\nand Joshua after him found the value of such prompt, sudden movements.\nNever had a leader a more splendid opportunity. What could have\ninduced Moses to throw away his chance, bury his people among the\nmountains, and remain inactive for months upon months? Is there any\nconceivable explanation but that he acted by supernatural direction?\nThe Divine plan was entirely different from any that human wisdom\nwould have contrived. It is as clear as day that, had there been no\nDivine power controlling the movement, the course taken by Moses would\nhave been simply insane.\n\n6. Nor could the law of Moses, first given in such circumstances, have\nacquired the glory which surrounded it ever after, had there been no\nmanifestation of the Divine presence at Sinai. The people were greatly\ndissatisfied, especially at their delays. The only course that would\nhave quieted them was to push on towards Canaan, so that their minds\nmight be animated by the enthusiasm of hope. Under their detentions\nthey greedily seized every occasion that presented itself for growling\nagainst Moses. How little they were in sympathy with his ideas of\nreligion and worship was apparent from the affair of the golden calf.\nThe history of the time is an almost unbroken record of murmuring,\ncomplaining, and rebellion. Yet the law which originated with Moses in\nthese circumstances became the very idol of the people, and, according\nto the naturalistic historians, was the means of creating the nation,\nand welding the tribes into a living unity! We can quite easily\nunderstand how, in spite of all their growlings, the law as given at\nSinai should have taken the firmest hold of their imagination and\nkindled their utmost enthusiasm in the end, if it was accompanied by\nthose tokens of the Divine presence which the whole literature of the\nHebrews assumes. And if Moses was closely identified with the Divine\nBeing, the surpassing glory of the occasion must have been reflected\non him. But to suppose that a discontented people should have had\ntheir enthusiasm roused for the law simply because this Moses\ncommanded them to observe it, and that they should ever after have\ncounted it the holiest, the most Divine law that men had ever known,\nis again to postulate an effect without a cause, and to suppose a\nwhole people acting in disregard of the strongest propensities of\nhuman nature.\n\n7. Then, as to the generalship of Moses. How are we to explain the\nfurther detention of the people in the wilderness for nearly forty\nyears? If this was not the result of a supernatural Divine decree, it\nmust have proceeded from the inability of Moses to lead the people to\nvictory. No people who had struggled out of bondage in order to enter\na land flowing with milk and honey, would of their own accord have\nspent forty years in the wilderness. At Hormah, they were willing to\nfight, but Moses would not lead them, and they were beaten. Either the\nwandering of the forty years was a Divine punishment, or the\ngeneralship of Moses was at fault. He abandoned himself to inaction\nfor an unprecedented period. There was no shadow of benefit to be\ngained by this delay; nothing could come of it (apart from the Divine\npurpose) but wearing out the patience of the people, and killing them\nwith the sickness of hope deferred. And if it should be said that the\nforty years' wandering was a myth, and that probably the wilderness\nsojourn did not exceed a year or two at most, is it conceivable that\nany people in its senses would invent such a legend?--a legend that\ncovered them with shame, and that was felt to be so disgraceful that\nthe whole region was shunned by them; insomuch that with the exception\nof Elijah, we do not read of any member of the nation ever making a\npilgrimage to the spot which otherwise must have had overwhelming\nattractions.\n\n8. At last Moses suddenly awakes to activity and courage. And the next\ndifficulty is to account for his success at the eleventh hour of his\nlife, if he had no supernatural help. No phrase occurs more frequently\nin naturalistic explanations than \"it is likely.\" Likelihood is the\ntouchstone to which all extraordinary statements are brought,\nalthough, as Lord Beaconsfield used to tell us, \"it is the unexpected\nthat happens.\" Borrowing the touchstone for the nonce, we may ask, Is\nit likely that, after a sleep of eight-and-thirty years, Moses of his\nown accord, without any apparent change of circumstances, sprang\nsuddenly to his feet, and urged the people to attempt the invasion of\nthe land? Is it likely that all the inertia and fears of the people\nvanished in a moment, as if at the touch of a magician's wand? And\nwhen it came to actual fighting, is it likely that these shepherds of\nthe desert were able of themselves not only to stand before a trained\nand successful warrior like Sihon King of the Amorites, who had so\nlately overrun the country, but to defeat him utterly and take\npossession of his whole territory? Is it likely that Sihon's\nneighbour, Og King of Bashan, though warned by the fate of Sihon, and\ntherefore sure to make a more careful defence, shared the fate of the\nother king? Or if Og was a mere myth, as Wellhausen strangely\nmaintains, is it likely that the Israelites got possession of the\npowerful cities and well-defended kingdom of Bashan without striking a\nblow? Is it likely that, after this brilliant victory, Moses, who was\nstill in full vigour, detained them again for weeks to preach old\nsermons, and sing them songs, and make pathetic speeches, instead of\ndashing at once at the petrified people on the other side, and\nacquiring the great prize--Western Palestine? Strange mortal this\nMoses must have been!--wise enough to give the people an unexampled\nconstitution and system of laws, and yet blind to the most obvious\nlaws of military science, and the most elementary perceptions of\ncommon sense.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd now we come to Joshua, and to the book that records his\nachievements.\n\nJoshua was no prophet; he made no claim to the prophetic character; he\nsucceeded Moses only as military leader. Consequently the Book of\nJoshua contains little matter that would fall under the term\n\"revelation.\" But both the work of Joshua and the book of Joshua\nserved an important purpose in the plan of Divine manifestation,\ninasmuch as they showed God fulfilling His old promises, vindicating\nHis faithfulness, and laying anew a foundation for the trust of His\npeople. In this point of view, both the work and the book have an\nimportance that cannot be exaggerated. The naturalistic historian\nregards the book as merely setting forth, with sundry traditional\nembellishments, the manner in which one people ousted another from\ntheir country, much as those who were then evicted had dispossessed\nthe previous inhabitants. But whoever believes that, centuries before,\nGod made a solemn promise to Abraham to give that land to his seed,\nmust see in the story of the settlement the unfolding of a Divine\npurpose, and a solemn pledge of blessings to come. \"The Ancient of\ndays,\" who \"declares the end from the beginning,\" is seen to be\nfaithful to His promises; and if He has been thus faithful in the\npast, he may surely be trusted to be faithful in the future.\n\nIf, then, Joshua's work was a continuation of the work of Moses, and\nhis book of the books of Moses, both must be regarded from the same\npoint of view. You cannot explain either of them reasonably in a\nmerely rationalistic sense. Joshua could no more have settled the\npeople in Canaan by merely natural means than Moses could have\ndelivered them from Pharaoh and maintained them for years in the\nwilderness. In the history of both you see a Divine arm, and in the\nbooks of both you find a chapter of Divine revelation. It is this that\ngives full credibility to the miracles which they record. What\nhappened under Joshua formed a most important chapter of the process\nof revelation by which God made Himself known to Israel. In such\ncircumstances, miracles were not out of place. But if the Book of\nJoshua is nothing more than the record of a raid by one nation on\nanother, miracles were uncalled for, and must be given up.\n\nRationalists may count us wrong in believing that the Hebrew\nhistorical books are more than Hebrew annals--are the records of a\nDivine manifestation. But they cannot hold us unreasonable or\ninconsistent if, believing this, we believe in the miracles which the\nbooks record. Miracles assume a very different character when they are\nconnected into a sublime purpose in the economy of God; when they\nsignalize a great epoch in the history of revelation--the completion\nof a great era of promise, the fulfilment of hopes delayed for\ncenturies. The Book of Joshua has thus a far more dignified place in\nthe history of revelation than a superficial observer would suppose.\nAnd those historians who bring it down to the level of a mere record\nof an invasion, and who leave out of account its bearing on Divine\ntransactions so far back as the days of Abraham, spoil it of its chief\nglory and value for the Church in every age. There is nothing of more\nimportance, whether for the individual believer or for the Church\ncollectively, than a firm conviction, such as the Book of Joshua\nemphatically supplies, that long delays on God's part involve no\nforgetfulness of His promises, but that whenever the destined moment\ncomes \"no good thing will fail of all that He hath spoken.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Book of Joshua consists mainly of two parts; one historical, the\nother geographical. It was the old belief that it was the work of a\nsingle writer, with such slight revision at an after time as a writing\nmight receive without essential interference with its substance. The\nauthor was sometimes supposed to be Joshua himself, but more commonly\none of the priests or elders who outlived Joshua, and who might\ntherefore fitly record his death. It has been remarked that there are\nseveral traces in the book of contemporary origin, like the remark on\nRahab--\"She dwelleth in Israel even unto this day\" (vi. 25). It must\nbe allowed, we think, that there is not much in this book to suggest\nto the ordinary reader either the idea of a late origin or of the use\nof late materials.\n\nBut recent critics have taken a different view. Ewald maintained that,\nbesides the Jehovist and Elohist writers of whose separate\ncontributions in Genesis the evidence seems incontrovertible, there\nwere three other authors of Joshua, with one or more redactors or\nrevisers. The view of Kuenen and Wellhausen is similar, but with this\ndifference, that the Book of Joshua shows so much affinity, both in\nobject and style, to the preceding five books, that it must be classed\nwith them, as setting forth the origin of the Jewish nation, which\nwould not have been complete without a narrative of their settlement\nin their land. The composition of Joshua is therefore to be brought\ndown to a late date; we owe it to the documents, writers, and editors\nconcerned in the composition of the Pentateuch; and instead of\nfollowing the Jews in classing the first five books by themselves, we\nought to include Joshua along with them, and in place of the\nPentateuch speak of the Hexateuch. Canon Driver substantially accepts\nthis view; in his judgment, the first part of the book rests mainly on\nthe JE (Jehovist-Elohist) document, with slight additions from P (the\npriestly code) and D^2 (the second Deuteronomist). The second half of\nthe book is derived mainly from the priestly code. But Canon Driver\nhas the candour to say that much more difficult to distinguish the\nwriters in Joshua than in the earlier books; and so little is he sure\nof his ground that even such important documents as J and E have to be\ndesignated by new letters, _a_ and _b_. But, all the same, he goes\nright on with his scheme, furnishing us with tables all through, in\nwhich he shows that the Book of Joshua consists of ninety different\npieces, no two consecutive pieces being by the same author. Most of it\nhe refers to three earlier writings, but some of these were composite,\nand it is hard to say how many hands were engaged in putting together\nthis simple story.\n\nOne is tempted to say of this complicated but confidently maintained\nscheme, that it is just too complete, too wonderfully finished, too\nclever by half. Allowing most cordially the remarkable ability and\ningenuity of its authors, we can hardly be expected to concede to them\nthe power of taking to pieces a book of such vast antiquity, putting\nit in a modern mincing machine, dividing it among so many supposed\nwriters, and settling the exact parts of it written by each! Is there\nany ancient writing that might not yield a similar result if the same\ningenuity were exercised upon it?\n\nTo judge of the source of writings by apparent varieties of style, and\ncall in a different writer for every such variety, is to commit\noneself to a very precarious rule. There are doubtless cases where the\ndiversity of style is so marked that the inference is justified, but\nin these the evidence is unmistakably clear. Often the evidence\nagainst identity of authorship _appears_ very clear, while it is\nabsolutely worthless. Suppose that three thousand years hence an\nEnglish book should be found, consisting, first, of an eloquent\nexposition of a parliamentary budget; secondly, a scheme for Home Rule\nin Ireland; thirdly, a dissertation on Homer; and fourthly, essays on\nthe \"Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture\"--how convincingly might the\ncritics of the day demonstrate, beyond possibility of contradiction,\nthat the book could not be the work of the single man who bore the\nname of William E. Gladstone! In like manner, it might be made very\nplain that Milton could never have written both \"L'Allegro\" and \"Il\nPenseroso,\" or \"Paradise Lost\" and the \"Defence of the English\nPeople.\" Cowper could not have written \"John Gilpin\" and \"God moves in\na mysterious way.\" Samuel Rutherford could not have written his\n\"Letters\" and his \"Divine Right of Church Government.\" Moreover, in\nthe course of years a writer may change his style, even when his\nsubject is the same. The earlier essays of Mr. Carlyle show no traces\nof that most quaint, terse, graphic style which became one of his\noutstanding characteristics in later years. Perhaps the most\nremarkable instance of change of style in a great writer is that of\nJeremy Bentham. In Sir James Mackintosh's Dissertation prefixed to the\n_Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica_ (eighth edition) he says: \"The style of Mr.\nBentham underwent a more remarkable revolution than perhaps befell\nthat of any other celebrated writer. In his early works, it was clear,\nfree, spirited, often and seasonably eloquent.... He gradually ceased\nto use words for conveying his thoughts to others, but merely employed\nthem as a short hand to preserve his meaning for his own purpose. It\nis no wonder that his language thus became obscure and repulsive.\nThough many of his technical terms are in themselves exact and pithy,\nyet the overflow of his vast nomenclature was enough to darken his\nwhole diction.\"\n\nIf we compare the criticism of the Book of Joshua with that (let us\nsay) of Genesis, the difference in the clearness of the conclusions\nis very great. By far the most striking basis of the criticism of\nGenesis is the feature that was noticed first--the occurrence of\ndifferent Divine names, Elohim and Jehovah, in different portions of\nthe book. Now, although it is held that the _combined_ JE document was\nused in compiling Joshua, there is no trace of this distinction of\nnames in that book. Nor is there much trace of other distinctions\nfound in Genesis. So that it is no great wonder that Canon Driver is\nuncertain whether, after all, that was the document that was used in\ncompiling Joshua. Then, as to the grounds on which the Deuteronomist\nis supposed to have had a share in the book. Wherever anything is said\nindicating that under Joshua the Divine purposes and ordinances\nenjoined by God on Moses were fulfilled, that is referred to the\nDeuteronomist writer, as if it would have been unnatural for an\nordinary historian to call attention to such a circumstance. For\ninstance, the remark of Rahab that as soon as the Canaanites heard\nwhat God had done to Egypt, and to the two kings of the Amorites on\nthe other side of Jordan, their hearts fainted, is referred to the\nDeuteronomist, as if it had rather been an idea of his than a\nstatement of Rahab's. It is strange that Canon Driver should not have\nseen that this is the very hinge of Rahab's speech, because it gives\nus the explanation of the remarkable faith that had taken possession\nof her polluted heart. The truth is, we can hardly conceive that any\npart of the book should have been written by one who did not connect\nJoshua with Moses, and both of them with the patriarchs, and who was\nnot impressed by the vital connection of the earlier with the later\ntransactions, and likewise by the single Divine purpose running\nthrough the whole history.\n\nBut we are far from thinking that there is no foundation for any of\nthe conclusions of the critics regarding the Book of Joshua. What\nseems their great weakness is the confidence with which they assign\nthis part to one writer and that part to another, and bring down the\ncomposition of the book to a late period of the history. That various\nearlier documents were made use of by the author of the book seems\nvery plain. For instance, in the account of the crossing of the\nJordan, use seems to have been made of two documents, not always\nagreeing in minute details, and pieced together in a primitive fashion\ncharacteristic of a very early period of literary composition. The\nrecord of the delimitation of the possessions of the several tribes\nmust have been taken from the report of the men that were sent to\nsurvey the country, but it is not a complete record. There are other\ntraces of different documents in other parts of the book, but any\ndiversities between them are quite insignificant, and in no degree\nimpair its historical trustworthiness.\n\nAs to the hand of a reviser or revisers in the book, we see no\ndifficulty in allowing for such. We can conceive an authorized reviser\nexpanding speeches, but thoroughly in the line of the speakers, or\ninserting explanatory remarks as to places, or as to practices that\nhad prevailed \"unto this day.\" But it is atrocious to be told of\nrevisers colouring statements and modifying facts in the interests of\nreligious parties, or even in the interest of truth itself. Any\nalterations in the way of revision seem to have been very limited,\notherwise we should not find in the existing text those awkward\njoinings of different documents which are not in perfect accord.\nWhoever the revisers were, they seem to have judged it best to leave\nthese things as they found them, rather than incur the responsibility\nof altering what had already been written.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt has generally been assumed by spiritual expositors that there must\nbe something profoundly symbolical in a book that narrates the work of\nJoshua, or Jesus, the first, so far as we know, to bear the name that\nis \"above every name.\" The subject is considered with some fulness in\nPearson's \"Exposition of the Creed,\" and various points of\nresemblance, not all equally valid,[1] are noted between Joshua and\nJesus.\n\n [1] \"The hand of Moses and Aaron brought the people out of Egypt,\n but left them in the wilderness, and could not seat them in\n Canaan.... Joshua, the successor, only could effect that in which\n Moses failed.... The death of Moses and the succession of Joshua\n pre-signified the continuance of the law till Jesus came.... Moses\n must die that Joshua might succeed.... If we look on Joshua as the\n judge and ruler of Israel, there is scarce an action which is not\n predictive of our Saviour. He begins his office at the banks of\n the Jordan where Christ is baptized, and enters upon the public\n exercise of his prophetical office. He chooseth there twelve men\n out of the people to carry twelve stones over with them; as our\n Jesus thence began to choose His twelve apostles.... It hath been\n observed that the saving Rahab the harlot alive foretold what\n Jesus once should speak to the Jews--'Verily I say unto you, that\n the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before\n you.'...\"\n\nThe one point of resemblance on which we seem to be warranted to lay\nmuch stress is, that Joshua gave the people REST. Again and again we\nread--\"The land rested from war\" (xi. 23), \"The land had rest from\nwar\" (xiv. 15), \"The Lord gave them rest round about\" (xxi. 44), \"The\nLord your God hath given rest unto your brethren\" (xxii. 4), \"The Lord\nhad given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about\" (xxiii.\n1). That was Joshua's great achievement, as the instrument of God's\npurpose. Yet in Hebrews we read that this was not the real rest--it\nwas only a symbol of it: \"If Joshua had given them rest, then would\nGod not afterward have spoken of another day.\" The real rest was the\nrest arising from faith in Jesus Christ. Many persons look on Joshua\nas a somewhat dry book, full of geographical names, as unsuggestive as\nthey are hard and unfamiliar. Yet on every one of the places so named\nfaith may see inscribed, as in letters from heaven, the sweet word\nREST. Each of these places became a home for men who had been\nwandering for some forty years in a waste howling wilderness. At last\nthey reached a spot where they did not fear the long familiar summons\nto \"arise and depart.\" The sickly mother, the consumptive maiden, the\nparalysed old man might rest in peace, no longer terrified at the\nprospect of journeys which only increased their ailments and\naggravated their sufferings.\n\nThe spiritual lesson of this book then is, that in Jesus Christ there\nis rest for the pilgrim. It is no slight or unevangelical lesson. It\nis the echo of His own glorious words, \"Come unto Me, all ye that\nlabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\" Whosoever is\nweary--whether under the burden of care, or the sense of guilt, or the\nbitterness of disappointment, or the anguish of a broken heart, or the\nconviction that all is vanity--the message of this book to him\nis,--\"There remaineth a rest to the people of God.\" Even now, the rest\nof faith; and hereafter, that rest of which the voice from heaven\nproclaimed--\"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from\nhenceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their\nlabours; and their works do follow them.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_JOSHUA'S ANTECEDENTS._\n\n\nFour hundred years is a long way to go back in tracing a pedigree.\nJoshua's might have been traced much farther back than that--back to\nNoah, or for that matter to Adam; but Israelites usually counted it\nenough to begin with that son of Jacob who was the head of their\ntribe. It could be no small gratification to Joshua that he had Joseph\nfor his ancestor, and that of the two sons of Joseph he was sprung\nfrom the one whom the dying Jacob so expressly placed before the other\nas the heir of the richer blessing (1 Chron. vii. 20-27). It is\nremarkable that the descendants of Joseph attached no consequence to\nthe fact that on the side of Joseph's wife they were sprung from one\nof the highest functionaries of Egypt (Gen. xli. 45), any more than\nthe children of Mered, of the tribe of Judah, whose wife, Bithiah, was\na daughter of Pharaoh (1 Chron. iv. 18), gained rank in Israel from\nthe royal blood of their mother. The glory of high connections with\nthe heathen counted for nothing; it was entirely eclipsed by the glory\nof the chosen seed. To be of the household of God was higher than to\nbe born of kings.\n\nJoshua appears to have come of the principal family of the tribe, for\nhis grandfather, Elishama (1 Chron. vii. 26), was captain and head of\nhis tribe (Num. i. 10, ii. 18), and in the order of march through the\nwilderness marched at the head of the forty thousand five hundred men\nthat constituted the great tribe of Ephraim; while his son, Nun, and\nhis grandson, Joshua, would of course march beside him. Not only was\nElishama at the head of the tribe, but apparently also of the whole\n\"camp of Ephraim,\" which, besides his own tribe, embraced Manasseh and\nBenjamin, being the whole descendants of Rachel (Num. ii. 24). Under\ntheir charge in all likelihood was a remarkable relic that had been\nbrought very carefully from Egypt--the bones of Joseph (Exod. xiii.\n19). Great must have been the respect paid to the coffin which\ncontained the embalmed body of the Governor of Egypt, and which was\nnever lost sight of during all the period of the wanderings, till at\nlength it was solemnly deposited in its resting-place at Shechem\n(Josh. xxiv. 32). Young Joshua, grandson of the prince of the tribe,\nmust have known it well. For Joshua was himself cast in the mould of\nJoseph, an ardent, courageous, God-fearing, patriotic youth. Very\ninteresting to him it must have been to recall the romance of Joseph's\nlife, his grievous wrongs and trials, his gentle spirit under them\nall, his patient and invincible faith, his lofty purity and\nself-control, his intense devotion to duty, and finally his marvellous\nexaltation and blessed experience as the saviour of his brethren! And\nthat coffin must have seemed to Joshua ever to preach this\nsermon,--\"God will surely visit you.\" With Joseph, young Joshua\nbelieved profoundly in his nation, because he believed profoundly in\nhis nation's God; he felt that no other people in the world could have\nsuch a destiny, or could be so worthy of the service of his life.\n\nThis sense of Israel's relation to God raised in him an enthusiastic\npatriotism, and soon brought him under the notice of Moses, who\nquickly discerned in the grandson a spirit more congenial to his own\nthan that of either the father or the grandfather. Not even Moses\nhimself had a warmer love than Joshua for Israel, or a more ardent\ndesire to serve the people that had such a blessed destiny. In all\nlikelihood the first impression Joshua made on Moses might have been\ndescribed in the words--\"It came to pass that the soul of Moses was\nknit with the soul of Joshua, and Moses loved him as his own soul.\"\n\nIn no other way can we account for the extraordinary mark of\nconfidence with which Joshua was honoured when he was selected in the\nearly days of the wilderness sojourn, not only to repel the attack\nwhich the Amalekites had made upon Israel, but to choose the men by\nwhom this was to be done. Why pass over father and grandfather, if\nthis youth, Joshua, had not already displayed qualities that fitted\nhim for this difficult task better than either of them? We cannot but\nnote, in passing, the proof we have of the contemporaneousness of the\nhistory, that no mention is made of the reasons why Joshua of all men\nwas appointed to this command. If the history was written near the\ntime, with Joshua's splendid career fresh in the minds of the people,\nthe reasons would be notorious and did not need to be given; if it was\nwritten long afterwards, what more natural than that something should\nbe said to explain the remarkable choice?\n\nOn whatever grounds Joshua was appointed, the result amply vindicated\nthe selection. On Joshua's part there is none of that hesitation in\naccepting his work which was shown even by Moses himself when he got\nhis commission at the burning bush. He seems to have accepted the\nappointment with humble faith and spirited enthusiasm, and prepared\nat once for the perilous enterprise.\n\nAnd he had little enough time to prepare, for a new attack of the\nAmalekites was to be made next day. We may conceive him, after prayer\nto his Lord, setting out with a few chosen comrades to invite\nvolunteers to join his corps, rousing their enthusiasm by picturing\nthe dastardly attack that the Amalekites had made on the sick and\ninfirm (Deut. xxv. 17, 18), and scattering their fears by recalling\nthe promise to Abraham, \"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse\nhim that curseth thee.\" That Moses knew him to be a man of faith whose\ntrust was in the living God was shown by his promise to stand next\nmorning on the hill top with the rod of God in his hand. Yes, the rod\nof God! Had not Joshua seen it stretched out over the Red Sea, first\nto make a passage for Israel, and thereafter to bring back the waters\non Pharaoh's host? Was he not just the man to value aright that symbol\nof Divine power? The troop selected by Joshua may have been small as\nthe band of Gideon, but if it was as full of faith and courage it was\nabundantly able for its work!\n\nThe Amalekites are sometimes supposed to have been descendants of an\nAmalek who was the grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 12), but the name is\nmuch older (Gen. xiv. 7), and was applied at an early period to the\ninhabitants of the tract of country stretching southwards from the\nDead Sea to the peninsula of Sinai. Whatever may have been their\norigin, they were old inhabitants of the wilderness, well acquainted\nprobably with every mountain and valley, and well skilled in that\nBedouin style of warfare which even practised troops are little able\nto meet. They were therefore very formidable opponents to the raw levy\nof Israelites, who could be but little acquainted with weapons of\nwar, and were wholly unaccustomed to battle.\n\nThe Amalekites could not have been ignorant of the advantage of a good\nposition, and they probably occupied a post not easy to attack and\ncarry. Evidently the battle was a serious one. The practised and\nskilful tactics of the Amalekites were more than a match for the\nyouthful valour of Joshua and his comrades; but as often as the\nuplifted rod of Moses was seen on the top of the neighbouring hill,\nnew life and courage rushed into the souls of the Israelites, and for\nthe time the Amalekites retreated before them. Hour after hour the\nbattle raged, till the arm of Moses became too weary to hold up the\nrod. A stone had to be found for him to sit on, and his comrades,\nAaron and Hur, had to hold up his hands. But even then, though the\nadvantage was on the side of Joshua, it was sunset before Amalek was\nthoroughly defeated. The issue of the battle was no longer\ndoubtful--\"Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of\nthe sword\" (Exod. xvii. 13).\n\nIt was a memorable victory, due in effect to the hand of God as really\nas the destruction of the Egyptians had been, but due instrumentally\nto the faith and fortitude of Joshua and his troop, whose ardour could\nnot be quenched by the ever-resumed onslaughts of Amalek. And when the\nfight was over, Joshua could not but be the hero of the camp and the\nnation, as really as David after the combat with Goliath.\nCongratulations must have poured on him from every quarter, and not\nonly on him, but on his father and grandfather as well. To Joshua\nthese would come with mingled feelings; gratification at having been\nable to do such a service for his people, and gratitude for the\npresence of Him by whom alone he had prevailed. \"Not unto us, Lord,\nnot unto us, but to Thy name be the glory.\" It was a splendid\nbeginning for Israel's wilderness history, if only it had been\nfollowed up by the people in a kindred spirit. But there were not many\nJoshuas in the camp, and the spirit did not spread.\n\nIt is remarkable what a hold that incident at Rephidim has taken on\nthe Christian imagination. Age after age, for more than three thousand\nyears, its influence has been felt. Nor can it ever cease to impress\nbelieving men that, so long as Moses holds out his rod, so long as\nactive trust is placed in the power and presence of the Most High in\nthe great battle with sin and evil, Israel must prevail; but if this\ntrust should fail, if Moses should let down his rod, Amalek will\nconquer. It was well that Moses was instructed to write the\ntransaction in a book and rehearse it before Joshua. Well also that it\nshould be commemorated by another memorial, an altar to the Lord with\nthe name of \"Jehovah-nissi,\" the Lord my banner. How often has faith\nlooked out towards that unknown mountain where Aaron and Hur held up\nthe weary arms of Moses, and what a new thrill of courage and hope has\nthe spectacle sent through hearts often \"faint yet pursuing\"! Happily\non Joshua the effect was wholesome; a less spiritual man would have\nbeen puffed up by his remarkable victory; but in him its only effect,\nas was shown by the whole tenor of his future life, was a firmer trust\nin God, and a deeper determination to wait only on Him.\n\nIt was no wonder that after this Joshua was selected by Moses to be\nhis personal comrade and attendant in connection with that most solemn\nof all his duties--the receiving of the law on the top of the mount.\nHere again was a most distinguished honour for so young a man. Aaron,\nNadab, and Abihu, with seventy of the elders, were summoned to ascend\nto a certain height and worship afar off; while Moses, accompanied by\nJoshua, went up into the mount of God (Exod. xxiv. 13). What became of\nJoshua while Moses was in immediate fellowship with God is not very\napparent. The first impression we derive from the narrative is that he\nwas with Moses all the time, for when Moses begins his descent Joshua\nis at his side (Exod. xxxii. 17). Yet we cannot suppose that in that\nmost solemn transaction of Moses with Jehovah when the law was given\nany third party was present. On a careful study of the narrative\nthroughout it will probably be seen that when, after going up a\ncertain distance in company with Aaron and his sons and the seventy\nelders, Moses was called to a higher part of the mount, Joshua\naccompanied Moses (Exod. xxiv. 13), and that he was with Moses during\nthe six days when the glory of God abode on Mount Sinai and a cloud\ncovered the mount (ver. 15); but that when God again, after these six\ndays, called to Moses to ascend still higher, and Moses \"went into the\nmidst of the cloud, and gat him up to the mount\" (ver. 18), Joshua\nremained behind. His place of rest would thus be half-way between the\nspot where the elders saw God's glory and the summit where God talked\nwith Moses. But the remarkable thing is, that from that place Joshua\nwould seem never to have moved all the forty days and forty nights\nwhen Moses was with God. We can hardly conceive a case of more\nremarkable obedience, a more striking instance of the quiet waiting of\nfaith. To a youth of his spirit and habits the restraint must have\nbeen somewhat trying. We know that Aaron did not remain long on the\nhill, for he was at hand when the people cried for \"gods to go before\nthem\" (Exod. xxxii. 1). Impatience of God's slow methods had been a\nsnare to the fathers--to Abraham and Sarah in the matter of Hagar; to\nRachel when she raised the petulant cry, \"Give me children, or else I\ndie\"; to Jacob when the promises seemed broken to atoms, and \"all\nthings\" seemed \"against him.\" Joseph alone had stood the trial of\npatience, and now Joshua showed himself of the like spirit. The word\nof Moses to him was like an anchor holding the ship firmly against the\nforce of wind and tide. What a solemn time it must have been, and what\na precious lesson it must have taught him for the whole future of his\nlife!\n\nMore than three thousand years have sped away, but have the servants\nof God on an average reached the measure of Joshua's patience? Prayers\nunanswered, promises unfulfilled, sickness protracted during weary\nyears of pain, disappointments and trials coming in troops as if all\nGod's waves and billows were passing over them, active persecution\nbringing all the devices of torture to bear upon them,--how have such\nthings tried the patience, the waiting power of the servants of God!\nBut let them remember that if the trial be severe the recompense is\ngreat, and that in the end nothing will grieve them more than to have\ndistrusted their master and thought it possible that His promises\nwould fail. \"God is not unrighteous to forget.\" Richard Cecil tells\nthat once, when walking with his little son, he bade him wait for him\nat a certain gate till he should return. He thought he would be back\nin a few minutes, but meanwhile an unexpected occurrence constrained\nhim to go into the city, where, under an engrossing piece of\nbusiness, he remained all day utterly forgetful of his charge to the\nboy. On his return at night to his suburban home, the boy was nowhere\nto be found. In a moment the order to remain at the gate flashed on\nhis father's memory. Was it possible he should still be there? He\nhurried back and found him--he had been told to wait till his father\nreturned, and he had done as he had been told. The boy that could act\nthus must have been made of no common stuff. So are they who can say,\n\"I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard\nmy cry.\"\n\nAt last Joshua rejoins his master, and they proceed towards the foot\nof the mount. As they approach the camp, a noise is heard from afar.\nHis military instinct finds an explanation,--\"There is a noise of war\nin the camp.\" No, says the more experienced Moses; it is neither the\nshout of victors nor of vanquished, it is the noise of singing I hear;\nand so it was. For when they reached the camp, the people were at the\nvery height of the idolatrous revelling that followed the construction\nand worship of the golden calf, and the sounds that fell on the ears\nof Moses and Joshua were the bacchanalian shouts of unholy and\nshameful riot. What a contrast to the solemn and holy scene on the\ntop! What a gulf lies between the holy will of God and the polluted\npassions of men!\n\nDuring the painful scenes that ensued, Joshua continued in faithful\nattendance on Moses; and when Moses removed the tabernacle (the\ntemporary structure hitherto used for sacred services) and placed it\noutside the camp, Joshua was with him, and departed not out of the\ntabernacle (Exod. xxxiii. 11). We are not told whether he ascended the\nmount the second time with Moses, but it is likely that he did. At\nall events he was much with Moses at this early and susceptible period\nof his life. The young man did not recoil from the company of the old,\nnor did he who had been commander in the battle of Rephidim shrink\nfrom the duty of a servant. Deeper and deeper, as he kept company with\nMoses, must have been his impression of his wisdom, his faith, his\nloyalty to God, and his entire devotion to the welfare of his people;\nand stronger and stronger must have waxed his own desire that if ever\nhe should be called to a similar service he might show the same spirit\nand fulfil the same high end!\n\nThe next time that Joshua comes into notice is not so flattering to\nhimself. It is on that occasion when the Spirit descended on the\nseventy elders that had been appointed to assist Moses, and they\nprophesied round about the tabernacle. Two of the seventy were not\nwith the rest, but nevertheless they got the spirit and were\nprophesying in the camp. The military instinct of Joshua was hurt at\nthe irregularity, and his concern for the honour of Moses was roused\nby their apparent indifference to the presence of their head. He\nhurried to inform Moses, not doubting but he would interfere to\ncorrect the irregularity. But the narrow spirit of youth met with a\nmemorable rebuke from the larger and more noble spirit of the\nleader,--\"Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's\npeople were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon\nthem!\"\n\nNot long after this Joshua was appointed to another memorable service.\nAfter the law-giving had been brought to an end, and the host of\nIsrael had removed from the mountain to the borders of the promised\nland, he was appointed one of the twelve spies that were sent forward\nto explore the country. Formerly his name had been Oshea; it was now\nchanged to Jehoshua or Joshua. The changing of the name was in itself\nsignificant, and still more the character of the change, by which a\nsyllable of the Divine name was inserted in it. For, by the practice\nof the nation, the changing of a name denoted a man's entrance on a\nnew chapter of his history, or his coming out before the world in a\nnew character. So it was when Abram's name was changed to Abraham,\nSarai's to Sarah, and Jacob's to Israel; so also when Simon became\nCephas, and Saul Paul. But the new name given to Joshua was in itself\nmore remarkable--Joshua, that is, Jehovah saves: in the New Testament,\nJesus. No doubt it looked back on the victory of Rephidim when the\nLord wrought such a deliverance in Israel through Joshua. But it\nindicated that the feature that had appeared at Rephidim would\ncontinue to characterise him during his life. It was a testimony from\nMoses, and from Him who inspired Moses, to the character of Joshua, as\nit had come out during all the close intercourse of Moses with him.\nAnd it invested Joshua with a dignity that ought to have raised him\nvery highly in the eyes of the other spies, and of all the\ncongregation of Israel. Who could be more worthy of their respect than\nthe young man who had shown himself so faithful in all his previous\nhistory, and who had now received a name that indicated that it would\nbe the distinction of his life, like Him whom he prefigured, to lead\nhis people to the enjoyment of God's salvation?\n\nThe forty days spent by the twelve men in exploring the land were a\ngreat contrast to the forty days spent by Joshua on the mount. All was\ninactivity and patient waiting in the one case; all was activity and\nbustle in the other. For there is a time to work and a time to rest.\nIf at the one period Joshua had to put a restraint on his natural\nactivity, at the other he could give it full swing.\n\nApart from its more immediate object, this early tour through\nPalestine must have been one of surpassing interest. To witness each\nspot that had been made memorable and classical by the lives of his\nforefathers; to sit by the well of Beersheba, and recall all that had\nhappened there; to repose under Abraham's oak at Mamre; to bow at the\ncave of Machpelah; to recall the visits of angels at Bethel, and the\nladder which had been seen going up to heaven,--was not only most\nthrilling, but to a man of Joshua's faith most inspiring; because\nevery spot that had such associations was a witness that God had given\nthem the land, and a proof that even though the sons of Anak were\nthere, and their cities were walled up to heaven, the God of Abraham\nand Isaac and Jacob would be faithful to His promise, and, if the\npeople would only trust Him, would right speedily place them in full\npossession.\n\nCaleb and Joshua were the only two men whose faith stood the test of\nthis survey; the rest were thoroughly cowed by the greatness of the\ndifficulties. And Caleb seems to have been the foremost of the two,\nfor in some places he is named as if he stood alone. Probably he was\nthe one who came forward and spoke; but even if Joshua's faith was not\nso strong at first, it was no dishonour to be indebted to the greater\ncourage and confidence of his brother.\n\nWe can hardly doubt that in their long marches and quiet encampments\nthe twelve men had many a discussion as to what they would advise, and\nthat the ten felt themselves beaten both in argument and in faith by\nthe two. Long before they returned to the camp of Israel they had\ntaken their sides, and by the sides they had taken they were\ndetermined to abide.\n\nWhen they come back, the ten open the business and give their decided\njudgment against any attempt to take possession of the land. Impatient\nof their misrepresentations, Caleb perhaps strikes in, repudiates the\nnotion that the people are not able to take possession, and urges them\nin God's name to go up at once. But it is easier far to stir up\ndiscontent and fear than to stimulate faith. The cry of the\ncongregation, \"Up, make us a captain, and let us return to Egypt,\"\nshows how strongly the tide of unbelief is flowing. Moses and Aaron\nare overwhelmed. The two leaders fall on their faces before the\ncongregation. But neither the cry of the congregation nor the attitude\nof Moses and Aaron daunts the two faithful spies. With clothes rent\nthey rush in, renewing their commendations of the land, laying hold of\nthe Almighty Protector, and scorning the opposition of the\ninhabitants, whose hearts were cowed with terror and whose defence was\ndeparted from them. It was a fine spectacle,--the two against the\nmillion--the little remnant \"faithful found among the faithless.\" But\nit was all in vain. \"All the congregation bade stone them with\nstones.\" And in their impulsive and excitable temper the horrible cry\nwould have been obeyed had not the glory of the Lord shone out and\narrested the infatuated people (Num. xiv. 10).\n\nFor this shameless sin the penalty was very heavy. The congregation\nwere to wander in the wilderness for forty years till all that\ngeneration should die off; the ten unfaithful spies were to die at\nonce of a plague before the Lord; and not one of the generation that\nleft Egypt was to enter the promised land. How easily can God defeat\nthe purposes of man! Where is now the proposal to make a captain and\nreturn to Egypt? \"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of\nthe morning!\"\n\nJoshua and Caleb are doubly honoured; their lives are preserved when\nthe other ten die of the plague; and they alone, of all the grown men\nof that generation, are to be allowed to enter and obtain homes in the\nland of promise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nFor eight-and-thirty years we hear nothing more of Joshua. Like Moses,\nhe has an interesting youth, then a long burial in the wilderness, and\nthen he emerges from his obscurity and does a great work, second only\nto that of Moses himself. The first mention of him after his long\neclipse is immediately before the death of Moses. God virtually\nappoints him to be his successor, and directs both of them to present\nthemselves in the tabernacle of the congregation (Deut. xxxi. 14). And\nMoses calls him to his office, gives him a charge and says, \"Be strong\nand of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel\ninto the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee\" (Deut.\nxxxi. 23).\n\nWe might earnestly desire, in entering on the study of Joshua's life,\nto draw aside the veil that covers the eight-and-thirty years, and see\nhow he was further prepared for his great work. We might like to look\ninto his heart, and see after what fashion this man was made to whom\nthe destruction of the Canaanites was entrusted. A religious warrior\nis a peculiar character; a Gustavus Adolphus, an Oliver Cromwell, a\nHenry Havelock, a General Gordon; Joshua was of the same mould, and we\nshould have liked to know him more intimately; but this is denied to\nus. He stands out to us simply as one of the military heroes of the\nfaith. In depth, in steadiness, in endurance, his faith was not\nexcelled by that of Abraham or of Moses himself. The one conviction\nthat dominated all in him was, that he was called by God to his work.\nIf that work was often repulsive, let us not on that account withhold\nour admiration from the man who never conferred with flesh and blood,\nand who was never appalled either by danger or difficulty, for he \"saw\nHim who is invisible.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_A SUCCESSOR TO MOSES._\n\nJOSHUA i. 2.\n\n\nThere are some men to whom it is almost impossible to find successors.\nMen of imperial mould; Nature's primates, head and shoulders above\nother men, born to take the lead. Not only possessed of great gifts\noriginally, but placed by Providence in situations that have\nwonderfully expanded their capacity and made their five talents ten.\nCalled to be leaders of great movements, champions of commanding\ninterests, often gifted with an imposing presence, and with a magnetic\npower that subdues opposition and kindles enthusiasm as if by magic.\nWhat a bereavement when such men are suddenly removed! How poor in\ncomparison those who come next them, and from among whom successors\nhave to be chosen! When the Hebrews mourned the death of Samson, the\ndifference in physical strength between him and his brethren could not\nhave appeared greater than the intellectual and moral gulf appears\nbetween a great king of men, suddenly removed, and the bereaved\nchildren that bend helpless over his grave.\n\nA feeling of this sort must have spread itself through the host of\nIsrael when it was known that Moses was dead. Speculation as to his\nsuccessor there could be none, for not only had God designated Joshua,\nbut before he died Moses had laid his hands upon him, and the people\nhad acknowledged him as their coming leader. And Joshua had already\nachieved a record of no common order, and had been favoured with high\ntokens of the Divine approval. Yet what a descent it must have seemed\nfrom Moses to Joshua! From the man who had so often been face to face\nwith God, who had commanded the sea to make a way for the redeemed of\nthe Lord to pass over, who had been their legislator and their judge\never since they were children, to whom they had gone in every\ndifficulty, and who for wisdom and disinterestedness had gained the\nprofound confidence of every one of them;--what a descent, we say, to\nthis son of Nun, known hitherto as but the servant of Moses--an\nintrepid soldier, no doubt, and a man of unfaltering faith, but whose\nname seemed as if it could not couple with that of their imperial\nleader!\n\nWell though Joshua did his work in after life, and bright though the\nlustre of his name ultimately became, he never attained to the rank of\nMoses. While the name of Moses is constantly reappearing in the\nprophets, in the psalms, in the gospels, in the epistles, and in the\napocalypse, that of Joshua is not found out of the historical books\nexcept in the speech of Stephen and that well-known passage in the\nHebrews (iv. 8), where the received version perplexes us by\ntranslating it Jesus. But it was no disparagement of him that he was\nso far surpassed by the man to whom, under God, the very existence of\nthe nation was due. And in some respects, Joshua is a more useful\nexample to us than Moses. Moses seems to stand half-way in heaven,\nalmost beyond reach of imitation. Joshua is more on our own level. If\nnot a man of surpassing genius, he commends himself as having made the\nbest possible use of his talents, and done his part carefully and\nwell.\n\nThe remark has been made that eras of great creative vigour are often\nsucceeded by periods dull and commonplace. The history of letters and\nof the fine arts shows that bursts of artistic splendour like the\nRenaissance, or of literary originality like the Augustan age in Roman\nor the Elizabethan in English literature, are not followed by periods\nof equal lustre. And the same phenomenon has often been found in the\nChristian Church. In more senses than one the Apostles had no\nsuccessors. Who in all the sub-apostolic age was worthy even to untie\nthe latchet of Peter, or John, or Paul? This inferiority is so\nmanifest that had there been nothing else to guide the Church in\nframing the canon of the New Testament, the difference between the\nwritings of the Apostles and their companions on the one hand, and of\nmen like Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Ignatius, and Hermes on\nthe other, would have sufficed to settle the question. So also at the\nera of the Reformation. Hardly a country but had its star or its\ngalaxy of the first magnitude. Luther and Melancthon, Calvin and\nColigny, Farel and Viret, John \u00e0-Lasco and John Knox, Latimer and\nCranmer,--what incomparable men they were! But in the age that\nfollowed what names can we find to couple with theirs?\n\nOf other sections of the Church the same remark has been made, and\nsometimes it has been turned to an unfair use. If in the second\ngeneration, after a great outburst of power and grace, there are few\nor no men of equal calibre, it does not follow that the glory has\ndeparted, and that the Church is to droop her head, and wonder to what\nunworthy course on her part the degeneracy is to be ascribed. We are\nnot to expect in such a case that the laws of nature will be set aside\nto gratify our pride. We are to recognise a state of things which God\nhas ordained for wise purposes, although it may not be flattering to\nus. We are to place ourselves in the attitude in which Joshua was\ncalled to place himself when the curt announcement of the text as to\nMoses was followed by an equally curt order to him--\"Moses My servant\nis dead; now therefore arise.\"\n\nThe question for Joshua is not whether he is a fit person to succeed\nMoses. His mental exercise is not to compare himself with Moses, and\nnote the innumerable points of inferiority on every side. His attitude\nis not to bow down his head like a bulrush, mourning over the departed\nglory of Israel, grieving for the mighty dead, on whose like neither\nhe nor his people will ever look again. If there ever was a time when\nit might seem excusable for a bereaved nation and a bereaved servant\nto abandon themselves to a sense of helplessness, it was on the death\nof Moses. But even at that supreme moment the command to Joshua is,\n\"Now therefore arise.\" Gird yourself for the new duties and\nresponsibilities that have come upon you. Do not worry yourself with\nasking whether you are capable of doing these duties, or with vainly\nlooking within yourself for the gifts and qualities which marked your\npredecessor. It is enough for you that God in His providence calls you\nto take the place of the departed. If He has called you, He will equip\nyou. It is not His way to send men a warfare on their own charges. The\nwork to which He calls you is not yours but His. Remember He is far\nmore interested in its success than you can be. Think not of yourself,\nbut of Him, and go forth under the motto, \"We will rejoice in Thy\nsalvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners.\"\n\nIn many different situations of life we may hear the same exhortation\nthat was now addressed to Joshua. A wise, considerate, and honoured\nfather is removed, and the eldest son, a mere stripling, is called to\ntake his place, perhaps in the mercantile office or place of business,\ncertainly in the domestic circle. He is called to be the comforter and\nadviser of his widowed mother, and the example and helper of his\nbrothers and sisters. Well for him when he hears a voice from heaven,\n\"Your father is dead; now therefore arise!\" Rouse yourself for the\nduties that now devolve upon you; onerous they may be and beyond your\nstrength, but not on that account to be evaded or repudiated; rather\nto be looked on as spurs provided and designed by God, that you may\napply yourself with heart and soul to your duties, in the belief that\nfaithful and patient application shall not be without its reward!\n\nOr it may be that the summons comes to some young minister as\nsuccessor to a father in Israel, whose ripe gifts and fragrant\ncharacter have won the confidence and the admiration of all. Or to\nsome teacher in a Sunday-school, where the man of weight, of wise\ncounsel, and holy influence has been suddenly snatched away. But be\nthe occasion what it may, the removal of any man of ripe character and\ngifts always comes to the survivor with the Divine summons, \"Now\ntherefore arise!\" That is the one way in which you must try to improve\nthis dispensation; the world is poorer for the loss of his\ngifts--learn you to make the most of yours!\n\nIt was no mean impression of Moses that God meant to convey by the\ndesignation, \"Moses My servant.\" It was not a high-sounding title,\ncertainly. A great contrast to the long list of honourable titles\nsometimes engraved on men's coffins or on their tombs, or proclaimed\nby royal herald or king-at-arms over departed kings or nobles. One of\nthe greatest of men has no handle to his name--he is simply Moses. He\nhas no titles of rank or office--he is simply \"My servant.\" But true\ngreatness is \"when unadorned adorned the most.\" Moses is a real man, a\nman of real greatness; there is no occasion therefore to deck him out\nin tinsel and gilt; he is gold to the core.\n\nBut think what is really implied in this designation, \"My servant.\"\nEven if Moses had not been God's servant in a sense and in a degree in\nwhich few other men ever were, it would have been a glorious thing to\nobtain that simple appellation. True indeed, the term \"servant of God\"\nis such a hackneyed one, and often so little represents what it really\nmeans, that we need to pause and think of its full import. There may\nbe much honour in being a servant. Even in our families and factories\na model servant is a rare and precious treasure. For a real servant is\none that has the interest of his master as thoroughly at heart as his\nown, and never scruples, at any sacrifice of personal interest or\nfeeling, to do all that he can for his master's welfare. A true\nservant is one of whom his master may say, \"There is absolutely no\nneed for me to remind him what my interest requires; he is always\nthinking of my interest, always on the alert to attend to it, and\nthere is not a single thing I possess that is not safe in his hands.\"\n\nDoes God possess many such servants? Who among us can suppose God\nsaying this of him? Yet this was the character of Moses, and in God's\neyes it invested him with singular honour. It was his distinction that\nhe was \"faithful in all his house.\" His own will was thoroughly\nsubdued to the will of God. The people of whom God gave him charge\nwere dear to him as a right hand or a right eye. All personal\ninterests and ambitions were put far from him. To aggrandise himself\nor to aggrandise his house never entered into his thoughts. Never was\nself more thoroughly crucified in any man's breast. Beautiful and\ndelightful in God's eyes must have seemed this quality in Moses,--his\nabsolute disinterestedness, his sensibility to every hint of his\nMaster's will, his consecration of all he was and had to God, and to\nhis people for God's sake!\n\nIt was thus no unsuggestive word that God used of Moses, when He told\nJoshua that \"His servant\" was dead. It was a significant indication of\nwhat God had valued in Moses and now expected of Joshua. The one thing\nfor Joshua to remember about Moses is, that he was the servant of God.\nLet him take pains to be the same; let him have his ear as open as\nthat of Moses to every intimation of God's will, his will as prompt to\nrespond, and his hand as quick to obey.\n\nWas not this view of the glory of Moses as God's servant a foreshadow\nof what was afterwards taught more fully and on a wider scale by our\nLord? \"The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister,\nand to give His life a ransom for many.\" Jesus sought to reverse the\nnatural notions of men as to what constitutes greatness, when He\ntaught that, instead of being measured by the number of servants who\nwait on us, it is measured rather by the number of persons to whom we\nbecome servants. And if it was a mark of Christ's own humiliation that\n\"He took on Him the form of a servant,\" did not this redound to His\nhighest glory? Was it not for this that God highly exalted Him and\ngave Him a name that is above every name? Happy they who are content\nto be GOD'S SERVANTS in whatsoever sphere of life He may place them;\nseeking not their own, but always intent upon their Master's business!\n\nAnd now Joshua must succeed Moses and be God's servant as he was. He\nmust aim at this as the one distinction of his life; he must seek in\nevery action to know what God would have him to do. Happy man if he\ncan carry out this ideal of life! No conflicting interests or passions\nwill distract his soul. His eye being single, his whole body will be\nfull of light. The power that nerves his arm will not be more\nremarkable than the peace that dwells in his soul. He will show to all\nfuture generations the power of a \"lost will,\"--not the suppression of\nall desire, according to the Buddhist's idea of bliss, but all lawful\nnatural desires in happy and harmonious action, because subject to the\nwise, holy, and loving guidance of the will of God.\n\nThus we see among the other paradoxes of His government, how God uses\ndeath to promote life. The death of the eminent, the aged, the men of\nbrilliant gifts makes way for others, and stimulates their activity\nand growth. When the champion of the forest falls the younger trees\naround it are brought more into contact with the sunshine and fresh\nair, and push up into taller and more fully developed forms. If none\nof the younger growth attains the size of the champion, a great many\nmay be advanced to a higher average of size and beauty. If in the\nsecond generation of any great religious movement few or none can\nmatch the \"mighties\" of the previous age, there may be a general\nelevation, a rise of level, an increase of efficiency among the rank\nand file.\n\nIn many ways death enters into God's plans. Not only does it make way\nfor the younger men,[2] but it has a solemnizing and quickening effect\non all who are not hardened and dulled by the wear and tear of life.\n\n [2] \"Can death itself when seen in the light of this truth [the\n adjustment of every being in animated nature to every other] be\n denied to be an evidence of benevolence? I think not. The law of\n animal generation makes necessary the law of animal death, if the\n largest amount of animal happiness is to be secured. If there had\n been less death there must also have been less life, and what life\n there was must have been poorer and meaner. Death is a condition\n of the prolificness of nature, the multiplicity of species, the\n succession of generations, the co-existence of the young and the\n old; and these things, it cannot reasonably be doubted, add\n immensely to the sum of animal happiness.\"--FLINT'S \"Theism,\" p.\n 251.\n\nWhat a memorable event in the spiritual history of families is the\nfirst sudden affliction, the first breach in the circle of loving\nhearts! First, the new experience of intense tender longing, baffled\nby the inexorable conditions of death; then the vivid vision of\neternity, the reality of the unseen flashing on them with living and\nawful power, and giving an immeasurable importance to the question of\nsalvation; then the drawing closer to one another, the forswearing of\nall animosities and jealousies, the cordial desire for unbroken peace\nand constant co-operation; and if it be the father or the mother that\nhas been taken, the ambition to be useful,--to be a help not a burden\nto the surviving parent, and to do what little they can of what used\nto be their father's or their mother's work. Death becomes actually a\nquickener of the vital energies; instead of a withering influence, it\ndrops like the gentle dew, and becomes the minister of life.\n\nAnd death is not alone among the destructive agencies that are so\noften directed to life-giving ends. What a remarkable place is that\nwhich is occupied by Pain among God's instruments of good! How many\nare there who, looking back on their lives, have to confess, with a\nmixture of sadness and of joy, that it is their times of greatest\nsuffering that have been the most decisive in their lives,--marked by\ntheir best resolutions,--followed by their greatest advance! And it\nsometimes would seem as if the acuter the suffering the greater the\nblessing. How near God seems at times to come to the height of cruelty\nwhen really He is overflowing with love! He seems to select the very\ntenderest spots on which to inflict His blows, the very tenderest and\npurest affections of the heart. It is a wonderful triumph of faith and\nsubmission when the sufferer stands firm and tranquil amidst it all.\nAnd still more when he can find consolation in the analogy which was\nsupplied by God's own act,--\"He that spared not His own Son, but\ndelivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely\ngive us all things?\"\n\nAnd this brings us to our last application. Our Lord Himself, by a\nbeautiful analogy in nature, showed the connection, in the very\nhighest sense, between death and life--\"Except a grain of wheat fall\ninto the earth and die, it abideth alone; but if it die it beareth\nmuch fruit.\" \"Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.\"\nWhen Jesus died at Calvary, the headquarters of death became the\nnursery of life. The place of a skull, like the prophet's valley of\ndry bones, gave birth to an exceeding great army of living men. Among\nthe wonders that will bring glory to God in the highest throughout\neternity, the greatest will be this evolution of good from evil, of\nhappiness from pain, of life from death. And even when the end comes,\nand death is swallowed up of victory, and death and hell are cast\ninto the lake of fire, there will abide with the glorified a lively\nsense of the infinite blessing that came to them from God through the\nrepulsive channel of death, finding its highest expression in that\nanthem of the redeemed--\"THOU WAS SLAIN, AND HAST REDEEMED US TO GOD\nBY THY BLOOD.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_JOSHUA'S CALL._\n\nJOSHUA i. 2-5.\n\n\nJoshua has heard the Divine voice summoning him to the attitude of\nactivity--\"Arise!\" Directions follow immediately as to the course\nwhich his activity is to take. His first step is to be a very\npronounced one--\"Go over this Jordan\": enter the land, not by\nyourself, or with a handful of comrades, as you did forty years ago,\nbut \"thou and all this people.\" Take the bold step, cross the river;\nand when you are across the river, take possession of the country\nwhich I now give to your people. The time has come for decided action;\nit is for you to show the way, and summon your people to follow.\n\nIt was a very solemn and striking moment, second only in interest to\nthat when, forty years before, their fathers had stood at the edge of\nthe sea, with the host of Pharaoh hurrying on behind. At length the\nhour has come to take possession of the inheritance! At length the\npromise made so many hundred years ago to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is\nripe for fulfilment! You, children of Israel, have seen that God is in\nno haste to fulfil His promises, and your hearts may have known much\nof the sickness of hope deferred. But now you are to see that after\nall God is faithful. He never forgets. He makes no mistakes. His\ndelays are all designed for good, either to chasten or to try, and\nthus confirm and bless His people. He will now bring forth your\nrighteousness as the light and your judgment as the noon-day.\n\nThere were two things that might make Joshua and the people hesitate\nto cross the Jordan. In the first place, the river was in flood; it\nwas the time when the Jordan overflowed its banks (Josh. iii. 15),\nand, being a rapid river, crossing it in such circumstances might well\nseem out of the question. But in the second place, to cross the Jordan\nwas to throw down the gauntlet to the enemy. It was a declaration of\nwar, and a challenge to them to do their worst. It was a signal for\nthem to assemble, fight for their hearths and homes, and strain every\nnerve to annihilate this invader who made such a bold claim to their\npossessions. All the children of Anak whom Joshua had seen on his\nformer visit would now range themselves against Israel; all the seven\nnations would muster their bravest forces, and the contest would not\nbe like Joshua's battle with Amalek, finished in a single day, but a\nlong succession of battles, in which all the resources of power and\nskill, of craft and cunning would be brought to bear against Israel.\nAccording to appearances, nothing short of this would be the result of\ncompliance with the command, \"Go over this Jordan.\"\n\nOn the one hand, therefore, compliance was physically impossible, and\non the other, even if possible, it would have been fearfully perilous.\nBut it is never God's method to give impossible commands. The very\nfact of His commanding anything is a proof of His readiness to make it\npossible, nay, to make it easy and simple to those who have faith to\nattempt it. \"Stretch out thy hand,\" said Christ to the man with the\nwithered hand. \"Stretch out my hand?\" the man might have said in\nastonishment,--\"why, it is the very thing I am unable to do.\" \"Rise up\nand walk,\" said Peter to the lame man at the Beautiful gate. \"How can\nI do that?\" he might have replied; \"don't you see that I have no use\nof my limbs?\" But in these cases the helpless men had faith in those\nwho bade them exert themselves; they believed that if they tried they\nwould be helped, and helped accordingly they were. So too in the\npresent case. Joshua knew that he and the host could not have crossed\nthe Jordan as it then was by any contrivance in his power; but he knew\nthat it was God's command, and he was sure that He would provide the\nmeans. He felt as if God and the people were in partnership, each\nequally interested in the result, and equally desirous to bring it\nabout. Whatever it was necessary for God to do he was assured would be\ndone, provided he and the people entered into the Divine plan, and\nthrew all their energies into the work. Not a word of remonstrance did\nJoshua offer, not a word of explanation of the Divine plan did he ask;\nhe acted as a servant should;\n\n \"His not to make reply,\n His not to reason why;\"\n\nhis only to trust and obey.\n\nThis faith in Divine power qualifying feeble mortals for the hardest\ntasks has originated some of the noblest enterprises in the history of\nthe world. It was a Divine voice Columbus seemed to hear bidding him\ncross the wild Atlantic, for he desired to bring the natives of the\ndistant shores beyond it into the pale of the Church; and it was his\nfaith that sustained him when his crew became mutinous and his life\nwas not safe for an hour. It was a Divine voice Livingstone seemed to\nhear bidding him cross Africa, strike up into the heart of the\ncontinent, examine its structure, and throw it open from shore to\nshore; and never was there a faith stronger or steadier than that\nwhich bore him on through fever and famine, through pain and sickness,\nthrough disappointment and anguish, and, even when the cold hand of\ndeath was on him, would not let him rest until his work was done.\n\nOften in the spiritual warfare it is useful to apply this principle.\nAre we called to believe? Are we called to make ourselves a new heart\nand a new spirit? Are we summoned to fight, to wrestle, to overcome?\nCertainly we are. But is not this to tantalize us by ordering us to do\nwhat we cannot do? Is not this like telling a sick man to get well, or\na decrepit old creature to skip and frisk like a child? It would be so\nif the principle of partnership between God and us did not come into\nplay. Faith says, God is my partner in this matter. Partners even in\nan ordinary business put their resources together, each doing what his\nspecial abilities fit him for. In the partnership which faith\nestablishes between God and you, the resources of the infinite Partner\nbecome available for the needs of the finite. It is God's part to give\norders, it is your part to execute them, and it is God's part to\nstrengthen you so to do. It is this that makes the command reasonable,\n\"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that\nworketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.\" Faith\nrejoices in the partnership, and goes forward in the confidence that\nthe strength of the Almighty will help its weakness, not by one sudden\nleap, but by that steady growth in grace that makes the path of the\njust like the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the\nperfect day.\n\nIt was a great thing for God to announce that He was now in the act of\nturning His old, old promise into reality,--that the land pledged to\nAbraham centuries ago was now at length to become the possession of\nhis descendants. But the gift could be of no avail unless it was\nactually appropriated. God gave the people the right to the land; but\ntheir own energy, made effectual through His grace, could alone secure\nthe possession. In a remarkable way they were made to feel that, while\nthe land was God's gift, the appropriation and enjoyment of the gift\nmust come through their own exertions. Just as in a higher sphere we\nknow that our salvation is wholly the gift of God; and yet the getting\nhold of this gift, the getting linked to Christ, the entrance as it\nwere into the marriage covenant with Him involves the active exertion\nof our own will and energy, and the gift never can be ours if we fail\nthus to appropriate it.\n\nAs soon as God mentions the land, He expatiates on its amplitude and\nits boundaries. It was designed to be both a comfortable and an ample\npossession. In point of extent it was a spacious region,--\"from the\nwilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river\nEuphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea,\ntowards the going down of the sun.\" And it was not merely bits or\ncorners of this land that were to be theirs, they were not designed to\nshare it with other occupants, but \"every place that the sole of your\nfoot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spake unto Moses.\"\nIt was in no meagre or stingy spirit that God was now to fulfil His\nancient promise, but in a way corresponding to the essential\nbountifulness of His nature. For it is a delightful truth that God's\nheart is large and liberal, and that He delights in large and\nbountiful gifts. Has He not made this plain to all in the arrangements\nof nature? What more lavish than the gift of light, ever streaming\nfrom the sun in silver showers? What more abundant than the fresh air\nthat, like an inexhaustible ocean, encompasses our globe, or the\nrivers that carry their fresh and fertilizing treasures unweariedly\nthrough every meadow? What more productive than the vegetable soil\nthat under favourable conditions teems with fruits and flowers and the\nelements of food for the use and enjoyment of man?\n\nAnd when we turn to God's provision in grace we find glorious proofs\nof the same abundance and generosity. We see this symbolized by the\nactivity and generosity of our Lord, as He went about \"preaching the\ngospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all\nmanner of disease among the people.\" We understand the spiritual\nreality of which this was the symbol, when we call to mind the Divine\ngenerosity that receives the vilest sinners; the efficacy of the blood\nthat cleanses from all sin; the power of the Spirit that sanctifies\nsoul, body, and spirit; the wisdom of the providence that makes all\nthings work together for good; the glory of the love that makes us now\n\"sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know\nthat when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him\nas He is.\" And once more it appears in the glory and amplitude of the\ninheritance, of which the land of Canaan was but the type, prepared of\nGod's infinite bounty for all who are His children by faith. Our\nFather's house is both large and well furnished; it is a house of many\nmansions; and the inheritance which He has promised is incorruptible\nand undefiled and fadeth not away.\n\nIt is a grand truth, of which we never can make too much, this\nbountifulness of God, and the delight which He has in being bountiful.\nIt is emphatically a truth for faith to apprehend and enjoy, because\nappearances are so often against it. Appearances were fearfully\nagainst it while the Israelites were groaning in their Egyptian\nbondage, and hardly less so, despite the manna and the water from the\nrock, during the forty years' wandering in the desert. But that was a\nperiod of correction and of training, and in such circumstances lavish\nbounty was out of the question.\n\nThe most bountiful man on earth could not pour out all the liberality\nof his heart on the inmates of a hospital for the sick; he may give\nall that sick men need, but he must wait till they are well before he\ncan give full scope to his generosity. While we are in the body we are\nlike patients in a hospital, and the kindest feelings from God toward\nus must often take the form of bitter medicines, painful operations,\nclose restraint, stinted diet, and it may be silence and darkness. But\nwait till we are well, and then we shall see what God hath prepared\nfor him that waiteth for Him! Wait till we go over Jordan and take\npossession of the land! Two things will be seen in the clearest\nlight--the supreme bountifulness of God, and the sinfulness of that\nimpatient and suspicious spirit to which we are so prone. What a\nhumiliation, if humiliation be possible in heaven, to discover that\nall the time when we were fretting and grumbling, God was working out\nHis plans of supreme beneficence and love, waiting only till we should\ncome of age to make us heirs of the universe!\n\nIt is natural to ask why, if the boundaries of the promised land were\nso extensive, if they reached so far on the north-east as the\nEuphrates, and if they extended from Lebanon on the north to the\nconfines of Egypt on the south, there should have been any difficulty\nabout the two and a half tribes occupying the land east of the Jordan,\nwhere only by a special permission they obtained their settlement. For\nit is plain from the narrative that it was contrary to God's first\nintention, so to speak, that they should settle there, and that the\nland west of the Jordan was that to which the promise was held\nspecially to apply. It will hardly do to say, as some have said, that\nthe extension of the land to the Euphrates was a figure of speech, a\npoetical fringe or ornament as it were, intended to show that places\nadjacent to the land of Israel would share in some degree the radiance\nof its light and the influence of the Divine presence among its\npeople. For the promise of God was really of the nature of a charter,\nand figures of poetry are not suitable in charters. It is rather to be\nunderstood that, in the _final_ purpose of God, the possession\nincluded the whole of the ample domain contained within the specified\nboundaries, but that at first it would be confined within a narrower\nspace. If the people should prove faithful to the covenant, the wider\ndominion would one day be conferred on them; but they were to start\nand get consolidated in a narrower territory. And the narrower space\nwas that which had already been consecrated by the residence of the\nfathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The country west of Jordan was the\nland of _their_ pilgrimage; and even when Lot and Abraham had to\nseparate, it was not proposed that either should cross the river. The\nlittle strip lying between the Jordan and the sea was judged most\nsuitable for the preparatory stage of Israel's history; but had the\nnation served God with fidelity, their country would have been\nextended--as in the days of David and Solomon it really was--to the\ndimensions of an empire. The rule afterwards announced was to be\nvirtually brought into operation--\"To him that hath shall be given.\"\nHence the view taken of the settlement of the two and a half tribes\neast of the Jordan. It was not illegitimate; it was not inconsistent\nwith the covenant made with the fathers; but it was for the time\ninexpedient, seeing that it exposed them to risks, both material and\nspiritual, which it would have been better for them to avoid.\n\nOne geographical expression, in the delimitation of the country,\ndemands a brief explanation. While the country is defined as embracing\nthe whole territory from Lebanon to the Euphrates, it is also defined\nas consisting in that direction of \"all the land of the Hittites.\" But\nwere not the Hittites one of the seven nations whose land was promised\nto Abraham and the fathers, and not even the first in the enumeration\nof these? Why should this great north-eastern section of the promised\ndomain be designated \"the land of the Hittites\"?\n\nThe time was when it was a charge against the accuracy of the\nScripture record that it ascribed to the Hittites this extensive\ndominion. That time has passed away, inasmuch as, within quite recent\nyears, the discovery has been made that in those distant times a great\nHittite empire did exist in the very region specified, between Lebanon\nand the Euphrates. The discovery is based on twofold data: references\nin the Egyptian and other monuments to a powerful people, called the\nKhita (Hittites), with whom even the great kings of Egypt had long and\nbloody wars; and inscriptions in the Hittite language, found in\nHamah, Aleppo, and other places in Syria. There is still much\nobscurity resting on the history of this people. That the Hittites\nproper prevailed so extensively has been doubted by some; a Hittite\nconfederacy has been supposed, and sometimes a Hittite aristocracy\nexercising control over a great empire. The only point which it is\nnecessary to dwell on here is, that in representing the tract between\nLebanon and Euphrates as equivalent to \"all the land of the Hittites,\"\nthe author of the Book of Joshua made a statement which has been\nabundantly verified by recent research.[3]\n\n [3] See \"The Empire of the Hittites.\" By William Wright, D.D.,\n F.R.G.S. London, 1886.\n\nTo encourage and animate Joshua to undertake the work and position of\nMoses it is very graciously promised--\"There shall not any man be able\nto stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so\nwill I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.\" The\ninvariable success promised was a greater boon than the greatest\nconquerors had been able to secure. Uniform success is a thing hardly\nknown to captains of great expeditions, even though in the end they\nmay prevail. But the promise to Joshua is, that all his enemies shall\nflee before him. None of his battles shall be even neutral, his\nopponents must always give way.[4] No son of Anak shall be able to\noppose his onward march; no giant, like Og King of Bashan, shall\nterrify either him or his troops. He will \"onward still to victory\ngo,\"--the Lord of hosts ever with him, the God of Jacob ever his\ndefence.\n\n [4] The promise is not inconsistent with the fact that Joshua's\n troops were defeated by the men of Ai. In such promises there is\n an implied condition of steadfast regard to God's will on the part\n of those who receive them, and this condition was violated at Ai,\n not by Joshua, indeed, but by one of his people.\n\nAnd this was no vague, indefinite assurance. It was sharply defined by\na well-known example in the immediate past--\"As I was with Moses, so I\nwill be with thee.\" In what a remarkable variety of dangers and trials\nGod was with Moses! Now he had to confront the grandest monarch on\nearth, supported by the strongest armies, and upheld by what claimed\nto be the mightiest gods. Again he had to deal with an apostate\npeople, mad upon idols, and afterwards with an excited mob, ready to\nstone him. Anon he had to overcome the forces of nature and bend them\nto his purposes; to call water from the rock, to sweeten the bitter\nfountain, to heal the fiery bite, to cure his sister's leprous body,\nto bring down bread from heaven, and people the air with flocks of\nbirds. Moreover, he had to be the messenger of the covenant between\nGod and Israel, to unfold God's law in its length and breadth and in\nall its variety of application, and to obtain from the people a hearty\ncompliance--\"All that the Lord hath said unto us, that will we do.\"\nWhat a marvellous work Moses did! What a testimony his life presented\nto the reality of the Divine presence and guidance, and what a solid\nand indefeasible ground of trust God gave to Joshua when He said, \"As\nI was with Moses, so will I be with thee.\"\n\nAnd this is crowned with the further assurance, \"I will not fail thee,\nnor forsake thee,\"--an assurance which is extended in the Epistle to\nthe Hebrews to all who believe. We are so apt to view these promises\nas just beautiful expressions that we need to pause and think what\nthey really mean. A promise of Divine presence, Divine protection and\nguidance and blessing all the days of our life, is surely a treasure\nof inexpressible value. It is no slight matter to realize that this\nis in God's heart--that He has a constant, unvarying feeling of love\ntoward us, and readiness to help; but we must believe this in order to\nget the benefit of it; and, moreover, He must be left to determine the\ntime, the manner, and the form in which His help is to come. Alas for\nthe unbelief, the suspicion, the fear that is so prone to eat out the\nspirit of trust, and in our trials and difficulties make us tremble as\nif we were alone! What a profound peace, what calm enjoyment and\nblessed hope fall to the lot of those who can believe in a God ever\nnear, and in His unfailing faithfulness and love! Was it not the\nsecret alike of David's calmness, of our Lord's serenity, and of the\ncheerful composure of many a martyr and many a common man and woman\nwho have gone through life undisturbed and happy, that they could\nsay--\"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right\nhand, I shall not be moved\"? God grant us all that, like Abraham, we\nmay \"stagger not at the promise of God through unbelief but that being\nstrong in faith we may give glory to God, and believe that what He\nhath promised He is able also to perform.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_JOSHUA'S ENCOURAGEMENT._\n\nJOSHUA i. 6-9.\n\n\nGod has promised to be with Joshua, but Joshua must strive to act like\none in partnership with God. And that He may do so, God has just two\nthings to press on him: in the first place, to be strong and of a good\ncourage; and in the second place, to make the book of the law his\ncontinual study and guide. In this way he shall be able to achieve the\nspecific purpose to which he is called, to divide the land for an\ninheritance to the people, as God hath sworn to their fathers; and\nlikewise, more generally, to fulfil the conditions of a successful\nlife--\"then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt\nhave good success.\"\n\nFirst, Joshua must be strong and very courageous. But are strength and\ncourage really within our own power? Is strength not absolutely a\nDivine gift, and as dependent on God in its ordinary degrees as it was\nin the case of Samson in its highest degree? No doubt in a sense it is\nso; and yet the amount even of our bodily strength is not wholly\nbeyond our own control. As bodily strength is undoubtedly weakened by\ncareless living, by excess of eating and drinking, by all irregular\nhabits, by the breathing of foul air, by indolence and self-indulgence\nof every kind, so undoubtedly it is increased and promoted by\nattention to the simple laws of health, by activity and exercise, by\nsleep and sabbatic rest, by the moderate use of wholesome food, as\nwell as by abstinence from hurtful drinks and drugs. And surely the\nduty of being strong, in so far as such things can give strength, is\nof far more importance than many think; for if we can thus maintain\nand increase our strength we shall be able to serve both God and man\nmuch better and longer than we could otherwise have done. On the other\nhand, the feebleness and fitfulness and querulousness often due to\npreventible illness must increase the trouble which we give to others,\nand lessen the beneficent activity and the brightening influence of\nour own lives.\n\nBut in Joshua's case is was no doubt strength and courage of soul that\nwas mainly meant. Even that is not wholly independent of the ordinary\nconditions of the body. On the other hand, there are no doubt\nmemorable cases where the elasticity and power of the spirit have been\nin the very inverse ratio to the strength of the body. By cheerful\nviews of life and duty, natural depression has been counteracted, and\nthe soul filled with hope and joy. \"The joy of the Lord,\" said\nNehemiah, \"is the strength of His people.\" Fellowship with God, as our\nreconciled God and Father in Christ, is a source of perpetual\nstrength. Who does not know the strengthening and animating influence\nof the presence even of a friend, when we find his fresh and joyous\ntemperament playing on us in some season of depression? The radiance\nof his face, the cheeriness of his voice, the elasticity of his\nmovements seem to infuse new hope and courage into the jaded soul.\nWhen he is gone, we try to shake off the despondent feeling that has\nseized us, and gird ourselves anew for the battle of life. And if such\nan effect can be produced by fellowship with a fellow-creature, how\nmuch more by fellowship with the infinite God!--especially when it is\nHis work we are trying to do, and when we have all His promises of\nhelp to rest on. \"God is near thee, therefore cheer thee\" is a\nperpetual solace and stimulus to the Christian soul.\n\nBut even men who are full of Christian courage need props and bulwarks\nin the hour of trial. Ezra and Nehemiah were bold, but they had ways\nof stimulating their courage, which they sometimes needed to fall back\non, and they could find allies in unlikely quarters. Ezra could draw\ncourage even from his shame, and Nehemiah from his very pride. \"I was\nashamed,\" said Ezra, \"to require of the king a band of soldiers and\nhorsemen to help us against the enemy in the way;\" therefore he\ndetermined to face the danger with no help but the unseen help of God.\nAnd when Nehemiah's life was in danger from the cunning devices of the\nenemy, and his friends advised him to hide himself, he repelled the\nadvice with high-minded scorn--\"Should such a man as I flee?\"\n\nBut there is no source of courage like that which flows from the\nconsciousness of serving God, and the consequent assurance that He\nwill sustain and help His servants. Brief ejaculatory prayers,\nconstantly dropping from their lips, often bring the courage which is\nneeded. \"Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands,\" was Nehemiah's\nhabitual exclamation when faintness of heart came over him. No doubt\nit was Joshua's too, as it has always been of the best of God's\nservants. Again and again, amid the murderous threats of cannibals in\nthe New Hebrides, the missionary Paton must have sunk into despair but\nfor his firm belief in the protection of God.\n\nThe other counsel to Joshua was to follow in all things the\ninstructions of Moses, and for this end, not to let \"the book of the\nlaw depart out of his mouth, but to meditate on it day and night, that\nhe might observe to do all that was written therein.\"\n\nFor Joshua was called to be the executor of Moses, as it were, not to\nstart on an independent career of his own; and that particular call he\nmost humbly and cheerfully accepted. Instead of breaking with the\npast, he was delighted to build on it as his foundation, and carry it\nout to its predestined issues. It was no part of his work to improve\non what Moses had done; he was simply to accept it and carry it out.\nHe had his brief, he had his instructions, and these it was his one\nbusiness to fulfil. No puritan ever accepted God's revelation with\nmore profound and unquestioning reverence than Joshua accepted the law\nof Moses. No Oliver Cromwell or General Gordon ever recognised more\nabsolutely his duty to carry out the plan of another, and, undisturbed\nhimself, leave the issue in His hands. He was to be a very incarnation\nof Moses, and was so to meditate on his law day and night that his\nmind should be saturated with its contents.\n\nThis, indeed, was a necessity for Joshua, because he required to have\na clear perception of the great purpose of God regarding Israel. Why\nhad God taken the unusual course of entering into covenant with a\nsingle family out of the mass of mankind? A purpose deliberately\nformed and clung to for more than four hundred years must be a grand\nobject in the Divine mind. It was Joshua's part to keep the people in\nmind of the solemnity and grandeur of their mission and to call them\nto a corresponding mode of life. What can more effectually give\ndignity and self-respect to men than to find that they have a part in\nthe grand purposes of God? To find that God is not asleep; that He has\nneither given up the world to chance nor bound it with a chain of\nirreversible law, but that He calls us to be fellow-workers with Him\nin a great plan which shall in the end tend gloriously to advance the\nhighest welfare of man?\n\nThis habit of meditation on the law which Joshua was instructed to\npractise was of great value to one who was to lead a busy life. No\nmere cursory perusal of a book of law can secure the ends for which it\nis given. The memory is treacherous, the heart is careless, and the\npower of worldly objects to withdraw attention is proverbial. We must\nbe continually in contact with the Book of God. The practice enjoined\non Joshua has kept its ground among a limited class during all the\nintervening generations. In every age of the Church it has been\nimpressed on all devout and earnest hearts that there can be no\nspiritual prosperity and progress without daily meditation on the Word\nof God. It would be hard to believe in the genuine Christianity of any\none who did not make a practice morning and evening of bringing his\nsoul into contact with some portion of that Word. And wherever an\neminent degree of piety has been reached, we shall find that an\neminently close study of the Word has been practised. Where the habit\nis perfunctory, the tendency is to omit the meditation and to be\ncontent with the reading. Even in pious families there is a risk that\nthe reading of the Scriptures morning and evening may push the duty of\nmeditation aside, though even then we are not to despise the benefit\nthat arises from the familiarity gained with their contents.\n\nBut, on the other hand, the instances are numberless of men attaining\nto great intimacy with the Divine will and to a large conformity to\nit, through meditation on the Scriptures. To many the daily portion\ncomes fresh as the manna gathered each morning at the door of Israel's\ncamp. Think of men like George M\u00fcller of Bristol reading the Bible\nfrom beginning to end as many as a hundred times, and finding it more\nfresh and interesting at each successive perusal. Think of Livingstone\nreading it right on four times when detained at Manyuema, and Stanley\nthree times during his Emin expedition. What resources must be in it,\nwhat hidden freshness, what power to feed and revive the soul! The sad\nthing is that the practice is so rare. Listen to the prophet-like\nrebuke of Edward Irving to the generation of his time: \"Who feels the\nsublime dignity there is in a fresh saying descended from the porch of\nheaven? Who feels the awful weight there is in the least iota that\nhath dropped from the lips of God? Who feels the thrilling fear or\ntrembling hope there is in words whereon the eternal destinies of\nhimself do hang? Who feels the swelling tide of gratitude within his\nbreast for redemption and salvation, instead of flat despair and\neverlasting retribution?... This book, the offspring of the Divine\nmind and the perfection of heavenly wisdom is permitted to lie from\nday to day, perhaps from week to week, unheeded and unperused; never\nwelcome to our happy, healthy, and energetic moods; admitted, if\nadmitted at all, in seasons of weakness, feeblemindedness, and\ndisabling sorrow.... Oh, if books had but tongues to speak their\nwrongs, then might this book exclaim, Hear, O heavens, and give ear,\nO earth! I came from the love and embrace of God, and mute nature, to\nwhom I brought no boon, did me rightful homage.... I set open to you\nthe gates of salvation and the way of eternal life, heretofore\nunknown.... But ye requited me with no welcome, ye held no festivity\non my arrival; ye sequester me from happiness and heroism, closeting\nme with sickness and infirmity; ye make not of me, nor use me as your\nguide to wisdom and prudence, but press me into your list of duties,\nand withdraw me to a mere corner of your time, and most of you set me\nat nought and utterly disregard me.... If you had entertained me, I\nshould have possessed you of the peace which I had with God when I was\nwith Him and was daily His delight rejoicing always before Him....\nBecause I have called and ye refused.... I also will laugh at your\ncalamity and mock when your fear cometh.\"[5]\n\n [5] \"For the Oracles of God: four Orations.\" Pp. 3-6.\n\nIt is no excuse for neglecting this habitual reading of the Book of\nGod that He places us now more under the action of principles than the\ndiscipline of details. For the glory of principles is that they have a\nbearing on every detail of our life. \"Whatsoever ye do in word or in\ndeed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and\nthe Father by Him.\" What could be more comprehensive than this\nprinciple of action--a principle that extends to \"whatsoever we do\"?\nThere is not a moment of our waking life, not an action great or small\nwe ever perform where the influence of this wide precept ought not to\nbe felt. And how can it become thus pervasive unless we make it a\nsubject of continual meditation?\n\nIn the case of Joshua, all the strenuous exhortations to him to be\nstrong and of a good courage, and to meditate on the Divine law as\ngiven by Moses by day and by night, were designed to qualify him for\nhis great work--\"to divide the land for an inheritance to the people\nas God had sworn to their fathers.\" First of all, the land had to be\nconquered; and there is no difficulty in seeing how necessary it was\nfor one who had this task on hand to be strong and of a good courage,\nand to meditate on God's law. Then the land had to be divided, and the\npeople settled in their new life, and Joshua had to initiate them, as\nit were, in that life; he had to bind on their consciences the\nconditions on which the land was to be enjoyed, and start them in the\nperformance of the duties, moral, social and religious, which the\nDivine constitution required. Here lay the most difficult part of his\ntask. To conquer the country required but the talent of a military\ncommander; to divide the country was pretty much an affair of\ntrigonometry; but to settle them in a higher sense, to create a moral\naffinity between them and their God, to turn their hearts to the\ncovenant of their fathers, to wean them from their old idolatries and\nestablish them in such habits of obedience and trust that the doing of\nGod's will would become to them a second nature,--here was the\ndifficulty for Joshua. They had not only to be planted physically in\ngroups over the country, but they had to be married to it morally,\notherwise they had no security of tenure, but were liable to summary\neviction. It was no land of rest for idolaters; all depended on the\ncharacter they attained; loyalty to God was the one condition of a\nhappy settlement; let them begin to trifle with the claims of Jehovah,\npunishment and suffering, to be followed finally by dispersion and\ncaptivity, was the inevitable result.\n\nIt was thus that Joshua had to justify his name,--to show that he was\nworthy to be called by the name of Jesus. The work of Jesus may be\nsaid to have been symbolized both by that of Moses and that of Joshua.\nMoses symbolized the Redeemer in rescuing the people from Egypt and\ntheir miserable bondage there; as \"Christ hath redeemed us from the\ncurse of the law.\" Joshua symbolized Him as He renews our hearts and\nmakes us \"meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in\nlight.\" For there are conditions moral and spiritual essential to our\ndwelling in the heavenly Canaan. \"Lord, who shall abide in Thy\ntabernacle? and who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that hath clean\nhands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity,\nnor sworn deceitfully.\" The atmosphere of heaven is too pure to be\nbreathed by the unregenerate and unsanctified. There must be an\nadaptation between the character of the inhabitant and the place of\nhis habitation. \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born\nof water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"\n\nThus we see the connection between Joshua's devotion to the book of\nthe law, and success in the great work of his life--\"then thou shalt\nmake thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.\" No\ndoubt he would have the appearance of success if he simply cleared out\nthe inhabitants who were so degraded by sin that God was compelled to\nsweep them off, and settled His people in their room. But that, after\nall, was but a small matter unless accompanied by something more. It\nwould not secure the people from at last sharing the fate of the old\ninhabitants; so far at least that though they should not be\nexterminated, yet they would be scattered over the face of the globe.\nHow could Joshua get rid of these ominous words in the song of Moses\nto which they had so lately listened?--\"They provoked Him to jealousy\nwith strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger. They\nsacrificed to devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new\ngods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.... And He said,\nI will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for\nthey are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.\" But\neven if in the end of the day it should come to this, nevertheless\nJoshua might so move and impress the people for the time being, that\nin the immediate future all would be well, and the dreaded\nconsummation would be put off to a distant day.\n\nAnd so at all times, in dealing with human beings, we can obtain no\nadequate and satisfying success unless their hearts are turned to God.\nYour children may be great scholars, or successful merchants, or\ndistinguished authors, or brilliant artists, or even statesmen; what\ndoes it come to if they are dead to God, and have no living fellowship\nwith Jesus Christ? Your congregation may be large and influential, and\nwealthy, and liberal; what if they are worldly, proud, and\ncontentious? We must aim at far deeper effects, effects not to be\nfound without the Spirit of God. The more we labour in this spirit,\nthe more shall our way be made prosperous, the better shall be our\nsuccess. \"For them that honour Me I will honour; but they that despise\nMe shall be lightly esteemed.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_JOSHUA'S CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE._\n\nJOSHUA i. 10-18.\n\n\nGod has spoken to Joshua; it is now Joshua's part to speak to the\npeople. The crossing of the Jordan must be set about at once, and in\nearnest, and all the risks and responsibilities involved in that step\nfirmly and fearlessly encountered.\n\nAnd in the steps taken by Joshua for this purpose we see, what we so\noften see, how the natural must be exhausted before the supernatural\nis brought in. Thus, in communicating with the people through the\n_shoterim_, or officers, the first order which he gives is to \"command\nthe people to prepare them victuals.\" \"Victuals\" denotes the natural\nproducts of the country, and is evidently used in opposition to\n\"manna.\" In another passage we read that \"the manna ceased on the very\nmorning after they had eaten of the old corn of the land\" (chap. v.\n12). This may have been a considerable time before, for the conquest\nof Sihon and Og would give the people possession of ample stores of\nfood out of the old corn of the land. The manna was a provision for\nthe desert only, where few or no natural supplies of food could be\nfound. But the very day when natural stores become available, the\nmanna is discontinued. One cannot but contrast the carefully limited\nuse of the supernatural in Scripture with its arbitrary and unstinted\nemployment in mythical or fictional writings. Often in such cases it\nis brought in with a wanton profusion, simply to excite wonder,\nsometimes to gratify the love of the grotesque, not because natural\nmeans could not have accomplished what was sought, but through sheer\nlove of revelling in the supernatural. In Scripture the natural is\nnever superseded when it is capable of either helping or accomplishing\nthe end. The east wind helps to dry the Red Sea, although the rod of\nMoses has to be stretched out for the completion of the work. The\nangel of God knocks Peter's chains from his limbs and opens the prison\ngates for him, but leaves him to find his way thereafter as best he\ncan. So now. It is now in the power of the people to prepare them\nvictuals, and though God might easily feed them as He has fed them\nmiraculously for forty years, He leaves them to find food for\nthemselves. In all cases the co-operation of the Divine and the human\nis carried out with an instructive combination of generosity and\neconomy; man is never to be idle; alike in the affairs of the temporal\nand the spiritual life, the Divine energy always stimulates to\nactivity, never lulls to sleep.\n\nA little explanation is needed respecting the time when Joshua said\nthe Jordan must be crossed--\"within three days.\" If the narrative of\nthe first two chapters be taken in chronological order, more than\nthree days must have elapsed between the issuing of this order and the\ncrossing of the river, because it is expressly stated that the two\nspies who were sent to examine Jericho hid themselves for three days\nin the mountains, and thereafter recrossed the Jordan and returned to\nJoshua (ii. 22). But it is quite in accordance with the practice of\nScripture narrative to introduce an episode out of its chronological\nplace so that it may not break up the main record. It is now generally\nheld that the spies were sent on before Joshua issued this order to\nthe people, because it is not likely that he would have committed\nhimself to a particular day before he got the information which he\nexpected the spies to bring. In any case, it is plain that no needless\ndelay was allowed. Half a week more and Jordan would be crossed,\nalthough the means of crossing it had not yet been made apparent; and\nthen the people would be actually in their own inheritance, within the\nvery country which in the dim ages of the past had been promised to\ntheir fathers.\n\nYes, the people generally; but already an arrangement had been made\nfor the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh on the\neast side of the river. How, then, were they to act in the present\ncrisis? That had been determined between them and Moses when they got\nleave to occupy the lands of Sihon and Og, on account of their\nsuitableness for their abundant flocks and herds. It had been arranged\nthen that, leaving their cattle and their children, a portion of the\nmen likewise, the rest would cross the river with their brethren and\ntake their share of the toils and risks of the conquest of Western\nCanaan. All that Joshua needs to do now is to remind them of this\narrangement. Happily there was no reluctance on their part to fulfil\nit. There was no going back from their word, even though they might\nhave found a loophole of escape. They might have said that as the\nconquest of Sihon and Og had been accomplished so easily, so the\nconquest of the western tribes would be equally simple. Or they might\nhave said that the nine tribes and a half could furnish quite a large\nenough army to dispossess the Canaanites. Or they might have\ndiscovered that their wives and children were exposed to dangers they\nhad not apprehended, and that it would be necessary for the entire\nbody of the men to remain and protect them. But they fell back on no\nsuch after thought. They kept their word at no small cost of toil and\ndanger, and furnished thereby a perpetual lesson for those who, having\nmade a promise under pressure, are tempted to resile from it when the\npressure is removed. Fidelity to engagements is a noble quality, just\nas laxity in regard to them is a miserable sin. Even Pagan Rome could\nboast of a Regulus who kept his oath by returning to Carthage, though\nit was to encounter a miserable death. In the fifteenth psalm it is a\nfeature in the portrait of the man who is to abide in God's tabernacle\nand dwell in His holy hill, that he \"sweareth to his own hurt, and\nchangeth not.\"\n\nOne arrangement was made by these transjordanic tribes that was\nperfectly reasonable--a portion of the men remained to guard their\nfamilies and their property. The number that passed over was forty\nthousand (Josh. iv. 13), whereas the entire number of men capable of\nbearing arms (dividing Manasseh into two) was a hundred and ten\nthousand (Num. xxvi. 7, 18, and 34). But the contingent actually sent\nwas amply sufficient to redeem the promise, and, consisting probably\nof picked men, was no doubt a very efficient portion of the force. The\nactual fighting force of the other tribes would probably be in the\nsame proportion to the whole; and there, too, a section would have to\nbe left to guard the women, children, and flocks, so that in point of\nfact the labours and dangers of the conquest were about equally\ndivided between all the tribes.\n\nHere, then, was an edifying spectacle: those who had been first\nprovided for did not forget those who had not yet obtained any\nsettlement; but held themselves bound to assist their brethren until\nthey should be as comfortably settled as themselves.\n\nIt was a grand testimony against selfishness, a grand assertion of\nbrotherhood, a beautiful manifestation of loyalty and public spirit;\nand, we may add, an instructive exhibition of the working of the\nmethod by which God's providence seeks to provide for the\ndissemination of many blessings among the children of men. It was an\nact of socialism, without the drawbacks which most forms of socialism\ninvolve.\n\nGod has allowed many differences in the lots of mankind, bestowing on\nsome ample means, for which they toiled not neither did they spin;\nbestowing, often on the same individuals, a higher position in life,\nwith corresponding social influence; setting some nations in the van\nof the world's march, bestowing on some churches very special\nadvantages and means of influence; and it is a great question that\narises--what obligations rest on these favoured individuals and\ncommunities? Does God lay any duty on them toward the rest of mankind?\n\nThe inquiry in its full scope is too wide for our limits; let us\nrestrict ourselves to the element in respect of which the\ntransjordanic tribes had the advantage of the others--the element of\ntime. What do those who have received their benefits early owe to\nthose who are behind them in time?\n\nThe question leads us first to the family constitution, but there is\nreally no question here. The obligations of parents to their children\nare the obligations of those who have already got their settlement to\nthose who have not; of those who have already got means, and\nstrength, and experience, and wisdom to those who have not yet had\ntime to acquire them. It is only the vilest of our race that refuse to\nown their obligations here, and this only after their nature has been\nperverted and demonized by vice. To all others it is an obligation\nwhich amply repays itself. The affection between parent and child in\nevery well-ordered house sweetens the toil that often falls so heavily\non the elders; while the pleasure of seeing their children filling\nstations of respectability and usefulness, and the enjoyment of their\naffection, even after they have gone out into the world, amply repay\ntheir past labours, and greatly enrich the joys of life.\n\nWe advance to the relation of the rich to the poor, especially of\nthose who are born to riches to those who are born to obscurity and\ntoil. Had the providence of God no purpose in this arrangement? You\nwho come into the world amid luxury and splendour, who have never been\nrequired to work for a single comfort, who have the means of\ngratifying expensive tastes, and who grudge no expenditure on the\nobjects of your fancy:--was it meant that you were to sustain no\nrelation of help and sympathy to the poor, especially your neighbors,\nyour tenants, or your workpeople? Do you fulfil the obligations of\nlife when, pouring into your coffers the fruits of other men's toil,\nyou hurry off to the resorts of wealth and fashion, intent only on\nyour own enjoyment, and without a thought of the toiling multitude you\nleave at home? Is it right of you to leave deserving people to fall\nperadventure into starvation and despair, without so much as turning a\nfinger to prevent it? What are you doing for the widows and orphans?\nSelfish and sinful beings! let these old Hebrews read you a lesson of\ncondemnation! They could not selfishly enjoy their comfortable homes\ntill they had done their part on behalf of their brethren, for\nwherever there is a brotherly heart a poor brother's welfare is as\ndear as one's own.\n\nThen there is the case of nations, and pre-eminently of our own. Some\nraces attain to civilization, and order, and good government sooner\nthan others. They have all the benefit of settled institutions and\nenlightened opinion, of discoveries in the arts and sciences, and of\nthe manifold comforts and blessings with which life is thus enriched,\nwhile other nations are sunk in barbarism and convulsed by disorder.\nBut how much more prone are such nations to claim the rights of\nsuperiority than to play the part of the elder brother! We are\nthankful for the great good that has been done in India, and in other\ncountries controlled by the older nations. But even in the case of\nIndia, how many have gone there not to benefit the natives, but with\nthe hope of enriching themselves. How ready have many been to indulge\ntheir own vices at the cost of the natives, and how little has it\npained them to see them becoming the slaves of new vices that have\nsunk them lower than before. Our Indian opium traffic, and our drink\ntraffic generally among native races--what is their testimony to our\nbrotherly feeling? What are we to think of the white traders among the\nSouth Sea islands, stealing and robbing and murdering their feebler\nfellow-creatures? What are we to think of the traffic in slaves, and\nthe inconceivable brutalities with which it is carried on? Or what are\nwe to think of our traders at home, sending out in almost uncountable\nprofusion the rum, and the gin, and the other drinks by which the poor\nweak natives are at once enticed, enslaved, and destroyed? Is there\nany development in selfishness that has ever been heard of more\nheartless and horrible? Why can't they let them alone, if they will\nnot try to benefit them? What can come to any man in the end but the\nwell-merited punishment of those who out of sheer greed have made\nmiserable savages tenfold more the children of hell than before?\n\nWe pass over the case of the early settlers in colonies, because there\nis hardly any obligation more generally recognised than that of such\nsettlers to lend a helping hand to new arrivals. We go on to the case\nof Churches. The light of saving truth has come to some lands before\nothers. We in this country have had our Christianity for centuries,\nand in these recent years have had so lively a dispensation of the\ngospel of Christ that many have felt more than ever His power to\nforgive, to comfort, to lift us up and bless us. Have we no duty to\nthose parts of the earth which are still in the shadow of death? If we\nare not actually settled in the Promised Land, we are as good as\nsettled, because we have the Divine promise, and we believe in that\npromise. But what of those who are yet \"without Christ, alienated from\nthe commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise,\nhaving no hope, and without God in the world\"? Have we no\nresponsibility for them? Have we no interest in that Divine plan which\nseeks to use those who first receive the light as instruments of\nimparting it to the rest? Infidels object that Christianity cannot be\nof God, because if Christianity furnishes the only Divine remedy for\nsin it would have been diffused as widely as the evil for which it is\nthe cure. Our reply is, that God's plan is to give the light first to\nsome, and to charge them to give it freely and cordially to others. We\nsay, moreover, that this plan is a wholesome one for those who are\ncalled to work it, because it draws out and strengthens what is best\nand noblest in them, and because it tends to form very loving bonds\nbetween those who give and those who get the benefit. But what if the\nfirst recipients of the light fold their hands, content to have got\nthe blessing themselves, and decline to do their part in sending it to\nthe rest? Surely there is here no ordinary combination of sins!\nIndolence and selfishness at the root, and, with these, a want of all\npublic spirit and beneficent activity; and, moreover, not mere neglect\nbut contempt of the Divine plan by which God has sought the universal\ndiffusion of the blessing. Again we say, look to these men of Reuben,\nGad, and Manasseh. They were not the _\u00e9lite_ of the race of Israel.\nTheir fathers, at least in the case of Reuben and Dan, were not among\nthe more honoured of the sons of Jacob. And yet they had the grace to\nthink of their brethren, when so many among us are utterly careless of\nours. And not only to think of them, but to go over the Jordan and\nfight for them, possibly die for them; nor would they think of\nreturning to the comfort of their homes till they had seen their\nbrethren in the west settled in theirs.\n\nAnd this readiness of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to\nfulfil the engagement under which they had come to Moses, was not the\nonly gratifying occurrence which Joshua met with on announcing the\nimpending crossing of the Jordan. For the whole people declared very\ncordially their acceptance of Joshua as their leader, vowed to him the\nmost explicit fidelity, declared their purpose to pay him the same\nhonour as they had paid to Moses, and denounced a sentence of death\nagainst any one that would not hearken to his words in all that he\ncommanded them.\n\nJoshua, in fact, obtained from them a promise of loyalty beyond what\nthey had ever given to Moses till close on his death. It was the great\ntrial of Moses that the people so habitually complained of him and\nworried him, embittering his life by ascribing to him even the natural\nhardships of the wilderness, as well as the troubles that sprang\ndirectly from their sins. It is the unwillingness of his people to\ntrust him, after all he has sacrificed for them, that gives such a\npathetic interest to the life of Moses, and makes him, more than\nperhaps any other Old Testament prophet, so striking an example of\nunrequited affection. After crossing the Red Sea, all the marvels of\nthat deliverance from Pharaoh of which he had been the instrument are\nswallowed up and forgotten by the little inconveniences of the\njourney. And afterwards, when they are doomed to the forty years'\nwandering, they are ready enough to blame him for it, forgetting how\nhe fell down before God and pled for them when God threatened to\ndestroy them. Moreover, his enactments against the idolatry they loved\nso well made him anything but popular, to say nothing of the\nburdensome ceremonial which he enjoined them to observe. The time of\nreal loyalty to Moses was just the little period before his death,\nwhen he led them against Sihon and Og, and a great stretch of fertile\nand beautiful land fell into their hands. Moses had just gained the\ngreatest victory of his life, he had just become master of the hearts\nof his people, when he was called away. For Moses at last did gain the\npeople's hearts, and those to whom Joshua appealed could say without\nirony or sarcasm, \"According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things,\nso will we hearken unto thee.\"\n\nIn point of fact a great change had been effected on the people at\nlast. Moses had laboured, and Joshua now entered into his labours. The\nsame thing has often occurred in history, and notably in our own. In\ncivil life how much do we owe to the noble champions of freedom of\nother days, through whose patriotism, courage, and self-denial the\nhard fight was fought and the victory won that enables us to sit under\nour vine and under our fig tree. In ecclesiastical life was it not the\nblood of the martyrs and the struggles of those of whom the world was\nnot worthy, who wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and\ncaves of the earth, that won for us the freedom and the peace in which\nwe now rejoice? What blessings we owe to those that have gone before\nus! And how can we better discharge our obligations to them than by\nhastening to the aid of those who have but emerged from the period of\nstruggle and suffering, like the Christians of Madagascar or of\nUganda, whose fearful sufferings and awful deaths under the merciless\nrule of heathen kings made Christendom stand aghast, and drew a wail\nof anguish from her bosom?\n\nThe unanimity of the people in their loyalty to Joshua is a touching\nsight. So far as appears there was not one discordant note in that\nharmonious burst of loyalty. No Korah, Dathan, or Abiram rose up to\ndecline his rule and embarrass him in his new position. It is a\nbeautiful sight, the united loyalty of a great nation. Nothing more\nbeautiful has ever been known in the long reign of Queen Victoria than\nthe crowding of her people in hundreds of thousands to witness her\nprocession to St. Paul's on that morning when she went to return\nthanks for the rescue of her eldest son from the very jaws of death.\nNot one discordant note was uttered, not one disloyal feeling was\nknown; the vast multitude were animated by the spirit of sympathy and\naffection for one who had tried to do her duty as a queen and as a\nmother. It was a sight not unlike to this that was seen in the streets\nof New York at the centennial celebration of the inauguration of\nGeorge Washington as first President of the United States. One was\nthrilled by the thought that not only the multitude that thronged the\nstreets, but the representatives of the whole nation, gathered in\ntheir churches throughout the land, were animated by a common\nsentiment of gratitude to the man whose wisdom and courage had laid\nthe foundation of all the prosperity and blessing of the last hundred\nyears. Are not such scenes the pattern of that spirit of loyalty which\nthe entire race of man owes to Him who by His blood redeemed the\nworld, and whose rule and influence, if the world would but accept of\nit, are so beneficent and so blessed? Yet how far are we from such a\nstate! How few are the hearts that throb with true loyalty to the\nSaviour, and whose most fervent aspiration for the world is, that it\nwould only throw down its weapons of rebellion, and give to him its\nhearty allegiance! Strange that the Old Testament Joshua should have\ngot at once what eighteen hundred years have failed to bring to the\nNew Testament Jesus! God hasten the day of universal light and\nuniversal love, when He shall reign from sea to sea, and from the\nriver to the ends of the earth!\n\n \"One song employs all nations, and all cry\n 'Worthy the Lamb, for He was slain for us'!\n The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks\n Shout to each other, and the mountain tops\n From distant mountains catch the flying joy,\n Till nation after nation taught the strain\n Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_THE SPIES IN JERICHO._\n\nJOSHUA ii.\n\n\nIt was not long ere Joshua found an occasion not only for the exercise\nof that courage to which he had been so emphatically called both by\nGod and the people, but for calling on others to practise the same\nmanly virtue. For the duty which he laid on the two spies--detectives\nwe should now call them--to enter Jericho and bring a report of its\ncondition, was perhaps the most perilous to which it was possible for\nmen to be called. It was like sending them into a den of lions, and\nexpecting them to return safe and sound. Evidently he was happy in\nfinding two men ready for the duty and the risk. Young men they are\ncalled further on (vi. 23), and it is quite likely that they were\nleading men in their tribes. No doubt they might disguise themselves,\nthey might divest themselves of anything in dress that was\ncharacteristically Hebrew, they might put on the clothes of\nneighbouring peasants, and carry a basket of produce for sale in the\ncity; and as for language, they might be able to use the Canaanite\ndialect and imitate the Canaanite accent. But if they did try any such\ndisguise, they must have known that it would be of doubtful efficacy;\nthe officials of Jericho could not fail to be keenly on the watch,\nand no disguise could hide the Hebrew features, or divest them wholly\nof the air of foreigners. Nevertheless the two men had courage for the\nrisky enterprise. Doubtless it was the courage that sprang from faith;\nit was in God's service they went, and God's protection would not fail\nthem. To be able to find agents so willing and so suitable was a proof\nto Joshua that God had already begun to fulfil His promises.\n\nJoshua had been a spy himself, and it was natural enough that he\nshould think of the same mode of reconnoitring the country, now that\nthey were again on the eve of making the entrance into it which they\nshould have made nearly forty years before. There is no reason to\nthink that in taking this step Joshua acted presumptuously, proceeding\non his own counsel when he should have sought counsel of God. For\nJoshua might rightly infer that he ought to take this course inasmuch\nas it had been followed before with God's approval in the case of the\ntwelve. Its purpose was twofold--to obtain information and\nconfirmation. Information as to the actual condition and spirit of the\nCanaanites, as to the view they took of the approaching invasion of\nthe Israelites, and the impression that had been made on them by all\nthe remarkable things that had happened in the desert; and\nconfirmation,--new proof for his own people that God was with them,\nfresh encouragement to go up bravely to the attack, and fresh\nassurance that not one word would ever fail them of all the things\nwhich the Lord had promised.\n\nWe follow the two men as they leave Shittim, so named from the masses\nof bright acacia which shed their glory over the plain; then cross the\nriver at \"the fords,\" which, flooded though they were, were still\npracticable for swimmers; enter the gates of Jericho, and move along\nthe streets. In such a city as Jericho, and among such an immoral\npeople as the Canaanites, it was not strange that they should fall in\nwith a woman of Rahab's occupation, and should receive an invitation\nto her house. Some commentators have tried to make out that she was\nnot so bad as she is represented, but only an innkeeper; but the\nmeaning of the word both here and as translated in Heb. xi. and James\nii. is beyond contradiction. Others have supposed that she was one of\nthe harlot-priestesses of Ashtoreth, but in that case she would have\nhad her dwelling in the precincts of a temple, not in an\nout-of-the-way place on the walls of the city. We are to remember that\nin the degraded condition of public opinion in Canaan, as indeed much\nlater in the case of the Hetairai of Athens, her occupation was not\nregarded as disgraceful, neither did it banish her from her family,\nnor break up the bonds of interest and affection between them, as it\nmust do in every moral community.[6] It was not accompanied with that\nself-contempt and self-loathing which in other circumstances are its\nfruits. We may quite easily understand how the spies might enter her\nhouse simply for the purpose of getting the information they desired,\nas modern detectives when tracking out crime so often find it\nnecessary to win the confidence and worm out the secrets of members of\nthe same wretched class. But the emissaries of Joshua were in too\nserious peril, in too devout a mood, and in too high-strung a state of\nnerve to be at the mercy of any Delilah that might wish to lure them\nto careless pleasure. Their faith, their honour, their patriotism, and\ntheir regard to their leader Joshua, all demanded the extremest\ncircumspection and self-control; they were, like Peter, walking on the\nsea; unless they kept their eye on their Divine protector, their\ncourage and presence of mind would fail them, they would be at the\nmercy of their foes.\n\n [6] It is somewhat remarkable that the present village of Riha, at\n or near the site of the ancient Jericho, is noted for its\n licentiousness. The men, it is said, wink at the infidelity of the\n women, a trait of character singularly at variance with the\n customs of the Bedouin. \"At our encampment over 'Ain Ter\u00e2beh (says\n Robinson) the night before we reached this place, we overheard our\n Arabs asking the Khatib for a paper or written charm to protect\n them from the women of Jericho; and from their conversation it\n seemed that illicit intercourse between the latter and strangers\n that come here is regarded as a matter of course. Strange that the\n inhabitants of the valley should have retained this character from\n the earliest ages; and that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah should\n still flourish upon the same accursed soil.\"--\"Researches in\n Palestine,\" i. 553.\n\nWhether disguised or not, the two men had evidently been noticed and\nsuspected when they entered the city, which they seem to have done in\nthe dusk of evening. But, happily for them, the streets of Jericho\nwere not patrolled by policemen ready to pounce on suspicious persons,\nand run them in for judicial examination. The king or burgomaster of\nthe place seems to have been the only person with whom it lay to deal\nwith them. Whoever had detected them, after following them to Rahab's\nhouse, had then to resort to the king's residence and give their\ninformation to him. Rahab had an inkling of what was likely to follow,\nand being determined to save the men, she hid them on the roof of the\nhouse, and covered them with stalks of flax, stored there for domestic\nuse. When, after some interval, the king's messengers came, commanding\nher to bring them forth since they were Israelites come to search the\ncity, she was ready with her plausible tale. Two men had indeed come\nto her, but she could not tell who they were,--it was no business of\nhers to be inquisitive about them; the men had left just before the\ngates were shut, and doubtless, if they were alert and pursued after\nthem, they would overtake them, for they could not be far off. The\nking's messengers had not half the wit of the woman; they took her at\nher word, made no search of her house, but set out on the wild-goose\nchase on which she had sent them. Sense and spirit failed them alike.\n\nWe are not prepared for the remarkable development of her faith that\nfollowed. This first Canaanite across the Jordan with whom the\nIsraelites met was no ordinary person. Rays of Divine light had\nentered that unhallowed soul, not to be driven back, not to be hidden\nunder a bushel, but to be welcomed, and ultimately improved and\nfollowed. Our minds are carried forward to what was so impressive in\nthe days of our Lord, when the publicans and the harlots entered into\nthe kingdom before the scribes and the pharisees. We are called to\nadmire the riches of the grace of God, who does not scorn the moral\nleper, but many a time lays His hand upon him, and says \"I will, be\nthou clean.\" \"They shall come from the east, and from the west, and\nfrom the north, and from the south, and shall enter into the kingdom\nof heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer\ndarkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\"\n\nIn the first place, Rahab made a most explicit confession of her\nfaith, not only in Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews, but in Him as\nthe one only God of heaven and earth. It would have been nothing had\nshe been willing to give to the Hebrew God a place, a high place, or\neven the highest place among the gods. Her faith went much further.\n\"The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in earth beneath.\"\nThis is an exclusive faith--Baal and Ashtoreth are nowhere. What a\nremarkable conviction to take hold of such a mind! All the traditions\nof her youth, all the opinions of her neighbours, all the terrors of\nher priests set at nought, swept clean off the board, in face of the\noverwhelming evidence of the sole Godhead of Jehovah!\n\nAgain, she explained the reason for this faith. \"We have heard how the\nLord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of\nEgypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were\non the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.\"\nThe woman has had an eye to see and an ear to hear. She has not gazed\nin stupid amazement on the marvellous tokens of Divine power displayed\nbefore the world, nor accepted the sophistry of sceptics referring all\nthese marvels to accidental thunderstorms and earthquakes and high\nwinds. She knew better than to suppose that a nation of slaves by\ntheir own resources could have eluded all the might of Pharaoh,\nsubsisted for forty years in the wilderness, and annihilated the\nforces of such renowned potentates as Sihon and Og. She was no\nphilosopher, and could not have reasoned on the doctrine of causation,\nbut her common sense taught her that you cannot have extraordinary\neffects without corresponding causes. It is one of the great\nweaknesses of modern unbelief that with all its pretensions to\nphilosophy, it is constantly accepting effects without an adequate\ncause. Jesus Christ, though He revolutionized the world, though He\nfounded an empire to which that of the C\u00e6sars is not for a moment to\nbe compared, though all that were about Him admitted His supernatural\npower and person, after all, was nothing but a man. The gospel that\nhas brought peace and joy to so many weary hearts, that has\ntransformed the slaves of sin into children of heaven, that has turned\ncannibals into saints, and fashioned so many an angelic character out\nof the rude blocks of humanity, is but a cunningly devised fable. What\ncontempt for such sophistries, such vain explanations of facts patent\nto all would this poor woman have shown! How does she rebuke the many\nthat keep pottering in poor natural explanations of plain supernatural\nfacts, instead of manfully admitting that it is the Arm of God that\nhas been revealed, and the Voice of God that has spoken!\n\nFurther, Rahab informed the spies that when they heard these things\nthe inhabitants of the land had become faint, their hearts melted, and\nthere remained no more courage in them because of the Israelites. For\nthey felt that the tremendous Power that had desolated Egypt and dried\nup the sea, that had crushed Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of\nBashan like nuts under the feet of a giant, was now close upon\nthemselves. What could they do to arrest the march of such a power,\nand avert the ruin which it was sure to inflict? They had neither\nresource nor refuge--their hearts melted in them. It is when Divine\nPower draws near to men, or when men draw near to Divine Power that\nthey get the right measure of its dimensions and the right sense of\ntheir own impotence. Caligula could scoff at the gods at a distance,\nbut in any calamity no man was more prostrate with terror. It is easy\nfor the atheist or the agnostic to assume a bold front when God is far\noff, but woe betide him when He draws near in war, in pestilence, or\nin death!\n\nIf we ask, How could Rahab have such a faith and yet be a harlot? or\nhow could she have such faith in God and yet utter that tissue of\nfalsehoods about the spies with which she deluded the messengers of\nthe king? we answer that light comes but gradually and slowly to\npersons like Rahab. The conscience is but gradually enlightened. How\nmany men have been slaveholders after they were Christians! Worse than\nthat, did not the godly John Newton, one of the two authors of the\nOlney hymns, continue for some time in the slave trade, conveying\ncargoes of his fellow-creatures stolen from their homes, before he\nawoke to a sense of its infamy? Are there no persons among us calling\nthemselves Christians engaged in traffic that brings awful destruction\nto the bodies and souls of their fellow-men? That Rahab should have\ncontinued as she was after she threw in her lot with God's people is\ninconceivable; but there can be no doubt how she was living when she\nfirst comes into Bible history. And as to her falsehoods, though some\nhave excused lying when practised in order to save life, we do not\nvindicate her on that ground. All falsehood, especially what is spoken\nto those who have a right to trust us, must be offensive to the God of\ntruth, and the nearer men get to the Divine image, through the growing\ncloseness of their Divine fellowship, the more do they recoil from it.\nRahab was yet in the outermost circle of the Church, just touching the\nboundary; the nearer she got to the centre the more would she recoil\nalike from the foulness and the falseness of her early years.\n\nWe have to notice further in Rahab a determination to throw in her lot\nwith the people of God. In spirit she had ceased to be a Canaanite and\nbecome an Israelite. She showed this by taking the side of the spies\nagainst the king, and exposing herself to certain and awful\npunishment if it had been found out that they were in her house. And\nher confidential conversation with them before she sent them away, her\ncordial recognition of their God, her expression of assurance that the\nland would be theirs, and her request for the protection of herself\nand her relations when the Israelites should become masters of\nJericho, all indicated one who desired to renounce the fellowship of\nher own people and cast in her lot with the children of God. That she\nwas wholly blameless in the way in which she went about this, in\nfavouring the spies against her own nation in this underhand way, we\nwill not affirm; but one cannot look for a high sense of honour in\nsuch a woman. Still, whatever may be said against her, the fact of her\nremarkable faith remains conspicuous and beyond dispute, all the more\nstriking, too, that she is the last person in whom we should have\nexpected to find anything of the kind. That faith beyond doubt was\ndestined to expand and fructify in her heart, giving birth to virtues\nand graces that made her after life a great contrast to what it had\nbeen. No doubt the words of the Apostle might afterwards have been\napplied to her--\"Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are\nsanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by\nthe Spirit of the Lord.\"\n\nAnd yet, though her faith may at this time have been but as a grain of\nmustard seed, we see two effects of it that are not to be despised.\nOne was her protection of the Lord's people, as represented by the\nspies; the other was her concern for her own relations. Father,\nmother, brothers, and sisters and all that they had, were dear to her,\nand she took measures for their safety when the destruction of Jericho\nshould come. She exacted an oath of the two spies, and asked a pledge\nof them, that they would all be spared when the crisis of the city\narrived. And the men passed their oath and arranged for the protection\nof the family. No doubt it may be said that it was only their temporal\nwelfare about which she expressed concern, and for which she made\nprovision. But what more could she have been expected to do at that\nmoment? What more could the two spies have engaged to secure? It was\nplain enough that if they were ever to obtain further benefit from\nfellowship with God's people, their lives must be preserved in the\nfirst instance from the universal destruction which was impending. Her\nanxiety for her family, like her anxiety for herself, may even then\nhave begun to extend beyond things seen and temporal, and a fair\nvision of peace and joy may have begun to flit across her fancy at the\nthought of the vile and degrading idolatry of the Canaanites being\ndisplaced in them by the service of a God of holiness and of love. But\nneither was she far enough advanced to be able as yet to give\nexpression to this hope, nor were the spies the persons to whom it\nwould naturally have been communicated. The usual order in the\nChristian life is, that as anxiety about ourselves begins in a sense\nof personal danger and a desire for deliverance therefrom, so\nspiritual anxiety about the objects of our affection has usually the\nsame beginning. But as it would be a miserable thing for the new life\nto stand still as soon as our personal safety was secured, so it would\nbe a wretched affection that sought nothing more on behalf of our\ndearest friends. When, by accepting Christ, we get the blessing of\npersonal safety, we only reach a height from which we see how many\nother things we need. We become ashamed of our unholy passions, our\nselfish hearts, our godless ways, and we aspire, with an ardour which\nthe world cannot understand, to purity and unselfishness and\nconsecration to God. For our friends we desire the same; we feel for\nthem as for ourselves, that the bondage and pollution of sin are\ndegrading, and that there can be neither peace, nor happiness, nor\nreal dignity for the soul until it is created anew after the image of\nGod.\n\nSome commentators have laid considerable stress on the line of scarlet\nthread that was to be displayed in the window by which the spies had\nbeen let down, as a token and remembrance that that house was to be\nspared when the victorious army should enter Jericho. In that scarlet\nthread they have seen an emblem of atonement, an emblem of the blood\nof Christ by which sinners are redeemed. To us it seems more likely\nthat, in fixing on this as the pledge of safety, the spies had in view\nthe blood sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of the Hebrew houses\nin Egypt by which the destroying angel was guided to pass them by. The\nscarlet rope had some resemblance to blood, and for this reason its\nspecial purpose might be more readily apprehended. Obviously the spies\nhad no time to go into elaborate explanations at the moment. It is to\nbe observed that, as the window looked to the outside of the city, the\ncord would be observed by the Israelites and the house recognised as\nthey marched round and round, according to the instructions of Joshua.\nNot a man of all the host but would see it again and again, as they\nperformed their singular march, and would mark the position of the\nhouse so carefully that its inmates, gathered together like the family\nof Noah in the ark, would be preserved in perfect safety.\n\nThe stratagem of Rahab, and the mode of flight which she recommended\nto the spies, fruits of woman's ready wit and intuitive judgment,\nwere both successful. She reminds us of the self-possession of Jael,\nor of Abigail, the wife of Nabal. In the dark, the spies escaped to\nthe mountain,--the rugged rampart which bounded the valley of the\nJordan on the west. Hiding in its sequestered crevices for three days,\ntill the pursuit of the Jerichonians was over, they stole out under\ncover of darkness, recrossed the Jordan, told Joshua of their stirring\nand strange adventure, and wound up with the remark that the hearts of\nthe people of the country were melting because of them. How often is\nthis true, though unbelief cannot see it! When Jesus told His\ndisciples that He beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven, He\ntaught us that those who set themselves against Him and His cause are\nfallen powers, no longer flushed with victory and hope, but defeated\nand dejected, and consciously unable to overcome the heaven-aided\nforces that are against them. Well for all Christian philanthropists\nand missionaries of the Cross, and brave assailants of lust and greed\nand vice and error, to bear this in mind! The cause of darkness never\ncan triumph in the end, it has no power to rally and rush against the\ntruth; if only the servants of Christ would be strong and of a good\ncourage, they too would find that the boldest champions of the world\ndo faint because of them.\n\nWhen the spies return to Joshua and tell him all that has befallen\nthem, he accepts their adventure as a token for good. They have not\ngiven him any hint how Jericho is to be taken; but, what is better,\nthey have shown him that the outstretched arm of God has been seen by\nthe heathen, and that the inhabitants of the country are paralysed on\naccount of it. The two spies were a great contrast to the ten that\naccompanied Joshua and Caleb so long before: the ten declared the\nland unassailable; the two looked on it as already conquered--\"The\nLord hath delivered into our hands all the land.\" Children of Israel,\nyou must not be outdone in faith by a harlot; believe that God is with\nyou, go up, and possess the land!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_JORDAN REACHED._\n\nJOSHUA iii. 1-7.\n\n\nThe host of Israel had been encamped for some time at Shittim on the\neast side of the river Jordan. It is well to understand the\ngeographical position. The Jordan has its rise beyond the northern\nboundary of Palestine in three sources, the most interesting and\nbeautiful of the three being one in the neighbourhood of C\u00e6sarea\nPhilippi. The three streamlets unite in the little lake now called\nHuleh, but Merom in Bible times. Issuing from Merom in a single stream\nthe Jordan flows on to the lake of Galilee or Gennesareth, and from\nthence, in a singularly winding course, to the Dead Sea. Its course\nbetween the lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea is through a kind of\nravine within a ravine; the outer ravine is the valley or plain of\nJordan, now called by the Arabs El Ghor, which is about six miles in\nwidth at its northern part, and considerably more at its southern,\nwhere the Israelites now were. Within this \"El Ghor\" is a narrower\nravine about three-quarters of a mile in width, in the inner part of\nwhich flows the river, its breadth varying from twenty to sixty yards.\nSome travellers say that the Jordan does not now rise so high as\nformerly, but others tell us they have seen it overflowing its banks\nat the corresponding season. But \"the plain\" is not fertilized by the\nrising waters: hence the reason why the banks of the river are not\nstudded with towns as in Egypt. It is quite possible, however, that in\nthe days of Abraham and Lot artificial irrigation was made use of:\nhence the description given of it then that it was \"like the land of\nEgypt\" (Gen. xiii. 10). If it be remarked as strange that Jordan\nshould have overflowed his banks \"in time of harvest\" (Josh. iii. 15)\nwhen usually rain does not fall in Palestine, it is to be remembered\nthat all the sources of the Jordan are fountains, and that fountains\ndo not usually feel the effects of the rain until some time after it\nhas fallen. The harvest referred to is the barley harvest, and near\nJericho that harvest must have occurred earlier than throughout the\ncountry on account of the greater heat.\n\nThe host of Israel lay encamped at Shittim, or Abel Shittim, \"the\nmeadow or moist place of the acacias,\" somewhere in the Arboth-Moab or\nfields of Moab. The exact spot is unknown, but it was near the foot of\nthe Moabite mountains, where the streams, coming down from the heights\non their way to the Jordan, caused a luxuriant growth of acacias, such\nas are still found in some of the adjacent parts. Sunk as this part of\nthe plain is far below the level of the Mediterranean, and enclosed by\nthe mountains behind it as by the walls of a furnace, it possesses an\nalmost tropical climate which, though agreeable enough in winter and\nearly spring, would have been unbearable to the Israelites in the\nheight of summer. It was while Israel \"abode in Shittim,\" during the\nlifetime of Moses, that they were seduced by the Moabites to join in\nthe idolatrous revels of Baal-peor and punished with the plague. The\nacacia groves gave facilities for the unhallowed revelling. That\nchastisement had brought them into a better spirit, and now they were\nprepared for better things.\n\nThe Jordan was not crossed then by bridges nor by ferry boats; the\nonly way of crossing was by fords. The ford nearest to Jericho, now\ncalled El Mashra'a, is well known; it was the ford the Israelites\nwould have used had the river been fordable; and perhaps the tradition\nis correct that there the crossing actually took place. When the spies\ncrossed and recrossed the river it must have been by swimming, as it\nwas too deep for wading at the time; but though this mode of crossing\nwas possible for individuals, it was manifestly out of the question\nfor a host. That the Israelites could by no possibility cross at that\nseason must have been the forlorn hope of the people of Jericho;\npossibly they smiled at the folly of Joshua in choosing such a time of\nthe year, and asked in derision, How is he ever to get over?\n\nThe appointed day for leaving Shittim has come, and Joshua, determined\nto lose no time, rises \"early in the morning.\" Nor is it without a\npurpose that so often in the Old Testament narrative, when men of\nmight commence some great undertaking, we are told that it was early\nin the morning. In all hot climates work in the open air, if done at\nall, must be done early in the morning or in the evening. But, besides\nthis, morning is the appropriate time for men of great energy and\ndecision to be astir; and it readily connects itself with the New\nTestament text--\"Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving\nthe Lord.\" The benefits of an early start for all kinds of successful\nwork are in the proverbs of all nations; and we may add that few have\nreached a high position in the Christian life who could not say, in\nthe spirit of the hymn, \"early in the morning my song shall rise to\nthee.\" Nor can it easily be understood how under other conditions the\nprecept could be fulfilled--\"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it\nwith thy might.\"\n\nFrom Shittim to the banks of the Jordan is an easy journey of a few\nmiles, the road being all over level ground, so that the march was\nprobably finished before the sun had risen high. However strong their\nfaith, it could not be without a certain tremor of heart that the\npeople would behold the swollen river, and mark the walls and towers\nof Jericho a few miles beyond. Three days are to be allowed, if not\nfor physical, certainly for moral and spiritual preparation for the\ncrossing of the river. The three days are probably the same as those\nadverted to before (chap. i. 3), just as the order to select twelve\nmen to set up twelve stones (chap. iii. 12) is probably the same as\nthat more fully detailed in chap. iv. 2. The host is assembled in\norderly array on the east bank of the Jordan, when the officers pass\nthrough to give instructions as to their further procedure. Three such\ninstructions are given.\n\nFirst, they are to follow the ark. Whenever they see the priests that\nbear it in motion, they are to move from their places and follow it.\nThere was no longer the pillar of fire to guide them--that was a\nwilderness-symbol of God's presence, now superseded by a more\npermanent symbol--the ark. Both symbols represented the same great\ntruth--the gracious presence and guidance of God, and both called the\npeople to the same duty and privilege, and to the same assurance of\nabsolute safety so long as they followed the Lord. Familiar sights are\napt to lose their significance, and the people must have become so\nfamiliar with the wilderness-pillar that they would hardly think what\nit meant. Now a different symbol is brought forward. The ark carried\nin solemn procession by the priests is now the appointed token of\nGod's guidance, and therefore the object to be unhesitatingly\nfollowed. A blessed truth for all time was clearly shadowed forth.\nFollow God implicitly and unhesitatingly in every time of danger, and\nyou are safe. Set aside the counsels of casuistry, of fear, and of\nworldly wisdom; find out God's will and follow it through good report\nand through evil report, and you will be right. It was thus that\nJoshua and Caleb did, and counselled the people to do, when they came\nback from exploring the land; and now these two were reaping the\nbenefit; while the generation, that would have been comfortably\nsettled in the land if they had done the same, had perished in the\nwilderness on account of their unbelief.\n\nSecondly, a span of two thousand cubits was to be left between the\npeople and the ark. Some have thought that this was designed as a\ntoken of reverence; but this is not the reason assigned. Had it been\ndesigned as a token of reverence, it would have been prescribed long\nbefore, as soon as the ark was constructed, and began to be carried\nwith the host through the wilderness. The intention was, \"that ye may\nknow the way by which you must go\" (ver. 4). If this arrangement had\nnot been made, the course of the ark through the flat plains of the\nJordan would not have been visible to the mass of the host, but only\nto those in the immediate neighbourhood, and the people would have\nbeen liable to straggle and fall into confusion, if not to diverge\naltogether. In all cases, when we are looking out for Divine guidance,\nit is of supreme importance that there be nothing in the way to\nobscure the object or to distort our vision. Alas, how often is this\ndirection disregarded! How often do we allow our prejudices, or our\nwishes, or our worldly interests to come between us and the Divine\ndirection we profess to desire! At some turn of our life we feel that\nwe ought not to take a decisive step without asking guidance from\nabove. But our own wishes bear strongly in a particular direction, and\nwe are only too prone to conclude that God is in favour of our plan.\nWe do not act honestly; we lay stress on all that is in favour of what\nwe like; we think little of considerations of the opposite kind. And\nwhen we announce our decision, if the matter concern others, we are at\npains to tell them that we have made it matter of prayer. But why make\nit matter of prayer if we do so with prejudiced minds? It is only when\nour eye is single that the whole body is full of light. This clear\nspace of two thousand cubits between the people and the ark deserves\nto be remembered. Let us have a like clear space morally between us\nand God when we go to ask His counsel, lest peradventure we not only\nmistake His directions, but bring disaster on ourselves and dishonour\non His name.\n\nThirdly, the people were instructed,--\"Sanctify yourselves, for\nto-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.\" It is an instinct of\nour nature that when we are to meet with some one of superior worldly\nrank preparation must be made for the meeting. When Joseph was\nsummoned into the presence of Pharaoh, and they brought him hastily\nout of the dungeon, \"he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and\ncame in unto Pharaoh.\" The poorest subject of the realm would try to\nwear his best and to look his best in the presence of his sovereign.\nBut while \"man looketh on the outward appearance the Lord looketh on\nthe heart.\" And our very instincts teach us, that the heart needs to\nbe prepared when God is drawing near. It is not in our ordinary\ncareless mood that we ought to stand before Him who \"sets our\niniquities before Him, our secret sins in the light of His\ncountenance.\" Grant that we can neither atone for our sin, nor cleanse\nour hearts without His grace; nevertheless, in God's presence\neverything that is possible ought to be done to remove the abominable\nthing which He hates, so that He may not be affronted and offended by\nits presence. Most appropriate, therefore, was Joshua's\ncounsel,--\"Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders\namong you.\" He will surpass all that your eyes have seen since that\nnight, much to be remembered, when He divided the sea. He will give\nyou a token of His love and care that will amaze you, much though you\nhave seen of it in the wilderness, and in the country of Sihon and Og.\nExpect great things, prepare for great things; and let the chief of\nyour preparations be to sanctify yourselves, for \"the foolish shall\nnot stand in His sight, and He hateth all workers of iniquity.\"\n\nNext day (compare ver. 5, \"to-morrow,\" and ver. 7, \"this day\") Joshua\nturns to the priests and bids them \"take up the ark of the covenant.\"\nThe priests obey; \"they take up the ark, and go before the people.\"\n\nShall we take notice of the assertion of some that all those parts of\nthe narrative which refer to priests and religious service were\nintroduced by a writer bent on glorifying the priesthood? Or must we\nrepel the insinuation that the introduction of the ark, and the\nmiraculous effects ascribed to its presence, are mere myths? If they\nare mere myths, they are certainly myths of a very peculiar kind.\nTwice only in this book is the ark associated with miraculous\nevents--at the crossing of the Jordan and at the taking of Jericho.\nIf these were myths, why was the myth confined to these two occasions?\nWhen mythical writers find a remarkable talisman they introduce it at\nall sorts of times. Why was the ark not brought to the siege of Ai?\nWhy was it absent from the battles of Bethhoron and Merom? Why was its\npresence restricted to the Jordan and Jericho, unless it was God's\npurpose to inspire confidence at first through the visible symbol of\nHis presence, but leave the people afterwards to infer His presence by\nfaith?\n\nThe taking up of the ark by the priests was a decisive step. There\ncould be no resiling now from the course entered on. The priests with\nthe ark must advance, and it will be seen whether Joshua has been\nuttering words without foundation, or whether he has been speaking in\nthe name of God. Shall mere natural forces be brought into play, or\nshall the supernatural might of heaven come to the conflict, and show\nthat God is faithful to His promise?\n\nLet us put ourselves in Joshua's position. We do not know in what\nmanner the communications were carried on between him and Jehovah of\nwhich we have the record under the words \"the Lord spake unto Joshua.\"\nWas it by an audible voice? Or was it by impressions on Joshua's mind\nof a kind that could not have originated with himself, but that were\nplainly the result of Divine influence? In any case, they were such as\nto convey to Joshua a very clear knowledge of the Divine will. Yet\neven in the best of men nature is not so thoroughly subdued in such\ncircumstances but that the shadow of anxiety and fear is liable to\nflit across them. They crave something like a personal pledge that all\nwill go well. Hence the seasonableness of the assurance now given to\nJoshua--\"This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all\nIsrael, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be\nwith thee.\" How full and manifold the assurance! First, I will magnify\nthee. I will endue thee with supernatural might, and that will give\nyou authority and weight, corresponding to the position in which you\nstand. Further, this shall be but the beginning of a process which\nwill be renewed as often as there is occasion for it. \"This day I will\n_begin_.\" You are not to go a warfare on your own charges, but \"as\nyour days, so shall your strength be.\" Moreover, this exaltation of\nyour person and office will take place \"in the sight of all Israel,\"\nso that no man of them shall ever be justified in refusing you\nallegiance and obedience. And to sum up--you shall be just as Moses\nwas; the resources of My might will be as available for you as they\nwere for him. After this, what misgivings could Joshua have? Could he\ndoubt the generosity, the kindness, the considerateness of his Master?\nHere was a promise for life; and no doubt the more he put it to the\ntest in after years the more trustworthy did he find it, and the more\nconvincing was the proof it supplied of the mindfulness of God.\n\nIt is an experience which has been often repeated in the case of those\nwho have had to undertake difficult work for their Master. Of all our\nmisapprehensions, the most baseless and the most pernicious is, that\nGod does not care much about us, and that we have not much to look for\nfrom Him. It is a misapprehension which dishonours God greatly, and\nwhich He is ever showing Himself most desirous to remove. It stands\nfearfully in the way of that spirit of trust by which God is so much\nhonoured, and which He is ever desirous that we should show. And\nthose who have trusted God, and have gone forward to their work in His\nstrength, have always found delightful evidence that their trust has\nnot been in vain. What is the testimony of our great Christian\nphilanthropists, our most successful missionaries, and other devoted\nChristian workers? Led to undertake enterprises far beyond their\nstrength, and undergo responsibilities far beyond their means, we know\nnot a single case in which they have not had ample proof of the\nmindfulness of their Master, and found occasion to wonder at the\nconsiderateness and the bountifulness which He has brought to bear\nupon their position. And is it not strange that we should be so slow\nto learn how infinite God is in goodness? That we should have no\ndifficulty in believing in the goodness of a parent or of some kind\nfriend who has always been ready to help us in our times of need, but\nso slow to realize this in regard to God, though we are constantly\nacknowledging in words that He is the best as well as the greatest of\nbeings? It is a happy era in one's spiritual history when one escapes\nfrom one's contracted views of the love and liberality of God, and\nbegins to realize that \"as far as heaven is above the earth, so far\nare His ways above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts\"; and\nwhen one comes to find that in one's times of need, whether arising\nfrom one's personal condition or from the requirements of public\nservice, one may go to God for encouragement and help with more\ncertainty of being well received than one may go to the best and\nkindest of friends.\n\nIt is sometimes said that the Old Testament presents us with a\nsomewhat limited view of God's love. Certainly it is in the New\nTestament that we see it placed in the brightest of all lights--the\nCross, and that we find the argument in its most irresistible\nform--\"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us\nall, how shall He not, with Him also, freely give us all things?\" But\none must have read the Old Testament in a very careless spirit if one\nhas not been struck with its frequent and most impressive revelations\nof God's goodness. What scenes of gracious intercourse with His\nservants does it not present from first to last, what outpourings of\naffection, what yearnings of a father's heart! If there were many in\nOld Testament times whom these revelations left as heedless as they\nfound them, there were certainly some whom they filled with wonder and\nroused to words of glowing gratitude. The Bible is not wont to repeat\nthe same thought in the same words. But there is one truth and one\nonly which we find repeated again and again in the Old Testament, in\nthe same words, as if the writers were never weary of them--\"For His\nmercy endureth for ever.\" Not only is it the refrain of a whole psalm\n(cxxxvi.), but we find it at the beginning of three other psalms\n(cvi., cvii., cxviii.), we find it in David's song of dedication when\nthe ark was brought up to Jerusalem (1 Chron. xvi. 34), and we find\nalso that on the same occasion a body of men, Heman and Jeduthun and\nothers, were told off expressly \"to give thanks to the Lord, because\nHis mercy endureth for ever\" (1 Chron. xvi. 41). This, indeed, is the\ngreat truth which gives the Old Testament its highest interest and\nbeauty. In the New Testament, in its evangelical setting, it shines\nwith incomparable brightness. Vividly realized, it makes the\nChristian's cup to flow over; as it fills him likewise with the hope\nof a joy to come--\"a joy unspeakable and full of glory.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_JORDAN DIVIDED._\n\nJOSHUA iii.\n\n\nAt Joshua's command, the priests carrying the ark are again in motion.\nBearing the sacred vessel on their shoulders, they make straight for\nthe bank of the river. \"The exact spot is unknown; it certainly cannot\nbe that which the Greek tradition has fixed, where the eastern banks\nare sheer precipices of ten or fifteen feet high. Probably it was\neither immediately above or below, where the cliffs break away; above\nat the fords, or below where the river assumes a tamer character on\nits way to the Dead Sea.\"[7] Following the priests, at the interval of\na full half-mile, was the host of Israel. \"_There_ was the mailed\nwarrior with sword and shield, and the aged patriarch, trembling on\nhis staff. Anxious mothers and timid maidens were there, and helpless\ninfants of a day old; and there, too, were flocks and herds and all\nthe possessions of a great nation migrating westward in search of a\nhome. Before them lay their promised inheritance,\n\n 'While Jordan rolled between,'\n\nfull to the brim, and overflowing all its banks. Nevertheless, through\nit lies their road, and God commands the march. The priests take up\nthe sacred ark and bear it boldly down to the brink; when lo! 'the\nwaters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very\nfar from the city Adam, that is before Zaretan: and those that came\ndown toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed, and were\ncut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.' And thus,\ntoo, has all-conquering faith carried the thousand times ten thousand\nof God's people in triumph through the Jordan of death to the Canaan\nof eternal rest.\"[8]\n\n [7] Stanley's \"Sinai and Palestine,\" p. 303.\n\n [8] \"Land and Book,\" vol. ii., pp. 460-61.\n\nThe description of the parting of the waters is clear enough in the\nmain, though somewhat obscure in detail. The obscurity arises from the\nmeaningless expression in the Authorized Version, \"very far from the\ncity Adam, which is beside Zaretan.\" The Revised rendering gives a\nmuch more natural meaning--\"rose up in one heap, very far off, at\nAdam, the city that is beside Zarethan.\" The names Adam and Zaretan\noccur nowhere else in Scripture, nor are they mentioned by Josephus;\nsome think we have a relic of Adam in the first part of ed-Damieh, the\nname of a ford, and others, following the rendering of the Septuagint,\nwhich has \u1f15\u03c9\u03c2 \u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u039a\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1\u03b8\u03b9\u03b1\u03c1\u03af\u03bc, consider the final \"arim\" to\nbe equivalent to \"adim\" or \"adam,\" the Hebrew letter \"r\" being almost\nthe same as \"d.\" What we are taught is, that the waters were cut off\nfrom the descending river a long way up, while down below the whole\nchannel was laid bare as far as the Dead Sea. The miracle involved an\naccumulation of water in the upper reaches of the river, and as it was\nobviously undesirable that this should continue for a long time,\nenough of the channel was laid bare to enable the great host to cross\nrapidly in a broad belt, and without excitement or confusion. The\nsceptical objection is completely obviated that it was physically\nimpossible for so vast a host to make the passage in a short time.\n\nAs soon as the waters began to retreat, after the feet of the priests\nwere planted in them, the priests passed on to the middle of the\nchannel, and stood there \"firm, on dry ground,\" until all the people\nwere passed clean over. The vast host crossed at once, and drew up on\nthe opposite bank. That no attempt was made by the men of Jericho,\nwhich was only about five miles on, to attack them and stop their\npassage, can be explained only on the supposition that they were\nstricken with panic. One inhabitant undoubtedly heard of the passage\nwithout surprise. Rahab could feel no astonishment that the arm of God\nshould thus be made bare before the people whom He was pledged to\nprotect and guide. As little could she wonder at the paralysis which\nhad petrified her own people.\n\nThe priests passed on before the people, and stood firm in the midst\nof the river until the whole host had passed. It was both a becoming\nthing that they should go before, and that they should stand so firm.\nIt is not always that either priests or Christian ministers have set\nthe example of going before in any hazardous undertaking. They have\nnot always moved so steadily in the van of great movements, nor stood\nso firmly in the midst of the river. What shall we say of those whose\nidea, whether of Hebrew priesthood or of Christian ministry, has been\nthat of a mere office, that of men ordained to perform certain\nmechanical functions, in whom personal character and personal example\nsignified little or nothing? Is it not infinitely nearer to the Bible\nview that the ministers of religion are the leaders of the people, and\nthat they ought as such to be ever foremost in zeal, in holiness, in\nself-denial, in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil? And\nof all men ought they not to stand firm? Where are Mr. Byends, and Mr.\nFacing-Both-Ways, and Mr. Worldly-Wiseman more out of place than in\nthe ministry? Where does even the world look more for consistency and\ndevotion and fearless regard to the will of God? What should we think\nof an army where the officers counted it enough to see to the drill\nand discipline of the men, and in the hour of battle confined\nthemselves to mere mechanical duties, and were outstripped in\nself-denial, in courage, in dash and daring by the commonest of their\nsoldiers? Happy the Church where the officers are officers indeed!\nFeeling ever that their place is in the front rank of the battle and\nin the vanguard of every perilous enterprise, and that it is their\npart to set the men an example of unwavering firmness even when the\nmissiles of death are whistling or bursting on every side!\n\nWho shall try to picture the feelings of the people during that\nmemorable crossing? The outstretched arm of God was even more visibly\nshown than in the crossing of the Red Sea, for in that case a natural\ncause, the strong east wind, contributed something to the effect,\nwhile in this case no secondary cause was employed, the drying up of\nthe channel being due solely to miracle. Who among all that host could\nfail to feel that God was with them? And how solemn yet cheering must\nthe thought have been alike to the men of war looking forward to\nscenes of danger and death, and to the women and children, and the\naged and infirm, dreading otherwise lest they should be trampled down\namid the tumult! But of all whose hearts were moved by the marvellous\ntransaction, Joshua must have been pre-eminent. \"As I was with Moses,\nso I will be with thee.\" At the dividing of the sea the leadership of\nMoses began, and they were all baptized unto him in the cloud and in\nthe sea. And now, in like manner, the leadership of Joshua begins at\nthe dividing of the river, and baptism unto Joshua takes the place of\nbaptism unto Moses. A new chapter of an illustrious history begins as\nits predecessor had begun, but not to be marred and rendered abortive\nby unbelief and disobedience like the last. How true God has been to\nHis word! What wonders He has done among the people! What honour He\nhas put upon Joshua! How worthy He is to be praised! Will disloyalty\nto Him ever occur again, will this marvellous deed be forgotten, and\nthe miserable gods of the heathen be preferred to Jehovah? Will any\nfuture prophet have cause to say, \"O Ephraim, what shall I do unto\nthee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a\nmorning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away\"?\n\nIt is to be especially remarked that God took into His own hands the\nprescription of the method by which this great event was to be\ncommemorated. It seems as if He could not trust the people to do it in\na way that would be free from objection and from evil tendency. It was\nassumed that the event was worthy of special commemoration. True,\nindeed, there had been no special commemoration of the passage of the\nsea, but then the Passover was instituted so near to that event that\nit might serve as a memorial of it as well as of the protection of the\nIsraelites when the firstborn of the Egyptians was slain. And\ngenerally the people had been taught, what their own hearts in some\ndegree recognised, that great mercies should be specially\ncommemorated. The Divine method of commemorating the drying up of the\nJordan was a very simple one. In the first place, twelve men were\nselected, one from every tribe, to do the prescribed work. The\ndemocratic constitution of the nation was recognised--each tribe was\nto take part in it; and as it was a matter in which all were\nconcerned, each person was to take part in the election of the\nrepresentative of his tribe. Then each of these twelve representatives\nwas to take from the bed of the river, from the place where the\npriests had stood with the ark, a stone, probably as large as he could\ncarry. The twelve stones were to be carried to the place where the\nhost lodged that night, and to be erected as a standing memorial of\nthe miracle. It was a very simple memorial, but it was all that was\nneeded. It was not like the proud temples or glorious pyramids of\nEgypt, reared as these were to give glory to man more than to God. It\nwas like Jacob's pillar before, or Samuel's Ebenezer afterwards; void\nof every ornament or marking that could magnify man, and designed for\none single purpose--to recall the goodness of God.\n\nIt would appear, from chap. iv. 9, that two sets of stones were set\nup, Joshua, following the spirit of the Divine direction, having\ncaused a second set to be erected in the middle of the river on the\nspot where the priests had stood. Some have supposed that that verse\nis an interpolation of later date; but, as it occurs in all the\nmanuscripts, and as it is expressly stated in the Septuagint and\nVulgate versions that this was a different transaction from the other,\nwe must accept it as such. The one memorial stood on the spot where\nthe ark had indicated the presence of God, the other where the first\nencampment of the host had shown God's faithfulness to His word. Both\nseemed to proclaim the great truth afterwards brought out in the\nexquisite words of the psalm--\"God is our refuge and our strength; a\nvery present help in time of trouble.\" They might not be needed so\nmuch for the generation that experienced the deliverance; but in\nfuture generations they would excite the curiosity of the children,\nand thus afford an opportunity to the parents to rehearse the\ntransactions of that day, and thrill their hearts with the sense of\nGod's mercy.\n\nAmong devout Israelites, that day was never forgotten. The crossing of\nthe Jordan was coupled with the crossing of the sea, as the two\ncrowning tokens of God's mercy in the history of Israel, and the most\nremarkable exhibitions of that Divine power which had been so often\nshown among them. In that wailing song, the seventy-fourth psalm,\nwhere God's wonderful works of old are contrasted in a very sad spirit\nwith the unmitigated desolations that met the writer's eye, almost in\nthe same breath in which he extols the miracle of the sea, \"Thou didst\ndivide the sea by Thy strength,\" he gives thanks for the miracle of\nthe river, \"Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: Thou driedst\nup mighty rivers.\" And in a song, not of wailing, but of triumph, the\nhundred and fourteenth psalm, we have the same combination:--\n\n \"When Israel went forth out of Egypt,\n The house of Jacob from a people of strange language;\n Judah became His sanctuary,\n Israel His dominion.\n The sea saw it, and fled;\n Jordan was driven back.\n The mountains skipped like rams,\n The little hills like lambs.\n What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest?\n Thou Jordan, that thou turnest back?\n Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams;\n Ye little hills like lambs?\n Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,\n At the presence of the God of Jacob;\n Which turned the rock into a pool of water,\n The flint into a fountain of waters.\"\n\nThe point of this psalm lies in the first verse--in the reference to\nthe time \"when Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a\npeople of strange language.\" Israel on that occasion gave a signal\nproof of his trust in God. At God's bidding, and with none but God to\ntrust in, he turned his back on Egypt, and made for the wilderness. It\nwas a delight to God to receive this mark of trust and obedience, and\nin recognition of it the mightiest masses and forces of nature were\nmoved or arrested. The mountains and hills skipped like living\ncreatures, and the sea saw it and fled. It seemed as if God could not\ndo too much for His people. It was the same spirit that was shown when\nthey followed Joshua to the river. They showed that they trusted God.\nThey renounced the visible and the tangible for the invisible and the\nspiritual. They rose up at Joshua's command, or rather at the command\nof God by Joshua; and, pleased with this mark of trust, God caused the\nwaters of the Jordan to part asunder. Surely there is something\npathetic in this; the Almighty is so pleased when His children trust\nHim, that to serve them the strongest forces are moved about as if\nthey were but feathers.\n\nIn many ways the truth has been exemplified in later times. When a\nyoung convert, at home or abroad, takes up decided ground for Christ,\ncoming out from the world and becoming separate, very blessed tokens\nof God's nearness and of God's interest are usually given him. And\nChurches that at the call of Christ surrender their worldly\nadvantages, receive tokens of spiritual blessing that infinitely\noutweigh in sweetness and in spiritual value all that they lose. \"Them\nthat honour Me, I will honour.\"\n\nOccurrences of more recent times show clearly that God did well in\ntaking into His own hands the prescription of the way in which the\ncrossing of the Jordan was to be commemorated. Tradition has it that\nit was at the same place where Joshua crossed that Jesus was baptized\nby John. That may well be doubted, for the Bethabara where John was\nbaptizing was probably at a higher point of the river. But it is quite\npossible that it was at this spot that Elijah's mantle smote the\nriver, and he and his servant passed over on dry ground. Holding that\nall these events occurred at the same place, tradition has called in\nthe aid of superstition, and given a sacred character to the waters of\nthe river at this spot. Many have seen, and every one has read of the\npilgrimage to the Jordan, performed every spring, from which many hope\nto reap such advantage. \"In the mosaics of the earliest churches at\nRome and Ravenna,\" says Dean Stanley, \"before Christian and pagan art\nwere yet divided, the Jordan appears as a river god pouring his\nstreams out of his urn. The first Christian emperor had always hoped\nto receive his long-deferred baptism in the Jordan, up to the moment\nwhen the hand of death struck him at Nicomedia.... Protestants, as\nwell as Greeks and Latins, have delighted to carry off its waters for\nthe same sacred purpose to the remotest regions of the West.\"\n\nNo doubt the expectation of spiritual benefit from the waters of the\nJordan is one cause of the annual pilgrimage thither, and of the\nstrange scene that presents itself when the pilgrims are bathing. It\nseems impossible for man, except under the influence of the strongest\nspiritual views, to avoid the belief that somehow mechanical means may\ngive rise to spiritual results. There is nothing from which he is\nnaturally more averse than spiritual activity. Any amount of\nmechanical service he will often render to save him from spiritual\nexercise. Symbols without number he will willingly provide, if he\nthereby escape the necessity of going into the immediate presence of\nGod, and worshipping Him who is a Spirit in spirit and in truth. But\ncan mechanical service or material symbols be anything but an evil, if\nthe would-be worshipper is thereby prevented from recognising the\nnecessity of a heart-to-heart fellowship with the living God? Must we\nnot be in living touch with God if the stream of Divine influence is\nto reach our hearts, and we are to be changed into His image? In the\nPsalms, which express the very essence of Hebrew devotion, spiritual\ncontact with God is the only source of blessing. \"O God, Thou art my\nGod; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh\nlongeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water.\nTo see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the\nsanctuary.\"\n\nThus it was that by God's prescription the twelve plain stones taken\nout of the Jordan were the only memorial of the great deliverance.\nThere was no likeness on them of the Divine Being by whom the miracle\nhad been performed. There was nothing to encourage acts of reverence\nor worship directed toward the memorial. Twelve rough stones, with no\nsculptured figures or symbols, not even dressed by hammer and chisel,\nbut simply as they were taken out of the river, were the memorial.\nThey were adapted for one purpose, and for one only: \"When your\nchildren shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean\nthese stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel\ncame over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the\nwaters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as\nthe Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up from before\nus, until we were gone over: that all the people of the earth might\nknow the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the\nLord your God for ever.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_CIRCUMCISION AND PASSOVER--MANNA AND CORN._\n\nJOSHUA v. 1-12.\n\n\nThe first two facts recorded in this chapter seem to be closely\nconnected with each other. One is, that when all the Amorite and\nCanaanite kings on the west side of the Jordan heard of the miraculous\ndrying up of the waters and the passage of the Israelites, \"their\nheart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more.\" The other\nis, that the opportunity was taken then and there to circumcise the\nwhole of the generation that had been born after leaving Egypt. But\nfor the fact recorded in the first verse, it would have been the most\nunsuitable time that could be conceived for administering\ncircumcision. The whole male population would have been rendered\nhelpless for the time, and an invitation would have been given to the\nmen of Jericho to commit such a massacre as in the like circumstances\nthe sons of Jacob inflicted on the men of Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 25).\nWhy was not this business of circumcising performed while the host\nwere lying inactive on the other side, and while the Jordan ran\nbetween Israel and his foes? It was because the kings of the\nCanaanites were petrified. It is true they plucked up courage\nby-and-by, and many of the kings entered into a league against Joshua.\nBut this was after the affair of Ai, after the defeat of the\nIsraelites before that city had showed that, as in the case of\nAchilles, there was a vulnerable spot somewhere, notwithstanding the\nprotection of their God. Meanwhile the people of Jericho were\nparalysed, for though the whole male population of Israel under forty\nlay helpless in their tents, not a finger was raised by the enemy\nagainst them.\n\nIt is with no little surprise that we read that circumcision had been\nsuspended during the long period of the wilderness sojourn. Why was\nthis? Some have said that, owing to the circumstances in which the\npeople were, it would not have been convenient, perhaps hardly\npossible, to administer the rite on the eighth day. Moving as they\nwere from place to place, the administration of circumcision would\noften have caused so much pain and peril to the child, that it is no\nwonder it was delayed. And once delayed, it was delayed indefinitely.\nBut this explanation is not sufficient. There were long, very long\nperiods of rest, during which there could have been no difficulty. A\nbetter explanation, brought forward by Calvin, leads us to connect the\nsuspension of circumcision with the punishment of the Israelites, and\nwith the sentence that doomed them to wander forty years in the\nwilderness. When the worship of the golden calf took place, the nation\nwas rejected, and the breaking by Moses of the two tables of stone\nseemed an appropriate sequel to the rupture of the covenant which\ntheir idolatry had caused. And though they were soon restored, they\nwere not restored without certain drawbacks,--tokens of the Divine\ndispleasure. Afterwards, at the great outburst of unbelief in\nconnection with the report of the spies, the adult generation that had\ncome out of Egypt were doomed to perish in the wilderness, and, with\nthe exception of Joshua and Caleb, not one of them was permitted to\nenter the land of promise. Now, though it is not expressly stated, it\nseems probable that the suspension of circumcision was included in the\npunishment of their sins. They were not to be allowed to place on\ntheir children the sign and seal of a covenant which in spirit and in\nreality they had broken.\n\nBut it was not an abolition, but only a suspension of the sacrament\nfor a time that took place. The time might come when it would be\nrestored. The natural time for this would be the end of the forty\nyears of chastisement. These forty years had now come to an end.\nDoubtless it would have been a great joy to Moses if it had been given\nhim to see the restoration of circumcision, but that was not to take\nplace until the people had set foot on Abraham's land. Now they have\ncrossed the river. They have entered on the very land which God sware\nto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to give it them. And the very first\nthing that is done after this is to give back to them the holy sign of\nthe covenant, which was now administered to every man in the\ncongregation who had not previously received it. We may well think of\nit as an occasion of great rejoicing. The visible token of his being\none of God's children was now borne by every man and boy in the camp.\nIn a sense they now served themselves heirs to the covenant made with\ntheir fathers, and might thus rest with firmer trust on the\npromise--\"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that\ncurseth thee.\"\n\nTwo other points in connection with this transaction demand a word of\nexplanation. The first is the statement that \"all the people that were\nborn in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt,\nthem they had not circumcised\" (ver. 5). If the view be correct that\nthe suspension of circumcision was part of the punishment for their\nsins, the prohibition would not come into operation for some months,\nat all events, after the exodus from Egypt. We think, with Calvin,\nthat for the sake of brevity the sacred historian makes a general\nstatement without waiting to explain the exceptions to which it was\nsubject. The other point needing explanation is the Lord's statement\nafter the circumcision--\"This day have I rolled the reproach of Egypt\nfrom off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal\n(_i.e._, Rolling) unto this day.\" How could the suspension of\ncircumcision be called the reproach of Egypt? The words imply that,\nowing to the want of this sacrament, they had lain exposed to a\nreproach from the Egyptians, which was now rolled away. The brevity of\nthe statement, and our ignorance of what the Egyptians were saying of\nthe Israelites at the time, make the words difficult to understand.\nWhat seems most likely is, that when the Egyptians heard how God had\nall but repudiated them in the wilderness, and had withdrawn from them\nthe sign of His covenant, they malignantly crowed over them, and\ndenounced them as a worthless race, who had first rejected their\nlawful rulers in Egypt under pretext of religion, and, having shown\ntheir hypocrisy, were now scorned and cast off by the very God whom\nthey had professed themselves so eager to serve. We may be sure that\nthe Egyptians would not be slow to seize any pretext for denouncing\nthe Israelites, and would be sure to make their jibes as sharp and as\nbitter as they could. But now the tables are turned on the Egyptians.\nThe restoration of circumcision stamps this people once more as the\npeople of God. The stupendous miracle just wrought in the dividing of\nthe Jordan indicates the kind of protection which their God and King\nis sure to extend to them. The name of Gilgal will be a perpetual\ntestimony that the reproach of Egypt is rolled away.\n\nCircumcision being now duly performed, the way was prepared for\nanother holy rite for which the appointed season had arrived--the\nPassover. Some have supposed that the Passover as well as circumcision\nwas suspended after the sentence of the forty years' wandering, the\nmore especially that it was expressly enacted that no uncircumcised\nperson was to eat the Passover. We know (Num. ix. 5) that the Passover\nwas kept the second year after they left Egypt, but no other reference\nto it occurs in the history. On this, as on many other points\nconnected with the wilderness history, we must be content to remain in\nignorance. We are not even very sure how far the ordinary sacrifices\nwere offered during that period. It is quite possible that the\nconsiderations that suspended the rite of circumcision applied to\nother ordinances. But whether or not the Passover was observed in the\nwilderness, we may easily understand that after being circumcised the\npeople would observe it with a much happier and more satisfied\nfeeling. There were many things to make this Passover memorable. The\ncrossing of the Jordan was so like the crossing of the Red Sea that\nthe celebration in Egypt could not fail to come back vividly to all\nthe older people,--those that were under twenty at the exodus, to whom\nthe sentence of exclusion from Canaan did not apply (Num. xiv. 29).\nMany of these must have looked on while their fathers sprinkled the\nlintels and door posts with the blood of the lamb, and must have\nlistened to the awful death-cry of the firstborn of the Egyptians.\nThey must have remembered well that memorable midnight when all were\nin such excitement marching away from Egypt; and not less vividly must\nthey have remembered the terror that seized them when the Egyptian\nhost was seen in pursuit; and then again the thrill of triumph with\nwhich they passed between the crystal walls, under the glow of the\nfiery pillar; and once more the triumphant notes of Miriam's timbrel\nand the voices of the women, \"Sing unto the Lord, for He hath\ntriumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He hath cast into the\nsea.\" And now these days of glory were coming back! As surely as the\npassage of the sea had been followed by the destruction of the\nEgyptians, so surely would the passage of the Jordan be followed by\nthe destruction of the Canaanites. Glorious things were spoken of the\ncity of their God. The benediction of Moses was about to receive a new\nfulfilment--\"Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people\nsaved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy\nexcellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou\nshalt tread upon their high places.\"\n\nThe remembrance of the past is often an excellent preparation for the\ntrials of the future, and as often it proves a remarkable support\nunder them. It was the very nature of the Passover to look back to the\npast, and to recall God's first great interposition on behalf of His\npeople. It was a precious encouragement both to faith and hope. So\nalso is our Christian Passover. It is a connecting link between the\nfirst and second comings of our Lord. The first coming lends support\nto faith, the second to hope. No exercise of soul can be more\nprofitable than to go back to that memorable day when Christ our\nPassover was sacrificed for us. For then the price of redemption was\npaid in full, and the door of salvation flung wide open. Then the Son\nsealed His love by giving Himself to the cross for us. What blessing,\nwhether for this life or the life to come, was not purchased by that\ntransaction? Life may be dark and stormy, but hope foresees a bright\nto-morrow. \"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye\nalso appear with Him in glory.\"\n\nYet another incident is connected with this transition period of the\nhistory. \"They did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after\nthe passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.\nAnd the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old\ncorn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more;\nbut they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.\" It is\nnot necessary to suppose that they did not partake at all of the\nfruits of the land till the morning after that Passover. The conquest\nof Sihon and Og must have put a large share of produce in their hands,\nand we can hardly suppose that they did not make some use of it. The\nnarrative is so brief that it does not undertake to state every\nmodification that may be applicable to its general statements. The\nmain thing to be noticed is, that while the manna continued to\ndescend, it was the staple article of food; but when the manna was\nwithdrawn, the old corn and other fruits of the country took its\nplace. In other words, the miracle was not continued when it ceased to\nbe necessary. The manna had been a provision for the wilderness, where\nordinary food in sufficient quantity could not be obtained; but now\nthat they were in a land of fields and orchards and vineyards the\nmanna was withdrawn.\n\nWe have already adverted to the Bible law of the supernatural. No\nsanction is given to the idea of a lavish and needless expenditure of\nsupernatural power. A law of economy, we might almost say parsimony,\nprevails, side by side with the exercise of unbounded liberality.\nJesus multiplies the loaves and fishes to feed the multitude, but He\nwill not let one fragment be lost that remains after the feast. A\nsimilar law guides the economy of prayer. We have no right to ask that\nmercies may come to us through extraordinary channels, when it is in\nour power to get them by ordinary means. If it is in our power to\nprocure bread by our labour, we dare not ask it to be sent direct. We\nare only too prone to make prayer at the eleventh hour an excuse for\nwant of diligence or want of courage in what bears on the prosperity\nof the spiritual life. It may be that of His great generosity God\nsometimes blesses us, even though we have made a very inadequate use\nof the ordinary means. But on that we have no right to presume. We are\nfond of short and easy methods where the natural method would be long\nand laborious. But here certainly we find the working of natural law\nin the spiritual world. We cannot look for God's blessing without\ndiligent use of God's appointed means.\n\nMore generally, this occurrence in the history of Israel, the\ncessation of one provision when another comes into operation,\nexemplifies a great law in providence by which the loss of one kind of\nadvantage is compensated by the advent of another. In childhood and\nearly youth we depend for our growth in knowledge on the instructions\nof our teachers. What puzzles us we refer to them, and they guide us\nthrough the difficulty. If they are wise teachers they will not tell\nus everything, but they will put us on the right method to find out.\nStill they are there as a court of appeal, so to speak, and we have\nalways the satisfaction of a last resort. But the time comes when we\nbid farewell to teachers. Happily it is the time when the judgment\nbecomes self-reliant, independent, penetrating. We are thrown mainly\nupon our own resources. And the very fact of our having to depend on\nour own judgment fosters and promotes independence, and fits us better\nfor the responsibilities of life. When we become men we put away\nchildish things. A habit of leaning on others keeps us children; but\ngrappling with difficulties as we find them, and trying to make our\nway through them and over them, promotes manliness. The manna ceases,\nand we eat the fruit of the land.\n\nSo in family life. The affection that binds parents and children,\nbrothers and sisters to one another in the family is both beautiful\nand delightful; and it were no wonder if, on the part of some, there\nwere the desire that their intercourse should suffer no rude break,\nbut go on unchanged for an indefinite time. But it is seldom God's\nwill that family life shall remain unbroken. Often the interruption\ncomes in the rudest and most terrible form--by the death of the head\nof the house. And the circumstances of the family may require that all\nwho are capable of earning anything shall turn out to increase the\nfamily store. It is often a painful and distressing change. But at\nleast it wakens up all who can do anything, it rescues them from the\ntemptation of a slumbering, aimless life, and often draws out useful\ngifts that turn their lives into a real blessing. And there are other\ncompensations. When Sarah died, Isaac was left with an empty heart;\nbut when Rebecca came to him, he was comforted. The precise blank that\ndeath leaves may never be wholly filled, but the heart expands in\nother directions, and with new objects of affection the gnawing void\nceases to be acutely felt. As old attachments are snapped, new are\ngradually formed. And even in old age a law of compensation often\ncomes in; children and children's children bring new interests and\npleasures, and the green hues of youth modify the grey of age.\n\nThen there is the happy experience by which the advent of spiritual\nblessings compensates the loss of temporal. Nothing at first appears\nmore desolate than loss of fortune, loss of health, or loss of some\nprincipal bodily sense--like sight or hearing. But in a Milton\nintellectual vigour, patriotic ardour, and poetic sensibility attain\ntheir noblest elevation, though\n\n \"Cloud and ever-during dark\n Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men\n Cut off, and, for the book of knowledge fair,\n Presented with a universal blank\n Of nature's works, to me expunged and rased,\n And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.\"\n\nIt is the total loss of hearing, the result of a sudden accident, that\nturns the slater, John Kitto, into a most instructive and interesting\nOriental scholar and writer. How often temporal loss has proved in a\nhigher sense spiritual gain, all Christian biography testifies. Such\ninstances are not uncommon as that which the Rev. Charles Simeon\ngives, in speaking of some blind men from Edinburgh whom nearly a\ncentury ago he found at work in a country house in Scotland: \"One of\nthe blind men, on being interrogated with respect to his knowledge of\nspiritual things, answered, 'I never saw till I was blind; nor did I\never know contentment while I had my eyesight, as I do now that I have\nlost it; I can truly affirm, though few know how to credit me, that I\nwould on no account change my present situation and circumstances\nwith any that I ever enjoyed before I was blind.' He had enjoyed\neyesight till twenty-five, and had been blind now about three\nyears.\"[9]\n\n [9] \"Life of Rev. Charles Simeon,\" p. 125.\n\nLastly, of all exchanges in room of old provisions the most striking\nis that which our Lord thus set forth: \"It is expedient for you that I\ngo away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;\nbut if I depart, I will send Him to you.\" If we should think of life,\neven the Christian life, as a mere time of enjoyment, albeit spiritual\nenjoyment, no statement could be more paradoxical or unpalatable. It\nis because life is a training school, and because what we most need in\nthat school is the immediate action of the Divine Spirit on our\nspirits, purifying, elevating, strengthening, guiding all that is\ndeepest in our nature, that our Lord's words are true. Very precious\nhad been the manna that ceased when Jesus left. But more nourishing is\nthe new corn with which the Spirit feeds us. Let us prize it greatly\nso long as we are in the flesh. We shall know the good of it when we\nenter on the next stage of our being. Then, in the fullest sense, the\nmanna will cease, and we shall eat the corn of the land.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n_THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST._\n\nJOSHUA v. 13-15, vi. 1.\n\n\nThe process of circumcision is over, and the men are well; the feast\nof unleavened bread has come to an end; all honour has been paid to\nthese sacred ordinances according to the appointment of God; the manna\nhas ceased, and the people are now depending on the corn of the land,\nof which, in all probability, they have but a limited supply.\nEverything points to the necessity of further action, but it is hard\nto say what the next step is to be. Naturally it would be the capture\nof Jericho. But this appears a Quixotic enterprise. The city is\nsurrounded by a wall, and its gates are \"straitly shut up,\" barred,\nand closely guarded to prevent the entrance of a single Israelite.\nJoshua himself is at a loss. No Divine communication has yet come to\nhim, like that which came as to the crossing of the Jordan. See him\nwalking all alone \"by Jericho,\" as near the city as it is safe for him\nto go. With mind absorbed in thought and eyes fixed on the ground, he\nis pondering the situation, but unable to get light upon it, when\nsomething comes athwart his sphere of vision. He lifts his eyes, and\nright against him perceives a soldier, brandishing his sword.\n\nA less courageous man would have been startled, perhaps frightened.\nHis first thought is, that it is an enemy. None of his own soldiers\nwould have ventured there without his orders, or would have dared to\ntake up such an attitude towards his commander-in-chief. With a\nsoldier's presence of mind, instead of moving off, he assumes an\naggressive attitude, challenges this warrior, and demands whether he\nis friend or foe. If friend, he must explain his presence; if foe,\nprepare for battle. Joshua is himself a thorough soldier, and will\nallow no one to occupy an ambiguous position. \"And Joshua went unto\nhim, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?\"\n\nIf the appearance of the soldier was a surprise, his answer to the\nquestion must have been a greater. \"Nay; but as Captain of the host of\nthe Lord am I now come.\" The \"nay\" deprecates his being either friend\nor foe in the common sense, but especially his being foe. His position\nand his office are far more exalted. As Captain of the host of the\nLord, he is at the head, not of human armies, but of all the\nprincipalities and powers of heavenly places,--\n\n \"The mighty regencies\n Of seraphim, and potentates and thrones.\"\n\nAnd now the real situation flashes on Joshua. This soldier is no other\nthan the Angel of the Covenant, the same who came to Abraham under the\noak at Mamre, and that wrestled with Jacob on the banks of this very\nJordan at Peniel. Joshua could not but remember, when God threatened\nto withdraw from Israel after the sin of the golden calf, and send\nsome created angel to guide them through the wilderness, how earnestly\nMoses remonstrated, and how his whole soul was thrown into the\npleading--\"If Thy presence go not with us, carry me not up hence.\" He\ncould not but remember the intense joy of Moses when this pleading\nproved successful--\"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give\nthee rest.\" There could be little doubt in his mind who this \"Captain\nof the host of Jehovah\" was, and no hesitation on his part in yielding\nto Him the Divine honour due to the Most High. And then he must have\nfelt warmly how very kind and seasonable this appearance was, just at\nthe very moment when he was in so great perplexity, and when his path\nwas utterly dark. It was a new proof that man's extremity is God's\nopportunity. It was just like what used to happen afterwards, when\n\"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,\" and was so promptly at\nhand for His disciples in all times of their tribulation. It was an\nanticipation of the scene when the ship was tossed so violently on the\nwaves, and Jesus appeared with His \"Peace, be still.\" Or, on that\ndreary morning, soon after the crucifixion, after they had spent the\nwhole night on the lake and caught nothing, when Jesus came and\nbrought the miraculous draught of fishes to their nets. It is the\ntruth with which all His suffering and stricken children have been\nmade so familiar in all ages of the Church's history:--that, however\nHe may seem to hide Himself and stand afar off in times of trouble, He\nis in reality ever near, and can never forget that last assurance to\nHis faithful people--\"Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the\nworld.\"\n\nIt is not likely that Joshua found any cause to discuss the question\nthat modern criticism has so earnestly handled, whether this being\nthat now appeared in human form really was Jehovah. And as little does\nit seem necessary for us to discuss it. There seems no good reason to\nreject the view that these theophanies, though not incarnations, were\nyet foreshadows of the incarnation,--hints of the mystery afterwards\nto be realized when Jesus was born of Mary. If these appearances\nlooked like incarnations, it was incarnation after the pagan, not the\nChristian type; momentary alliances of the Divine being with the human\nform or appearance, assumed merely for the occasion, and capable of\nbeing thrown aside as rapidly as they were assumed. This might do very\nwell to foreshadow the incarnation, but it fell a long way short of\nthe incarnation itself. The Christian incarnation was after a type\nnever dreamt of by the pagan mind. That the Son of God should be born\nof a woman, His body formed in the womb by the slow but wonderful\nprocess which \"fashioned all His members in continuance, when as yet\nthere was none of them\" (Psalm cxxxix. 16), and that He should thus\nstand in relations to His fellow-men that could not be obliterated,\nwas very wonderful; but most wonderful of all that the manhood once\nassumed could never be thrown off, but that the Son of God must\ncontinue to be the Son of man, in two distinct natures and one person\nfor ever. The fact that all this has taken place is well fitted to\ngive us unshaken confidence in the love and sympathy of our Elder\nBrother. For He is as really our Brother as He ever was in the days of\nHis flesh, and as full of the care and thoughtful interest that the\nkindest of elder brothers takes in the sorrows and struggles of his\nyounger brethren.\n\nIt has often been remarked as an instructive circumstance, that now,\nas on other occasions, the Angel of the Lord appeared in the character\nmost adapted to the circumstances of His people. He appeared as a\nsoldier with a drawn sword in His hand. A long course of fighting lay\nbefore the Israelites ere they could get possession of their land,\nand the sword in the hand of the Angel was an assurance that He would\nfight with them and for them. It was also a clear intimation that in\nthe judgment of God, it was necessary to use the sword. But it was not\nthe sword of the ambitious warrior who falls upon men simply because\nthey are in his way, or because he covets their territories for his\ncountry. It was the judicial sword, demanding the death of men who had\nbeen tried for their sins, long warned, and at last judicially\ncondemned. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full. We know what\nkind the people were who dwelt near Jericho four or five hundred years\nbefore, while the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah stood in the plain,\ncities that even then were reeking with the foulest corruption. It is\ntrue the judgment of God came down on these cities, but bare judgments\nhave never reformed the world. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah\nremoved the foulest stain-spot for the time, but it did not change the\nhearts nor the habits of the nations. It has seemed good to the Spirit\nof God to give us one glimpse of the foulness that had been reached at\nthat early period, but not to multiply the filthy details at a future\ntime,--after the long interval between Abraham and Joshua. But we know\nthat if Sodom was bad, Jericho was no better. The country as a whole,\nwhich had now filled up its cup of iniquity, was no better. No wonder\nthat the Angel bore a drawn sword in His hand. The longsuffering of\nthe righteous God was exhausted, and Joshua and his people were the\ninstruments by whom the judicial punishment was to be inflicted. The\nCaptain of the Lord's host had drawn His sword from its scabbard to\nshow that the judgment of that wicked people was to slumber no more.\n\nIt was not in this spirit nor in this attitude that the Angel of the\nCovenant had met with Jacob, centuries before, a little higher up the\nriver, at the confluence of the Jabbok. Yet there was not a little\nthat was similar in the two meetings. Like Joshua now, Jacob was then\nabout to enter the land of promise. Like him, he was confronted by an\nenemy in possession, who, in Jacob's case, was bent on avenging the\nwrong of his youth. How that enemy was to be overcome Jacob knew not,\njust as Joshua knew not how Jericho was to be taken. But there was\nthis difference between the two, that in Jacob's case the Angel dealt\nwith him as an opponent; in Joshua's He avowed Himself a friend. The\ndifference was no doubt due to the different dispositions of the two\nmen. Jacob does not seem to have felt that it was only in God's name,\nand in God's strength, and under God's protection that he could enter\nCanaan; he appears to have been trusting too much to his own\ndevices,--especially to the munificent present which he had forwarded\nto his brother. He must be taught the lesson \"Not by might, nor by\npower, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.\" At first Jacob dealt with\nhis opponent simply as an obstructionist; then he discovered His\nDivine rank, and immediately he became the aggressor, and, spite of\nhis dislocated thigh, held on to his opponent, declaring that he would\nnot let Him go except He blessed him. It is otherwise with Joshua. He\nhas no personal matter to settle with God before he is ready to\nadvance into the land. He is in perplexity, and the Angel comes to\nrelieve him. It is neither for reproof nor correction but simply for\nblessing that He is there.\n\nThe appearance of the Angel denoted a special method of communication\nwith Joshua. We have already remarked that we do not know in what\nmanner God's communications to His servant were made before. This\nincident shows that the ordinary method was not that of personal\nintercourse,--probably it was that of impressions made supernaturally\non Joshua's mind. Why, then, is the method changed now? Why does this\nWarrior-angel present Himself in person? Probably because the way in\nwhich Jericho was to be taken was so extraordinary that, to encourage\nthe faith of Joshua and the people, a special mode of announcement had\nto be used. One might have thought this unnecessary after the display\nof Divine power at the crossing of the Jordan. But steadiness of faith\nwas no characteristic of the Israelites, and such as it was it was as\nliable to fail after crossing the Jordan as it had been after crossing\nthe sea. Special means were taken to invigorate it and fit it for the\ncoming strain. It was one of those rare occasions when a personal\nvisit from the Angel of the Covenant was desirable. Something visible\nand tangible was needed, something which might be spoken of and\nreadily understood by the people, and which could not possibly be\ngainsayed.\n\nThe moment that Joshua understood with whom he was conversing, he fell\non his face, and offered to his visitor not only obeisance but\nworship, which the visitor did not decline. And then came a question\nindicating profound regard for his Lord's will, and readiness to do\nwhatsoever he might be told--\"What saith my Lord unto His servant?\" It\ncannot but remind us of the question put by Saul to the Lord while yet\nlying on the ground on the way to Damascus--\"Lord, what wilt Thou have\nme to do?\" Joshua compares favourably with Moses at the burning bush,\nnot only now, but throughout the whole interview. No word of\nremonstrance does he utter, no token of unwillingness or unbelief\ndoes he show. And it cannot be said that the instructions which the\nAngel gave him respecting the taking of Jericho were of a kind to be\neasily accepted. The course to be followed seemed to human wisdom the\nvery essence of silliness. To all appearance there was not a vestige\nof adaptation of means to the end. Yet so admirable is the temper of\nJoshua, that he receives all with absolute and perfect submission. The\nquestion \"What saith my Lord unto His servant?\" is very far from mere\nmatter of courtesy. It is a first principle with Joshua that when the\nmind of God is once indicated there is nothing for him but to obey.\nWhat is he that he should dare to criticise the plans of omnipotence?\nthat he should propose to correct and improve the methods of Divine\nwisdom? Anything of the kind was alike preposterous and irreverent.\n\"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world\nstand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and\nit stood fast.\" \"Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth\neternity, and whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place,\nand with him also who is of a humble and contrite spirit, and who\ntrembleth at My word.\"\n\nThe first answer to the question \"What saith my Lord unto His\nservant?\" is somewhat remarkable. \"Put off thy shoes from off thy\nfeet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy.\" Rationalists have\nexplained this as meaning that this was an ancient shrine of the\nCanaanites, and therefore a place holy in the eyes of Israel; but such\nan idea needs no refutation. Others conceive it to mean that Joshua,\nhaving crossed the Jordan, had now set foot on the land promised to\nthe fathers, and that the soil for that reason was called holy. But if\nthat was the reason for his putting off his shoes, it is difficult to\nsee how he could ever have been justified in again putting them on.\nAnd when God called to Moses out of the bush and bade him do the very\nsame thing, it surely was not because the peninsula of Sinai was holy;\nit was because Moses stood in the immediate presence of the holy God.\nAnd it is simply to remind Joshua of the Divine presence that this\ncommand is given; and being given it is no sooner uttered than obeyed.\n\nAnd then follow God's instructions for the taking of Jericho. Never\nwas such a method propounded to reasonable man, or one more open to\nthe objections and exceptions of worldly wisdom. No arrangement of his\nforces could have been more open to objection than that which God\nrequired of him. He was to march round Jericho once a day for six\nsuccessive days, and seven times on the seventh day, the priests\ncarrying the ark and blowing with trumpets, the men of war going\nbefore, and others following the ark, making a long narrow line round\nthe place. We know that the city was provided with gates, like other\nfortified cities. What was there to prevent the men of Jericho from\nsallying out at each of the gates, breaking up the line of Israel into\nsections, separating them from each other, and inflicting dreadful\nslaughter on each? Such a march round the city seems to be the very\nway to invite a murderous attack. But it is the Divine command. And\nthis process of surrounding the city is to be carried on in absolute\nsilence on the part of the people, with no noise save the sounding of\ntrumpets until a signal is given; then a great shout is to be raised,\nand the walls of Jericho are to fall down flat on the ground. Who\nwould have thought it strange if Joshua had been somewhat staggered by\nso singular directions, and if, like Moses at the bush, he had\nsuggested all manner of objections, and shown the greatest\nunwillingness to undertake the operation? The noble quality of his\nfaith is shown in his raising no objection at all. After God has thus\nanswered his question, \"What saith my Lord unto His servant?\" he is\njust as docile and submissive as he was before. True faith is blind to\neverything except the Divine command. When God has given him his\norders, he simply communicates them to the priests and to the people.\nHe leaves the further development of the plan in God's hands, assured\nthat He will not leave His purpose unfulfilled.\n\nNor do the priests or the people appear to have made any objection on\ntheir part. The plan no doubt exposed them to two things which men do\nnot like, ridicule and danger. Possibly the ridicule was as hard to\nbear as the danger. God would protect them from the danger, but who\nwould shield them from the ridicule? Even if at the end of the seven\ndays, the promised result should take place, would it not be hard to\nmake themselves for a whole week the sport of the men of Jericho, who\nwould ask all that time whether they had lost their senses, whether\nthey imagined that they would terrify them into surrender by the sound\nof their rams' horns? How often, especially in the case of young\npersons, do we find this dread of ridicule the greatest obstacle to\nChristian loyalty? And even where they have the strongest conviction\nthat ere long the laugh, if laughter may be spoken of in the case,\nwill be turned against their tormentors, and that it will be clearly\nseen who the men are whom the King delighteth to honour, what misery\nis caused for the time by ridicule, and how often do the young prove\ntraitors to Christ rather than endure it? All the more remarkable is\nthe steadiness of the priests and people on this occasion. We cannot\nthink that this was due simply and solely to their loyalty to the\nleader to whom they had recently sworn allegiance. We cannot but\nbelieve that personal faith animated many of them, the same faith as\nthat of Joshua himself. Their wilderness training and trials had not\nbeen in vain; the manifest interposition of God in the defeat of Sihon\nand Og had sunk into their hearts; the miraculous passage of the river\nhad brought God very near to them; and it was doubtless in a large\nmeasure their conviction that He who had begun the work of conquest\nfor them would carry it on to the end, that procured for Joshua's\nannouncement the unanimous acquiescence and hearty support alike of\npriests and people.\n\nAnd hence, too, the reason why, in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews,\nthe falling down of the walls of Jericho is specially accounted for as\nthe result of faith: \"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after\nthey were compassed about seven days\" (ver. 30). The act of faith lay\nin the conviction that God, who had prescribed the method of attack,\nfoolish though it seemed, would infallibly bring it to a successful\nissue. It was not merely Joshua's faith, but the priests' faith, and\nthe people's faith, that shone in the transaction. Faith repelled the\nidea that the enemy would sally forth and break their ranks; it\ntriumphed over the scorn and ridicule which would certainly be poured\non them; it knew that God had given the directions, and it was\nconvinced that He would bring all to a triumphant issue. Never had the\nspiritual thermometer risen so high in Israel, and seldom did it rise\nso high at any future period of their history. That singular week,\nspent in marching round Jericho again and again and again, was one of\nthe most remarkable ever known; the people were near heaven, and the\ngrace and peace of heaven seem to have rested on their hearts.\n\nWe sometimes speak of \"ages of faith.\" There have been times when the\ndisposition to believe in the unseen, in the presence and power of\nGod, and in the certain success at last of all that is done in\nobedience to His will, has dominated whole communities, and led to a\nwonderful measure of holy obedience. Such a period was this age of\nJoshua. We cannot say, thinking of ourselves, that the present is an\nage of faith. Rather, on the part of the masses, it is an age when the\nsecular, the visible, the present lords it over men's minds. Yet we\nare not left without splendid examples of faith. The missionary\nenterprise that contemplates the conquest of the whole world for\nChrist, because God has given to His Messiah the heathen for His\ninheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for His possession,\nand that looks forward to the day when this promise shall be fulfilled\nto the letter, is a fruit of faith. And the ready surrender of so many\nyoung lives for the world's evangelization, as missionaries, and\nteachers, and medical men and women, is a crowning proof that faith is\nnot dead among us. Would only it were a faith that pervaded the whole\ncommunity,--princes, priests, and people alike; and that there were a\nharmony among us in the attack on the strongholds of sin and Satan as\ngreat as there was in the host of Israel when the people, one in heart\nand one in hope, marched out, day after day, round the walls of\nJericho!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n_THE FATE OF JERICHO._\n\nJOSHUA vi. 8-27.\n\n\nThe instructions of Joshua to the priests and the people are promptly\nobeyed. In the bright rays of the morning sun, on the day when Jericho\nis to be surrounded, the plain between the Jordan and Jericho, a space\nof some five miles, may be seen dotted over with the tents of Israel,\narranged in that orderly manner which had been prescribed by Moses in\nthe wilderness. The whole encampment is astir in the prospect of great\nevents. The erect carriage, the flashing eye, the compressed lip of\nthe soldiers show that something great and unusual is expected.\nBy-and-by, there is a stir near the spot where the ark rests, and,\nborne on the shoulders of the priests, the sacred vessel is seen in\nmotion in the direction of Jericho. Right in front of it are seven\npriests carrying trumpets of rams' horns, or, as some render it,\njubilee horns. The procession of the ark halts a little, till a body\nof armed men advance and form in front of it. Others of the people\ntake up their places in the rear. The seven priests sound their\ntrumpets, and the procession moves on. Their course is round the walls\nof Jericho, far enough removed to be beyond the reach of the arrows of\nits defenders. Not a shout is raised. Not a sound is heard, save that\nof the trumpets of the seven priests. At last the procession returns\nto the camp, leaving Jericho just as it found it. Next day the same\nprocess is repeated; and the next, and the next, on to the sixth. On\nthe seventh day, the march begins early and is continued late. The\nspirits of the people are sustained during their weary, monotonous\ntramp by the expectation of a crisis. At length, when the seventh\ncircuit has been made, the signal is given by Joshua. The air is rent\nwith the shouts of the people and the noise of the trumpets, and\nimmediately, all round, the wall falls flat to the ground, and the\npeople march straight into the city. Paralysed with astonishment and\nterror, the inhabitants are unable to resist, and lie, men, women and\nchildren, at the mercy of their assailants. And the instructions to\nthe Israelites are to destroy everything that is in the city, both man\nand woman, young and old, ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the\nsword. As for the more solid part of the spoil, the silver and the\ngold and the vessels of brass and iron, they are \"devoted\" to the\nservice of God (the Authorized translation unhappily uses the word\n\"accursed\"). No one is to appropriate a single article to his own use.\nAn exception to the universal massacre was to take place only in the\ncase of the harlot Rahab, who was to be saved, with all her relations,\nin accordance with the solemn promise of the spies.\n\nThere is no difficulty in perceiving the great lesson for all time to\nbe derived from this extraordinary transaction, or the great law of\nthe kingdom of God that was made so conspicuous by it. When we have\nclear indications of the Divine mind as to any course of action, we\nare to advance to it promptly and without fear, even though the means\nat our disposal appear utterly inadequate to the object sought to be\ngained. No man goeth a warfare at his own charges in the service of\nGod. The resources of infinite power avail for that service, and they\nare sure to be brought into play if it be undertaken for God's glory,\nand in accordance with His will. Who could have supposed that the\nfishermen of Galilee would in the end triumph over all the might of\nkings and rulers; over all the influence of priesthoods and systems of\nworship enshrined in the traditions of centuries; over all the\nlearning and intellect of the philosopher, and over all the prejudices\nand passions of the multitude? The secret lay manifestly in the\npromise of Jesus--\"Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the\nworld.\" Who could have thought that the efforts of a poor German\nstudent in Berlin, on behalf of some neglected children, would expand\ninto the widespread and well-rooted \"Inner Mission\" of Wichern? Or\nthat the concern of a prison chaplain for the welfare of some of the\nprisoners after their release would develop into the worldwide work of\nFliedner? Or that the distress of a kind-hearted medical student in\nLondon for a batch of poor boys who \"didn't live nowhere,\" and whose\npale faces, as they lay on a cold night on the roof of a shed, stirred\nin him an irrepressible compassion, would give birth to one of the\nmarvels of London philanthropy,--Dr. Barnardo's twenty institutions,\ncaring for three to four thousand children, in connection with which\nthe announcement could be made that no really destitute child was ever\nturned from its doors? When Carey on his shoemaker's stool\ncontemplated the evangelization of India, there was as great a gulf\nbetween the end and the apparent means, as when the priests blew with\ntheir rams' horns round the walls of Jericho. But Carey felt it to be\na Divine command, and Joshua-like set himself to obey it, leaving to\nGod from whom it came to furnish the power by which the work was to be\ndone. And wherever there have been found men and women of strong faith\nin God, who have looked on His will as recorded in the Scriptures with\nas much reverence as if it had been announced personally to\nthemselves, and who have set themselves to obey that will with a sense\nof its reality, and a faith in God's promised help, like that of\nJoshua as the priests marched round Jericho, the same result has been\nrealized; before Zerubbabel the great mountain has become a plain, and\nsuccess has been achieved worthy of the acknowledgment--\"The Lord hath\ndone great things for us, whereof we are glad.\"\n\nFar more effectual has this brave and thorough method of doing the\nDivine will proved than all the contrivances of compromise and worldly\nwisdom. The attempt to serve two masters has never proved either\ndignified or permanently successful. \"If the Lord be God, follow Him;\nbut if Baal, then follow him;\" but do not attempt to combine in one\nwhat will please God and Baal too. It is the single eye that is full\nof light, and full of blessing. If God really is our Master, all the\nresources of heaven and earth are at our back. If we are able to go\nforward in sole and simple reliance on His might, as David did in the\nconflict with Goliath, all will go well. If we waver in our trust in\nHim, if we fly to the resources of human policy, if we seek\ndeliverance from present evil at whatever cost, we arrest, as it were,\nthe electric current flowing from heaven, and become weak as other\nmen. Still more if we are guilty of deceit and cunning. How different\nwas David confronting Goliath, and David feigning madness before King\nAchish! In the one case a noble hero, in the other a timid, faltering\nchild. It is a dear price we pay for present safety or convenience\nwhen we forfeit the approval of our conscience and the favour of God.\nIt is a sublime attitude that faith takes up even in the face of\noverwhelming danger--\"Lord, it is nothing with Thee to help, whether\nwith many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God;\nfor we rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go against this multitude. O\nLord, Thou art our God; let not man prevail AGAINST THEE\" (2 Chron.\nxiv. 11).\n\nThis, however, is but one half the lesson of the siege of Jericho. The\nother and not less valuable lesson is, that in many good enterprises,\nall that is done may appear for a long time to be labour lost, and not\nto advance us by one step nearer to the object in view. For six days\nthe priests carried the ark round Jericho, but not one stone was\nloosened from the walls, not by one iota did the defences seem to\nyield. Six times on the seventh day there was an equally complete want\nof result. Nay, the seventh perambulation on the seventh day appeared\nto be equally unsuccessful, until the very last moment; but when that\nmoment came, the whole defences of the city came tumbling to the\nground. It is often God's method to do a great deal of work unseen,\nand then on a sudden effect the consummation. And whenever we are\nworking in accordance with God's will, it is our encouragement to\nbelieve that though our visible success is hardly appreciable, yet\ngood and real work is done. For one day is with the Lord as a thousand\nyears, and a thousand years as one day. Sometimes in a thousand years\nGod does not seem to accomplish a good day's work, but at other times\nin a single day He does the work of a thousand years. The reformation\nof the Church in the Middle Ages,--how little progress it seemed to\nmake during weary centuries; and even when victory seemed to be\ndrawing nigh, how thoroughly was it arrested by the martyrdom of Huss\nand Jerome in Bohemia, the extinction of the light of Wicliffe in\nEngland, and the suppression of the Lollards in Scotland! And when in\nProvidence some causes began to operate that seemed to have a bearing\non the desired consummation, such as the invention of printing, the\nrevival of learning, and the love of freedom, how feebly they seemed\nto operate in opposition to that overwhelming force which the Papacy\nhad been accumulating for centuries, and which nothing seemed able to\ntouch! But when Luther appeared, nailed his theses to the door of the\nchurch at Wittemberg, and took up the bold attitude of an out-and-out\nopponent to Rome, in one hour the Church was struck as with an\nearthquake; it reeled to its foundations, and half of the proud\nstructure fell. The conflict with American slavery, how slowly it\nadvanced for many a year, nay, at times it seemed to be even losing\nground; till in the midst of the great Civil War the President signed\na certain proclamation, and in one moment American slavery received\nits death blow. An eminent historian of England has a striking picture\nof the slow, steady, awful triumph of iniquity in the career of\nCardinal Wolsey, and the sudden collapse of the structure built up so\ncarefully by that wicked man. Speaking of the final retribution, he\nsays: \"The time of reckoning at length was arrived. Slowly the hand\nhad crawled along the dial plate, slowly as if the event would never\ncome, and wrong was heaped on wrong, and oppression cried, and it\nseemed as if no ear had heard its voice, till the measure of the\nwickedness was at length fulfilled; the finger touched the hour, and\nas the strokes of the great hammer rang out above the nation, in an\ninstant the mighty fabric of iniquity was shivered to ruins.\"\n\nIt is the prerogative of faith to believe that the same law of\nProvidence is ever in operation, and that the rapidity with which some\ngreat drama is to be wound up may be as striking as the slowness of\nits movement was trying in its earlier stages. May we not be living in\nan age destined to furnish another great example of this law? The\nyears as they pass seem laden with great events, and we seem to hear\nthe angel that hath power over fire calling to the angel with the\nsharp sickle,--\"Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of\nthe vine of the earth, for the grapes thereof are fully ripe.\" We\ncannot tell but before a year ends some grand purpose of Providence\nshall be accomplished, the death blow given to some system of force or\nof fraud that has scourged the earth for centuries, or some great\nprophetic cycle completed for which Simeons and Annas have been\nwatching more than they that watch for the morning. God hasten the day\nwhen on every side truth shall finally triumph over error, good over\nevil, peace over strife, love over selfishness, and order over\nconfusion; and when from every section of God's great but scattered\nfamily the shout of triumph shall go up, \"Alleluia: for the Lord God\nomnipotent reigneth.\"\n\nBut let us return to the narrative of the fall of Jericho, and advert\nto two of the difficulties that have occurred to many minds in\nconnection with it; one of comparatively little moment, but another of\nfar more serious import.\n\nThe lesser difficulty is connected with the order to march round\nJericho for seven successive days. Was it not contrary to the spirit\nof the law to make no difference on the Sabbath? As the narrative\nreads we are led to think that the Sabbath was the last of the seven\ndays, in which case, instead of a cessation of labour, there was an\nincrease of it sevenfold. Possibly this may be a mistake; but at the\nleast it seems as if, all days being treated alike, there was a\nneglect of the precept, \"In it thou shalt not do any work.\"\n\nTo this it has usually been replied that the law of the Sabbath being\nonly a matter of arrangement, and not founded on any unchangeable\nobligation, it was quite competent for God to suspend it or for a time\nrepeal it, if occasion required. The present instance has been viewed\nas one of those exceptional occasions when the obligation to do no\nwork was suspended for a time. But this is hardly a satisfactory\nexplanation. Was it likely that immediately after God had so solemnly\ncharged Joshua respecting the book of the law, that it was \"not to\ndepart out of his mouth, but he was to meditate therein day and night,\nto observe to do according to all that was written therein,\" that\nalmost on the first occurrence of a public national interest He would\ndirect him to disregard the law of the Sabbath? Or was it likely that\nnow that the people were about to get possession of the land, under\nthe most sacred obligation to frame both their national and their\npersonal life by the Divine law, one of the most outstanding\nrequirements of that law should be even temporarily superseded? We\ncannot help thinking that it is in another direction that we must look\nfor the solution of this difficulty.\n\nAnd what seems the just explanation is, that this solemn procession\nof the ark was really an act of worship, a very public and solemn act\nof worship, and that therefore the labour which it involved was\naltogether justifiable, just as the Sabbath labour involved in the\noffering of the daily sacrifices could not be objected to. It was a\nvery solemn and open demonstration of honour to that great Being in\nwhom Israel trusted--of obedience to His word, and unfaltering\nconfidence that He would show Himself the God of His chosen people. At\nevery step of their march they might well have sung--\"I will lift up\nmine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.\" The absurdity\nof their proceeding to the eye of flesh invested it with a high\nsanctity, because it testified to a conviction that the presence of\nthat God who dwelt symbolically in the ark would more than compensate\nfor all the feebleness and even apparent silliness of the plan. It was\nindeed an exception to the usual way of keeping the Sabbath, but an\nexception that maintained and exalted the honour of God. And, in a\nsense, it might be called resting, inasmuch as no aggressive\noperations of any kind were carried on; it was simply a waiting on\nGod, waiting till He should arise out of His place, and cause it to be\nseen that \"Israel got not the land in possession by their own sword,\nneither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine\narm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour\nunto them\" (Psalm xliv. 3).\n\nA more serious objection in the eyes of many is that which is founded\non the promiscuous massacre of the people of Jericho, which, according\nto the narrative, the Israelites were ordered to make. And it is not\nwonderful that, with the remarkable sense of the sanctity of human\nlife attained in our country and in our age, and the intense horror\nwhich we have at scenes of blood and death, the idea of this slaughter\nshould excite a strong feeling of repugnance. For in truth human life\nhas never been held so sacred among men as it is in these our days and\nin this our island, where by the mercy of God war and bloodshed have\nbeen unknown for nearly a century and a half. We must remember that\nthree thousand years ago, and in the tumultuous regions of the East,\nsuch a sentiment was unknown. The massacre of one tribe by another was\nan event of frequent occurrence, and so little thought of that a year\nor two after its occurrence the survivors of the massacre might be\nfound on perfectly good terms with those who had committed it. This of\ncourse does not affect the righteousness of the sentence executed on\nthe men of Jericho, but it shows that as executioners of that sentence\nthe Israelites were not exposed either to the harrowing or the\nhardening influence which would now be inseparable from such a work.\n\nWe reserve the general question for consideration further on.[10] We\nconfine ourselves for the present to the inquiry, Why was Jericho\nsingled out for treatment so specially severe? Not only were all its\ninhabitants put to the sword, as indeed the inhabitants of other\ncities were too, but the city was burnt with fire, and a special curse\nwas pronounced upon any one that should set up its gates and its\nwalls. Of only two other cities do we read that they were destroyed in\nthis way--Ai and Hazor (viii. 28, xi. 13). And in regard to all the\nthree we may see special considerations dictating Joshua's course.\nJericho and Ai were the first two cities taken by him, and it may have\nbeen useful to set an example of severity in their case. Hazor was\nthe centre of a conspiracy, and being situated in the extreme north,\nits fate might read a lesson to those who were too far from Jericho\nand Ai to see what had happened there. But in the case of Jericho\nthere was another consideration. Gilgal, which Joshua had made his\nheadquarters, was but three or four miles distant. At that place there\nwere no doubt gathered a great part of the flocks and herds of the\nIsraelites, with the women and children, as well as the ark and the\nsacred tabernacle. It was necessary to prevent the possibility of a\nfortress being again erected at Jericho. For if it should fall into\nthe enemy's hands, it would endanger the very existence of Gilgal. We\nshall see in the after part of the narrative that the policy of\nsparing the towns even when the inhabitants were destroyed proved a\nmistake, and was very disastrous to the Israelites. We shall find that\nin very many cases, while Joshua was occupied elsewhere, the towns\nwere taken possession of anew by the Canaanites, and new troubles\nbefell the Israelites. For Joshua's conquest was not a complete\nsubjugation, and much remained to be done by each tribe in its\nsettlement in order to get quit of the old inhabitants. It was the\nfailure of most of the tribes to do their part in this process that\nled to most of the troubles in the future history of Israel, both in\nthe way of temptation to idolatry and in the form of actual war.\n\n [10] See Chapter XXXI., \"Jehovah the Champion of Israel.\"\n\nThe only things saved from utter destruction at Jericho were the gold\nand the silver and other metallic substances, which were put into the\ntreasury of the house of the Lord. The fact that the \"house of the\nLord,\" situated at this time at Gilgal, was an establishment of such\nsize as to be able to employ all these things in its service refutes\nthe assertion of those critics who would make out that at the\nsettlement in Canaan there was no place that might be called\nemphatically \"_the_ house of the Lord.\" It indicates that the\narrangements for worship were on a large scale,--a fact which is\nconfirmed afterwards by the circumstance that the Gibeonites were\nassigned by Joshua to be \"hewers of wood and drawers of water _for the\nhouse of my God_.\" If little is said about the arrangements for\nworship in the Book of Joshua, it is because the one object of the\nbook is to record the settlement of the nation in the country. If it\nwere true that the book was overhauled by some priestly writer who\ntook every opportunity of magnifying his office, he must have done his\nwork in a strange manner. We find in it such hints as we have noticed\nshowing that the service of the sanctuary was not neglected, but we\nhave none of those full or formal details that would have been given\nif a writer with such a purpose had worked over the book.\n\nWe hear of Jericho from time to time as a place of abode both in the\nOld Testament and in the New; but when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt it\nwith walls and gates, \"he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his\nfirstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub,\naccording to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Joshua the son of\nNun\" (1 Kings xvi. 34). It was ordained that that first fortress which\nhad withstood the people of God on the west of Jordan should remain a\nperpetual desolation. As the stones set up in the channel and on the\nbanks of the river witnessed to future generations of God's care for\nHis own people, so the stones of Jericho cast down and lying in ruined\nheaps were designed to testify to the dread retribution that overtook\nthe guilty. The two great lessons of Providence from Jericho are, the\ncertainty of the reward of faith and obedience on the one hand, and of\nthe punishment of wickedness on the other. The words which Balaam had\nproclaimed from the top of the mountain on the other side now received\ntheir first fulfilment:--\n\n \"How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,\n Thy tabernacles, O Israel!...\n God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;\n He hath, as it were, the strength of the wild ox;\n He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,\n And shall break their bones in pieces,\n And smite them through with His arrows.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n_RAHAB SAVED._\n\nJOSHUA vi. 17, 22-25.\n\n\nIt has not been the lot of Rahab to share the devout interest which\nhas been lavished on Mary Magdalene. Our Correggios, Titians, and\nCarlo Dolcis have not attempted to represent the spirit of contrition\nand devotion transfiguring the face of the Canaanite girl. And this is\nnot surprising. Rahab had never seen the human face of Jesus, nor\nheard the words that dropped like honey from His lips. She had never\ncome under that inexpressible charm which lay in the bearing of the\nliving Jesus, the charm that made so remarkable a change not only on\nthe \"woman that was a sinner,\" but on Zaccheus, on Peter in the high\npriest's hall, on the penitent thief, and on Saul of Tarsus on the way\nto Damascus. For there was a wonderful power in the very looks and\ntones of Jesus to touch the heart, and thereby to throw a new light on\nall one's past life, making sin look black and odious, and inspiring\nan intense desire for resemblance to Him who was so much fairer than\nall the children of men. Rahab had never seen the Divine image in any\npurer form than it appeared in Joshua and men and women like-minded\nwith him.\n\nBut though she was not one of those whose contrite and holy love\npainters delight to represent, she belonged to the same order, and in\nsome respects is more remarkable than any of the New Testament\npenitents. For her light was much dimmer than theirs who lived in the\ndays of the Son of man. She was utterly without support or sympathy\nfrom those among whom she lived, for with the exception of her own\nrelations, who seem to have been influenced by herself, not a creature\nin Jericho shared her faith, or showed the slightest regard for the\nGod of Israel.\n\nBut the time has now come for her to reap the reward of her faith and\nits works. In her case there was but a short interval between the\nsowing and the reaping. And God showed Himself able to do in her\nexceeding abundantly above what she could ask or think. For she was\nnot only protected when Jericho and all its people were destroyed, but\nincorporated with the children of Israel. She became an heir of\nAbraham's blessing; she came among those \"to whom pertained the\nadoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,\nand the service of God, and the promises.\" An old tradition made her\nthe wife of Joshua, but, according to the genealogies she married\nSalmon (Matt. i. 5), prince of the imperial tribe of Judah,\ngreat-grandfather of David, and ancestor of the Messiah. In the golden\nroll of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, she is the only woman who\nshares with Sarah, the great mother of the nation, the honour of a\nplace among the heroes of the faith. Such honours could not have been\nattained by her had she not been a changed character,--one of those\nwho erewhile \"had lain among the pots, but who became like the wings\nof a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold.\"\n\nVery special mention is made of her in the narrative of the\ndestruction of Jericho. In the first place, before the overthrow of\nthe city, Joshua gives particular instructions regarding her,\naccepting very readily the promise that had been made to her by the\ntwo spies. If Joshua had been a man of unreasonable temper, he might\nhave refused to ratify their action in her case. He might have said\nthat God had doomed the whole inhabitants of the city to destruction,\nand as no instructions had been given by Him to spare Rahab, she must\nshare the doom of the rest. But Joshua at once recognised the\npropriety of an exception in favour of one who had shown such faith,\nand who had rendered such service to the spies and to the nation; and,\nmoreover, he looked on the promise made by the spies as reasonable,\nfor it would have been gross tyranny to send them on such an errand\nwithout power to make fair compensation for any assistance they might\nreceive. Yet how often have promises made in danger been broken when\nthe danger was past! Rahab must have known that had it been some\nCanaanite chief and not Joshua that had to decide her fate, he would\nhave scorned the promise of the spies, and consigned her to the\ngeneral doom. She must have been impressed with the honourable conduct\nof Joshua in so cordially endorsing the promise of the spies, and\nthought well of his religion on that account. Honour and religion go\nwell together; meanness and religion breed contempt. We see meanness\nwith a religious profession culminating in the treachery of Judas. We\nsee honour in alliance with religion culminating in the Garden of\nGethsemane, when the bleeding Sufferer rallied His fainting courage\nand stood firm to His undertaking--\"The cup which My Father hath given\nMe, shall I not drink it?\"\n\nNo doubt the scarlet cord was hung from her window, as had been\narranged with the spies, and the Israelites, when they saw it, would\nbe reminded of the blood of the lamb sprinkled on their door posts and\nlintels when the destroying angel passed through Egypt. It was the two\nmen who had acted as spies that Joshua instructed to enter her house,\nand bring out the woman and all that she had. And a happy woman she no\ndoubt was when she saw the faces of her old guests, and under their\nprotection was brought out with all her kindred and all that she had\nand led to a place of safety. It is a blessed time, after you have\nstood fast to duty while many have failed, when the hour comes that\nbrings you peace and blessing, while it carries confusion and misery\nto the faithless. How thankful one is at such a moment for the grace\nthat enabled one to choose the right! With what awe one looks into the\ngulf on whose edge one stood, and thanks God for the grace that\nbrought the victory! And how often is the welfare of a lifetime\nsecured in some crisis by the firm attitude of an hour. What do we not\ngain by patience when we do the right and wait for the reward? One of\nthe pictures in the Interpreter's House is that of \"a little room\nwhere sat two little children, each in his chair. The name of the\neldest was Passion, and of the other Patience. Passion seemed much\ndiscontent, but Patience was very quiet. Then asked Christian, What is\nthe reason of the discontent of Passion? The Interpreter answered, The\nGovernor of them would have them stay for his best things till the\nbeginning of the next year; but he will have them all now; but\nPatience is willing to wait.\" How invaluable is the spirit that can\nwait till the beginning of the next year! And especially with\nreference to the awards of eternity. The rush for good things now,\nthe desire at all hazards to gratify inclination as it rises, the\nimpatience that will not wait till next year--how many lives they\nwreck, what misery they gender for eternity! But when you do choose\nthat good part that shall not be taken away, and count all things but\nloss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, what\necstatic bliss you make sure of in that solemn hour when the dead,\nsmall and great, shall stand before God; and, amid weeping and wailing\ninexpressible on the left hand, the Judge shall pronounce the words,\n\"Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you\nfrom the foundation of the world.\"\n\nThe case of Rahab was one of those where whole families were saved on\naccount of the faith of one member. Such was the case of Noah, whose\nfaith secured the exemption of himself and all his family from the\nflood. Such, hypothetically, was the case of Lot, whose whole family\nwould have been preserved from the fire and brimstone, if only they\nhad received his warning and left Sodom with him. On the other hand,\nthere were cases, like that of Korah in the wilderness, and of Achan,\nnear this very place, Jericho, where the sin of the father involved\nthe death of the whole family. In the case of Rahab, we find a family\nsaved, not through the faith of the head of the house, but of a member\nof it, and that member a woman. The head of a Hebrew house was\neminently a representative man, and by a well-understood and\nrecognised law his family were implicated in his acts, whether for\ngood or for evil. But in this case the protector of the family, the\nmember of it that determines the fate of the whole, is not the one\nwhom the law recognises, but his child, his daughter. A woman occupies\nhere a higher and more influential place, in relation to the rest of\nthe family, than she has ever held at any previous time. The incident\ncomes in as a kind of foreshadow of what was to be abundantly verified\nin after times. For it is in Christian times that woman has most\nconspicuously attained that position of high influence on the welfare\nof the family, and especially its eternal welfare, which Rahab showed\nin delivering her house from the destruction of Jericho.\n\nAt a very early period in the history of the Christian Church, the\ngreat influence of godly women on the welfare of their male relations\nbegan to be seen. About the fourth century we can hardly peruse the\nbiography of any eminent Christian father, without being struck with\nthe share which the prayers and efforts of some pious female relative\nhad in his conversion. Monica, the mother of Augustine, is held in\nreverence all over Christendom for her tears and wrestling prayers on\nbehalf of her son; and the name of Anthusa, the mother of Chrysostom,\nis hardly less venerable. Nonna, the mother of Gregory Nazianzen;\nMacrina and Emmelia, the mother and the grandmother of Basil the Great\nand Gregory of Nyssa, as well as their sister, also called Macrina;\nTheosebia too, the wife of Gregory, and Marallina, the sister of\nAmbrose, all share a similar renown. And in more recent times, how\nmany are the cases where sisters and daughters have exercised a\nblessed influence on brothers and fathers! Every right-hearted sister\nhas a peculiarly warm and tender interest in the welfare of her\nbrothers. It is a feeling not to be neglected, but carefully nursed\nand deepened. This narrative shows it to be in the line of God's\nprovidence that sisters and daughters shall prove instruments of\ndeliverance to their relations. It is blessed when they are so even in\nearthly things, but far more glorious when, through faith and prayer\nand unwearied interest, they are enabled to win them to Christ, and\nturn them into living epistles for Him.\n\nIt can hardly be necessary to dwell at length on the commentary which\nwe find in the Epistle of James on the faith of Rahab. For it is not\nso much anything personal to her that he handles, but an important\nquality of all true faith, and of her faith as being true. \"Was not\nRahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the\nmessengers, and had sent them out another way?\" No intelligent person\nneeds to be told that the view of justification here given is in no\nwise at variance with that of St. Paul. Paul's doctrine was propounded\nin the early years of the Church, when, in opposition to the notion\nprevalent among the Gentiles, it was necessary to show clearly that\nthere was no justifying merit in works. The doctrine of James was\npropounded at a later period, when men, presuming on free grace, were\nbeginning to get lax in their practice, and it was necessary to insist\nthat faith could not be true faith if it was not accompanied by\ncorresponding works. The case of Rahab is employed by St. James to\nillustrate this latter position. If Rahab had merely professed belief\nin the God of Israel as the only true God, and in the certainty that\nIsrael would possess the land, according to God's promise, her faith\nwould have been a barren or dead faith; in other words, it would have\nbeen no true faith at all. It was her taking up the cause of the\nspies, protecting them, endangering her life for them, and then\ndevising and executing a scheme for their safety, that showed her\nfaith to be living, and therefore real. Let it be true that faith is\nonly the instrument of justification, that it possesses no merit, and\nthat its value lies solely in its uniting us to Christ, so that we\nget justification and all other blessings from Him; still that which\nreally unites us to Christ must be living. Dr. Chalmers used to sum up\nthe whole doctrine in the formula, \"We are justified by faith alone,\nbut not by a faith which is alone.\"\n\nBut let us now advert to the reception of Rahab into the nation and\nchurch of the Israelites. \"They brought out all her kindred, and left\nthem without the camp of Israel.... And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot\nalive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she\ndwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers\nwhich Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.\" First, they left them without\nthe camp. At first they could be treated only as unclean until the\nrites of purification should be performed. In the case of Rahab this\nwas doubly necessary--owing to her race, and owing to her life.\nThereafter they were admitted to the commonwealth of Israel, and had\nan interest in the covenants of promise. The ceremonial purification\nand the formal admission signified little, except in so far as they\nrepresented the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy\nGhost. Whether this vital change took place we are not told, but we\nseem justified in inferring it both from what we read in Hebrews and\nfrom the fact that Rahab was one of the ancestors of our Lord. It is\ninteresting and instructive to think of her as exemplifying that law\nof grace by which the door of heaven is flung open even to the vilest\nsinner. \"Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.\" When the\nenemy ensnares a woman, wiles her into the filthiest chambers of sin,\nand so enchains her there that she cannot escape, but must sink deeper\nand deeper in the mire, the case is truly hopeless. More rapidly and\nmore thoroughly than in the case of a man, the leprosy spreads till\nevery virtuous principle is rooted out, and every womanly feeling is\ndisplaced by the passions of a sensual reprobate. \"Son of man, can\nthese bones live?\" Is there any art to breathe the breath of purity\nand pure love into that defiled soul? Can such a woman ever find her\nhome on the mountains of spices, and hear a loving bridegroom say, \"My\nlove, my undefiled is but one\"? It is just here that the religion of\nthe Bible achieves its highest triumphs. We say the religion of the\nBible, but we should rather say, that gracious Being whose grace the\nBible unfolds. \"The things that are impossible with men are possible\nwith God.\" Jesus Christ is the prince of life. Experience of His\nsaving grace, living fellowship with Him, can so change \"fornicators\nand idolaters, and adulterers and effeminate and abusers of themselves\nwith mankind, and thieves and covetous and drunkards and revilers and\nextortioners,\" that it may be said of them, \"But ye are washed, but ye\nare sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus,\nand by the Spirit of our God.\" Living faith in a living and loving\nSaviour can do all things.\n\nTen thousand times has this truth been illustrated in evangelistic\naddresses, in sermons, and in tracts innumerable from the case of the\nprodigal son. And what imagination can estimate the good which that\nparable has done? In this point of view it is strange that little use\nhas been made of an Old Testament passage, in which the same truth is\nunfolded with touching beauty from the case of a faithless woman. We\nrefer to the second chapter of Hosea. It is the case of a guilty and\napparently shameless wife. Impelled by greed, meanest of all motives,\nshe has gone after this lover and that, because they seemed able to\ngratify her love of finery and luxury, and all the vain show of the\nworld. But the time comes when her eyes are opened, her lovers are\nbrought to desolation, she sees that they have all been a lie and a\ndeception, and that no real good has ever come to her save from the\nhusband whom she has forsaken and insulted. And now when she turns to\nhim she is simply overwhelmed by his graciousness and generosity. He\ndoes all that can be done to make her forget her past miseries, all\nher past life, and he succeeds. The valley of Achor becomes a door of\nhope; she is so transformed inwardly, and her outward surroundings are\nso changed, that \"she sings as in the days of her youth.\" The happy\nfeelings of her unpolluted childhood return to her, as if she had\ndrunk the waters of Lethe, and she sings like a light-hearted girl\nonce more. The allegory is hardly an allegory,--it is Divine love that\nhas effected the change; that love that many waters cannot quench and\nfloods cannot drown.\n\nWe wonder whether Rahab obtained much help in her new life from the\nfellowship of those among whom she came when she joined the Church. If\nthe Church then was what the Church ever ought to be, if its\noutstanding members were like the three fair damsels, Prudence, Piety\nand Charity, in the Palace Beautiful, no doubt she would be helped\ngreatly. But it is not very often that that emblem is realized. And\nstrange to say, among the members of our Churches now, we usually find\na very imperfect sense of the duty which they owe to those who come\namong them from without, and especially out of great wickedness. It is\nquite possible that Rahab was chilled by the coldness of some of her\nHebrew sisters, looking on her as an intruder, looking on her as a\nreprobate, and grieved because their select society was broken in upon\nby this outlandish woman. And it is quite possible that she was\ndisappointed to find that, though they were nominally the people of\nGod, there was very little of what was divine or heavenly about them.\nSo it often happens that what ought to be the greatest attraction in a\nChurch, the character of its members, is the greatest repellant. If\nall sin-worn and world-worn souls, weary of the world's ways, and\nlonging for a society more loving, more generous, more pure, more\nnoble, could find in the Christian Church their ideal fulfilled, could\nfind in the fellowship of Christians the reality of their dreams, how\nblessed would be the result! Alas, in too many cases they find the\nworld's bitterness and meanness and selfishness reproduced under the\nflag of Christ! If all so-called Christians, it has been said, should\nlive for but one year in accordance with the thirteenth chapter of 1st\nCorinthians, unbelief would vanish. Will the day ever be when every\none that names the name of Christ shall be a living epistle, known and\nread of all men?\n\nBut, however she may have been affected by the spirit of those among\nwhom she came, Rahab undoubtedly attained to a good degree before God,\nand a place of high honour in the Hebrew community. It was well for\nher that what at first arrested and impressed her was not anything in\nthe people of Israel; it was the glorious attributes of their God. For\nthis would preserve her substantially from disappointment. Men might\nchange, or they might pass away, but God remained the same yesterday\nand to-day and for ever. If she kept looking to Him, admiring His\ngrace and power, and drawing from His inexhaustible fulness, she\nwould be able to verify one at least of the prophet's pictures:\n\"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and\nwhose heart departeth from the Lord: for he shall be like the heath in\nthe desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the\nparched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.\nBlessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord\nis: for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that\nspreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat\ncometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the\nyear of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n_ACHAN'S TRESPASS._\n\nJOSHUA vii.\n\n\nA vessel in full sail scuds merrily over the waves. Everything\nbetokens a successful and delightful voyage. The log has just been\ntaken, marking an extraordinary run. The passengers are in the highest\nspirits, anticipating an early close of the voyage. Suddenly a shock\nis felt, and terror is seen on every face. The ship has struck on a\nrock. Not only is progress arrested, but it will be a mercy for crew\nand passengers if they can escape with their lives.\n\nNot often so violently, but often as really, progress is arrested in\nmany a good enterprise that seemed to be prospering to a wish. There\nmay be no shock, but there is a stoppage of movement. The vital force\nthat seemed to be carrying it on towards the desired consummation\ndeclines, and the work hangs fire. A mission that in its first stages\nwas working out a beautiful transformation, becomes languid and\nadvances no further. A Church, eminent for its zeal and spirituality,\ncomes down to the ordinary level, and seems to lose its power. A\nfamily that promised well in infancy and childhood fails of its\npromise, its sons and daughters waver and fall. A similar result is\noften found in the undertakings of common life. Something mysterious\narrests progress in business or causes a decline. In \"enterprises of\ngreat pith and moment,\" \"the currents turn awry, and lose the name of\naction.\"\n\nIn all such cases we naturally wonder what can be the cause. And very\noften our explanation is wide of the mark. In religious enterprises,\nwe are apt to fall back on the sovereignty and inscrutability of God.\n\"He moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.\" It seems good\nto Him, for unknown purposes of His own, to subject us to\ndisappointment and trial. We do not impugn either His wisdom or His\ngoodness; all is for the best. But, for the most part, we fail to\ndetect the real reason. That the fault should lie with ourselves is\nthe last thing we think of. We search for it in every direction rather\nthan at home. We are ingenious in devising far-off theories and\nexplanations, while the real offender is close at hand--\"_Israel hath\nsinned_.\"\n\nIt was an unexpected obstacle of this kind that Joshua now encountered\nin his next step towards possessing the land. Let us endeavour to\nunderstand his position and his plan. Jericho lay in the valley of the\nJordan, and its destruction secured nothing for Joshua save the\npossession of that low-lying valley. From the west side of the valley\nrose a high mountain wall, which had to be ascended in order to reach\nthe plateau of Western Palestine. Various ravines or passes ran down\nfrom the plateau into the valley; at the top of one of these, a little\nto the north of Jericho, was Bethel, and farther down the pass, nearer\nthe plain, the town or village of Ai. No remains of Ai are now\nvisible, nor is there any tradition of the name, so that its exact\nposition cannot be ascertained. It was an insignificant place, but\nnecessary to be taken, in order to give Joshua command of the pass,\nand enable him to reach the plateau above. The plan of Joshua seems to\nhave been to gain command of the plateau about this point, and\nthereby, as it were, cut the country in two, so that he might be able\nto deal in succession with its southern and its northern sections. If\nonce he could establish himself in the very centre of the country,\nkeeping his communications open with the Jordan valley, he would be\nable to deal with his opponents in detail, and thus prevent those in\nthe one section from coming to the assistance of the other. Neither Ai\nnor Bethel seemed likely to give him trouble; they were but\ninsignificant places, and a very small force would be sufficient to\ndeal with them.\n\nHitherto Joshua had been eminently successful, and his people too. Not\na hitch had occurred in all the arrangements. The capture of Jericho\nhad been an unqualified triumph. It seemed as if the people of Ai\ncould hardly fail to be paralysed by its fate. After reconnoitring Ai,\nJoshua saw that there was no need for mustering the whole host against\nso poor a place--a detachment of two or three thousand would be\nenough. The three thousand went up against it as confidently as if\nsuccess were already in their hands. It was probably a surprise to\nfind its people making any attempt to drive them off. The men of\nIsrael were not prepared for a vigorous onslaught, and when it came\nthus unexpectedly they were taken aback and fled in confusion. As the\nmen of Ai pursued them down the pass, they had no power to rally or\nretrieve the battle; the rout was complete, some of the men were\nkilled, while consternation was carried into the host, and their whole\nenterprise seemed doomed to failure.\n\nAnd now for the first time Joshua appears in a somewhat humiliating\nlight. He is not one of the men that never make a blunder. He rends\nhis clothes, falls on his face with the elders before the ark of the\nLord till even, and puts dust upon his head. There is something too\nabject in this prostration. And when he speaks to God, it is in the\ntone of complaint and in the language of unbelief. \"Alas, O Lord God,\nwherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver\nus into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had\nbeen content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! O Lord, what shall I\nsay, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! For the\nCanaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and\nshall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what\nwilt Thou do unto Thy great name?\" Thus Joshua almost throws the blame\non God. He seems to have no idea that it may lie in quite another\nquarter. And very strangely, he adopts the very tone and almost the\nlanguage of the ten spies, against which he had protested so\nvehemently at the time: \"Would God that we had died in the land of\nEgypt, or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath\nthe Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our\nwives and our children should be a prey?\" What has become of all your\ncourage, Joshua, on that memorable day? Is this the man to whom God\nsaid so lately, \"Be strong, and of good courage; as I was with Moses,\nso I will be with thee. I will not fail thee nor forsake thee\"? Like\nPeter on the waters, and like so many of ourselves, he begins to sink\nwhen the wind is contrary, and his cry is the querulous wail of a\nfrightened child! After all he is but flesh and blood.\n\nNow it is God's turn to speak. \"Get thee up; wherefore liest thou\nthus upon thy face?\" Why do you turn on Me as if I had suddenly\nchanged, and become forgetful of My promise? Alas, my friends, how\noften is God slandered by our complaints! How often do we feel and\neven speak as if He had broken His word and forgotten His promise, as\nif He had induced us to trust in Him, and accept His service, only to\nhumiliate us before the world, and forsake us in some great crisis! No\nwonder if God speak sharply to Joshua, and to us if we go in Joshua's\nsteps. No wonder if He refuse to be pleased with our prostration, our\nwringing of our hands and sobbing, and calls us to change our\nattitude. \"Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?\"\n\nThen comes the true explanation--\"Israel hath sinned.\" Might you not\nhave divined that this was the real cause of your trouble? Is not sin\ndirectly or indirectly the cause of all trouble? What was it that\nbroke up the joy and peace of Paradise? Sin. What brought the flood of\nwaters over the face of the earth to destroy it? Sin. What caused the\nconfusion of Babel and scattered the inhabitants over the earth in\nhostile races? Sin. What brought desolation on that very plain of\nJordan, and buried its cities and its people under an avalanche of\nfire and brimstone? Sin. What caused the defeat of Israel at Hormah\nforty years ago, and doomed all the generation to perish in the\nwilderness? Sin. What threw down the walls of Jericho only a few days\nago, gave its people to the sword of Israel, and reduced its homes and\nits bulwarks to the mass of ruins you see _there_? Again, sin. Can you\nnot read the plainest lesson? Can you not divine that this trouble\nwhich has come on you is due to the same cause with all the rest? And\nif it be a first principle of Providence that all trouble is due to\nsin, would it not be more suitable that you and your elders should now\nbe making diligent search for it, and trying to get it removed, than\nthat you should be lying on your faces and howling to me, as if some\nsudden caprice or unworthy humour of mine had brought this distress\nupon you?\n\n\"Behold, the Lord's ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor His arm\nshortened that it cannot save. But your iniquities have separated\nbetween you and your God.\" What a curse that sin is, in ways and\nforms, too, which we do not suspect! And yet we are usually so very\ncareless about it. How little pains we take to ascertain its presence,\nor to drive it away from among us! How little tenderness of conscience\nwe show, how little burning desire to be kept from the accursed thing!\nAnd when we turn to our opponents and see sin in them, instead of\nbeing grieved, we fall on them savagely to upbraid them, and we hold\nthem up to open scorn. How little we think if they are guilty, that\ntheir sin has intercepted the favour of God, and involved not them\nonly, but probably the whole community in trouble! How unsatisfactory\nto God must seem the bearing even of the best of us in reference to\nsin! Do we really think of it as the object of God's abhorrence? As\nthat which destroyed Paradise, as that which has covered the earth\nwith lamentation and mourning and woe, kindled the flames of hell, and\nbrought the Son of God to suffer on the cross? If only we had some\nadequate sense of sin, should we not be constantly making it our\nprayer--\"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my\nthoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the\nway everlasting\"?\n\nThe peculiar covenant relation in which Israel stood to God caused a\nmethod to be fallen on for detecting their sin that is not available\nfor us. The whole people were to be assembled next morning, and\ninquiry was to be made for the delinquent in God's way, and when the\nindividual was found condign punishment was to be inflicted. First the\ntribe was to be ascertained, then the family, then the man. For this\nis God's way of tracking sin. It might be more pleasant to us that He\nshould deal with it more generally, and having ascertained, for\nexample, that the wrong had been done by a particular tribe or\ncommunity, inflict a fine or other penalty on that tribe in which we\nshould willingly bear our share. For it does not grieve us very much\nto sin when every one sins along with us. Nay, we can even make merry\nover the fact that we are all sinners together, all in the same\ncondemnation, in the same disgrace. But it is a different thing when\nwe are dealt with one by one. The tribe is taken, the family is taken,\nbut that is not all; the household that God shall take shall come MAN\nBY MAN! It is that individualizing of us that we dread; it is when it\ncomes to that, that \"conscience makes cowards of us all.\" When a\nsinner is dying, he becomes aware that this individualizing process is\nabout to take place, and hence the fear which he often feels. He is no\nlonger among the multitude, death is putting him by himself, and God\nis coming to deal with him by himself. If he could only be hid in the\ncrowd it would not matter, but that searching eye of God--who can\nstand before it? What will all the excuses or disguises or glosses he\ncan devise avail before Him who \"sets our iniquities before Him, our\nsecret sins in the light of His countenance\"? \"Neither is there any\ncreature that is not manifest in His sight; for all things are naked,\nand opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.\" Happy, in\nthat hour, they who have found the Divine covering for sin: \"Blessed\nis he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed\nis the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit\nthere is no guile.\"\n\nBut before passing on to the result of the scrutiny, we find ourselves\nface to face with a difficult question. If, as is here intimated, it\nwas one man that sinned, why should the whole nation have been dealt\nwith as guilty? Why should the historian, in the very first verse of\nthis chapter, summarise the transaction by saying: \"But the _children\nof Israel_ committed a trespass in the devoted thing: for _Achan_, the\nson of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of\nJudah, took of the devoted thing; and the anger of the Lord was\nkindled against the children of Israel\"? Why visit the offence of\nAchan on the whole congregation, causing a peculiarly humiliating\ndefeat to take place before an insignificant enemy, demoralizing the\nwhole host, driving Joshua to distraction, and causing the death of\nsix-and-thirty men?\n\nIn dealing with a question of this sort, it is indispensable that we\nstation ourselves at that period of the world's history; we must place\nbefore our minds some of the ideas that were prevalent at the time,\nand abstain from judging of what was done then by a standard which is\napplicable only to our own day.\n\nAnd certain it is that, what we now call the _solidarity_ of mankind,\nthe tendency to look on men rather as the members of a community than\nas independent individuals, each with an inalienable standing of his\nown, had a hold of men's minds then such as it has not to-day,\ncertainly among Western nations. To a certain extent, this principle\nof solidarity is inwoven in the very nature of things, and cannot be\neliminated, however we may try. Absolute independence and isolation of\nindividuals are impossible. In families, we suffer for one another's\nfaults, even when we hold them in abhorrence. We benefit by one\nanother's virtues, though we may have done our utmost to discourage\nand destroy them. In the Divine procedure toward us, the principle of\nour being a corporate body is often acted upon. The covenant of Adam\nwas founded on it, and the fall of our first parents involved the fall\nof all their descendants. In the earlier stages of the Hebrew economy,\nwide scope was given to the principle. It operated in two forms:\nsometimes the individual suffered for the community, and sometimes the\ncommunity for the individual. And the operation of the principle was\nnot confined to the Hebrew or to other Oriental communities. Even\namong the Romans it had a great influence. Admirable though Roman law\nwas in its regulation of property, it was very defective in its\ndealings with persons. \"Its great blot was the domestic code. The son\nwas the property of the father, without rights, without substantial\nbeing, in the eye of Roman law.... The wife again was the property of\nher husband, an ownership of which the moral result was most\ndisastrous.\"[11]\n\n [11] See Mozley's \"Ruling Ideas in the Early Ages,\" p. 40.\n\nWe are to remember that practically the principle of solidarity was\nfully admitted in Joshua's time among his people. The sense of\ninjustice and hardship to which it might give rise among us did not\nexist. Men recognised it as a law of wide influence in human affairs,\nto which they were bound to defer. Hence it was that when it became\nknown that one man's offence lay at the foundation of the defeat\nbefore Ai, and of the displeasure of God toward the people at large,\nthere was no outcry, no remonstrance, no complaint of injustice. This\ncould hardly take place if the same thing were to happen now. It is\nhard to reconcile the transaction with our sense of justice. And no\ndoubt, if we view the matter apart and by itself, there may be some\nground for this feeling. But the transaction will assume another\naspect if we view it as but a part of a great whole, of a great scheme\nof instruction and discipline which God was developing in connection\nwith Israel. In this light, instead of a hardship it will appear that\nin the end a very great benefit was conferred on the people.\n\nLet us think of Achan's temptation. A large amount of valuable\nproperty fell into the hands of the Israelites at Jericho. By a\nrigorous law, all was devoted to the service of God. Now a covetous\nman like Achan might find many plausible reasons for evading this law.\n\"What I take to myself (he might say) will never be missed. There are\nhundreds of Babylonish garments, there are many wedges of gold, and\nsilver shekels without number, amply sufficient for the purpose for\nwhich they are devoted. If I were to deprive another man of his\nrightful share, I should be acting very wickedly; but I am really\ndoing nothing of the kind. I am only diminishing imperceptibly what is\nto be used for a public purpose. Nobody will suffer a whit by what I\ndo,--it cannot be very wrong.\"\n\nNow the great lesson taught very solemnly and impressively to the\nwhole nation was, that this was just awfully wrong. The moral benefit\nwhich the nation ultimately got from the transaction was, that this\nkind of sophistry, this flattering unction which leads so many persons\nultimately to destruction, was exploded and blown to shivers. A most\nfalse mode of measuring the criminality of sin was stamped with\ndeserved reprobation. Every man and woman in the nation got a solemn\nwarning against a common but ruinous temptation. In so far as they\nlaid to heart this warning during the rest of the campaign, they were\nsaved from disastrous evil, and thus, in the long run, they profited\nby the case of Achan.\n\nThat sin is to be held sinful only when it hurts your\nfellow-creatures, and especially the poor among your fellow-creatures,\nis a very common impression, but surely it is a delusion of the devil.\nThat it has such effects may be a gross aggravation of the wickedness,\nbut it is not the heart and core of it. And how can you know that it\nwill not hurt others? Not hurt your fellow-countrymen, Achan? Why,\nthat secret sin of yours has caused the death of thirty-six men, and a\nhumiliating defeat of the troops before Ai. More than that, it has\nseparated between the nation and God. Many say, when they tell a lie,\nit was not a malignant lie, it was a lie told to screen some one, not\nto expose him, therefore it was harmless. But you cannot trace the\nconsequences of that lie, any more than Achan could trace the\nconsequences of his theft, otherwise you would not dare to make that\nexcuse. Many that would not steal from a poor man, or waste a poor\nman's substance, have little scruple in wasting a rich man's\nsubstance, or in peculating from Government property. Who can measure\nthe evil that flows from such ways of trifling with the inexorable law\nof right, the damage done to conscience, and the guilt contracted\nbefore God? Is there safety for man or woman except in the most rigid\nregard to right and truth, even in the smallest portions of them with\nwhich they have to do? Is there not something utterly fearful in the\npropagating power of sin, and in its way of involving others, who are\nperfectly innocent, in its awful doom? Happy they who from their\nearliest years have had a salutary dread of it, and of its infinite\nramifications of misery and woe!\n\nHow well fitted for us, especially when we are exposed to temptation,\nis that prayer of the psalmist: \"Who can understand his errors?\ncleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from\npresumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be\nperfect, and I shall be clear of great transgression.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n_ACHAN'S PUNISHMENT._\n\nJOSHUA vii.\n\n\n\"Be sure your sin will find you out.\" It has an awful way of leaving\nits traces behind it, and confronting the sinner with his crime.\n\"Though he hide himself in the top of Carmel, I will search and take\nhim out thence; and though he be hid from My sight in the bottom of\nthe sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite him\"\n(Amos ix. 3). \"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with\nevery secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil\"\n(Eccles. xii. 14).\n\nWhen Achan heard of the muster that was to take place next morning, in\norder to detect the offender, he must have spent a miserable night.\nBetween the consciousness of guilt, the sense of the mischief he had\ndone, the dread of detection, and the foreboding of retribution, his\nnerves were too much shaken to admit the possibility of sleep.\nWeariedly and anxiously he must have tossed about as the hours slowly\nrevolved, unable to get rid of his miserable thoughts, which would\never keep swimming about him like the changing forms of a\nkaleidoscope, but with the same dark vision of coming doom.\n\nAt length the day dawns, the tribes muster, the inquiry begins. It is\nby the sure, solemn, simple, process of the lot that the case is to be\ndecided. First the lot is cast for the tribes, and the tribe of Judah\nis taken. That must have given the first pang to Achan. Then the tribe\nis divided into its families, and the family of the Zarhites is taken;\nthen the Zarhite family is brought out man by man, and Zabdi, the\nfather of Achan, is taken. May we not conceive the heart of Achan\ngiving a fresh beat as each time the casting of the lot brought the\ncharge nearer and nearer to himself? The coils are coming closer and\ncloser about him; and now his father's family is brought out, man by\nman, and Achan is taken. He is quite a young man, for his father could\nonly have been a lad when he left Egypt. Look at him, pale, trembling,\nstricken with shame and horror, unable to hide himself, feeling it\nwould be such a relief if the earth would open its jaws and swallow\nhim up, as it swallowed Korah. Look at his poor wife; look at his\nfather; look at his children. What a load of misery he has brought on\nhimself and on them! Yes, the way of transgressors is hard.\n\nJoshua's heart is overcome, and he deals gently with the young man.\n\"My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make\nconfession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not\nfrom me.\" There was infinite kindness in that word \"my son.\" It\nreminds us of that other Joshua, the Jesus of the New Testament, so\ntender to sinners, so full of love even for those who had been steeped\nin guilt. It brings before us the Great High Priest, who is touched\nwith the feeling of our infirmities, seeing He was in all things\ntempted like as we are, yet without sin. A harsh word from Joshua\nmight have set Achan in a defiant attitude, and drawn from him a\ndenial that he had done anything amiss. How often do we see this! A\nchild or a servant has done wrong; you are angry, you speak harshly,\nyou get a flat denial. Or if the thing cannot be denied, you get only\na sullen acknowledgment, which takes away all possibility of good\narising out of the occurrence, and embitters the relation of the\nparties to each other.\n\nBut not only did Joshua speak kindly to Achan, he confronted him with\nGod, and called on him to think how He was concerned in this matter.\n\"Give glory to the Lord God of Israel.\" Vindicate Him from the charge\nwhich I and others have virtually been bringing against Him, of\nproving forgetful of His covenant. Clear Him of all blame, declare His\nglory, declare that He is unsullied in His perfections, and show that\nHe has had good cause to leave us to the mercy of our enemies. No man\nas yet knew what Achan had done. He might have been guilty of some act\nof idolatry, or of some unhallowed sensuality like that which had\nlately taken place at Baal-peor; in order that the transaction might\ncarry its lesson, it was necessary that the precise offence should be\nknown. Joshua's kindly address and his solemn appeal to Achan to clear\nthe character of God had the desired effect. \"Achan answered Joshua,\nand said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and\nthus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoils a goodly\nBabylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of\ngold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and,\nbehold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the\nsilver under it.\"\n\nThe confession certainly was frank and full; but whether it was made\nin the spirit of true contrition, or whether it was uttered in the\nhope that it would mitigate the sentence to be inflicted, we cannot\ntell. It would be a comfort to us to think that Achan was sincerely\npenitent, and that the miserable doom which befell him and his family\nended their troubles, and formed the dark introduction to a better\nlife. Where there is even a possibility that such a view is correct we\nnaturally draw to it, for it is more than our hearts can well bear to\nthink of so awful a death being followed by eternal misery.\n\nCertain it is that Joshua earnestly desired to lead Achan to deal with\nGod in the matter. \"Make confession,\" he said, \"unto Him.\" He knew the\nvirtue of confession to God. For \"he that covereth his sins shall not\nprosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy\"\n(Prov. xxviii. 13). \"When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through\nmy roaring all the day.... I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine\niniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto\nthe Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin\" (Psalm xxxii. 3,\n5). It is a hopeful circumstance in Achan's case that it was after\nthis solemn call to deal with God in the matter that he made his\nconfession. One hopes that the sudden appearance on the scene of the\nGod whom he had so sadly forgotten, led him to see his sin in its true\nlight, and drew out the acknowledgment,--\"Against Thee, Thee only,\nhave I sinned.\" For no moral effect can be greater than that arising\nfrom the difference between sin covered and sin confessed to God. Sin\ncovered is the fruitful parent of excuses, and sophistries, and of all\nmanner of attempts to disguise the harsh features of transgression,\nand to show that, after all, there was not much wrong in it. Sin\nconfessed to God shows a fitting sense of the evil, of the shame which\nit brings, and of the punishment which it deserves, and an earnest\nlonging for that forgiveness and renewal which, the gospel now shows\nus so clearly, come from Jesus Christ. For nothing becomes a sinner\nbefore God so well as when he breaks down. It is the moment of a new\nbirth when he sees what miserable abortions all the refuges of lies\nare, and, utterly despairing of being able to hide himself from God in\nhis filthy rags, unbosoms everything to Him with whom \"there is mercy\nand plenteous redemption, and who will redeem Israel from all his\ntransgressions.\"\n\nIt is a further presumption that Achan was a true penitent, that he\ntold so frankly where the various articles that he had appropriated\nwere to be found. \"Behold, they are hid in the midst of my tent.\" They\nwere scalding his conscience so fearfully that he could not rest till\nthey were taken away from the abode which they polluted and cursed.\nThey seemed to be crying out against him and his with a voice which\ncould not be silenced. To bring them away and expose them to public\nview might bring no relaxation of the doom which he expected, but it\nwould be a relief to his feelings if they were dragged from the hiding\nhole to which he had so wickedly consigned them. For the articles were\nnow as hateful to him as formerly they had been splendid and\ndelightful. The curse of God was on them now, and on him too on their\naccount. Is there anything darker or deadlier than the curse of God?\n\nAnd now the consummation arrives. Messengers are sent to his tent,\nthey find the stolen goods, they bring them to Joshua, and to all the\nchildren of Israel, and they lay them out before the Lord. We are not\ntold how the judicial sentence was arrived at. But there seems to have\nbeen no hesitation or delay about it. \"Joshua and all the children of\nIsrael took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment,\nand the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen,\nand his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and\nthey brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast\nthou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel\nstoned him with stones, and they burned him with fire, after they had\nstoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of\nstones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His\nanger. Therefore the name of that place was called, The valley of\nAchor, unto this day.\"\n\nIt seems a terrible punishment, but Achan had already brought defeat\nand disgrace on his countrymen, he had robbed God, and brought the\nwhole community to the brink of ruin. It must have been a strong lust\nthat led him to play with such consequences. What sin is there to\nwhich covetousness has not impelled men? And, strange to say, it is a\nsin which has received but little check from all the sad experience of\nthe past. Is it not as daring as ever to-day? Is it not the parent of\nthat gambling habit which is the terror of all good men, sapping our\nmorality and our industry, and disposing tens of thousands to trust to\nthe bare chance of an unlikely contingency, rather than to God's\nblessing on honest industry? Is it not sheer covetousness that turns\nthe confidential clerk into a robber of his employer, and uses all the\ndevices of cunning to discover how long he can carry on his infamous\nplot, till the inevitable day of detection arrive and he must fly, a\nfugitive and a vagabond, to a foreign land? Is it not covetousness\nthat induces the blithe young maiden to ally herself to one whom she\nknows to be a moral leper, but who is high in rank and full of wealth?\nIs it not the same lust that induces the trader to send his noxious\nwares to savage countries and drive the miserable inhabitants to a\ndeeper misery and degradation than ever? Catastrophes are always\nhappening: the ruined gambler blows out his brains; the dishonest\nclerk becomes a convict, the unhappy young wife gets into the divorce\ncourt, the scandalous trader sinks into bankruptcy and misery. But\nthere is no abatement of the lust which makes such havoc. If the old\nways of indulging it are abandoned, new outlets are always being\nfound. Education does not cripple it; civilization does not uproot it;\neven Christianity does not always overcome it. It goeth about, if not\nlike a roaring lion, at least like a cunning serpent intent upon its\nprey. Within the Church, where the minister reads out \"Thou shalt not\ncovet,\" and where men say with apparent devoutness, \"Lord, have mercy\nupon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law\"--as soon as their\nbacks are turned, they are scheming to break it. Still, as of old,\n\"love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after\nthey erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many\nsorrows.\"\n\nAchan's sin has found him out, and he suffers its bitter doom. All his\nvisions of comfort and enjoyment to be derived from his unlawful gain\nare rudely shattered. The pictures he has been drawing of what he will\ndo with the silver and the gold and the garment are for ever\ndispersed. He has brought disaster on the nation, and shame and ruin\non himself and his house. In all coming time, he must stand in the\npillory of history as the man who stole the forbidden spoil of\nJericho. That disgraceful deed is the only thing that will ever be\nknown of him. Further, he has sacrificed his life. Young though he is,\nhis life will be cut short, and all that he has hoped for of enjoyment\nand honour will be exchanged for a horrible death and an execrable\nmemory. O sin, thou art a hard master! Thou draggest thy slaves, often\nthrough a short and rapid career, to misery and to infamy!\n\nNevertheless, the hand of God is seen here. The punishment of sin is\none of the inexorable conditions of His government. It may look dark\nand ugly to us, but it is there. It may create a very different\nfeeling from the contemplation of His love and goodness, but in our\npresent condition that feeling is wholesome and necessary. As we\nfollow unpardoned sinners into the future world, it may be awful, it\nmay be dismal to think of a state from which punishment will never be\nabsent; but the awfulness and the dismalness will not change the fact.\nIt is the mystery of God's character that He is at once infinite love\nand infinite righteousness. And if it be unlawful for us to exclude\nHis love and dwell only on His justice, it is equally unlawful to\nexclude His justice and dwell only on His love. Now, as of old, His\nmemorial is, \"The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious,\nlongsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth, forgiving iniquity and\ntransgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.\"\n\nBut if it be awful to contemplate the death, and the mode of death of\nAchan, how much more when we think that his wife and his sons and his\ndaughters were stoned to death along with him! Would that not have\nbeen a barbarous deed in any case, and was it not much more so if they\nwere wholly innocent of his offence? To mitigate the harshness of\nthis deed, some have supposed that they were privy to his sin, if not\ninstigators of it. But of this we have not a tittle of evidence, and\nthe whole drift of the narrative seems to show that the household\nsuffered in the same manner and on the same ground as that of Korah\n(Num. xvi. 31-33). As regards the mode of death, it was significant of\na harsh and hard-tempered age. Neither death nor the sufferings of the\ndying made much impression on the spectators. This callousness is\nalmost beyond our comprehension, the tone of feeling is so different\nnow. But we must accept the fact as it was. And as to the punishment\nof the wife and children, we must fall back on that custom of the time\nwhich not only gave to the husband and father the sole power and\nresponsibility of the household, but involved the wife and children in\nhis doom if at any time he should expose himself to punishment. As has\nalready been said, neither the wife nor the children had any rights as\nagainst the husband and father; as his will was the sole law, so his\nretribution was the common inheritance of all. With him they were held\nto sin, and with him they suffered. They were considered to belong to\nhim just as his hands and his feet belonged to him. It may seem to us\nvery hard, and when it enters, even in a modified form, into the\nDivine economy we may cry out against it. Many do still, and ever will\ncry out against original sin, and against all that has come upon our\nrace in consequence of the sin of Adam.\n\nBut it is in vain to fight against so apparent a fact. Much wiser\nsurely it is to take the view of the Apostle Paul, and rejoice that,\nunder the economy of the gospel, the principle of imputation becomes\nthe source of blessing infinitely greater than the evil which it\nbrought at the fall. It is one of the greatest triumphs of the\nApostle's mode of reasoning that, instead of shutting his eyes to the\nlaw of imputation, he scans it carefully, and compels it to yield a\nglorious tribute to the goodness of God. When his theme was the riches\nof the grace of God, one might have thought that he would desire to\ngive a wide berth to that dark fact in the Divine economy--the\nimputation of Adam's sin. But instead of desiring to conceal it, he\nbrings it forward in all its terribleness and universality of\napplication; but with the skill of a great orator, he turns it round\nto his side by showing that the imputation of Christ's righteousness\nhas secured results that outdo all the evil flowing from the\nimputation of Adam's sin. \"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment\ncame upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one\nthe free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as\nthrough the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so\nthrough the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.\nMoreover the law entered that the offence might abound; but where sin\nabounded, grace did much more abound: that, as sin reigned in death,\neven so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life,\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lord\" (Rom. v. 18-21).\n\nVery special mention is made of the place where the execution of Achan\nand his family took place. \"They brought them unto the valley of\nAchor, ... and they raised over him a great heap of stones, ...\nwherefore the name of that place is called, The valley of Achor, unto\nthis day.\" Achor, which means _trouble_, seems to have been a small\nravine near the lower part of the valley in which Ai was situated, and\ntherefore near the scene of the disaster that befell the Israelites.\nIt was not an old name, but a name given at the time, derived from\nthe occurrence of which it had just been the scene. It seemed\nappropriate that poor Achan should suffer at the very place where\nothers had suffered on his account. It is subsequently referred to\nthree times in Scripture. Later in this book it is given as part of\nthe northern boundary of the tribe of Judah (chap. xv. 7); in Isaiah\n(lxv. 10) it is referred to on account of its fertility; and in Hosea\n(ii. 15) it is introduced in the beautiful allegory of the restored\nwife, who has been brought into the wilderness, and made to feel her\npoverty and misery, but of whom God says, \"I will give her vineyards\nfrom thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.\" The\nreference seems to be to the evil repute into which that valley fell\nby the sin of Achan, when it became the valley of trouble. For, by\nAchan's sin, what had appeared likely to prove the door of access for\nIsrael into the land was shut; a double trouble came on the\npeople--partly because of their defeat, and partly because their\nentrance into the land appeared to be blocked. In Hosea's picture of\nIsrael penitent and restored, the valley is again turned to its\nnatural use, and instead of a scene of trouble it again becomes a door\nof hope, a door by which they may hope to enter their inheritance. It\nis a door of hope for the penitent wife, a door by which she may\nreturn to her lost happiness. The underlying truth is, that when we\nget into a right relation to God, what were formerly evils become\nblessings, hindrances are turned into helps. Sin deranges everything,\nand brings trouble everywhere. The ground was cursed on account of\nAdam: not literally, but indirectly, inasmuch as it needed hard and\nexhausting toil, it needed the sweat of his face to make it yield him\na maintenance. \"We know,\" says the Apostle, \"that the whole creation\ngroaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.\" \"For the creation\nwas subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who\nsubjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered\nout of the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the\nchildren of God.\"\n\nNo man can tell all the \"trouble\" that has come into the world by\nreason of sin. As little can we know the full extent of that\ndeliverance that shall take place when sin comes to an end. If we\nwould know anything of this we must go to those passages which picture\nto us the new heavens and the new earth: \"In the midst of the street\nof it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life,\nwhich bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month:\nand the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And\nthere shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb\nshall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see\nHis face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be\nno night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for\nthe Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and\never.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n_THE CAPTURE OF AI._\n\nJOSHUA viii. 1-29.\n\n\nJoshua, having dealt faithfully with the case of Achan, whose sin had\nintercepted the favour of God, is again encouraged, and directed to\nrenew, but more carefully, his attack on Ai. That word is addressed to\nhim which has always such significance when coming from the Divine\nlips--\"Fear not.\" How much of our misery arises from fear! How many a\nbeating heart, how many a shaking nerve, how many a sleepless night\nhave come, not from evil experienced, but from evil apprehended! To\nsave one from the apprehension of evil is sometimes more important, as\nit is usually far more difficult, than to save one from evil itself.\nAn affectionate father finds that one of his most needed services to\nhis children is to allay their fears. Never is he doing them a greater\nkindness than when he uses his larger experience of life to assure\nthem, in some anxiety, that there is no cause for fear. Our heavenly\nFather finds much occasion for a similar course. He has indeed got a\nvery timid family. It is most interesting to mark how the Bible is\nstudded with \"fear nots,\" from Genesis to Revelation; from that early\nword to Abraham--\"Fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great\nreward\"--to that most comforting assurance to the beloved disciple,\n\"Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was\ndead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of\nhades and of death.\" If only God's children could hear Him uttering\nthat one word, from how much anxiety and misery would it set them\nfree!\n\nVirtually the command to Joshua is to \"try again.\" Success, though\ndenied to the first effort, often comes to the next, or at least to a\nsubsequent one. Even apart from spiritual considerations, it is those\nwho try oftenest who succeed best. There is little good in a man who\nabandons an undertaking simply because he has tried once and failed.\nWho does not recall in this connection the story of Alfred the Great?\nOr of Robert the Bruce watching the spider in the barn that at last\nreached the roof after sixteen failures? Or, looking to what has a\nmore immediate bearing on the kingdom of God, who has not admired the\nperseverance of Livingstone, undaunted by fever and famine, and the\nferocity of savage chiefs; unmoved by his longings for home and dreams\nof plenty and comfort that mocked him when he awoke to physical\nwretchedness and want? Such perseverance gives a man the stamp of true\nnobility; we are almost tempted to fall down and worship. If failure\nbe humiliating, it is redeemed by the very act and attitude of\nperseverance, and the self-denial and scorn of ease which it involves.\nIn the Christian warfare no man is promised victory at the first. \"Let\nus not be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap if we\nfaint not.\"\n\nTo Christian men especially, failure brings very valuable lessons.\nThere is always something to be learned from it. In our first attempt\nwe were too self-confident. We went too carelessly about the matter,\nand did not sufficiently realize the need of Divine support. Never was\nthere a servant of God who learned more from his failures than St.\nPeter. Nothing could have been more humiliating than his\nthrice-repeated denial of his Lord. But when Peter came to himself, he\nsaw on what a bruised reed he had been leaning when he said, \"Though I\nshould die with Thee yet will I not deny Thee.\" How miserably\nmisplaced that self-confidence had been! But it had the effect of\nstartling him, of showing him his danger, and of leading him to lift\nup his eyes to the hills from whence came his help. It might have\nseemed a risky, nay reckless thing for our Lord to commit the task of\nsteering His infant Church over the stormy seas of her first voyage to\na man who, six weeks before, had proved so weak and treacherous. But\nPeter was a genuine man, and it was that first failure that afterwards\nmade him so strong. It is no longer Peter, but Christ in Peter that\ndirects the movement. And thus it came to pass that, during the\ncritical period of the Church's birth, no carnal drawback diminished\nhis strength or diluted his faith; all his natural rapidity of\nmovement, all his natural outspokenness, boldness, and directness were\nbrought to bear without abatement on the advancement of the young\ncause. He conducted himself during this most delicate and vital period\nwith a nobility beyond all praise. He took the ship out into the open\nsea amid raging storms without touching a single rock. And it was all\nowing to the fact that by God's grace he profited by his failure!\n\nIn the case of Joshua and his people, one of the chief lessons derived\nfrom their failure before Ai was the evil of covering sin. Alas, this\npolicy is the cause of failures innumerable in the spiritual life! In\nnumberless ways it interrupts Divine fellowship, withdraws the Divine\nblessing, and grieves the Holy Spirit. We have not courage to cut off\na right hand and pluck out a right eye. We leave besetting sins in a\ncorner of our hearts, instead of trying to exterminate them, and\ndetermining not to allow them a foothold there. The acknowledgment of\nsin, the giving up of all leniency towards it, the determination, by\nGod's grace, to be done with it, always go before true revivals,\nbefore a true return of God to us in all His graciousness and power.\nRather, we should say, they are the beginning of revival. In Israel of\nold the land had to be purged of every vestige of idolatry under\nHezekiah and other godly kings, before the light of God's countenance\nwas again lifted upon it. \"To this man will I look, even to him that\nis poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word.\"\n\nJoshua is instructed to go up again against Ai, but in order to\ninterest and encourage the people, he resorts to a new plan of attack.\nA stratagem is to be put in operation. An ambuscade is to be stationed\non the west side of the city, while the main body of the assaulting\nforce is to approach it, as formerly, from the east. There is some\nobscurity and apparent confusion in the narrative, confined, however,\nto one point, the number composing the ambuscade and the main body\nrespectively. Some error in the text appears to have crept in. From\nthe statement in ver. 3 we might suppose that the men who were to lie\nin ambush amounted to thirty thousand; but in ver. 12 it is expressly\nstated that only five thousand were employed in this way. There can be\nlittle doubt (though it is not according to the letter of the\nnarrative) that the whole force employed amounted to thirty thousand,\nand that, of these, five thousand formed the ambush. Indeed, in such a\nvalley, it would not have been possible for thirty thousand men to\nconceal themselves so as to be invisible from the city. It would\nappear (ver. 17) that the people of Bethel had left their own village\nand gone into Ai. Bethel, as we have said, was situated higher up; in\nfact, it was on the very ridge of the plateau of Western Palestine. It\nmust have been but a little place, and its people seem to have deemed\nit better to join those of Ai, knowing that if the Israelites were\nrepulsed from the lower city, the upper was safe.\n\nThe _ruse_ was that the ambush should be concealed behind the city;\nthat Ai, as before, should be attacked from the east by the main body\nof troops; that on receiving the onslaught from the city they should\nseem to be defeated as before; that Joshua, probably standing on some\ncommanding height, should give a signal to the men in ambush by\nraising his spear; whereupon these men should rush down on the now\ndeserted place and set it on fire. On seeing the flames, the pursuers\nwould naturally turn and rush back to extinguish them; then the main\nbody of Israel would turn likewise, and thus the enemy would be caught\nas in a trap from which there was no escape, and fall a victim to the\ntwo sections of Israel.\n\nTo plots of this kind, the main objection in a strategical sense lies\nin the risk of detection. For the five thousand who went to station\nthemselves in the west it was a somewhat perilous thing to separate\nthemselves from the host, and place themselves in the heart of enemies\nboth in front and in rear. It needed strong faith to expose themselves\nin such a situation. Suppose they had been detected as they went\nstealing along past Ai in the darkness of the night; suppose they had\ncome on some house or hamlet, and wakened the people, so that the\nalarm should have been carried to Ai, what would have been the result?\nIt was well for Israel that no such mishap occurred, and that they\nwere able in silence to reach a place where they might lie concealed.\nThe ground is so broken by rocks and ravines that this would not have\nbeen very difficult; the people of Ai suspected nothing; probably the\nforce on the east were at pains, by camp-fires and otherwise, to\nengage their attention, and whenever that force began to move, as if\nfor the attack, every eye in the city would be fixed intently upon it.\n\nThe plot was entirely successful; everything fell out precisely as\nJoshua had desired. A terrible slaughter of the men of Ai took place,\ncaught as they were on the east of the city between the two sections\nof Joshua's troops, for the Israelites gave no quarter either to age\nor sex. The whole number of the slain amounted to twelve thousand, and\nthat probably included the people of Bethel too. We see from this what\nan insignificant place Ai must have been, and how very humiliating was\nthe defeat it inflicted at first. With reference to the spoil of the\ncity, the rigid law prescribed at Jericho was not repeated; the people\ngot it for themselves. Jericho was an exceptional case; it was the\nfirstfruits of the conquest, therefore holy to the Lord. If Achan had\nbut waited a little, he would have had his share of the spoil of Ai or\nsome other place. He would have got legitimately what he purloined\nunlawfully. In the slaughter, the king, or chief of the place,\nsuffered a more ignominious doom than his soldiers; instead of being\nslain with the sword, he was hanged, and his body was exposed on a\ntree till sunset. Joshua did not want some drops of Oriental blood;\nhe had the stern pleasure of the Eastern warrior in humbling those who\nwere highest in honour. What remained of the city was burned; it\ncontinued thereafter a heap of ruins, with a great cairn of stones at\nits gate, erected over the dead body of the king.\n\nWe see that already light begins to be thrown on what at the time must\nhave seemed the very severe and rigid order about the spoil of\nJericho. Although Achan was the only offender, he was probably far\nfrom being the only complainer on that occasion. Many another\nIsraelite with a covetous heart must have felt bitterly that it was\nvery hard to be prevented from taking even an atom to oneself. \"Were\nnot our fathers allowed to spoil the Egyptians--why, then, should we\nbe absolutely prevented from having a share of the spoil of Jericho?\"\nIt might have been enough to answer that God claimed the firstfruits\nof the land for Himself. Or to say that God designed at the very\nentrance of His people into Canaan to show that they were not a\ntumultuous rabble, rushing greedily on all they could lay their hands\non, but a well-trained, well-mannered family, in whom self-restraint\nwas one of the noblest virtues. But to all this it might have been\nadded, that the people's day was not far off. It is not God's method\nto muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And so to all who rush\ntumultuously upon the good things of this life, He says, \"Seek first\nthe kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and all these things\nshall be added unto you.\" Let God arrange the order in which His gifts\nare distributed. Never hurry Providence, as Sarah did when she gave\nHagar to Abraham. Sarah had good cause to repent of her impetuosity;\nit brought her many a bitter hour. Whereas God was really kinder to\nher than she had thought, and in due time He gave her Isaac, not the\nson of the bondwoman, but her own.\n\nA question has been raised respecting the legitimacy of the stratagem\nemployed by Joshua in order to capture Ai. Was it right to deceive the\npeople; to pretend to be defeated while in reality he was only\nexecuting a _ruse_, and thus draw on the poor men of Ai to a terrible\ndeath? Calvin and other commentators make short work of this\nobjection. If war is lawful, stratagem is lawful. Stratagem indeed, as\nwar used to be conducted, was a principal part of it; and even now the\nterm \"strategic,\" derived from it, is often used to denote operations\ndesigned for a different purpose from that which at first appears. It\nis needless to discuss here the lawfulness of war, for the Israelites\nwere waging war at the express command of the Almighty. And if it be\nsaid that when once you allow the principle that it is lawful in war\nto mislead the enemy, you virtually allow perfidy, inasmuch as it\nwould be lawful for you, after pledging your word under a flag of\ntruce, to disregard your promise, the answer to that is, that to\nmislead in such circumstances would be infamous. A distinction is to\nbe drawn between acts where the enemy has no right to expect that you\nwill make known your intention, and acts where they have such a right.\nIn the ordinary run of strategic movements, you are under no\nobligation to tell the foe what you are about. It is part of their\nbusiness to watch you, to scrutinize your every movement, and in spite\nof appearances to divine your real purpose. If they are too careless\nto watch, or too stupid to discern between a professed and a real\nplan, they must bear the consequences. But when a flag of truce is\ndisplayed, when a meeting takes place under its protection, and when\nconditions are agreed to on both sides, the case is very different.\nThe enemy is entitled now to expect that you will not mislead them.\nYour word of honour has been passed to that effect. And to disregard\nthat pledge, and deem it smart to mislead thereby, is a proceeding\nworthy only of the most barbarous, the most perfidious, the most\nshameless of men.\n\nThus far we may defend the usages of war; but at best it is a\nbarbarous mode of operations. Very memorable was the observation of\nthe Duke of Wellington, that next to the calamity of suffering a\ndefeat was that of gaining a victory. To look over a great\nbattle-field, fresh from the clash of arms; to survey the trampled\ncrops, the ruined houses, the universal desolation; to gaze on all the\nmanly forms lying cold in death, and the many besides wounded,\nbleeding, groaning, perhaps dying; to think of the illimitable\ntreasure that has been lavished on this work of destruction and the\ncomforts of which it has robbed the countries engaged; to remember in\nwhat a multitude of cases, death must carry desolation and anguish to\nthe poor widow, and turn the remainder of life into a lonely\npilgrimage, is enough surely to rob war of the glory associated with\nit, and to make good the position that on the part of civilized and\nChristian men it should only be the last desperate resort, after every\nother means of effecting its object has failed. We are not forgetful\nof the manly self-sacrifice of those who expose themselves so readily\nto the risk of mutilation and death, wherever the rulers of their\ncountry require it, for it is the redeeming feature of war that it\nbrings out so much of this high patriotic devotion; but surely they\nare right who deem arbitration the better method of settling national\ndifferences; who call for a great disarmament of the European\nnations, and would put a stop to the attitude of every great country\nshaking its fist in the face of its neighbours. What has become of the\nprophecy \"They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their\nspears into pruning hooks\"? Or the beautiful vision of Milton on the\nbirth of the Saviour?--\n\n \"No war, or battle's sound\n Was heard the world around;\n The idle spear and shield were high uphung;\n The hook\u00e8d chariot stood\n Unstained with hostile blood,\n The trumpet spake not to the arm\u00e8d throng;\n And kings sat still with awful eye\n As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.\"\n\nOne lesson comes to us with pre-eminent force from the operations of\nwar. The activity displayed by every good commander is a splendid\nexample for all of us in spiritual warfare. \"Joshua arose\"; \"Joshua\nlodged that night among the people\"; \"Joshua rose up early in the\nmorning\"; \"Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley\";\n\"Joshua drew not his hand back wherewith he stretched out the spear,\nuntil he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.\" Such\nexpressions show how intensely in earnest he was, how unsparing of\nhimself, how vigilant and indefatigable in all that bore upon his\nenterprise. And generally we still see that, wherever military\nexpeditions are undertaken, they are pushed forward with untiring\nenergy, and the sinews of war are supplied in unstinted abundance,\nwhatever grumbling there may be afterwards when the bill comes to be\npaid. Has the Christian Church ever girded herself for the great\nenterprise of conquering the world for Christ with the same zeal and\ndetermination? What are all the sums of money contributed for\nChristian missions, compared to those spent annually on military and\nnaval forces, and multiplied indefinitely when active war goes on!\nAlas, this question brings out but one result of a painful\ncomparison--the contrast between the ardour with which secular results\nare pursued by secular men, and spiritual results by spiritual men.\nLet the rumour spread that gold or diamonds have been found at some\nremote region of the globe, what multitudes flock to them in the hope\nof possessing themselves of a share of the spoil! Not even the\nprospect of spending many days and nights in barbarism, amid the\nmisery of dirt and heat and insects, and with company so rude and\nrough and reckless that they have hardly the appearance of humanity,\ncan overcome the impetuous desire to possess themselves of the\nprecious material, and come home rich. What crowds rush in when the\nprospectus of a profitable brewery promises an abundant dividend,\nearned too often by the manufactory of drunkards! What eager eyes scan\nthe advertisements that tell you that if persons bearing a certain\nname, or related to one of that name, would apply at a certain\naddress, they would hear of something to their advantage! Once we knew\nof a young man who had not even seen such an advertisement, but had\nbeen told that it had appeared. There was a vague tradition in his\nfamily that in certain circumstances a property would fall to them.\nThe mere rumour that an advertisement had appeared in which he was\ninterested set him to institute a search for it. He procured a file of\nthe _Times_ newspaper, reaching over a series of years, and eagerly\nscanned its advertisements. Failing to find there what he was in\nsearch of, he procured sets of other daily newspapers and subjected\nthem to the same process. And thus he went on and on in his unwearied\nsearch, till first he lost his situation, then he lost his reason, and\nthen he lost his life. What will men not do to obtain a corruptible\ncrown? Could it be supposed from _our_ attitude and ardour that we are\nstriving for the incorruptible? Could it be thought that the riches\nwhich we are striving to accumulate are not those which moth and rust\ndo corrupt, but the treasures that endure for evermore? Surely \"it is\nhigh time for us to awake out of sleep.\" Surely we ought to lay to\nheart that \"the things which are seen are temporal, but the things\nwhich are not seen are eternal.\" Memorable are the poet's words\nrespecting the great objects of human desire:--\n\n \"The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,\n The solemn temples, the great globe itself,\n Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve:\n And like this unsubstantial pageant faded,\n Leave not a rack behind.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n_EBAL AND GERIZIM._\n\nJOSHUA viii. 30-35.\n\n\nCommentators on Joshua have been greatly perplexed by the place which\nthis narrative has in our Bibles. No one can study the map, and take\ninto account the circumstances of Joshua and the people, without\nsharing in this perplexity. It will be observed from the map that Ebal\nand Gerizim, rising from the plain of Shechem, are a long way distant\nfrom Ai and Bethel. If we suppose Joshua and not his army only, but\nthe whole of his people (ver. 33), to have gone straight from Gilgal\nto Mount Ebal after the capture of Ai, the journey must have occupied\nseveral days each way, besides the time needed for the ceremony that\ntook place there. It certainly would have needed an overwhelming\nreason to induce him at such a time, first to march a host like this\nall the way to Mount Ebal, and then to march them back to their\nencampment at Gilgal. Hence many have come to believe that, in some\nway which we cannot explain, this passage has been inserted out of its\nproper place. The most natural place for it would be at the end of\nchap. xi. or chap. xii., after the conquest of the whole country, and\nbefore its division among the tribes. Nearly all the manuscripts of\nthe Septuagint insert it between vv. 2 and 3 of the ninth chapter,\nbut this does not go far to remove the difficulty. It has been thought\nby some that Joshua left the original Gilgal in the plain of Jordan,\nand fixed his camp at another Gilgal, transferring the name of his\nfirst encampment to the second. Mention is certainly made in Scripture\nof another Gilgal in the neighbourhood of Bethel (2 Kings ii. 2), but\nnothing is said to lead us to suppose that Joshua had removed his\nencampment thither.\n\nSome have thought that no record has been preserved of one of Joshua's\ngreat campaigns, the campaign in which he subdued the central part of\nthe country. A good deal may be said for this supposition. In the list\nof the thirty-one kings whom he subdued over the country (chap. xii.)\nwe find several whose dominions were in this region. For instance, we\nknow that Aphek, Taanach, and Megiddo were all situated in the central\npart of the country, and probably other cities too. Yet, while the\nfact is recorded that they were defeated, no mention is made of any\nexpedition against them. They belonged neither to the confederacy of\nAdonizedec in the south nor to that of Jabin in the north, and they\nmust have been subdued on some separate occasion. It is just possible\nthat Joshua defeated them before encountering the confederacy of\nAdonizedec at Gibeon and Bethhoron. But it is far more likely that it\nwas after that victory that he advanced to the central part of the\ncountry.\n\nOn the whole, while admitting the perplexity of the question, we\nincline to the belief that the passage has been transferred from its\noriginal place. This in no way invalidates the authority of the book,\nor of the passage, for in the most undoubtedly authentic books of\nScripture we have instances beyond question--very notably in\nJeremiah--of passages inserted out of their natural order.\n\nIt has been said that the passage in Deuteronomy (xxvii. 4-19) could\nnot have been written by Moses, because he had never set foot in\nCanaan, and therefore could not have been acquainted with the names or\nthe locality of Ebal and Gerizim. On the contrary, we believe that he\nhad very good reason to be acquainted with both. For at the foot of\nEbal lay the portion of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, and\nwhere both Jacob's well and Joseph's tomb are pointed out at the\npresent day. That piece of ground must have been familiar to Jacob,\nand carefully described to Joseph by its great natural features when\nhe made it over to him. And as Joseph regarded it as his destined\nburial-place, the tradition of its situation must have been carefully\ntransmitted to those that came after him, when he gave commandment\nconcerning his bones. Joseph was not the oldest son of Jacob, any more\nthan Rachel was his oldest wife, and for these reasons neither of them\nwas buried in the cave of Machpelah. Moses therefore had good reasons\nfor being acquainted with the locality. Probably it was at the time of\nthe ceremony at Ebal that the bones of Joseph were buried, although\nthe fact is not recorded till the very end of the book (Josh. xxiv.\n32). But that passage, too, is evidently not in its natural place.\n\nIt was a most fitting thing that when he had completed the conquest of\nthe country, Joshua should set about performing that great national\nceremony, designed to rivet on the people's hearts the claims of God's\nlaw and covenant, which had been enjoined by Moses to be performed in\nthe valley of Shechem. For though Joshua was neither priest nor\nprophet, yet as a warm believer and earnest servant of God, he felt\nit his duty on all suitable occasions to urge upon the people that\nthere was no prosperity for them save on condition of loyalty to Him.\nHe sought to mingle the thought of God and of God's claims with the\nvery life of the nation; to make it run, as it where, in their very\nblood; to get them to think of the Divine covenant as their palladium,\nthe very pledge of all their blessings, their one only guarantee of\nprosperity and peace.\n\nWhen therefore Joshua conducted his people to the Mounts Ebal and\nGerizim, in order that they might have the obligations of the law set\nbefore them in a form as impressive as it was picturesque, he was not\nmerely fulfilling mechanically an injunction of Moses, but performing\na transaction into which he himself entered heart and soul. And when\nthe writer of the book records the transaction, it is not merely for\nthe purpose of showing us how certain acts prescribed in a previous\nbook were actually performed, but for the purpose of perpetuating an\noccurrence which in the whole future history of the nation would prove\neither a continual inspiration for good, or a testimony against them,\nso that out of their own life they should be condemned. Knowing Joshua\nas we do, we can easily believe that all along it was one of his most\ncherished projects to implement the legacy of Moses and superintend\nthis memorable covenanting act. It must have been a great relief from\nthe bloody scenes and awful experiences of war to assemble his people\namong the mountains, and engage them in a service which was so much\nmore in harmony with the beauty and sublimity of nature. No critic or\nwriter who has any sense of the fitness of things can coolly remove\nthis transaction from the sphere of history into that of fancy, or\ndeprive Joshua of his share in a transaction into which his heart was\ndoubtless thrown as enthusiastically as that of David in after times\nwhen the ark was placed upon Mount Zion.\n\nIt could not be without thrilling hearts that Joshua and all of his\npeople who were like-minded entered the beautiful valley of Shechem,\nwhich had been the first resting-place in Canaan of their father\nAbraham, the first place where God appeared to him, and the first\nplace where \"he builded an altar unto the Lord\" (Gen. xii. 6, 7). By\ngeneral consent the valley of Shechem holds the distinction of being\none of the most beautiful in the country. \"Its western side,\" says\nStanley, \"is bounded by the abutments of two mountain ranges, running\nfrom west to east. These ranges are Gerizim and Ebal; and up the\nopening between them, not seen from the plain, lies the modern town of\nNablous [Neapolis = Shechem].... A valley green with grass, grey with\nolives, gardens sloping down on each side, fresh springs running down\nin all directions; at the end a white town embosomed in all this\nverdure, lodged between the two high mountains which extend on each\nside of the valley--that on the south Gerizim, that on the north\nEbal;--this is the aspect of Nablous, the most beautiful, perhaps it\nmight be said the only very beautiful spot in Central Palestine.\"\n\nIf the host of Israel approached Ebal and Gerizim from the south, they\nwould pass along the central ridge or plateau of the country till they\nreached the vale of Shechem, where the mountain range would appear as\nif it had been cleft from top to bottom by some great convulsion of\nnature. Then, as now, the country was studded thickly with villages,\nthe plains clothed with grass and grain, and the rounded hills with\norchards of fig, olive, pomegranate, and other trees. On either side\nof the fissure rose a hill of about eight hundred feet, about the\nheight of Arthur Seat at Edinburgh, Ebal on the north and Gerizim on\nthe south. It was not like the scene at Sinai, where the bare and\ndesolate mountains towered up to heaven, their summits lost among the\nclouds. This was a more homely landscape, amid the fields and\ndwellings where the people were to spend their daily life. If the\nproclamation of the law from Sinai had something of an abstract and\ndistant character, Ebal and Gerizim brought it home to the business\nand bosoms of men. It was now to be the rule for every day, and for\nevery transaction of every day; the bride was now to be settled in her\nhome, and if she was to enjoy the countenance and the company of her\nheavenly Bridegroom, the law of His house must be fully implemented,\nand its every requirement riveted on her heart.\n\nThe ceremony here under Joshua was twofold: first, the rearing of an\naltar; and second, the proclamation of the law.\n\n1. The altar, as enjoined in Exod. xx. 24, was of whole, undressed\nstones. In its simple structure it was designed to show that the Most\nHigh dwelleth not in temples made with hands. In its open position it\ndemonstrated that the most fitting place for His worship was not the\nsecret recesses of the woods, but the open air and full light of\nheaven, seeing that He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. On\nthis altar were offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the\nLord. The sacrificial system had been little attended to amid the\nmovements of the wilderness, and the warlike operations in which the\npeople had been more or less engaged ever since their entrance on the\nland; but now was the beginning of a more regular worship. The first\ntransaction here performed was the sacrificial. Here sin was called to\nmind, and the need of propitiation. Here it was commemorated that God\nHimself had appointed a method of propitiation; that He had thereby\nsignified His gracious desire to be at peace with His people; that He\nhad not left them to sigh out, \"Oh that we knew where we might find\nHim, that we might come even to His seat!\"--but had opened to His\npeople the gates of righteousness, that they might go in and praise\nthe Lord.\n\nMoreover, we read in Joshua, that \"he wrote there upon the stones a\ncopy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the\nchildren of Israel.\" There is sufficient difference between the\npassages in Deuteronomy and Joshua to show that the one was not copied\nfrom the other. From Joshua we might suppose that it was on the stones\nof the altar that Joshua wrote, and there is no reference to the\ncommand given in Deuteronomy to plaister the stones with plaister. But\nfrom Deuteronomy it is plain that it was not the stones of the altar\nthat were plaistered over, but memorial stones set up for the purpose.\nThere has been no little controversy as to the manner in which this\ninjunction was carried out. According to Dr. Thomson, in the \"Land and\nthe Book,\" the matter is very simple. The difficulty in the eyes of\ncommentators has arisen from the idea that plaister is altogether too\nsoft a substance to retain the impression of what is written on it.\nThis Dr. Thomson wholly disputes: \"A careful examination of Deut.\nxxvii. 4, 8 and Josh. viii. 30-32 will lead to the opinion that the\nlaw was written upon and in the plaister with which these pillars were\ncoated. This could easily be done; and such writing was common in\nancient times. I have seen numerous specimens of it certainly more\nthan two thousand years old, and still as distinct as when they were\nfirst inscribed upon the plaister.... In this hot climate, where there\nis no frost to dissolve the cement, it will continue hard and unbroken\nfor thousands of years,--which is certainly long enough. The cement on\nSolomon's pools remains in admirable preservation, though exposed to\nall the vicissitudes of the climate and with no protection.... What\nJoshua did therefore, when he erected those great stones on Mount\nEbal, was merely to write _in_ the still soft cement with a style, or\nmore likely _on_ the polished surface when dry, with red paint, as in\nancient tombs. If properly sheltered, and not broken by violence, they\nwould have remained to this day.\"\n\nJoshua could not have written the whole of the law on his pillars; it\nwas probably only the ten commandments. As we shall see, another\narrangement was made for the rehearsal of the whole law; it was\nsolemnly read out afterwards. But now the entire nation, with all the\nstrangers and followers, took up their position in the valley between\nthe two mountains. Half of the tribes separated from the rest to the\nslopes of Gerizim, and the other half to those of Ebal. From\nDeuteronomy we gather that those who were grouped on Gerizim were far\nthe more important and numerous tribes. They embraced Simeon, Levi,\nJudah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. On Mount Ebal were stationed\nReuben, Gad and Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. The priests stood\nbetween, and read out blessings and curses. When blessings were read\nout the tribes on Gerizim shouted Amen. When curses were read out\nthose on Ebal did the same. Let us imagine the scene. A mountain side\ncovered with people is always a picturesque sight, and the effect is\ngreatly heightened when the clothing of the multitude is of light,\nbright colours, as probably it was on this occasion. \"It was,\" says\nDr. Thomson, \"beyond question or comparison the most august assembly\nthe sun has ever shone upon; and I never stand in the narrow plain,\nwith Ebal and Gerizim rising on either hand to the sky, without\ninvoluntarily recalling and reproducing the scene. I have shouted to\nhear the echo, and then fancied how it must have been when the\nloud-voiced Levites proclaimed from the naked cliffs of Ebal, 'Cursed\nis the man that maketh any graven image, an abomination to Jehovah.'\nAnd then the tremendous AMEN! tenfold louder from the united\ncongregation, rising and swelling and re-echoing from Ebal to Gerizim,\nand from Gerizim to Ebal. AMEN! Even so, let him be accursed. No,\nthere never was an assembly to compare with this.\"\n\nVery explicit mention is made of the fact that \"there was not a word\nof all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not before all the\ncongregation of the children of Israel, with the women and the little\nones and the strangers that were conversant among them.\" This\nobviously implies that the law of Moses was in definite form, and that\nthe reading of it took up a considerable portion of time.\n\nThe order of events had been very significant. First, a great work of\ndestruction--the dispossession of the Canaanites. Next, the erection\nof an altar, and the offering up of sacrifices. And, lastly, the\ninscribing and proclamation of the law. \"The surgeon has done his\nduty, and now nature will proceed to heal and comfort and bless. The\nenemy has been driven off the field. Now the altar is put up and the\nlaw is promulgated. Society without law is chaos. An altar without\nrighteousness is evaporative sentiment. Prayer without duty may be a\ndetachment of the wings from the bird they were designed to assist....\nHaving done the destructive work, do not imagine that the whole\nprogramme is complete; now begins the construction of the altar. And\nhaving made a place for prayer, do not imagine that the whole duty of\nman has been perfected; next put up the law; battle, prayer, law; law,\nprayer, battle.\"[12]\n\n [12] \"The People's Bible,\" by Joseph Parker, D.D.\n\nIf the conjecture that this passage originally occupied a later place\nin the book be correct, the army was now about to be disbanded, and\nthe people were about to be settled in homes of their own. It was a\nmomentous crisis. They were about to lose, in a great degree, the\ninfluence of union, and the presence of men like Joshua and the godly\nelders, whose noble example and stirring words had ever been a power\nfor what was good and true. Scattered over the land, they would now be\nmore at the control of their own hearts, and often of what in them was\nleast noble and least godly. On the part of Joshua, everything had\nbeen done, by this solemn gathering, to secure that they should\nseparate with the remembrance of God's mighty works on their behalf\nfilling their hearts, and the words of God's law ringing in their\nears.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n_THE STRATAGEM OF THE GIBEONITES._\n\nJOSHUA ix.\n\n\nWe now resume the thread of the story interrupted by the narrative of\nthe transaction at Ebal and Gerizim. We learn from the testimony of\nRahab of Jericho, as uttered to the spies (chap. ii. 9), that the\nterror of Israel had caused the hearts of the inhabitants of the\ncountry to faint, and that the fame of all that had been done for them\nby Jehovah had quite paralysed them. But when the host of Israel\nactually entered Western Palestine, and began their conquest by the\ndestruction of Jericho and Ai, the inhabitants seem to have plucked up\ncourage, and begun to consider what could be done in self-defence. It\nis very probable that they found considerable encouragement from what\nhappened at Ai. There it had been seen that Israel was not invincible.\nInsignificant though Ai was, its people had been able to repel with\ngreat success the first attack of the Israelites. And though they had\nbeen destroyed in the second, this was achieved only by the combined\ninfluence of stratagem and an overwhelming force. The supernatural\npower under which Jericho had fallen had not been shown at Ai, and\nmight not come into play in the future. There was therefore yet a\nchance for the Canaanites, if they should combine and act in concert.\nSteps were therefore taken for such a union. The kings or chiefs who\noccupied the hills, or central plateau of the country; those of the\nvalleys, interspersed between the mountains; and those occupying the\nShephelah, or maritime plains of Philistia, Sharon, and\nPh\u0153nicia;--all the nations comprised under the well-known names\nHittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,\nentered into a league of defence, and prepared to confront Joshua and\nthe Israelites with a determined resistance. The news of the\nconfederacy would bring a tremor over some timid hearts in the camp of\nIsrael, but would cause no serious anxiety to Joshua and all the men\nof faith, who, like him, felt assured that the Lord was with them.\n\nThere was one native community, however, that determined to follow\nanother course. The Gibeonites were a branch of the Hivite race,\ninhabiting the town of Gibeon, and some other prominent towns in the\ngreat central plateau of the country. Gibeon is undoubtedly\nrepresented now by the village of El Jib, situated about half-way\nbetween Jerusalem and Bethel, four or five miles distant from each.\nDr. Robertson describes El Jib as situated in a beautiful plain of\nconsiderable extent, on an oblong hill or ridge, composed of layers of\nlimestone, rising as if by regular steps out of the plain. In the days\nof Joshua, it was a place of great importance, a royal city, and it\nhad under its jurisdiction the towns of Beeroth, Chephirah, and\nKirjath-jearim. Its inhabitants were in no humour to fight with\nJoshua. They had faith enough to understand what would be the\ninevitable result of that, and therein they were right, and the\nconfederate kings were wrong. On the other hand, they were not\nprepared to make an honest and unconditional surrender. They probably\nknew that the orders under which Joshua was acting called on him to\ndestroy all the people of the land, and they had no assurance that,\nbeing of the doomed nations, open submission would secure their lives.\nThey resolved therefore to proceed by stratagem. A detachment was\nappointed to wait on Joshua at his camp at Gilgal, as if they were\nambassadors from a distant country, and represent to him in pious tone\nthat they had come from afar, \"because of the name of the Lord his\nGod, having heard the fame of Him, and all that He did in Egypt, and\nall that He did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond\nJordan, to Sihon King of Heshbon, and to Og King of Bashan.\" They came\nwith the desire to show respect to the people whose God was so\npowerful, and to be allowed, though far off, to live at peace with\nthem. Then they presented their credentials, as it were; showing the\nold sacks, the shrivelled bottles, the musty bread they had brought\nwith them, and the clouts upon their feet and ragged garments which\nattested the great length of their journey. \"Those old Gibeonites,\"\nsays the \"Land and the Book,\" \"did indeed 'work wilily' with Joshua.\nNothing could be better calculated to deceive than their devices. I\nhave often thought that their ambassadors, as described in the\nnarrative, furnish one of the finest groups imaginable for a painter;\nwith their old sacks on their poor asses; their wine bottles of goat\nskin, patched and shrivelled up in the sun, old, rent, and bound up;\nold shoes and clouted upon their feet; old garments, ragged and\nbedraggled, with bread dry and mouldy,--the very picture of an\nover-travelled and wearied caravan from a great distance. It is\nimpossible to transfer to paper the ludicrous appearance of such a\ncompany. No wonder that, having tasted their mouldy victuals, and\nlooked upon their soiled and travel-worn costume, Joshua and the\nelders were deceived, especially as they did not wait to ask counsel\nat the mouth of the Lord.\"\n\nIt was just the completeness of the disguise that threw Joshua and the\nmen of Israel on their guard. For at first the idea did occur to them\nthat the strangers might be neighbours, and therefore of the nations\nthat they were called on to destroy. On closer inspection, however,\nthat seemed out of the question; indeed, the supposition was so\nutterly preposterous that it was deemed hardly fitting to bring the\nmatter before the Lord. It is as plain as day, Joshua and the elders\nwould reason; the evidence of what they say is beyond question; theirs\nis no case of perplexity requiring us to go to God; we may surely\nexercise our common sense and make a league with these far-travelled\nmen. In a short time they will be back in their own country, far\nbeyond our boundaries, and the only effect of their visit and of our\nleague will be a fresh tribute to the name and power of Jehovah, a\nfresh testimony to His presence with us, and a fresh pledge that He\nwill bear us to success in the enterprise in which we are engaged. And\nwhen the confederate kings that are now leaguing against us hear that\nthis distant people have come to us to propitiate our favour, they\nwill be struck by a new terror and will be the more easily subdued.\n\nWe see in all this the simple, unsuspecting spirit of men who have\nspent their lives in the wilderness. As for the Gibeonites, there was\na combination of good and bad in their spirit. They remind us in a\nmeasure of the woman with the issue of blood. In her there was\ncertainly faith; but along with the faith, extraordinary superstition.\nIn the Gibeonites there was faith--a belief that Israel was under the\nprotection of a remarkable Divine power, under a Divine promise the\ntruth of which even Balaam had very recently acknowledged--\"I will\nbless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.\"\nUndoubtedly a religious feeling lay at the bottom of the proceeding. A\ngreat divine Being was seen to be involved, who was on Israel's side\nand against his enemies, and it would not do to trifle with Him. But\nin their way of securing exemption from the effects of His\ndispleasure; the grossest superstition appeared. They were to gain\ntheir object by deceit. They were to get Him to favour them above\ntheir neighbours through an elaborate system of fraud, through a\ntissue of lies, through unmitigated falsehood. What a strange\nconception of God! What blindness to His highest attributes,--His\nholiness and His truth! What amazing infatuation to suppose that they\ncould secure His blessing through acts fitted to provoke His utmost\ndispleasure! What a miserable God men fashion to themselves when they\nsimply invest Him with almighty power, or perhaps suppose Him to be\nmoved by whims and prejudices and favouritisms like frail man, but\nomit to clothe Him with His highest glory--forget that \"justice and\njudgment are the habitation of His throne, mercy and truth go before\nHis face.\"\n\nThe conduct of the men was the more strange that it was impossible\nthat they should not be speedily found out. And it was quite possible\nthat, when found out, they would be dealt with more severely than\never. True, indeed, Joshua, when he did detect their plot, did not so\nact; he acted on a high, perhaps a mistaken sense of honour; but they\nhad no right to count on that. Timidity is a poor adviser. All it can\ndo is to turn the next corner. True faith, resting on eternal truth,\nacts for eternity. True faith is often blind, but in the deepest\ndarkness it knows that it is on the right track, and under the\nguidance of the eternal light. Blind faith is very different from\nblind fear. Faith holds on in full expectation of deliverance; fear\ntrembles and stumbles, in perpetual dread of exposure and humiliation.\n\n\"A lying tongue is but for a moment;\" and the Gibeonite fraud lived\njust three days. Then it was discovered by Joshua that the Gibeonites\nlived in the immediate neighbourhood. But before that, he had made\npeace with them, and entered into a league to let them live, and the\nprinces of the congregation had confirmed it by an oath. Nothing could\nhave been more provoking than to discover that they had been duped and\nswindled. It is always a very bitter experience to find that our\nconfidence has been misplaced. Men whom we thought trustworthy, and\nwhom we commended to others as trustworthy, have turned out knaves. It\nis hard to bear, for we have committed ourselves to our friends in the\nmatter. What would Joshua and his people think now of the supposed\ntribute to the God of Israel, and the impression expected to be made\non the confederate kings? Before all the inhabitants of Canaan he and\nhis people were befooled, humiliated. Not a man in all the country but\nwould be making merry at their expense. Yet even that was not the\nworst of it. They had been guilty of over-confidence, and of neglect\nof means that were in their hands; they had neglected to get counsel\nof their God. They had trusted in their own hearts when they ought to\nhave sought guidance from above. The trouble was their own creation;\nthey were alone to blame.\n\nWe cannot but respect the way in which Joshua and the princes acted\nwhen they discovered the fraud. It might have been competent to\nrepudiate the league on the ground that it was agreed to by them under\nfalse pretences. It was made on the representation that the Gibeonites\nhad come from a far country, and when that was seen to be utterly\nuntrue there would have been an honourable ground for repudiating the\ntransaction. But Joshua did not avail himself of this loophole. He and\nthe princes had such respect for the sanctity of an oath that, even\nwhen they discovered that they had been grossly deceived, they would\nnot resile from it. It seems to have been the princes that took up\nthis ground, and they did so in opposition to the congregation (ver.\n18). The fact that the name of the Lord God of Israel had been invoked\nin the oath sworn to the Gibeonites constrained them to abide by the\ntransaction. It is a good sign of their spirit that they were so\njealous of the honour of their God, and of the sanctity of their oath.\nThey came out of the transaction with more honour than we should have\nexpected. Personal interests were subordinated to higher\nconsiderations. They carried out that great canon of true\nreligion--first and foremost giving \"glory to God in the highest.\"\n\nBut though the lives of the Gibeonites were spared, that was all. They\nwere to be reduced to a kind of slavery--to be \"hewers of wood and\ndrawers of water for the congregation and the altar of God.\" The\nexpression has become a household word to denote a life of drudgery,\nbut perhaps we fail to recognise the full significance of the terms.\n\"I was forcibly reminded of this,\" says the author of \"The Land and\nthe Book,\" \"by long files of women and children (near El Jib) carrying\non their heads heavy bundles of wood.... It is the severest kind of\ndrudgery, and my compassion has often been enlisted in behalf of the\npoor women and children, who daily bring loads of wood to Jerusalem\nfrom these very mountains of the Gibeonites. To carry water, also, is\nvery laborious and fatiguing. The fountains are far off, in deep\nwadies with steep banks, and a thousand times have I seen the feeble\nand the young staggering up long and weary ways with large jars of\nwater on their heads. It is the work of slaves, and of the very poor,\nwhose condition is still worse. Among the pathetic lamentations of\nJeremiah there is nothing more affecting than this: 'They took the\nyoung men to grind, and the children fell under the wood' (i. 16).\nGrinding at the hand-mill is a low, menial work, assigned to female\nslaves, and therefore utterly humiliating to the young men of Israel.\nAnd the delicate children of Zion falling under the loads of hard,\nrough wood, along the mountain paths! Alas! 'for these things I weep;\nmine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that\nshould relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate,\nbecause the enemy prevailed.'\"\n\nRespecting the after history of Gibeon and the Gibeonites we find some\nnotices in the Old Testament, but none in the New. At one time there\nwas a sanctuary at Gibeon, even after the ark had been removed to\nMount Zion; for it was at Gibeon that Solomon offered his great\nsacrifice of a thousand burnt offerings, and had that remarkable dream\nin which, in reply to the Divine offer of a choice of gifts, he chose\nwisdom in preference to any other (1 Kings iii. 4 _sq._). But the most\nremarkable reappearance of the Gibeonites in history is in the reigns\nof Saul and David. For some unknown reason, and probably quite\nunjustly, Saul had put some of them to death. And in the reign of\nDavid, probably the early part of it, when a succession of famines\ndesolated the land, and inquiry was made as to the cause, the reply of\nthe oracle was: \"It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew\nthe Gibeonites.\" And it was to avenge this unjust slaughter that seven\ndescendants of Saul were put to death, on that occasion when Rizpah,\nthe mother of two of them, showed such remarkable affection by\nguarding their dead bodies from the beasts and birds of prey. It is\npossible that even after the Babylonian captivity some Gibeonites\nsurvived under their old name, because it is said in Nehemiah that\namong the others who repaired the wall of Jerusalem were \"Melatiah the\nGibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of\nMizpah\" (iii. 7). Only it is uncertain whether Melatiah was of the old\nGibeonite stock, or an Israelite who had Gibeon for his city. While\nthe old Gibeonites did survive they seem to have had a miserable lot,\nand the question might have been often asked by them--Did our fraud\nbring us any real good? Is life worth living?\n\nDoes anything resembling this fraud of the Gibeonites ever take place\namong ourselves? In answer, let us ask first of all, what is the\nmeaning of pious frauds? Are they not transactions where fraud is\nresorted to in order to accomplish what are supposed to be religious\nends? Granting that the fraud of the Gibeonites was not for a\nreligious but for a secular object--their deliverance from the sword\nof Joshua--still they professed, in practising it, to be doing honour\nto God. It is the part of superstition at once to lower the\nintellectual and the moral attributes of God. It often represents that\nthe most frivolous acts, the uttering of mysterious words, or the\nperformance of senseless acts have such a power over God as to bring\nabout certain desired results. More frequently it holds that cruelty,\nfalsehood, injustice, and other crimes, if brought to bear on\nreligious or ecclesiastical ends, are pleasing in God's sight. Is\nthere anything more truly odious than this severance of religion from\nmorality and humanity,--this representation that fraud and other\nimmoral acts have value before God? How can anything be a real\nreligious gain to a man, how can it be otherwise than disastrous in\nthe last degree, if it develops a fraudulent spirit, if it perverts\nhis moral nature, if it deepens and intensifies the moral disorder of\nhis heart? If men saw \"the beauty of holiness,\" \"the beauty of the\nLord,\" they could never bring their minds to such miserable\ndistortions. It is pure blasphemy to suppose that God could thus\ndemean Himself. It is self-degradation to imagine that anything that\ncan be gained by oneself through such means, could make up for what is\nlost, or for the guilt incurred by such wickedness.\n\nAnd this suggests a wider thought--the fearful miscalculation men make\nwhensoever they resort to fraud in the hope of reaping benefit by\nmeans of it. Yet what practice is more common? The question is, Does\nit really pay? Does it pay, for instance, to cheat at cards? Have we\nnot seen recently what swift and terrible retribution that may bring,\nmaking us feel for the culprit as we might have felt for Cain. Does it\npay the merchant to cheat as to the quality of his goods? Does it not\nleak out that he is not to be trusted, and does not that suspicion\nlose more to him in the long run than it gains? Does it pay the\npreacher to preach another man's sermon as his own? Or, to vary the\nillustration. When one has entrapped a maiden under false promises,\nand then forsakes her; or when he conceals the fact that he is already\nmarried to another; or when he controls himself for a time, to conceal\nfrom her his ill temper, or his profligate habits, or his thirst for\nstrong drink, does it pay in the end? The question is not, Does he\nsucceed in his immediate object? but, How does the matter end? Is it a\ncomfortable thought to any man that he has broken a trustful heart,\nthat he has brought misery to a happy home, that he has filled some\none's life with lamentation and mourning and woe? We are not thinking\nonly of the future life, when so many wrongs will be brought to light,\nand so many men and women will have to curse the infatuation that made\nfraud their friend and evil their good. We think of the present\nhappiness of those who live in an atmosphere of fraud, and worship\ndaily at its shrine. Can such disordered souls know aught of real\npeace and solid joy? In the case of some of them, are there not\noccasional moments of sober feeling, when they think what their life\nwas given them for, and contrast their selfish and heartless devices\nwith the career of those who deal truly and live to do good? Bitter,\nvery bitter is the feeling which the contrast raises. It is bitter to\nthink how unfit one is for the society of honest men; how the master\none is serving is the father of lies; and how, even when the master\ndoes grant one a momentary success, it is at the sacrifice of all\nself-respect and conscious purity, and with a dark foreboding of wrath\nin the life to come.\n\nAll Eastern nations get the character of being deceitful; but indeed\nthe weed may be said to flourish in every soil where it has not been\nrooted out by living Christianity. But if it be peculiarly\ncharacteristic of Eastern nations, is it not remarkable how constantly\nit is rebuked in the Bible, even though that book sprang from an\nEastern soil? No doubt the record of the Bible abounds with\n_instances_ of deceit, but its voice is always against them. And its\ninstances are always instructive. Satan gained nothing by deceiving\nour first parents. Jacob was well punished for deceiving Isaac.\nDavid's misleading of the high priest when he fled from Saul involved\nultimately the slaughter of the whole priestly household. Ananias and\nSapphira had an awful experience when they lied unto the Holy Ghost.\nAll through the Bible it is seen that lying lips are an abomination to\nthe Lord, but they that deal truly are His delight. And when our\nblessed Lord comes to show us the perfect life, how free He is from\nthe slightest taint or vestige of deceit! How beautifully transparent\nis His whole life and character! No little child with his honest smile\nand open face was ever more guileless. In the light of that perfect\nexample, who among us does not blush for our errors--for our many\nendeavours to conceal what we have done, to appear better than we\nwere, to seem to be pleasing God when we were pleasing ourselves, or\nto be aiming at God's glory when we were really consulting for our own\ninterests? Is it possible for us ever to be worthy of such a Lord?\nFirst, surely, we must go to His cross, and, bewailing all our\nunworthiness, seek acceptance through His finished work. And then draw\nfrom His fulness, even grace for grace; obtain through the indwelling\nof His Spirit that elixir of life which will send a purer life-blood\nthrough our souls, and assimilate us to Him of whom His faithful\napostle wrote: \"He did not sin, _neither was guile found in His\nmouth_.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n_THE BATTLE OF BETHHORON._\n\nJOSHUA x.\n\n\nOut of the larger confederacy of the whole Canaanite chiefs against\nJoshua and his people recorded in the beginning of chap. ix., a\nsmaller number, headed by Adonizedec, undertook the special task of\nchastising the Gibeonites, who had not only refused to join the\nconfederacy, but, as it was thought, basely and treacherously\nsurrendered to Joshua. It is interesting to find the King of\nJerusalem, Adonizedec, bearing a name so similar to that of\nMelchizedek, King of Salem, in the days of Abraham. No doubt, since\nthe days of Jerome, there have been some who have denied that the\nSalem of Melchizedek was Jerusalem. But the great mass of opinion is\nin favour of the identity of the two places. Melchizedek means King of\nRighteousness; Adonizedec, Lord of Righteousness; in substance the\nsame. It was a striking name for a ruler, and it was remarkable that\nit should have been kept up so long, although in the time of\nAdonizedec its significance had probably been forgotten. Jerusalem was\nbut five miles south of Gibeon; the other four capitals, whose chiefs\njoined in the expedition, were farther off. Hebron, eighteen miles\nsouth of Jerusalem, was memorable in patriarchal history as the\ndwelling-place of Abraham and the burial-place of his family;\nJarmuth, hardly mentioned in the subsequent history, is now\nrepresented by Yarmuk, six miles from Jerusalem; Lachish, of which we\nhave frequent mention in Scripture, is probably represented by Um\nLakis, about fifteen miles south-west of Jerusalem; and Eglon by\nAjlan, a little farther west. The five little kingdoms embraced most\nof the territory afterwards known as the tribe of Judah, and they must\nhave been far more than a match for Gibeon. Their chiefs are called\n\"the five Amorite kings,\" but this does not imply that they were\nexclusively of the Amorite race, for \"Amorite,\" like \"Canaanite,\" is\noften used generically to denote the whole inhabitants (as in Gen. xv.\n16). The five chiefs were so near Gibeon that it was quite natural for\nthem to undertake this expedition. No doubt they reckoned that, by\nmaking a treaty with Joshua, the Gibeonites had strengthened his hands\nand weakened those of his opponents; they had made resistance to\nJoshua more difficult for the confederacy, and therefore they deserved\nto be chastised. To turn their arms against Gibeon, when they had\nJoshua to deal with, was probably an unwise proceeding; but to their\nresources it would seem a very easy task. Gibeon enjoyed nothing of\nthat aid from a great unseen Power that made Joshua so formidable;\nlittle could they have dreamt that Joshua would come to the assistance\nof his new allies, and with God's help inflict on them a crushing\ndefeat. \"The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought, He\nmaketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the\nLord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.\"\n\nThe case was very serious for the Gibeonites. As Gibeon lay so near\nJerusalem and the cities of the other confederates, it is likely that\nthe appearance of the enemy before its walls was the first, or nearly\nthe first, intimation of the coming attack. In their extremity they\nsent to Joshua imploring help, and the terms in which they besought\nhim not to lose a moment, but come to them at his utmost speed, show\nthe urgency of their danger. To appeal to Joshua at all after their\nshameful fraud was a piece of presumption, unless--and this is very\nunlikely--the treaty between them had promised protection from\nenemies. Had Joshua been of a mean nature he would have chuckled over\ntheir distress, and congratulated himself that now he would get rid of\nthese Gibeonites without trouble on his part. But the same generosity\nthat had refused to take advantage of their fraud when it was detected\nshowed itself in this their time of need. Joshua was encamped at\nGilgal on the banks of the Jordan; for the arguments that suppose him\nto have been at another Gilgal are not consistent with the terms used\nin the narrative (_e.g._, ver. 9, \"_went up_ from Gilgal all night\").\nFrom Gilgal to Gibeon the distance is upwards of twenty miles, and a\ngreat part of the way is steep and difficult.\n\nEncouraged by the assurance of Divine protection and favoured by the\nmoonlight, Joshua, by a marvellous act of pluck and energy, went up by\nnight, reached Gibeon in the morning, fell upon the army of the\nassembled kings, possibly while it was yet dark, and utterly\ndiscomfited them. It would have been natural for the routed armies to\nmake for Jerusalem, only five miles off, by the south road, but either\nJoshua had occupied that road, or it was too difficult for a retreat.\nThe way by which they did retreat, running west from Gibeon, is\ncarefully described. First they took the way \"that goeth up to\nBethhoron.\" As soon as they had traversed the plain of Gibeon, they\nascended a gentle slope leading towards Bethhoron the upper, then fled\ndown the well-known pass, through the two Bethhorons, upper and\nnether, making for Jarmuth, Lachish, and other towns at the bottom of\nthe hills. In the course of their descent a hailstorm overtook them,\none of those terrific storms which seem hardly credible to us, but are\nabundantly authenticated both in ancient and modern times, and \"they\nwhich died with hailstones were more than they whom the children of\nIsrael slew with the sword.\" The Israelites, exhausted, no doubt, with\ntheir night march and morning exertions, seem to have been outstripped\nby the flying army, and in this way to have escaped the shower of\nhail. By the time the five kings, who had had to fly on foot, reached\nMakkedah at the foot of the mountains, they were unable to go farther\nand hid themselves in a cave. As Joshua passed he was informed of\nthis, but, unwilling to stop the pursuit of the fugitives, he ordered\nlarge stones to be rolled to the door of the cave, locking the kings\nup as it were in a prison, and no doubt leaving a guard in charge.\nThen, when the pursuit had been carried to the very gates of the\nwalled cities, he returned to the cave. The five kings were brought\nout, and the chiefs of the Israelite army put their feet upon their\nnecks. The kings were slain, and their bodies hanged on trees till the\nevening.\n\nThereafter Joshua attacked the chief cities of the confederates, and\ntook in succession Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and\nDebir. Nothing is said of his taking Jerusalem; indeed it appears from\nthe after history that the stronghold of Jerusalem on Mount Zion\nremained in Jebusite hands up to the time of David. Many of the\ninhabitants were able to escape destruction, but substantially Joshua\nwas now in possession of the whole southern division of the land,\nfrom the Jordan on the east to the borders of the Philistines on the\nwest, and from Gibeon on the north to the wilderness on the south. It\ndoes not appear, however, that he retained full possession; while he\nwas occupied in other parts of the country the people returned and\noccupied their cities. The clemency of Joshua in not destroying the\ninhabitants proved the source of much future trouble.\n\nIn all the subsequent history of the country, the victory of Gibeon\nwas looked back on, and justly, as one of the most memorable that had\never been known. For promptitude, dash, and daring it was never\neclipsed by any event of the kind; while the strength of the\nconfederate army, the completeness of its defeat, and the\npicturesqueness of the whole situation constantly supplied materials\nfor wonder and delight. Moreover, the hand of God had been\nconspicuously shown in more ways than one. The hailstorm that wrought\nsuch havoc was ascribed to His friendly hand, but a far more memorable\ntoken of His interest and support lay in the miracle that arrested the\nmovements of the sun and the moon, in order that victorious Israel\nmight have time to finish his work. And after the victory the capture\nof the fortified towns became comparatively easy. The remnant that had\nescaped could have no heart to defend them. Joshua must have smiled at\nthe fate of the \"cities walled up to heaven\" that had so greatly\ndistressed his brother spies when they came up to examine the land.\nAnd as he found them one by one yield to his army, as though their\ndefence had really departed from them, he must have felt with fresh\ngratitude the faithfulness and lovingkindness of the Lord, and\nearnestly breathed the prayer that neither his faith nor that of his\npeople might ever fail until the whole campaign was brought to an end.\n\nIn some respects this victory has a special significance. In the first\nplace, it had a most important bearing on the success of the whole\nenterprise; its suddenness, its completeness, its manifold grandeur\nbeing admirably fitted to paralyse the enemy in other parts of the\ncountry, and open the whole region to Joshua. By some it has been\ncompared to the battle of Marathon, not only on account of the\nsuddenness with which the decisive blow was struck, but also on\naccount of the importance of the interests involved. It was a battle\nfor freedom, for purity, for true religion, in opposition to tyranny,\nidolatry, and abominable sensuality; for all that is wholesome in\nhuman life, in opposition to all that is corrupt; for all that makes\nfor peaceful progress, in opposition to all that entails degradation\nand misery. The prospects of the whole world were brighter after that\nvictory of Bethhoron. The relation of heaven to earth was more\nauspicious, and more full of promise for the days to come. Had any\nhitch occurred in the arrangements; had Israel halted half-way up the\neastern slopes, and the troops of Adonizedec driven them back; had the\ntug of war in the plain of Gibeon proved too much for them after their\ntoilsome night march; had no hailstorm broken out on the retreating\nenemy; had he been able to form again at the western foot of the hills\nand arrest the progress of Joshua in pursuit, the whole enterprise\nwould have had a different complexion. No doubt the Divine arm might\nhave been stretched out for Israel in some other way; but the\nremarkable thing was, that no such supplementary mode of achieving the\ndesired result was required. At every point the success of Israel was\ncomplete, and every obstacle opposed to him by the enemy was swept\naway for the time being as smoke before the wind.\n\nIn the next place, the tokens of Divine aid were very impressive.\nAfter the experience which Joshua had had of the consequences of\nfailing to ask God for direction when first the Gibeonites came to\nhim, we may be very sure that on the present occasion he would be\npeculiarly careful to seek Divine counsel. And he was well rewarded.\nFor \"the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had\navenged themselves upon their enemies.\" It does not need to be said\nthat this miraculous incident has from first to last given birth to an\nimmensity of perplexity and discussion. It will be observed that the\nrecord of it does not come in as part of the narrative, but as a\nquotation from a pre-existing book. Concerning that book we know very\nlittle. From its name, Jashar, \"The upright,\" we may believe it to\nhave been a record of memorable deeds of righteous men. In form it was\npoetical, the extract in the present case being of that rhythmical\nstructure which was the mark of Hebrew poetry. The only other occasion\non which it is mentioned is in connection with the song composed by\nDavid, after the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 18). \"David\"\n(as the Revised Version puts it) \"bade them teach the children of\nIsrael the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of\nJashar.\" As to the origin and nature of this book we can only\nconjecture. It may have been a public record, contributed to from time\nto time by various writers, under conditions and arrangements which at\nthis distance of time, and under the obscurity of the whole subject,\nwe cannot ascertain.\n\nThen as to the miracle of the sun and the moon standing still. It is\nwell known that this was one of the passages brought forward by the\nChurch of Rome to condemn Galileo, when he affirmed that the earth and\nthe moon revolved round the sun, and that it was not the motion of the\nsun round the earth, but the rotation of the earth on her own axis\nthat produced the change of day and night. No one would dream now of\nmaking use of this passage for any such purpose. Whatever theory of\ninspiration men may hold, it is admitted universally that the inspired\nwriters used the popular language of the day in matters of science,\nand did not anticipate discoveries which were not made till many\ncenturies later. That expressions occur in Scripture which are not in\naccord with the best established conclusions of modern science would\nnever be regarded by any intelligent person as an argument against the\nScriptures as the inspired records of God's will, designed especially\nto reveal to us the way of life and salvation through Jesus Christ,\nand to be an infallible guide to us on all that \"man is to believe\nconcerning God, and the duty that God requires of man.\"\n\nA far more serious question has been raised as to whether this miracle\never occurred, or could have occurred. To those who believe in the\npossibility of miracles, it can be no conclusive argument that it\ncould not have occurred without producing injurious consequences the\nend of which can hardly be conceived. For if the rotation of the earth\non its axis was suddenly arrested, all human beings on its surface,\nand all loose objects whatever must have been flung forward with\nprodigious violence; just as, on a small scale, on the sudden stoppage\nof a carriage, we find ourselves thrown forward, the motion of the\ncarriage having been communicated to our bodies. But really this is a\npaltry objection; for surely the Divine power that can control the\nrotation of the earth is abundantly able to obviate such effects as\nthese. We can understand the objection that God, having adjusted all\nthe forces of nature, leaves them to operate by themselves in a\nuniform way without disturbance or interference; but we can hardly\ncomprehend the reasonableness of the position that if it is His\npleasure miraculously to modify one arrangement, He is unable to\nadjust all relative arrangements, and make all conspire harmoniously\nto the end desired.\n\nBut was it a miracle? The narrative, as we have it, implies not only\nthat it was, but that there was something in it stupendous and\nunprecedented. It comes in as a part of that supernatural process in\nwhich God had been engaged ever since the deliverance of His people\nfrom Egypt, and which was to go on till they should be finally settled\nin the land. It naturally joins on to the miraculous division of the\nJordan, and the miraculous fall of the walls of Jericho. We must\nremember that the work in which God was now engaged was one of\npeculiar spiritual importance and significance. He was not merely\nfinding a home for His covenant people; He was making arrangements for\nadvancing the highest interests of humanity; He was guarding against\nthe extinction on earth of the Divine light which alone could guide\nman in safety through the life that now is, and in preparation for\nthat which is to come. He was taking steps to prevent a final and\nfatal severance of the relation between God and man, and He was even\npreparing the way for a far more complete and glorious development of\nthat relation--to be seen in the person of His Incarnate Son, the\nspiritual Joshua, and made possible for men through that great work\nof propitiation which He was to accomplish on the cross. Who will take\nupon him to say that at an important crisis in the progress of the\nevents which were to prepare the way for this grand consummation, it\nwas not fitting for the Almighty to suspend for a time even the\nordinances of heaven, in order that a day's work, carrying such vast\nconsequences, might not be interrupted before its triumphant close?\n\nThere are commentators worthy of high respect who have thought that\nthe fact of this incident being noticed in the form of a quotation\nfrom the Book of Jashar somewhat diminishes the credit due to it. It\nlooks as if it had not formed part of the original narrative, but had\nbeen inserted by a subsequent editor from a book of poetry, expressed\nwith poetic licence, and perhaps of later date. They are disposed to\nregard the words of Joshua, \"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and\nthou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon,\" as a mere expression of his\ndesire that the light would last long enough to allow the decisive\nwork of the day to be brought to a thorough conclusion. They look on\nit as akin to the prayer of Agamemnon (\"Iliad,\" ii. 412 _sq._) that\nthe sun might not go down till he had sacked Troy; and the form of\nwords they consider to be suited to poetical composition, like some of\nthe expressions in the eighteenth psalm--\"There went up a smoke out of\nHis nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled\nby it. He bowed the heavens also, and did come down: He rode upon a\ncherub, and did fly.\"\n\nBut whatever allowance we may make for poetical licence of speech, it\nis hardly possible not to perceive that the words as they stand imply\na miracle of extraordinary sublimity; nor do we see any sufficient\nground for resisting the common belief that in whatsoever way it was\neffected, there was a supernatural extension of the period of light,\nto allow Joshua to finish his work.[13]\n\n [13] It seems hardly necessary to notice an explanation of the\n phenomenon that has been made lately--to the effect that it was in\n the morning, not the evening of the day, that Joshua expressed his\n wish. It was to prevent the allied kings about Gibeon knowing of\n his approach that he desired the sun to delay his rising in the\n east, a desire which was virtually fulfilled by that dark, cloudy\n condition of the sky which precedes a thunderstorm. The natural\n sense of the narrative admits neither of this explanation of the\n time nor of the miracle itself.\n\nOne other notable feature in the transaction of this day was the\ncompleteness of the defeat inflicted by Joshua on the enemy. This\ndefeat went on in successive stages from early morning till late at\nnight. First, there was the slaughter in the plain of Gibeon. Then the\nhavoc produced by the hail and by Joshua on the retreating army. Then\nthe destruction caused as Joshua followed the enemy to their cities.\nAnd the work of the day was wound up by the execution of the five\nkings. Moreover, there followed a succession of similar scenes at the\ntaking and sacking of their cities. When we try to realize all this in\ndetail, we are confronted with a terrible scene of blood and death,\nand possibly we may find ourselves asking, Was there a particle of\nhumanity in Joshua, that he was capable of such a series of\ntransactions? Certainly Joshua was a great soldier, and a great\nreligious soldier, but he was in many ways like his time. He had many\nof the qualities of Oriental commanders, and one of these qualities\nhas ever been to carry slaughter to the utmost limit that the occasion\nallows. His treatment of the conquered kings, too, was marked by\ncharacteristic Oriental barbarity, for he caused his captains to put\ntheir feet upon their necks, needlessly embittering their dying\nmoments, and he exposed their dead bodies to the needless humiliation\nof being hanged on a tree. But it must be said, and said firmly for\nJoshua, that there is no evidence of his acting on this or on other\nsuch occasions in order to gratify personal feelings; it was not done\neither to gratify a thirst for blood, or to gratify the pride of a\nconqueror. Joshua all through gives us the impression of a man\ncarrying out the will of another; inflicting a judicial sentence, and\ninflicting it thoroughly at the first so that there might be no need\nfor a constant series of petty executions afterwards. This certainly\nwas his aim; but the enemy showed themselves more vital than he had\nsupposed.\n\nAnd when we turn to ourselves and think what we may learn from this\ntransaction, we see a valuable application of his method to the\nspiritual warfare. God has enemies still, within and without, with\nwhom we are called to contend. \"For we wrestle not against flesh and\nblood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of\nthe darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high\nplaces.\" When we are fighting with the enemy within our own hearts\nleniency is our great temptation, but at the same time our greatest\nsnare. What we need here is, courage to slay. We content ourselves\nwith confessions and regrets, but the enemy lives, returns to the\nattack, and keeps us in perpetual discomfort. Oh that in this battle\nwe resembled Joshua, aiming at killing the enemy outright, and leaving\nnothing belonging to him that breathes!\n\nAnd in reference to the outside world, want of thoroughness in warfare\nis still our besetting sin. We play at missions; we trifle with the\nawful drunkenness and sensuality around us; we look on, and we see\nrural districts gradually depopulated; and we wring our hands at the\nmass of poverty, vice, and misery in our great crowded cities. How\nrare is it for any one to arise among us like General Booth, to face\nprevailing evils in all their magnitude, and even attempt to do battle\nwith them along the whole line! Why should not such a spirit be\nuniversal in the Christian Church? Who can tell the evil done by want\nof faith, by languor, by unwillingness to be disturbed in our quiet,\nself-indulged life, by our fear of rousing against us the scorn and\nrage of the world? If only the Church had more faith, and, as the\nfruit of faith, more courage and more enterprise, what help from\nheaven might not come to her! True, she would not see the enemy\ncrushed by hailstones, nor the sun standing in Gibeon, nor the moon in\nthe valley of Ajalon; but she would see grander sights; she would see\nmen of spiritual might raised up in her ranks; she would see tides of\nstrong spiritual influence overwhelming her enemies. Jerichos\ndismantled, Ais captured, and the champions of evil falling like\nLucifer from heaven to make way for the King of kings and Lord of\nlords.\n\nLet us go to the cross of Jesus to revive our faith and recruit our\nenergies. The Captain of our salvation has not only achieved salvation\nfor us, but He has set us a blessed example of the spirit and life of\ntrue Christian warriors.\n\n \"At the Name of Jesus\n Satan's legions flee;\n On then, Christian soldiers,\n On to victory.\n Hell's foundations quiver\n At the shout of praise;\n Brothers, lift your voices,\n Loud your anthems raise!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n_THE BATTLE OF MEROM._\n\nJOSHUA xi., xii.\n\n\nThere is some appearance of confusion in the terms in which the great\nconfederacy of native princes against Israel is brought in. In the\nbeginning of the ninth chapter, a combination that embraced the whole\ncountry, north and south, east and west, is described as gathered\ntogether to fight with Joshua and with Israel. Nothing more is said\ntill after the treaty with the Gibeonites, when five of these\nconfederate kings residing in the south not far from Gibeon muster\ntheir forces to besiege that city. Of the utter rout and ruin of these\nfive kings and of some of their neighbours we have just been reading.\nAnd now we read that, after these things, Jabin, King of Hazor, sent\nto his neighbours, and to all the princes in the northern part of the\ncountry, and organized a combined movement against Israel, for which\nthe appointed rendezvous was at the waters of Merom, in the extreme\nnorth of the country. The statement at the beginning of the ninth\nchapter that the confederates \"gathered themselves together,\" seems to\nbe made proleptically; the actual gathering together not having taken\nplace till the occasions specified in the tenth and eleventh chapters\nrespectively. The plan of the confederacy was no doubt formed soon\nafter the fall of Jericho and Ai, and the arrangements for a vast\nunited movement began to be made then. But it would necessarily\nconsume a considerable time to bring so vast a host together.\nMeanwhile, another event had taken place. The Gibeonites had refused\nto join the confederacy and had made peace with Joshua. Their\nneighbours were intensely provoked, especially Adonizedec of\nJerusalem, and without waiting for the general movement proceeded at\nonce to chastise their treachery. As we have said already, they\ndoubtless thought it would be an easy task. To the surprise of them\nall, Joshua, with an activity which they could not have looked for,\nhastened to the relief of Gibeon, and inflicted a defeat on the\nconfederates which amounted to absolute ruin.\n\nIt has not been generally noticed how remarkably the Gibeonite fraud,\nand the honourable action of Joshua in connection with it, tended in\nthe end to the good of Israel. Had Joshua, after the discovery of the\nfraud, repudiated his treaty and attacked and exterminated the\nGibeonites, or had he disregarded their appeal to him for help and\nsuffered them to be crushed by Adonizedec, there would have been\nnothing to hinder the southern kings from uniting with the northern,\nand thus presenting to Joshua the most formidable opposition that was\never mustered in defence of a country. The magnificent exploit of\nJoshua in the plain of Gibeon, down the pass of Bethhoron, and in the\nvalley of Ajalon entirely frustrated any such arrangement. The armies\nof the southern kings were destroyed or demoralized. And though the\nunited forces in the north, with their vast resources of war, still\nformed a most formidable opponent, the case would have been very\ndifferent if the two had combined, or if one of them had hung on\nJoshua's rear while he was engaged in front with the other. Nothing\ncould have fallen out more for the advantage of Israel than the\nprocedure of the Gibeonites, which drew off so large and powerful a\nsection of the confederates, and exposed them thus separate to the\nsword of Joshua.\n\nJoshua was not allowed a long rest at Gilgal after his dealings with\nAdonizedec and his brethren. No doubt the news of that tremendous\ndisaster would quicken the energies of the northern kings. The head of\nthe new conspiracy was Jabin, King of Hazor. Jabin was evidently an\nofficial name borne by the chief ruler of Hazor, like Pharaoh in\nEgypt, for when, at a subsequent period, the place has recovered\nsomewhat of its importance, and comes again into view as a Canaanite\ncapital, Jabin is again the name of its chief ruler (Judg. iv. 2).\n\nThe situation of Hazor has been disputed by geographers, and Robinson,\nwho is usually so accurate, differs from other authorities. He assigns\nit to a ruinous city on a hill called Tell Khuraibeh, overhanging the\nLake Merom, for little other reason than that it seems to answer the\nconditions of the various narratives where Hazor is introduced. On the\nother hand, the author of \"The Land and the Book\" assigns it to a\nplace still called Hazere, a little west of Merom, the remains of\nwhich lie in a large natural basin, and spread far up the hill, toward\nthe south. \"Heaps of hewn stone, old and rotten; open pits, deep\nwells, and vast cisterns cut in the solid rock--these are the\nunequivocal indications of an important city.... I inquired of an old\nsheikh what saint was honoured there. In a voice loud and bold, as if\nto make a doubtful point certain, he replied, Neby Haz\u00fbr, who fought\nwith Yeshua Ibn Nun.\" The matter is of no great moment; all that it is\nimportant to know is that Hazor was situated near Lake Merom, and was\nthe capital of a powerful kingdom.\n\nThe cities of some of the other confederates are named, but it is not\neasy to identify them all. The sites of Madon, Shimron, and Achshaph,\nare unknown, but they were apparently not far from Hazor. \"The Arabah\nsouth of Chinneroth\" (ver. 2, R.V.) denotes the plain of Jordan south\nof the lake of Galilee; the valley, or \"lowland\" (R.V.), denotes the\nmaritime plain from the Philistines northward; \"the heights of Dor on\nthe west\" (R.V.), or Highlands of Dor (\"Speaker's Commentary\"), the\nhills about a city on the sea coast, near the foot of Carmel,\nprominent in after history, but now reduced to a village with a few\npoor houses. The sacred historian, however, does not attempt to\nenumerate all the places from which the confederacy was drawn, and\nfalls back on the old comprehensive formula--\"Canaanites on the east\nand on the west, Amorites, Hittites, the Jebusites in the hill\ncountry, and the Hivite under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh.\" \"The\nCanaanites on the west\" embraced the people of Zidon, for Joshua is\nexpressly stated to have followed a band of the fugitives to that city\n(ver. 8). The muster must have been an extraordinary one, as numerous\n\"as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude.\" Josephus gives\nthe numbers as 300,000 footmen, 10,000 horsemen, and 20,000 chariots;\nbut we can hardly attach much value to his figures. \"Horses and\nchariots\" was an arm unknown to the Israelites, with which hitherto\nthey had never contended. This vast host came together and pitched at\nthe waters of Merom. Merom, now called Huleh, is the little lake\nwhere, as already stated, the three streamlets that form the Jordan\nunite. It varies in size in summer and winter. To the north, a large\nplain spreads itself out, sufficient for the encampment of a great\narmy. It was at or near this plain that Abraham overtook the five\nkings of Mesopotamia and defeated them, rescuing Lot, and all that had\nbeen taken from Sodom (Gen. xiv. 14, 15). Now again it is crowded with\na mighty host: far as the eye can reach, the plain is darkened by the\ncountless squadrons of the enemy. Probably, after mustering here,\ntheir intention was to bear down the Jordan valley, till they came on\nJoshua at Gilgal, or such other place as he might choose to meet them.\nBut if this was their intention they were outwitted by the activity\nand, intrepidity of Joshua, who resolved, in spite of their\noverwhelming numbers, to take the aggressive; and, marching, as\nbefore, with extraordinary rapidity, to fall on them by surprise and\nthrow them at once into confusion so that they should be unable to\nbring their chariots and horses into the action.\n\nIt was a very serious undertaking for Joshua, and before attempting it\nhe stood much in need of the encouragement of Jehovah--\"Be not afraid\nbecause of them: for to-morrow about this time will I deliver them up\nall slain before Israel: thou shalt hough their horses, and burn all\ntheir chariots with fire.\" Not on the number nor on the bravery of his\nown people, though they had stood by him most nobly, was he to place\nhis reliance, but on the power of God. \"Rule thou in the midst of\nthine enemies\" was his _mot d'ordre_, as it was afterwards of that\nother Joshua, whose battles were not with confused noise nor with\ngarments rolled in blood, but were triumphs of truth and love. Where\nelse should the true warrior be found but in the midst of his enemies?\nJoshua knew it, and with the promised help of God, did not flinch from\nthe position, though his opponents were like the sand of the seaside,\nwith a corresponding multitude of chariots and horses. Jesus, too,\nknew it, and resting on the same promise did not shrink from the\nconflict in His own person; nor did He hesitate to send His apostles\ninto all the world to preach the gospel to every creature, and look\nforward to a victory not less complete than that of Joshua, when the\nhordes of the Canaanites were scattered before him.\n\n\"To-morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before\nIsrael.\" When he got that assurance, Joshua must already have left\nGilgal some days before, and was now within a moderate distance of\nMerom. There was to be no delay in the completing of the enterprise.\n\"To-morrow about this time.\" Though, as a rule, the mills of God grind\nslowly, there are times when their velocity is wonderfully\naccelerated. He has sometimes wonderful to-morrows. When Hezekiah was\ngazing appalled on the hosts of Sennacherib as they lay coiled round\nJerusalem, God had a \"to-morrow about this time\" when the terror would\nbe exchanged for a glorious relief. When the apostles met in the upper\nchamber, and were wondering how they were ever to conquer the world\nfor their Master, there was a \"to-morrow\" at hand, when the Spirit was\nto \"come down like rain on the mown grass, and like showers that water\nthe earth.\" When, at the end of the world, iniquity abounds and faith\nis low, and scoffers are asking, \"Where is the promise of His coming?\"\nthere will come a \"to-morrow about this time\" when the heavens will\npass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with\nfervent heat, the earth also and all that is therein shall be\ndestroyed. Hold on, brave Joshua, for a little longer; hold on too, ye\nsoldiers of the Lord Jesus, though all the powers of darkness are\nleagued against you; hold on, ye suffering saints, whose days of pain\nand nights of waking are such a weariness to your flesh; the glorious\n\"to-morrow\" may be at hand which is to end your troubles and bring you\nthe victory!\n\n \"We expect a bright to-morrow,\n All will be well.\"\n\nAnd all was well with Joshua. Arriving suddenly at the waters of\nMerom, he fell on the mighty host of the enemy, who, taken by\nsurprise, seem not to have struck one blow, but to have been seized at\nonce with that panic which so thoroughly demoralizes Eastern hordes,\nand to have fled in consternation. In three great streams the\nfugitives sought their homes. One portion made for Misrephothmaim in\nthe south-west, now, it is thought, represented by Musheirifeh on the\nnorth border of the plain of Acre; another struck in a north-easterly\ndirection through the valley of the upper Jordan, or east of Hermon to\nthe valley of Mizpeh; a third, passing through the gorge of the\nLitany, made for great Zidon, in the distant north. Joshua himself\nwould seem to have pursued this column of fugitives, and, passing over\na rough path of more than forty miles, not to have abandoned them till\nthey took refuge within the walls of Zidon. If he had attacked and\ndestroyed that stronghold, it might have changed for the better much\nof the future history of his country; for the Jezebels and Athaliahs\nof after days were among the worst enemies of Israel. But he did not\ndeem himself called to that duty. It seemed more urgent that he\nshould demolish Hazor, the capital of the confederacy that he had just\nscattered. So \"he turned back and took Hazor, and smote the king\nthereof with the sword; for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those\nkingdoms.\" For this reason Hazor was treated like Jericho, utterly\ndestroyed, as were also the other cities of the confederate kings. One\nclass of cities was spared, called in our version \"the cities that\nstood still in their strength,\" but better in the Revised--\"the cities\nthat stood on their mounds.\" The custom referred to is that of\nbuilding cities on mounds or hills for the sake of protection. With\nthe exception of Hazor, none of these were destroyed. The reason\nprobably was, that it would have cost too much time. But it was in\nsuch places that the old inhabitants rallied and entrenched\nthemselves, and from them they were able in after years to inflict\nmuch loss and give great trouble to Israel. Joshua, however, had not\nreceived instructions to destroy them; they were left to serve a\npurpose in God's plan of discipline (Judg. ii. 3), and while Israel\nwas often humbled under them their attacks proved occasions of\nrallying, bringing them back to God, whose worship they were so ready\nto neglect.\n\nThe conquest of Western Palestine was thus virtually completed. First,\nby taking Jericho, Joshua had possessed himself of the Jordan valley,\nand established a clear communication with Bashan and Gilead, which\nthe two and a half tribes had received for their inheritance. By the\nconquest of Ai and Bethel, he had made a way to the great plateau of\nWestern Palestine, and by his treaty with the Gibeonites he had\nextended his hold a considerable way farther to the south and the\nwest. Then, by the great victory of Bethhoron, he had crushed the\nsouthern chiefs and possessed himself, for the time at least, of all\nthat quarter. As to the inhabitants of the central part, we know not\n(as we have already said) how they were dealt with, but most probably\nthey were too frightened to resist him. (See p. 202).\n\nThe northern section had been subdued at Merom, and much crippled\nthrough the pursuit of Joshua after the battle there. The only\nimportant parts of the country of which he did not gain possession\nwere the land of the Philistines, the strip of sea coast held by Tyre\nand Zidon, and some small kingdoms on the north-east. It would seem\nthat in the instructions received by him from Moses, these were not\nincluded, for it is expressly said of him that \"he left nothing undone\nof all that the Lord commanded Moses.\" Emphasis is laid on the fact\nthat his conquests were not confined to one section or denomination of\nterritory, but embraced the whole. \"Joshua took all that land, the\nhill country, and all the South, and all the land of Goshen, and the\nlowland, and the Arabah, and the hill country of Israel, and the\nlowland of the same; from Mount Halak (or, the bare mountain) [on the\nsouth], that goeth up to Seir [the land of Edom], even unto Baalgad in\nthe valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon [in the north]: and all their\nkings he took, and smote them, and put them to death\" (R.V.). The\n\"Goshen\" here spoken of cannot, of course, be the Egyptian Goshen, for\nthis city was in the neighbourhood of Gibeon (chap. x. 41); but its\nsite has not been identified.\n\nWe are told that the wars of Joshua occupied a long time. Probably\nfrom five to seven years were consumed by them, for though the pitched\nbattles of Bethhoron and Merom virtually decided the mastership of\nthe country, there must have been a large amount of guerilla warfare,\nand the sieges of the various cities must have required much time. The\nlist of kings subdued, as given in chap. xii., is a remarkable\ndocument. Granting that though called kings they were mostly but\nlittle chieftains, still they were formidable enough to a pastoral\npeople unused to the pursuits of war; and it was very striking that\nnot one of them by himself, nor all of them combined, were equal to\nJoshua. If Joshua was not divinely aided, the conquest of all these\nchieftains and the capture of their cities is the most inexplicable\nevent in history.\n\nTwo additional statements are made towards the close of the eleventh\nchapter. One is, that with the single exception of Gibeon, no attempt\nwas made by any of the chiefs or cities to make peace with Joshua.\n\"For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come\nagainst Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that\nthey might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the Lord\ncommanded Moses.\" It would have been very embarrassing to Joshua if\nthey had submitted spontaneously, and cast themselves on his\ngenerosity, for his orders were to destroy them. But this difficulty\ndid not arise. None of the cities seem to have shared the conviction\nof the Gibeonites that opposition was needless, that Israel was sure\nto prevail, and get possession of the country. When men's backs are\nup, to use a common phrase, they will do wonders in the way of facing\ndanger and enduring suffering. Even the resistance of the martyrs\ncannot be wholly ascribed to holy faith and loyalty to God; in many\ncases, no doubt, something was due to that dogged spirit that won't\nsubmit, that won't be beat, that will endure incredible privation\nrather than give in. The effect of this resistance by the Canaanites\nwas, that while Joshua's task was increased in one way, it was\nsimplified in another. Ages before, God had given the country to the\nfathers of the Hebrew nation. That people now came and demanded in\nGod's name possession of the land which He had given them. Had the\nnations submitted voluntarily they must have left the country to seek\nnew settlements elsewhere. By resisting, they compelled Joshua to meet\nthem with the sword; and having resisted Israel with all their might,\nnothing remained but that they should encounter the doom which they\nhad so fiercely provoked.\n\nThat some of the Canaanites did leave the country seems very probable,\nalthough little importance is to be attached to the statement of\nProcopius that after trying Egypt they settled in Libya, and\noverspread Africa as far as the Pillars of Hercules. At a fortress in\nNumidia called Tigisis or Tingis he says that so late as the sixth\ncentury after Christ there were discovered near a great wall two\npillars of white stone bearing, in Ph\u0153nician, the inscription, \"We\nare those who fled before the robber Jeshus, son of Nane.\" Ewald and\nothers by whom this tradition is noticed are not disposed, owing to\nits late date, to attach to it any weight.\n\nThe other statement relates to the Anakim. Sometime, not precisely\ndefined, while engaged in his conflicts Joshua \"cut off the Anakims\nfrom the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all\nthe mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel,\" leaving\nnone of them except in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod (xi. 21).\nAfterwards it is said (xv. 14) that it was Caleb that drove from\nHebron the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai; but this\ncannot be counted a contradiction inasmuch as \"Joshua,\" being the\nleader of the army, must be held to represent and include all who\nfought in connection with his enterprise. These Anakim were the men\nthat had so terrified the ten spies. \"And there we saw the giants, the\nsons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight\nas grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight\" (Num. xiii. 33). To\nmen of little faith, giants, whether physical or moral, are always\nformidable. Kings, with the resources of an empire at their back;\ngenerals, at the head of mighty battalions; intellectual chiefs, with\nall their talent and brilliancy, their wit, their irony, their power\nto make the worse appear the better reason, are more than a match for\nthe obscure handfuls to whom the battles of the faith are often left.\nBut if the obscure handfuls are allied with the Lord of hosts, their\nvictory is sure; the triumphant experience of the forty-sixth psalm\nawaits them: \"God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God\nshall help her, and that right early.\"\n\nWe are weary of the din of arms, and come at last to the refreshing\nstatement: \"And the land rested from war.\" The annals of peace are\nalways more brief than the records of war; and when we reach this\nshort but welcome clause we might wish that it were so expanded as to\nfill our eyes and our hearts with the blessings which peace scatters\nwith her kindly hand. For that impression we need only to turn to\nanother page of our Bible, and read of the campaigns of another\nJoshua. \"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their\nsynagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all\nmanner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.\" The\ncontrast is very glorious. In His Galilee journeys, Jesus traversed\nthe very region where Joshua had drawn his sword against the\nconfederate kings. Joshua had pursued them as far as Zidon, leaving\nmarks of bloodshed along the whole way; Jesus, when \"He departed to\nthe coasts of Tyre and Sidon,\" went to reward faith, to dispossess\ndevils, and to kindle in a desolate heart thanksgiving and joy.\nEverywhere, throughout all Galilee and the regions beyond, His advent\nwas accompanied with benedictions, and blessings were scattered by Him\nin His path.\n\nBut let us not indulge in too complete a contrast between the two\nconquerors. Joshua's rough ploughshare prepared the way for Jesus'\nwords of mercy and deeds of love. God's message to man is not all in\nhoneyed words. Even Jesus, as He went through Galilee, proclaimed,\n\"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\" And it was those only\nwho gave heed to the call to repent that became possessors of the\nkingdom.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n_JOSHUA'S OLD AGE--DIVISION FOR THE EASTERN TRIBES._\n\nJOSHUA xiii., xiv. 1-5.\n\n\n\"The Lord said unto Joshua, Thou art old and stricken in years.\" To\nmany men and women this would not be a welcome announcement. They do\nnot like to think that they are old. They do not like to think that\nthe bright, joyous, playful part of life is over, and that they are\narrived at the sombre years when they must say, \"There is no pleasure\nin them.\" Then, again, there are some who really find it hard to\nbelieve that they are old. Life has flown past so swiftly that before\nthey thought it was well begun it has gone. It seems so short a time\nsince they were in the full play of their youthful energies, that it\nis hardly credible that they are now in the sere and yellow leaf.\nPerhaps, too, they have been able to keep their hearts young all the\ntime, and still retain that buoyant sensation which seems to indicate\nthe presence of youth. And are there not some who have verified the\npsalm--\"They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish\nin the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old\nage, they shall be fat and flourishing\"?\n\nBut however much men may like to be young, and however much some may\nretain in old age of the feeling of youth, it is certain that the\nperiod of strength has its limit, and the period of life also. To the\nhalest and heartiest, if he be not cut off prematurely, the time must\ncome when God will say to him, \"Thou art old.\" It is a solemn word to\nhear from the lips of God. God tells me my life is past; what use have\nI made of it? And what does God think of the use I have made of it?\nAnd what account of it shall I be able to give when I stand at His\nbar?\n\nLet the young think well of this, before it is too late to learn how\nto live.\n\nTo Joshua the announcement that he was old and stricken in years does\nnot appear to have brought any painful or regretful feeling. Perhaps\nhe had aged somewhat suddenly; his energies may have failed\nconsciously and rapidly, after his long course of active and anxious\nmilitary service. He may have been glad to hear God utter the word; he\nmay have been feeling it himself, and wondering how he should be able\nto go through the campaigns yet necessary to put the children of\nIsrael in full possession of the land. That word may have fallen on\nhis ear with the happy feeling--how considerate God is! He will not\nburden my old age with a load not suited for it. Though _His_ years\nhave no end, and He knows nothing of failing strength, \"He knoweth\n_our_ frame, He remembereth that we are dust.\" He will not \"cast me\noff in the time of old age, nor forsake me when my strength faileth.\"\nHappy confidence, especially for the aged poor! It is the want of\ntrust in the heavenly Father that makes so many miserable in old age.\nWhen you will not believe that He is considerate and kind, you are\nleft to your own resources, and often to destitution and misery. But\nwhen between Him and you there is the happy relation of father and\nchild; when through Jesus Christ you realize His fatherly love and\npity, and in real trust cast yourselves on Him who clothes the lilies\nand feeds the ravens, your trust is sure to be rewarded, for your\nheavenly Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask\nthem.\n\nSo Joshua finds that he is now to be relieved by his considerate\nMaster of laborious and anxious service. Not of all service, but of\nexhausting service, unsuited to his advancing years. Joshua had been a\nright faithful servant; few men have ever done their work so well.\nFrom that day when he stood against Amalek from morning to night,\nwhile the rod of Moses was stretched out over him on the hill;\nthereafter, during all his companionship with Moses on the mount; next\nin that search-expedition when Caleb and he stood so firm, and did not\nflinch in the face of the congregation, though every one was for\nstoning them; and now, from the siege of Jericho to the victory of\nMerom, and all through the trying and perilous sieges of city after\ncity, year after year, Joshua has proved himself the faithful servant\nof God and the devoted friend of Israel. During these last years he\nhas enjoyed supreme power, apparently without a rival and without a\nfoe; yet, strange to say, there is no sign of his having been\ncorrupted by power, or made giddy by elevation. He has led a most\nuseful and loyal life, which there is some satisfaction in looking\nback on. No doubt he is well aware of unnumbered failings: \"Who can\nunderstand his errors?\" But he has the rare satisfaction--oh! who\nwould not wish to share it?--of looking back on a well-spent life,\nhabitually and earnestly regulated amid many infirmities by regard to\nthe will of God. Neither he, nor St. Paul after him, had any trust in\ntheir own good works, as a basis of salvation; yet Paul could say, and\nJoshua might have said it in spirit: \"I have fought the good fight, I\nhave finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is\nlaid up for me a crown of righteousness.\"\n\nYet Joshua was not to complete that work to which he had contributed\nso much: \"there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.\" At one\ntime, no doubt, he thought otherwise, and he desired otherwise. When\nthe tide of victory was setting in for him so steadily, and region\nafter region of the land was falling into his hands, it was natural to\nexpect that before he ended he would sweep all the enemies of Israel\nbefore him, and open every door for them throughout the land, even to\nits utmost borders. Why not make hay when the sun shone? When God had\nfound so apt an instrument for His great design, why did He not employ\nhim to the end? If the natural term of Joshua's strength had come, why\ndid not that God who had supernaturally lengthened out the day for\ncompleting the victory of Bethhoron, lengthen out Joshua's day that\nthe whole land of Canaan might be secured?\n\nHere comes in a great mystery of Providence. Instead of lengthening\nout the period of Joshua's strength, God seems to have cut it short.\nWe can easily understand the lesson for Joshua himself. It is the\nlesson which so many of God's servants have had to learn. They start\nwith the idea they are to do everything; they are to reform every\nabuse, overthrow every stronghold of evil, reduce chaos to order and\nbeauty; as if each were\n\n \"the only man on earth\n Responsible for all the thistles blown\n And tigers couchant, struggling in amaze\n Against disease and winter, snarling on\n For ever, that the world's not paradise.\"\n\nSooner or later they find that they must be satisfied with a much\nhumbler _r\u00f4le_. They must learn to\n\n \"be content in work,\n To do the thing we can, and not presume\n To fret because it's little. 'Twill employ\n Seven men, they say, to make a perfect pin, ...\n Seven men to a pin, and not a man too much!\n Seven generations, haply to this world,\n To right it visibly a finger's breadth,\n And mend its rents a little.\"\n\nJoshua must be made to feel--perhaps he needs this--that this\nenterprise is not his, but God's. And God is not limited to one\ninstrument, or to one age, or to one plan. Never does Providence\nappear to us so strange, as when a noble worker is cut down in the\nvery midst of his work. A young missionary has just shown his splendid\ncapacity for service, when fever strikes him low, and in a few days\nall that remains of him is rotting in the ground. What can God mean?\nwe sometimes ask impatiently. Does He not know the rare value and the\nextreme scarcity of such men, that He sets them up apparently just to\nthrow them down? But \"God reigneth, let the people tremble.\" All that\nbears on the Christian good of the world is in God's plan, and it is\nvery dear to God, and \"precious in the sight of the Lord is the death\nof His saints.\" But He is not limited to single agents. When Stephen\ndied, He raised up Saul. For Wicliffe He gave Luther. When George\nWishart was burnt He raised up John Knox. Kings, it is said, die, but\nthe king never. The herald that announces \"The king is dead,\"\nproclaims in the same breath, \"God save the king!\" God's workers die,\nbut His work goes on. Joshua is superannuated, so far as the work of\nconquest is concerned, and that work for a time is suspended. But the\nreason is that, at the present moment, God desires to develop the\ncourage and energy of each particular tribe. And when the time comes\nto extend still farther the dominion of Israel, an agent will be found\nwell equipped for the service. From the hills of Bethlehem, a godly\nyouth of dauntless bearing will one day emerge, under whom every foe\nto Israel shall be brought low, and from the river of Egypt to the\ngreat river, the river Euphrates, the entire Promised Land shall come\nunder Israel's dominion. And the conquests of David will shine with a\nbrighter lustre than Joshua's, and will be set, as it were, to music\nof a higher strain. Associated with David's holy songs and holy\nexperience, and with his early life of sadness and humiliation,\ncrowned at last with glory and honour, they will more fitly symbolize\nthe work of the great Joshua, and there will then be diffused over the\nworld a more holy aroma than that of Joshua's conquests,--a fragrance\nsweet and refreshing to souls innumerable, and fostering the hope of\nglory,--the rest that remaineth for the people of God, the inheritance\nincorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away.\n\nSo Joshua must be content to have done his part, and done it well,\nalthough he did not conquer all the land, and there yet remained much\nto be possessed. Without entering in detail into all the geographical\nnotices of this chapter, it will be well to note briefly what parts of\nthe country were still unsubdued.\n\nFirst, there were all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri;\nthe five lords of the Philistines, dwelling in Gaza, Ashdod, Ascalon,\nGath, and Ekron; and also the Avites. This well defined country\nconsisted mainly of a plain \"remarkable in all ages for the extreme\nriches of its soil; its fields of standing corn, its vineyards and\noliveyards, are incidentally mentioned in Scripture (Judg. xv. 5); and\nin the time of famine the land of the Philistines was the hope of\nPalestine (2 Kings viii. 2).... It was also adapted to the growth of\nmilitary power; for while the plain itself permitted the use of war\nchariots, which were the chief arm of offence, the occasional\nelevations which rise out of it offered secure sites for towns and\nstrongholds. It was, moreover, a commercial country; the great\nthoroughfare between Ph\u0153nicia and Syria on the north and Egypt and\nArabia on the south. Ashdod and Gaza were the keys of Egypt, and\ncommanded the transit trade, and the stores of frankincense and myrrh\nwhich Alexander captured in the latter place prove it to have been a\ndep\u00f4t of Arabian produce.\"[14]\n\n [14] Smith's \"Bible Dictionary.\"\n\nGeshuri lay between Philistia and the desert, and the Avites were\nprobably some remainder of the Avims, from whom the Philistines\nconquered the land (Deut. ii. 23).\n\nIn many respects it would have been a great boon for the Israelites if\nJoshua had conquered a people that were so troublesome to them as the\nPhilistines were for many a day. What Joshua left undone, Saul began,\nbut failed to achieve, and at last David accomplished. The Geshurites\nwere subdued with the Amalekites while he was dwelling at Ziklag as an\nally of the Philistines (1 Sam. xxvii. 8), and the Philistines\nthemselves were brought into subjection, and had to yield to Israel\nmany of their cities (1 Sam. vii. 14; 2 Sam. viii. 1, 12).\n\nAnother important section of the country unsubdued was the\nPh\u0153nician territory--the land of the Sidonians (vv. 4, 6). Also the\nhilly country across Lebanon, embracing the valley of C\u0153le-Syria,\nand apparently the region of Mount Carmel (\"from Lebanon unto\nMisrephothmaim,\" ver. 6, and comp. chap. xi. 8). No doubt much of this\ndistrict was recovered in the time of the Judges, and still more in\nthe time of David; but David made peace with the King of Tyre, who\nstill retained the rocky strip of territory that was so useful to a\ncommercial nation, but would have been almost useless to an\nagricultural people like the Israelites.\n\nJoshua was not called on to conquer these territories in the sense of\ndriving out all the old inhabitants; but he was instructed to divide\nthe whole land among his people--a task involving, no doubt, its own\ndifficulties, but not the physical labour which war entailed. And in\nthis division he was called first to recognise what had already been\ndone by Moses with the part of the country east of the Jordan. That\npart had been allotted to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh;\nand the allotment was still to hold good.\n\nIt is remarkable with what fulness the places are described. First, we\nhave the boundaries of that part of the country generally (vv. 9-12);\nthen of the allotments of each of the two and a half tribes (vv.\n15-31). With regard to the district as a whole, the conquest under\nMoses was manifestly complete, from the river Arnon on the south, to\nthe borders of the Geshurites and Maachathites on the north. The only\npart not subdued were the territories of these Geshurites and\nMaachathites. The Geshurites here are not to be confounded with the\npeople of the same name mentioned in ver. 2, who were at the opposite\nextreme--the south-west instead of, as here, the north-east of the\nland. But no doubt the Syrian Geshurites and Maachathites were brought\ninto subjection by David, with all the other tribes in that region, in\nhis great Syrian war, \"when he went to recover his border at the river\nEuphrates\" (2 Sam. viii. 3). But instead of expelling or exterminating\nthem, David seems to have allowed them to remain in a tributary\ncondition, for Geshur had its king in the days of Absalom (2 Sam.\nxiii. 37), to whom that prince fled after the murder of Amnon. With\nthe Maachathites also David had a family connection (2 Sam. iii. 3).\n\nBut though the subjugation and occupation of the eastern part of the\nland was thus tolerably complete (with the exceptions just mentioned),\nit remained in the undisturbed possession of Israel for the shortest\ntime of any. From Moabites and Ammonites on the south, Canaanites and\nSyrians on the north and the east, as well as the Midianites,\nAmalekites, and other tribes of the desert, it was subject to\ncontinual invasions. In fact, it was the least settled and least\ncomfortable part of all the country; and doubtless it became soon\napparent that though the two tribes and a half had seemed to be very\nfortunate in having their wish granted to settle in this rich and\nbeautiful region, yet on the whole they had been penny-wise and\npound-foolish. Not only were they incessantly assailed and worried by\ntheir neighbours, but they were the first to be carried into\ncaptivity, when the King of Assyria directed his eyes to Palestine.\nThey had shown somewhat of the spirit of Lot, and they suffered\nsomewhat of his punishment. It is worthy of remark that even at this\nday this eastern province is the most disturbed part of Palestine. The\nBedouins are ever liable to make their attacks wherever there are\ncrops or cattle to tempt their avarice. People will not sow where they\nhave no chance of reaping; and thus it is that much of that productive\nregion lies waste. The moral is not far to seek: in securing wealth,\nlook not merely at the apparent productiveness of the investment, but\ngive heed to its security, its stability. It is not all gold that\nglitters either on the stock-exchange or anywhere else. And even that\nwhich is real gold partakes of the current instability. We must come\nback to our Saviour's advice to investors, if we would really be safe:\n\"Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust do\ncorrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for\nyourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt,\nand where thieves do not break through nor steal.\"\n\nThe specification of the allotments need not detain us long. Reuben's\nwas the farthest south. His southern and eastern flanks were covered\nby the Moabites, who greatly annoyed him. \"Unstable as water, he did\nnot excel.\" Gad settled north of Reuben. In his lot was the southern\npart of Gilead; Mahanaim, and Peniel, celebrated in the history of\nJacob, and Ramoth-gilead, conspicuous in after times. East of Gad were\nthe Ammonites, who proved as troublesome to that tribe as Moab did to\nReuben. To the half-tribe of Manasseh the kingdom of Og fell, and the\nnorthern half of Gilead. Jabesh-gilead, where Saul routed the\nAmmonites, was in this tribe (1 Sam. xi.). Here also were some of the\nplaces on the lake of Galilee mentioned in the gospel history; here\nthe \"desert place\" across the sea to which our Lord used to retire for\nrest; here He fed the multitude; here He cured the demoniac; and here\nwere some of the mountains where He would spend the night in prayer.\n\nIn our Lord's time this portion of Palestine was called Perea. Under\nthe dominion of the Romans, it was comparatively tranquil, and our\nLord would sometimes select it, on account of its quiet, as his route\nto Jerusalem. And many of His gifts of love and mercy were doubtless\nscattered over its surface.\n\nTwo statements are introduced parenthetically in this chapter which\nhardly belong to the substance of it. One of these, occurring twice,\nrespects the inheritance of the Levites (vv. 14, 33). No territorial\npossessions were allotted to them corresponding to those of the other\ntribes. In the one place it is said that \"the sacrifices of the Lord\nGod of Israel made by fire were their inheritance\"; in the other, that\n\"the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance.\" We shall afterwards\nfind the arrangements for the Levites more fully detailed (chaps. xx.,\nxxi.). This early allusion to the subject, even before the allotments\nin Western Palestine begin to be described, shows that their case had\nbeen carefully considered, and that it was not by oversight but\ndeliberately that the country was divided without any section being\nreserved for them.\n\nThe other parenthetical statement respects the death of Balaam.\n\"Balaam also, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the\nsword among them that were slain by them\" (ver. 22). It appears from\nNumb. xxxi. 8 that the slaughter of Balaam took place in the days of\nMoses, by the hands of the expedition sent by him to chastise the\nMidianites for drawing the Israelites into idolatry. That the fact\nshould be again noticed here is probably due to the circumstance that\nthe death of Balaam occurred at the place which had just been\nnoted--the boundary line between Reuben and Gad. It was a fact well\nworthy of being again noted. It was a fact never to be forgotten that\nthe man who had been sent for to curse was constrained to bless. As\nfar as Balaam's public conduct was concerned, he behaved well to\nIsrael. He emphasized their Divine election and their glorious\nprivileges. He laid especial stress upon the fact that they were not a\nBedouin horde, rushing about in search of plunder, but a sacramental\nhost, executing the judgments of a righteous God--\"The Lord his God is\nwith him, and the shout of a king is among them.\" This was a valuable\ntestimony, for which Israel might well be grateful. It was when Balaam\ntook part in that disgraceful plot to entice Israel into sensuality\nand idolatry that he came out in his real colours. It seemed to him\nvery clever, no doubt, to obey the Divine command in the letter by\nabsolutely refusing to curse Israel, while at the same time he\naccomplished the object he was sent for by seducing them into sins\nwhich brought down on them the judgments of God. Nevertheless, he\nreckoned without his host. Possibly he gained his reward, but he did\nnot live to enjoy it; and \"what shall a man be profited if he gain the\nwhole world and forfeit his own life?\" (Matt. xvi. 26, R.V.).\n\nThe two and a half tribes were well taught by the fate of Balaam that,\nin the end, however cunningly a man may act, his sin will find him\nout. They were emphatically reminded that the sins of sensuality and\nidolatry are exceedingly hateful in the sight of God, and certain to\nbe punished. They were assured by the testimony of Balaam, that\nIsrael, if only faithful, would never cease to enjoy the Divine\nprotection and blessing. But they were reminded that God is not\nmocked: that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Balaam\nhad sown to the flesh; of the flesh it behoved him to reap corruption.\nAnd so must it ever be; however ingeniously you may disguise sin,\nhowever you may conceal it from yourself, and persuade yourself to\nbelieve that you are not doing wrong, sin must show itself ultimately\nin its true colours, and your ingenious disguises will not shield it\nfrom its doom:--\"The wages of sin is DEATH.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n_THE INHERITANCE OF CALEB._[15]\n\nJOSHUA xiv. 6-15.\n\n [15] There is some difficulty in adjusting the three passages in\n which the settlement of Caleb is referred to. From this first\n passage of the three, we are led to think that it was before the\n tribe of Judah obtained its portion. Again, from chap. xv. 13 we\n might suppose that it was simultaneously with the rest of the\n tribe. From Judg. i. 10, again, it might be thought that the\n subduing of the natives in Hebron was effected, not by Caleb\n alone, but by the tribe of Judah, and that it took place \"after\n the death of Joshua\" (Judg. i. 1). Putting all these together, it\n would appear that Hebron was assigned to Caleb before the tribe of\n Judah was settled; that this allocation was ratified at the\n general settlement; that as Caleb was a member of the tribe, his\n services against the Canaanites, and especially the Anakim, were\n ascribed to his tribe; and that the process of dispossessing the\n Canaanites went on for some time after the death of Joshua. The\n repetitions in the narrative concerning Caleb form one of the\n considerations that favour the idea of more sources than one\n having been made use of in the composition of this book.\n\n\nCaleb is one of those men whom we meet with seldom in Bible history,\nbut whenever we do meet them we are the better for the meeting. Bright\nand brave, strong, modest and cheerful, there is honesty in his face,\ncourage and decision in the very pose of his body, and the calm\nconfidence of faith in his very look and attitude. It is singular that\nthere should be cause to doubt whether his family were _originally_ of\nthe promised seed. When introduced to us in the present passage he is\nemphatically called \"Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite\" (R.V.,\nKenizzite, rightly, same as Kenizzite in Gen. xv. 19), as if he had\nbeen a descendant of Kenaz, a son of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 11 and 15), and\na member of the Kenizzite tribe. It was not customary to distinguish\nIsraelites in this way, but only those who had come among them from\nother tribes, like \"Heber the Kenite,\" \"Jael, the wife of Heber the\nKenite\" (Judg. iv. 11, 17), Uriah the Hittite, Hushai the Archite,\netc. Moreover, Othniel, Caleb's younger brother, is called the son of\nKenaz (Josh. xv. 17); and further, when it is recorded in the\nfourteenth verse of this chapter that Hebron became the possession of\nCaleb, the reason assigned is that he \"wholly followed the Lord God\n_of Israel_.\" On the other hand, in the genealogical list of 1 Chron.\niv. 13, 15, Othniel and Caleb occur as if they were regular members of\nthe tribe; but that list shows obvious signs of imperfection. On the\nwhole, the preponderance of evidence is in favour of the opinion that\nCaleb's family were originally outside the covenant, but had become\nproselytes, like Hobab, Rahab, Ruth, and Heber. Their faith was\npre-eminently the fruit of conviction, and not the accident of\nheredity. It had a firmer basis than that of most Israelites. It was\nwoven more closely into the texture of their being, and swayed their\nlives more powerfully. It is pleasing to think that there may have\nbeen many such proselytes; that the promise to Abraham may have\nattracted souls from the east, and the west, and the north, and the\nsouth; that even beyond the limits of the twelve tribes many hearts\nmay have been cheered, and many lives elevated and purified by the\npromise to him, \"In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the\nearth be blessed.\"\n\nCaleb and Joshua had believed and acted alike, in opposition to the\nother ten spies; but Caleb occupies the more prominent place in the\nstory of their heroism and faith. It was he that \"stilled the people\nbefore Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we\nare well able to overcome it\" (Numb. xiii. 30); and at first his name\noccurs alone, as exempted from the sentence of exclusion against the\nrest of his generation: \"But my servant Caleb, because he had another\nspirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the\nland whereinto he went: and his seed shall possess it\" (Numb. xiv.\n24). As we have said before, it is probable that Caleb was the readier\nspeaker, and it is possible that he was the firmer man. Joshua seems\nto have wanted that power of initiation which Caleb had. It was\nbecause he had always been a good follower that Joshua in his old age\nwas fitted to be a leader. Because he had been a good servant he\nbecame a good master. As long as Moses lived, Joshua was his servant.\nAfter Moses died, Joshua set himself simply to carry out his\ninstructions. It was a happy thing for him on the return of the ten\nspies that Caleb was one of them, otherwise he might have found\nhimself in a condition of embarrassment. Caleb was evidently the man\nwho led the opposition to the ten, not only asserting the course of\nduty, but manifesting the spirit of contempt and defiance toward the\nfaithless cowards that forgot that God was with them. In his inmost\nheart Joshua was quite of his mind, but probably he wanted the\nenergetic manner, the ringing voice, the fearless attitude of his more\ndemonstrative companion. Certain it is that Caleb reaped the chief\nhonour of that day.[16]\n\n [16] Some readers may no doubt prefer the explanation that when\n Caleb is mentioned alone one document was followed, and when Caleb\n and Joshua are coupled, another.\n\nIt is beautiful to see that there was no rivalry between them. Not\nonly did Caleb interpose no remonstrance when Joshua was called to\nsucceed Moses, but he seems all through the wars to have yielded to\nhim the most loyal and hearty submission. God had set His seal on\nJoshua, and the people had ratified the appointment, and Caleb was too\nmagnanimous to allow any poor ambition of his, if he had any, to come\nin the way of the Divine will and the public good. His affectionate\nand cordial bearing on the present occasion seems to show that not\neven in the corner of his heart did there linger a trace of jealousy\ntoward the old friend and companion whom on that occasion he had\nsurpassed, but who had been set so much higher than himself. He came\nto him as the recognised leader of the people--as the man whose voice\nwas to decide the question he now submitted, as the judge and arbiter\nin a matter which very closely concerned him and his house.\n\nAnd yet there are indications of tact on the part of Caleb, of a\nthorough understanding of the character of Joshua, and of the sort of\nconsiderations by which he might be expected to be swayed. There were\ntwo grounds on which he might reasonably look for the conceding of his\nrequest--his personal services, and the promise of Moses. Caleb knows\nwell that the promise of Moses will influence Joshua much more than\nany other consideration; therefore he puts it in the foreground. \"Thou\nknowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses, the man of God,\nconcerning me and thee in Kadesh-barnea.\" \"Moses, the man of God.\" Why\ndoes Caleb select that remarkable epithet? Why add anything to the\nusual name, Moses? The use of the epithet was honouring to all the\nthree. That which constituted the highest glory of Moses was that he\nwas so much at one with God. God's will was ever his law, and he was\nin such close sympathy with God that whatever instructions he gave on\nany subject might be assumed to be in accordance with God's will.\nMoreover, in calling him \"the man of God\" when addressing Joshua,\nCaleb assumed that Joshua would be impressed by this consideration,\nand would be disposed to agree to a request which was not only\nsanctioned by the will of Moses, but by that higher will which Moses\nconstantly recognised. In short, when Joshua considered that the\nparticular wish of Moses which Caleb now recalled was only the\nexpression of the Divine will, Caleb felt assured that he could not\nwithhold his consent. The three men were indeed a noble trio, worthy\ndescendants of their father Abraham, even if one of the three was no\nson of Jacob. Long before our Lord taught the petition \"Thy will be\ndone on earth as it is in heaven,\" it had become habitual to them all.\nMoses was indeed \"the man of God,\"--pre-eminently in fellowship with\nHim; in a lower sphere both Caleb and Joshua were of the same order,\nmen who tried to live their lives, and every part of them, only in\nGod.\n\nHaving fortified his plea with this strong reference at once to Moses\nand to God, Caleb proceeds to rehearse the service which had led to\nthe promise of Moses. The facts could not but be well known to Joshua.\n\"Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me\nfrom Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again\nas it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren that went up with me\nmade the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed the Lord my\nGod.\" Why does Caleb put the matter in this way? Why does he not\ncouple Joshua with himself as having been faithful on that\nnever-to-be-forgotten occasion? The only explanation that seems\nfeasible is, that from the pre-eminent position of Joshua this was\nunnecessary, perhaps it might have appeared even unbecoming. A soldier\nmaking a request of the Duke of Wellington, and recalling some service\nhe had done at the battle of Waterloo, would hardly think it\nnecessary, or even becoming, to say how the Duke, too, had been there,\nand what surpassing service he had rendered on that day. A soldier\nlike the Duke occupying a position of unrivalled pre-eminence on\naccount of long and brilliant service, does not need to be told what\nhe has done. Joshua was now the leader of Israel, and the last few\nyears had crowned him with such manifold glory that his whole life was\ntransfigured, and individual acts of service did not need to be spoken\nof. Caleb was comparatively an obscure individual, whose fame rested\non a single service now nearly half a century old, which could not,\nindeed, be quite forgotten, but amid the brilliant events of later\ntimes might easily pass out of sight and out of mind. There was no\ndisparagement of Joshua, therefore, in his not being mentioned by\nCaleb, but, on the contrary, a silent tribute to his exalted office as\nchief ruler of Israel, and to his all but unparalleled services,\nespecially during these later years.\n\n\"I brought him word again, _as it was in my heart_.\" The statement is\nmade in no boasting spirit, and yet what a rare virtue it denotes!\nCaleb, as we now say, had the courage of his convictions. He had both\nan honest heart and an honest tongue. We can have but little idea what\ntemptations he lay under _not_ to speak what was in his heart. For six\nweeks these ten men had been his close companions. They had eaten\ntogether, slept under the same canvas, walked by the same paths,\nbeguiled the long way by story and anecdote, and no doubt by joke and\nplay of humour, and done kind offices to each other as circumstances\nrequired. To break away from your own set, from the comrades of your\ncampaign, to upset their plans, and counsel those in power to a course\ndiametrically opposed to theirs, is one of the most difficult of\nsocial duties. And in these days of ours there is no duty more\ncommonly set aside. Moral cowardice has been well said to be one of\nthe most common vices of our age.\n\nWhat more common in Parliament, for example, than for men to differ\nstrongly from some of the measures of their party, and yet, because it\nis their party, support them by their votes? And in the ranks of the\nChurch and of its various sections the same tendency prevails, though\nit may be in a less degree. Of the many able and seemingly honest\nprelates of the Roman Church who dissented, often with vehemence, from\nthe Vatican decree of the pope's infallibility, what became finally of\ntheir opposition? Were there more than one or two who did not\nsurrender in the end, and agree to profess what they did not believe?\nAnd to come to more ordinary matters, when our opinions on religious\nsubjects are at a discount, when they are met with ridicule, how often\ndo we conceal them, or trim and modify them in order that we may not\nshare in the current condemnation? The men that have the courage of\ntheir convictions are often social martyrs, shut out from the\nfellowship of their brethren, shut out from every berth of honour or\nemolument, and yet, for their courage and honesty, worthy of\ninfinitely higher regard than whole hundreds of the time-servers that\n\"get on\" in the world by humouring its errors and its follies.\n\nNevertheless, though most of us show ourselves miserably weak by _not_\nspeaking out all that is \"in our hearts,\" especially when the honour\nof our Lord and Master is concerned, we are able to appreciate and\ncannot fail to admire the noble exhibitions of courage that we\nsometimes meet with. That beautiful creation of Milton's, the Seraph\nAbdiel, \"faithful found among the faithless, faithful only he,\" is the\ntype and ideal of the class. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego resisting\nthe enthusiasm of myriads and calmly defying the fiery furnace; the\nApostle Paul clinging to his views of the law and the gospel when even\nhis brother Peter had begun to waver; Martin Luther, with his foot on\nthe Bible confronting the whole world; John Knox defying sovereign and\nnobles and priests alike, determined that the gospel should be freely\npreached; Carey, going out as a missionary to India amid the derision\nof the world, because he could not get the words out of his head, \"Go\nye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every\ncreature,\"--have all exemplified the Caleb spirit that must utter what\nis in the heart; nor has any new idea commonly laid hold of mankind\ntill the struggles of some great hero or the ashes of some noble\nmartyr have gone to sanctify the cause.\n\n\"He that believeth shall not make haste.\" Caleb believed, and\ntherefore he was patient. Five-and-forty long years had elapsed since\nMoses, the man of God, speaking in the Spirit of God, had promised him\na particular inheritance in the land. It was a long time for faith to\nlive on a promise, but, like a tree in the face of a cliff that seems\nto grow out of the solid rock, it derived nourishment from unseen\nsources. It was a long time to be looking forward; but Caleb, though\nhe did not receive the promise during all that time, was persuaded of\nit and embraced it, and believed that at last it would come true. He\ndid not anticipate the proper time, though he might have had as\nplausible reasons for doing so as the two tribes and a half had for\nasking leave to settle on the east side of the river. He bore his\nshare of warlike work, bore the burden and heat of the day, waited\ntill the proper time for dividing the land. Nor did he rush forward\nselfishly by himself, disregarding the interests of the rest of his\ntribe; for the children of Judah, recognising his claim, draw near to\nJoshua along with him. Nor was it a portion of the land which any\ntribe might be eager to enter upon that he asked; for it was still so\nharassed by the Anakim, that there would be no peace till that\nformidable body of giants were driven out.\n\nIt seems that when acting as one of the twelve spies, Caleb had in\nsome emphatic way taken his stand on Hebron. \"The land _on which thy\nfoot hath trodden_ will be an inheritance to thee.\" Perhaps the spies\nwere too terrified to approach Hebron, for the sons of the Anakim were\nthere, and, in the confidence of faith, Caleb, or Caleb and Joshua,\nhad gone into it alone. Moses had promised him Hebron, and now he came\nto claim it. But he came to claim it under circumstances that would\nhave induced most men to let it alone. The driving out of the Anakim\nwas a formidable duty, and the task might have seemed more suitable\nfor one who had the strength and enthusiasm of youth on his side. But\nCaleb, though eighty-five, was yet young. Age is not best measured by\nyears. He was a remarkable instance of prolonged vigour and youthful\nenergy. \"As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses\nsent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war,\nand to go out and to come in.\" Faith, and temperance, and cheerfulness\nare wonderful aids to longevity. As one reads these words of Caleb,\none recalls the saying of a well-known physician, Dr. Richardson, that\nthe human frame might last for a hundred years if it were only treated\naright.\n\nThere is something singularly touching in Caleb's asking as a favour\nwhat was really a most hazardous but important service to the nation.\nRough though these Hebrew soldiers were, they were capable of the most\ngentlemanly and chivalrous acts. There can be no higher act of\ncourtesy than to treat as a favour to yourself what is really a great\nservice to another. Well done, Caleb! You do not ask for a berth which\nthere will be no trouble in taking or in keeping. You are not like\nIssachar, the strong ass couching between the sheepfolds: \"and he saw\na resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant;\nand he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under\ntask-work.\" The dew of youth is yet upon you, the stirring of lofty\npurpose and noble endeavour; you are like the warhorse of Job--\"he\npaweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength; he mocketh at\nfear, and is not dismayed; he smelleth the battle afar off, the\nthunder of the captains and the shouting.\"\n\nThere is nothing we admire more in military annals than a soldier\nvolunteering for the most hazardous and difficult of posts,--showing\n\n \"That stern joy which warriors feel\n In foemen worthy of their steel.\"\n\nIn the spiritual warfare, too, we do not want instances of the same\nspirit. We recall Captain Allan Gardiner choosing Tierra del Fuego as\nhis mission sphere just because the people were so ferocious, the\nclimate so repulsive, and the work so difficult that no one else was\nlikely to take it up. We think of the second band who went out after\nGardiner and his companions had been starved to death; and still more\nafter these were massacred by the natives, of the third detachment who\nwere moved simply by the consideration that the case was seemingly so\ndesperate. Or we think of Livingstone begging the directors of the\nLondon Missionary Society, wherever they sent him, to be sure that it\nwas \"Forward\"; turning aside from all previous mission stations, and\nthe comparative ease they afforded, to grapple with the barbarian\nwhere he had never begun to be tamed; his eyes thirsting for unknown\nscenes and untried dangers, because he scorned to build on the\nfoundation of others, and thirsted for \"fresh woods and pastures new.\"\nWe think of him persevering in his task from year to year in the same\nlofty spirit; disregarding the misery of protracted pain, the intense\nlongings of his weary heart for home, the repulsive society of savages\nand cannibals, the vexations, disappointments, and obstacles that\nseemed to multiply every day, the treachery of so-called friends whom\nhe had helped to raise, the indifference of a careless world, and of a\nlanguid Church; but ever girding himself with fresh energy for the\ntask which he had undertaken, and of which the difficulties and trials\nhad never been absent from his thoughts. We think of many a young\nmissionary turning away from the comfortable life which he might lead\nat home and which many of his companions will lead, that he may go\nwhere the need is greatest and the fight is hottest, and so render to\nhis Master the greatest possible service. A crowd of noble names\ncomes to our recollection--Williams, and Judson, and Morrison, and\nBurns, and Patteson, and Keith-Falconer, and Hannington, and\nMackay--men for whom even the Anakim had no terrors, but rather an\nattraction; but who, serving under another Joshua, differed from Caleb\nin this, that what they desired was not to destroy these ferocious\nAnakim, but to conquer them by love, and to demonstrate the power of\nthe gospel of Jesus Christ to change the vilest reprobates into sons\nof God.\n\nAnd even now there are other Anakim among us for whom the fate of the\nCanaanite giants ought to be reserved. Anakim within us--greed,\nselfishness, love of ease, lust, passion, cruelty--all, if we are\nfaithful, to be put to the edge of the sword. And there are Anakim,\ntremendous Anakim, around us--drunkenness, and all that fosters it,\ndespite the paltry excuses we so often hear; sensuality, that vile\nmurderer of soul and body together; avarice, so cruelly unjust, and\ncontent to gather its hoard from the thews and sinews of men and women\nto whom life has become worse than slavery; luxurious living, that\nmocks the struggles of thousands to whom one crumb from the table or\none rag from the wardrobe would bring such a blessed relief. With\ngiants like these we need to wage incessant war, and for the necessary\nspirit we need constant supplies of the faith and courage that were so\nremarkable in Caleb. He followed the Lord _fully_; believing that if\nthe Lord deserved to be followed at all, He deserved to be followed in\nfull. What was there to gain by following Him one half, and\nsurrendering the other half to the world? Could he count on God\nhelping him if he went with but half his heart into His service, and,\nlike Lot's wife, looked back even when flying from Sodom? \"Thou shalt\nlove the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and\nwith all thy strength, and with all thy might.\"\n\nThe tendency to compromise is one of the besetting sins of the day. In\nthe army or the navy, if one is to serve God at all, one must serve\nHim wholly. Decision is eminently requisite there, and Christians\nthere are commonly more whole-hearted and consistent than in many\ncircles nominally Christian. Decision is manly, is noble; it brings\nrest within, and in the end it conciliates the respect of the\nbitterest foes. Courage is the ornament of Christianity, and the crown\nof the Christian youth. \"FEAR NOT\" is one of the brightest gems of the\nBible.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n_THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE LAND._\n\nJOSHUA xv.-xix.\n\n\nWe come now in earnest to the distribution of the land. The two and a\nhalf tribes have already got their settlements on the other side of\nJordan; but the other side of Jordan, though included in the land of\npromise, was outside the part specially consecrated as the theatre of\nDivine manifestation and dealing. From Dan to Beersheba and from\nJordan to the sea was _par excellence_ the land of Israel; it was here\nthe patriarchs had dwelt; it was here that most of the promises had\nbeen given; it was here that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been\nburied; and here also, though in another tomb, that the bones of\nJoseph had been laid. This portion was the kernel of the inheritance,\nsurrounded by a wide penumbra of more feeble light and fewer\nprivileges. In due time there arose a holy of holies within this\nconsecrated region, when Jerusalem became the capital, the focus of\nblessing and holy influence.\n\nNow that the distribution of this part of the country begins, we must\ngive special attention to the operation. The narrative looks very\nbare, but important principles and lessons underlie it. These lists of\nunfamiliar names look like the _d\u00e9bris_ of a quarry--hard,\nmeaningless, and to us useless. But nothing is inserted in the Bible\nwithout a purpose,--a purpose that in some sense bears on the\nedification of the successive generations and the various races of\nmen. We are not to pass the distribution over because it looks\nunpromising, but rather to inquire with all the greater care what the\nbearing of it is on ourselves.\n\nNow, in the first place, there is something to be learned from the\nmaintenance of the distinction of the twelve tribes, and the\ndistribution of the country into portions corresponding to each. In\nsome degree this was in accordance with Oriental usage; for the\ncountry had already been occupied by various races, dwelling in a kind\nof unity--the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites,\nPerizzites, and Girgashites. What was peculiar to Israel was, that\neach of the tribes was descended from one of Jacob's sons, and that\ntheir relation to each other was conspicuously maintained, though\ntheir dwelling-places were apart. It was an arrangement capable of\nbecoming a great benefit under a right spirit, or a great evil under\nthe opposite. As in the case of the separate states of North America,\nor the separate cantons of Switzerland, it provided for variety in\nunity; it gave a measure of local freedom and independence, while it\nmaintained united action; it contributed to the life and vigour of the\ncommonwealth, without destroying its oneness of character, or\nimpairing its common purpose and aim. It promoted that picturesque\nvariety often found in little countries, where each district has a\ndialect, or a pronunciation, or traditions, or a character of its own;\nas Yorkshire differs from Devon, or Lancashire from Cornwall;\nAberdeenshire from Berwick, or Fife from Ayr. As in a garden, variety\nof species enlivens and enriches the effect, so in a community,\nvariety of type enriches and enlivens the common life. A regiment of\nsoldiers clothed in the same uniform, measuring the same stature,\nmarching to the same step, may look very well as a contrast to the\npromiscuous crowd; but when a painter would paint a striking picture\nit is from the promiscuous crowd in all their variety of costume and\nstature and attitude that his figures are drawn. In the case of the\nHebrew commonwealth, the distinction of tribes became smaller as time\nwent on, and in New Testament times the three great districts Jud\u00e6a,\nSamaria, and Galilee showed only the survival of the fittest. A larger\nindividuality and a wider variety would undoubtedly have prevailed if\na good spirit had continued to exist among the tribes, and if all of\nthem had shown the energy and the enterprise of some.\n\nBut the wrong spirit came in, and came in with a witness, and mischief\nensued. For distinctions in race and family are apt to breed rivalry\nand enmity, and not only to destroy all the good which may come of\nvariety, but to introduce interminable mischief. For many a long day\nthe Scottish clans were like Ishmael, their hand against every man,\nand every man's hand against them; or at least one clan was at\ninterminable feud with another, and the country was wretched and\ndesolate. Among the twelve tribes of Israel the spirit of rivalry soon\nshowed itself, leading to disastrous consequences. In the time of the\njudges, the men of Ephraim exhibited their temper by envying Gideon\nwhen he subdued the Midianites, and Jephthah when he subdued the\nAmmonites; and under Jephthah a prodigious slaughter of Ephraimites\nresulted from their unreasonable spirit. In the time of the kings, a\npermanent schism was caused by the revolt of the ten tribes from the\nhouse of David. Thus it is that the sin of man often perverts\narrangements designed for good, and so perverts them that they become\nsources of grievous evil. The family order is a thing of heaven; but\nlet a bad spirit creep into a family, the result is fearful. Let\nhusband and wife become alienated; let father and son begin to\nquarrel; let brother set himself against brother, and let them begin\nto scheme not for mutual benefit but for mutual injury, no limits can\nbe set to the resulting mischief and misery.\n\nMany arrangements of our modern civilization that conduce to our\ncomfort when in good order, become sources of unexampled evil when\nthey go wrong. The drainage of houses conduces much to comfort while\nit works smoothly; but let the drains become choked, and send back\ninto our houses the poisonous gases bred of decomposition, the\nconsequences are appalling. The sanitary inspector must be on the\nalert to detect mischief in its very beginnings, and apply the remedy\nbefore we have well become conscious of the evil. And so a vigilant\neye needs ever to be kept on those arrangements of providence that are\nso beneficial when duly carried out, and so pernicious when\nthoughtlessly perverted. What a wonderful thing is a little\nforbearance at the beginning of a threatened strife! What a priceless\nblessing is the soft answer that turneth away wrath! There is a pithy\ntract bearing the title \"The Oiled Feather.\" The oiled feather has a\nremarkable power of smoothing surfaces that would otherwise grate and\ngrind upon each other, and so of averting evil. Among Christians it\nshould be always at hand; for surely, if the forbearance and love that\navert quarrels ought to be found anywhere, it is among those who have\nreceived the fulness of Divine love and grace in Jesus Christ. Surely\namong them there should be no perversion of Divine arrangements; in\ntheir homes no quarrels, and in their hearts no rivalry. They ought,\ninstead, to be the peacemakers of the world, not only because they\nhave received the peace that passeth understanding, but because their\nMaster has said, \"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be\ncalled the children of God.\"\n\n2. Again, in the allocation of the tribes in their various territories\nwe have an instance of a great natural law, the law of distribution, a\nlaw that, on the whole, operates very beneficially throughout the\nworld. In society there is both a centripetal and a centrifugal force;\nthe centripetal chiefly human, the centrifugal chiefly Divine. Men are\nprone to cluster together; God promotes dispersion. Through the Divine\nlaw of marriage, a man leaves his father's house and cleaves to his\nwife; a new home is established, a new centre of activity, a new\nsource of population. In the early ages they clustered about the plain\nof Shinar; the confusion of tongues scattered them abroad. And\ngenerally, in any fertile and desirable spot, men have been prone to\nmultiply till food has failed them, and either starvation at home or\nemigration abroad becomes inevitable. And so it is that, in spite of\ntheir cohesive tendency, men are now pretty well scattered over the\nglobe. And when once they are settled in new homes, they acquire\nadaptation to their locality, and begin to love it. The Esquimaux is\nnot only adapted to his icy home, but is fond of it. The naked negro\nhas no quarrel with the burning sun, but enjoys his sunny life. We of\nthe temperate zone can hardly endure the heat of the tropics, and we\nshiver at the very thought of Lapland. It is a proof of Divine wisdom\nthat a world that presents such a variety of climates and conditions\nhas, in all parts of it, inhabitants that enjoy their life.\n\nThe same law operates in the vegetable world. Everywhere plants seem\nto discover the localities where they thrive best. Even in the same\ncountry you have one flora for the valley and another for the\nmountain. The lichen spreads itself along the surface of rocks, or the\nhard bark of ancient trees; the fungus tarries in damp, unventilated\ncorners; the primrose settles on open banks; the fern in shady groves.\nThere is always a place for the plant, and a plant for the place. And\nit is so with animals too. The elephant in the spreading forest, the\nrabbit in the sandy down, the beaver beside the stream, the\ncaterpillar in the leafy garden. If we could explore the ocean we\nshould find the law of distribution in full activity there. There is\none great order of fishes for fresh water, another for salt; one great\nclass of insects in hot climates, another in temperate; birds of the\nair, from the eagle to the humming-bird, from the ostrich to the bat,\nin localities adapted to their habits. We ask not whether this result\nwas due to creation or to evolution. There it is, and its effect is to\ncover the earth. All its localities, desirable and undesirable, are\nmore or less occupied with inhabitants. Some of the great deserts that\nour imagination used to create in Africa or elsewhere do not exist.\nBarren spots there are, and \"miry places and marshes given to salt,\"\nbut they are not many. The earth has been replenished, and the purpose\nof God so far fulfilled.\n\nAnd then there is a distribution of talents. We are not all created\nalike, with equal dividends of the gifts and faculties that minister\nin some way to the purposes of our life. We depend more or less on one\nanother; women on men, and men on women; the young on the old, and\nsometimes the old on the young; persons of one talent on those of\nanother talent, those with strong sinews on those with clear heads,\nand those with clear heads on those with strong sinews; in short,\nsociety is so constituted that what each has he has for all, and what\nall have they have for each. The principle of the division of labour\nis brought in; and in a well-ordered community the general wealth and\nwell-being of the whole are better promoted by the interchange of\noffices, than if each person within himself had a little stock of all\nthat he required.\n\nThe same law of distribution prevails in the Church of Christ. It was\nexemplified in an interesting way in the case of our Lord's apostles.\nNo one of these was a duplicate of another. Four of them, taking in\nPaul, were types of varieties which have been found in all ages of the\nChurch. In a remarkable paper in the _Contemporary Review_, Professor\nGodet of Neuch\u00e2tel, after delineating the characteristics of Peter,\nJames, John, and Paul, remarked what an interesting thing it was, that\nfour men of such various temperaments should all have found supreme\nsatisfaction in Jesus of Nazareth, and should have yielded up to Him\nthe homage and service of their lives. And throughout the history of\nthe Church, the distribution of gifts has been equally marked.\nChrysostom and Augustine, Jerome and Ambrose, Bernard and Anselm, were\nall of the same stock, but not of the same type. At the Reformation\nmen of marked individuality were provided for every country. Germany\nhad Luther and Melancthon; France, Calvin and Coligny; Switzerland,\nZwingle and Farel, Viret and \u0152colampadius; Poland, \u00c0-Lasco;\nScotland, Knox; England, Cranmer, Latimer, and Hooper. The missionary\nfield has in like manner been provided for. India has had her\nSchwartz, her Carey, her Duff, and a host of others; China her\nMorrison, Burmah her Judson, Polynesia her Williams, Africa her\nLivingstone. The most unattractive and inhospitable spots have been\nsupplied. Greenland was not too cold for the Moravians, nor the\nleper-stricken communities of India or Africa too repulsive. And never\nwere Christian men more disposed than to-day to honour that great\nChristian law of distribution--\"Go ye into all the world, and preach\nthe gospel to every creature.\"\n\nIt was a great providential law, therefore, that was recognised in the\npartition of the land of Canaan among the tribes. Provision was thus\nmade for so scattering the people that they should occupy the whole\ncountry, and become adapted to the places where they settled, and to\nthe pursuits proper to them. Even where there seems to us to have been\na mere random distribution of places, there may have been underlying\nadaptations for them, or possibilities of adaptation known only to\nGod; at all events the law of adaptation would take effect, by which a\nman becomes adapted and attached to the place that not only gives him\na home but the means of living, and by which, too, he becomes a\ngreater adept in the methods of work which ensure success.\n\n3. Still further, in the allocation of the tribes in their various\nterritories we have an instance of the way in which God designed the\nearth to minister most effectually to the wants of man. We do not say\nthat the method now adopted in Canaan was the only plan of\ndistributing land that God ever sanctioned; very probably it was the\nsame method as had prevailed among the Canaanites; but it is beyond\ndoubt that, such as it was, it was sanctioned by God for His chosen\npeople.\n\nIt was a system of peasant proprietorship. The whole landed property\nof the country was divided among the citizens. Each freeborn Israelite\nwas a landowner, possessing his estate by a tenure, which, so long as\nthe constitution was observed, rendered its permanent alienation from\nhis family impossible. At the fiftieth year, the year of jubilee,\nevery inheritance returned, free of all encumbrance, to the\nrepresentatives of the original proprietor. The arrangement was\nequally opposed to the accumulation of overgrown properties in the\nhands of the few, and to the loss of all property on the part of the\nmany. The extremes of wealth and poverty were alike checked and\ndiscouraged, and the lot eulogised by Agur--a moderate competency,\nneither poverty nor riches, became the general condition of the\ncitizens.\n\nIt is difficult to tell what extent of land fell to each family. The\nportion of the land divided by Joshua has been computed at twenty-five\nmillion acres.[17] Dividing this by 600,000, the probable number of\n_families_ at the time of the settlement, we get forty-two acres as\nthe average size of each property. For a Roman citizen, seven acres\nwas counted enough to yield a moderate maintenance, so that even in a\ncountry of ordinary productiveness the extent of the Hebrew farms\nwould, before further subdivision became necessary, have been ample.\nWhen the population increased the inheritance would of course have to\nbe subdivided. But for several generations this, so far from an\ninconvenience, would be a positive benefit. It would bring about a\nmore complete development of the resources of the soil. The great rule\nof the Divine economy was thus honoured--nothing was lost.\n\n [17] See Wines on the \"Laws of the Ancient Hebrews,\" p. 388.\n\nThere is no reason to suppose that the peasant proprietorship of the\nIsraelites induced a stationary and stagnant condition of society, or\nreduced it to one uniform level--a mere conglomeration of men of\nuniform wealth, resources, and influence. Though the land was divided\nequally at first, it could not remain so divided long. In the course\nof providence, when the direct heirs failed, or when a man married a\nfemale proprietor, two or more properties would belong to a single\nfamily. Increased capital, skill and industry, or unusual success in\ndriving out the remaining Canaanites, would tend further to the\nenlargement of properties. Accordingly we meet with \"men of great\npossessions,\" like Jair the Gileadite, Boaz of Bethlehem, Nabal of\nCarmel, or Barzillai the Gileadite, even in the earlier periods of\nJewish history.[18] There was a sufficient number of men of wealth to\ngive a pleasing variety and healthful impulse to society, without\nproducing the evils of enormous accumulation on the one hand, or\nfrightful indigence on the other.[19]\n\n [18] Judg. x. 4; Ruth ii. 1; 1 Sam. xxv. 2; 2 Sam. xvii. 27.\n\n [19] See the author's essay \"An Old Key to our Social Problems\" in\n \"Counsel and Cheer for the Battle of Life.\"\n\nWe in this country, after reaching the extreme on the opposite side,\nare now trying to get back in the direction of this ancient system.\nAll parties seem now agreed that something of the nature of peasant\nproprietorship is necessary to solve the agrarian problem in Ireland\nand in Great Britain too. It is only the fact that in Britain\ncommercial enterprise and emigration afford so many outlets for the\nenergies of our landless countrymen that has tolerated the abuses of\nproperty so long among us, the laws of entail and primogeniture, the\naccumulation of property far beyond the power of the proprietor to\noversee or to manage, the employment of land agents acting solely for\nthe proprietor, and without that sense of responsibility or that\ninterest in the welfare of the people which is natural to the\nproprietor himself. It is little wonder that theories of\nland-possession have risen up which are as impracticable in fact as\nthey are wild and lawless in principle. Such desperate imaginations\nare the fruit of despair--absolute hopelessness of getting back in any\nother way to a true land law,--to a state of things in which the land\nwould yield the greatest benefit to the whole nation. Not only ought\nit to supply food and promote health, but also a familiarity with\nnature, and a sense of freedom, and thus produce contentment and\nhappiness, and a more kindly feeling among all classes. It seems to us\none of the most interesting features of the land law recently brought\nin for Ireland that it tends towards an arrangement of the land in the\ndirection of God's early designs regarding it. If it be feasible for\nIreland, why not have it for England and Scotland? Some may scout such\nmatters as purely secular, and not only unworthy of the interference\nof religious men, but when advocated by them as fitted to prejudice\nspiritual religion. It is a narrow view. All that is right is\nreligious; all that is according to the will of God is spiritual.\nWhatever tends to realize the prayer of Agur is good for rich and poor\nalike: \"Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food\nconvenient for me.\"\n\n4. Lastly, in the arrangements for the distribution of the land among\nthe twelve tribes we may note a proof of God's interest in the\ntemporal comfort and prosperity of men. It is not God that has created\nthe antithesis of secular and spiritual, as if the two interests were\nlike a see-saw, so that whenever the one went up the other must go\ndown. Things in this world are made to be enjoyed, and the enjoyment\nof them is agreeable to the will of God, provided we use them as not\nabusing them. If Scripture condemns indulgence in the pleasures of\nlife, it is when these pleasures are preferred to the higher joys of\nthe Spirit, or when they are allowed to stand in the way of a nobler\nlife and a higher reward. In ordinary circumstances God intends men to\nbe fairly comfortable; He does not desire life to be a perpetual\nstruggle, or a dismal march to the grave. The very words in which\nChrist counsels us to consider the lilies and the ravens, instead of\nworrying ourselves about food and clothing, show this; for, under the\nDivine plan, the ravens are comfortably fed, and the lilies are\nhandsomely clothed.\n\nThis is the Divine plan; and if those who enjoy a large share of the\ncomforts of life are often selfish and worldly, it is only another\nproof how much a wrong spirit may pervert the gifts of God and turn\nthem to evil. The characteristic of a good man, when he enjoys a share\nof worldly prosperity, is, that he does not let the world become his\nidol,--it is his servant, it is under his feet; he jealously guards\nagainst its becoming his master. His effort is to make a friend of the\nmammon of unrighteousness, and to turn every portion of it with which\nhe may be entrusted to such a use for the good of others, that when at\nlast he gives in his account, as steward to his Divine Master, he may\ndo so with joy, and not with grief.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n_THE INHERITANCE OF JUDAH._[20]\n\nJOSHUA xv.\n\n [20] We do not encumber our exposition with a discussion of the\n extraordinary theory of Wellhausen, to the effect that Judah and\n Simeon, with Levi, were the first to cross the Jordan and attack\n the Canaanites; that Simeon and Levi were all but annihilated;\n that Joshua, who belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, did little more\n than settle that tribe; and that there was hardly such a thing as\n united action by the tribes, most of them having acted and fought\n at their own hand. This theory rests professedly on the ground\n that Judges i. is a more true and trustworthy account of the\n settlement than the narrative of Joshua. It is a strange proof of\n the greater truthfulness of Judges that, according to this theory,\n its very first statement should be a lie--\"It came to pass _after\n the death of Joshua_!\" The narrative of Judges naturally follows\n that of Joshua because it is plain that while Joshua secured for\n his people standing ground in the country, he did not secure\n undisturbed possession. Joshua set them an example of faith and\n courage which, if followed up by them, would have secured\n undisturbed possession; but with few exceptions they preferred to\n tolerate the Canaanites at their side, instead of making a\n vigorous effort to dispossess them wholly.\n\n\nJudah was the imperial tribe, and it was fitting that he should be\nplanted in a conspicuous territory. Even if the republic had not been\ndestined to give place to the monarchy, some pre-eminence was due to\nthe tribe which had inherited the patriarchal blessing, and from which\nHe was to come in whom all the families of the earth were to be\nblessed. Judah and the sons of Joseph seem to have obtained their\nsettlements not only before the other tribes, but in a different\nmanner. They did not obtain them by lot, but apparently by their own\nchoice and by early possession. Judah was not planted in the heart of\nthe country. That position was gained by Ephraim and Manasseh, the\nchildren of Joseph, while Judah obtained the southern section. In this\nposition his influence was not so commanding at first as it would have\nbeen had he occupied the centre. The portion taken possession of by\nJudah had belonged to the first batch of kings that Joshua\nsubdued,--the kings that came up to take vengeance on the Gibeonites.\nWhat was first assigned to Judah was too large, and the tribe of\nSimeon got accommodation within his lot (chap. xix. 9). Dan also\nobtained several cities that had first been given to Judah (comp.\nchaps. xv. 21-62 and xix. 40-46). In point of fact, Judah ere long\nswallowed up a great part of Simeon and Dan, and Benjamin was so\nhemmed in between him and Ephraim that, while Jerusalem was situated\nwithin the limits of Benjamin, it was, for all practical purposes, a\ncity of Judah.\n\nThe territory of Judah was not pre-eminently fruitful; it was not\nequal in this respect to that of Ephraim and Manasseh. It had some\nfertile tracts, but a considerable part of it was mountainous and\nbarren. It was of four descriptions--the hill country, the valley or\nlow country, the south, and the wilderness. \"The hill country,\" says\nDean Stanley, \"is the part of Palestine which best exemplifies its\ncharacteristic scenery; the rounded hills, the broad valleys, the\nscanty vegetation, the villages and fortresses sometimes standing,\nmore frequently in ruins, on the hill tops; the wells in every valley,\nthe vestiges of terraces whether for corn or wine.\" Here the lion of\nthe tribe of Judah entrenched himself, to guard the southern frontier\nof the Chosen Land, with Simeon, Dan, and Benjamin nestled around him.\nWell might he be so named in this wild country, more than half a\nwilderness, the lair of savage beasts, of which the traces gradually\ndisappear as we advance into the interior. Fixed there, and never\ndislodged, except by the ruin of the whole nation, \"he lay down, he\ncouched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?\"\n\nMany parts of Judah were adapted for the growth of corn: witness\nBethlehem, \"the house of bread.\" But the cultivation of the vine was\npre-eminently the feature of the tribe. \"Here more than elsewhere in\nPalestine are to be seen on the sides of the hills the vineyards,\nmarked by their watch-towers and walls, seated on their ancient\nterraces, the earliest and latest symbol of Judah. The elevation of\nthe hills and table-lands of Judah is the true climate of the vine. He\n'bound his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice\nvine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of\ngrapes.' It was from the Jud\u00e6an valley of Eshcol, 'the torrent of the\ncluster,' that the spies cut down the gigantic cluster of grapes. 'A\nvineyard on a \"hill of olives\"' with the 'fence,' and 'the stones\ngathered out,' and the tower in 'the midst of it,' is the natural\nfigure which both in the prophetical and evangelical records\nrepresents the kingdom of Judah. The 'vine' was the emblem of the\nnation on the coins of the Maccabees, and in the colossal cluster of\ngolden grapes which overhung the porch of the second Temple; and the\ngrapes of Judah still mark the tombstones of the Hebrew race in the\noldest of their European cemeteries at Prague.\"[21]\n\n [21] Stanley's \"Sinai and Palestine.\"\n\nThe chapter now before us has a particularly barren look; but if we\nexamine it with care we shall find it not deficient in elements of\ninterest.\n\n1. First, we have an elaborate delineation of the boundaries of the\nterritory allotted to Judah. It is not difficult to follow the\nboundary line in the main, though some of the names cannot be\nidentified now. The southern border began at the wilderness of Zin,\nwhere the host had been encamped more than forty years before, when\nthe twelve spies returned with their report of the land. The line\nmoved in a south-westerly course till it reached \"the river of Egypt\"\nand the sea shore. What this \"river of Egypt\" was is far from clear.\nNaturally one thinks of the Nile, the only stream that seems to be\nentitled to such an appellation. On the other hand, the term\ntranslated \"river\" is commonly though not always, applied to brooks or\nshallow torrents, and hence it has been thought to denote a brook, now\ncalled El Arish, about midway in the desert between Gaza and the\nPelusiac mouth of the Nile. While we incline to the former view, we\nown that practically the question is of little consequence; the only\ndifference being that if the boundary reached to the Nile, it included\na larger share of the desert than if it had a more northerly limit.\nThe Dead Sea was the chief part of the eastern frontier. The northern\nboundary began near Gilgal, and stretched westwards to the\nMediterranean by a line that passed just south of Jerusalem.\n\nThe position of Judah was peculiar, in respect of the enemies by whom\nhe was surrounded. On his eastern frontier, close to the Dead Sea, he\nwas in contact with Moab, and on the south with Edom, the descendants\nof Esau. On the south-west were the Amalekites of the desert; and on\nthe west the Philistines, and pre-eminent among them, until Caleb\nsubdued them, the sons of Anak, the giants. On his extreme north, but\nwithin the tribe of Benjamin, was the great fortress of the Jebusites.\nIt was no bed of roses that was thus prepared for the lion of the\ntribe of Judah. If he should rule at all, he must rule in the midst of\nhis enemies. Hemmed in by fierce foes on every side, he needed to show\nhis prowess if he was to prevail against them. It was the necessity of\ncontending with these and other enemies that developed the military\ngenius of David (1 Sam. xvii. 50, xviii. 5, 17, 27, xxvii. 8), and\nmade him the fitting type of the heavenly warrior who goes forth\n\"conquering and to conquer.\" The vigilance that was needed to keep\nthese enemies at bay was one means of preserving the vigour and\nindependence of the tribe. Living thus in the very heart of foes,\nJudah was the better fitted to symbolize the Church of Christ, as she\nis usually found when faithful to her high calling. \"Behold, I send\nyou forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.\" \"We wrestle not against\nflesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the\nrulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in\nhigh places.\" As long as the Church is militant, it cannot be\notherwise; and it little becomes her either to complain on the one\nhand, or be despondent on the other, however strong and bitter the\nopposition or even the persecution of her foes.\n\n2. Next, a little episode comes into our narrative (vv. 13-19), in\nconnection with a special allocation of territory within the tribe.\nThe incident of Caleb is rehearsed, as an introduction to the\nnarrative that follows. Caleb, on the strength of his promise to\ndrive out the Anakim, had got Hebron for his inheritance, and a\nportion of the country around. Near to Hebron, but on a site now\nunknown, stood Debir, or Kirjath-sepher, apparently a stronghold of\nthe Anakim. We do not know the circumstances that induced Caleb to put\nthis place up, as it were, to public competition. Whoever should\ncapture it was promised his daughter Achsah in marriage. Othniel, who\nis called his younger brother, which may perhaps mean his brother's\nson, took the place, and, according to the bargain, got Achsah for his\nwife. The capture of Debir is recorded twice, here and in Judges i.\n14, 15, and in the latter case with the addition of an incident that\nfollowed the marriage, as if in both cases it had been copied from an\nolder record. Achsah was evidently a woman who could look well after\nher interests. She was not satisfied with the portion of land that\nfell to Othniel. There was a certain field besides, on which she had\nset her affection, and which she induced her husband to ask of Caleb.\nThis he appears to have obtained. Then she herself turned supplicant,\nand having gone to Caleb and lighted down from off her ass,[22] and\nCaleb having said to her, \"What wouldest thou?\" she said unto her\nfather, \"Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give\nme also springs of water.\" [\"And she said, Give me a blessing\n(_margin_, present); for thou hast set me in the land of the south;\ngive me also springs of water,\" R.V.] Her request was granted:--\"he\ngave her the upper springs and the nether springs.\"\n\n [22] Founding on the expression, \"having lighted off her ass\",\n some have thought that she feigned to fall off, and that her\n father coming to help her in the compassionate spirit one shows in\n a case of accident, she took the opportunity to ask and obtain\n this gift. The explanation is far-fetched if not foolish. Her\n dismounting is explained by the universal custom when one met a\n person of superior rank. Comp. Gen. xxiv. 64. See Kitto's\n \"Pictorial Commentary.\"\n\nThe incident, though picturesque, is somewhat strange, and we\nnaturally ask, why should it have a place in the dry narrative of the\nsettlement? Possibly for the very reason that what concerns the\nsettlement was very dry, and that an incident like this gave it\nsomething of living interest. Those who lived at the time must have\nhad a special interest in the matter, for in Judges i. 14 it is said\nthat Achsah moved Othniel to ask of her father \"_the_ field\" (_Heb._),\nimplying that it was a particular field, well known to the public. The\nmoral interest of the narrative is the light it throws on the\ngenerosity of Caleb. His son-in-law asked of him a field, a field\napparently of special value; he got it: his daughter asked springs of\nwater, and she too gained her request. We contrast Caleb with Saul, as\nwe afterwards read of him. In no such fashion was David treated by his\nfather-in-law, after his brilliant victories over the Philistines. So\nfar was he from acquiring field or fountain, that he did not even\nacquire his wife:--\"It came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's\ndaughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto\nAdriel the Meholathite to wife\" (1 Sam. xviii. 19). Caleb had another\nspirit with him. He had the heart of a father, he had a genuine\ninterest in his daughter and son-in-law, and desired to see them\ncomfortable and happy. Kindly and large-hearted, he at once\ntransferred to them valuable possessions that a greedier man would\nhave kept for himself. Evidently he was one of those godlike men that\nenjoy giving, that have more pleasure in making others happy than in\nmultiplying their own store. \"The liberal man deviseth liberal things,\nand by liberal things shall he stand.\" \"There is that scattereth, and\nyet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and\nit tendeth to poverty.\"\n\nIt is no great wonder that an incident which reveals the flowing\ngenerosity of a godlike heart, should sometimes be turned to account\nas a symbol of the liberality of God. All human generosity is but a\ndrop from the ocean of the Divine bounty, a faint shadow of the\ninexhaustible substance. \"If ye that are evil know how to give good\ngifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give\ngood things to them that ask Him?\" If in the earthly father's bosom\nthere be that interest in the welfare of his children which is eager\nto help them where help is needed and it is in his power to give it,\nhow much more in the bosom of the Father in heaven? Why should any be\nbackward to apply to Him--to say to Him, like Achsah, \"Give me a\nblessing\"? It pleases Him to see His children reposing trust in Him,\nbelieving in His infinite love. All that He asks of us is to come to\nHim through Jesus Christ, acknowledging our unworthiness, and pleading\nthe merit of His sacrifice and intercession, as our only ground of\nacceptance in His sight. After His revelation of His grace in Christ\nour requests cannot be restricted to mere temporal things; when we ask\na blessing it must be one of higher scope and quality. Yet such is His\nbounty that nothing can be withheld that is really for our good. \"No\ngood thing will the Lord withhold from them that walk uprightly.\"\n\"Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord; if I will not open to you the\nwindows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be\nroom enough to receive it.\"\n\n3. We leave this picturesque incident to re-enter the wilderness of\nunfamiliar names. We find a list of no fewer than a hundred and\nfifteen cities which lay within the confines of the tribe of Judah\n(vv. 21-32). They fall into four divisions. First, twenty-nine cities\nbelonged to \"the south\"--the \"Negeb\" of the Hebrews, the part of the\ncountry which bordered on the desert, and to some degree partook of\nits character. Cities they are called, but few of them were more than\nvillages, and hardly any were important enough to leave their mark on\nthe history. There are two, however, having memorable associations\nwith men of mark, the one carrying us back to a glorious past, the\nother forward to a disgraceful future. Strange association--Abraham\nand Judas Iscariot! With Beersheba the name of Abraham is imperishably\nassociated, as well as the name of Isaac. And to this day the very\nname Beersheba seems to emit a holy fragrance. With Kerioth (ver. 25)\nwe connect the traitor Judas--the Is-cariot of the New Testament being\nequivalent to Ish-Kerioth, a man of Kerioth, of the Old. Our heart\nfills with a sense of nausea as we recall the association. The traitor\nwas doubly connected with the tribe of Judah,--by his name and by his\nbirthplace. What mockery of a noble name! \"Judah, thou art he whom thy\nbrethren shall praise.\" What contrast could be greater than that\nbetween the Judah who surrendered himself to slavery to set his\nbrother free, and the Judah who sold his Lord for thirty pieces of\nsilver! What extremes of character may we find under the same name,\nand often in the same family! Strange that so few are drawn by the\nexample of the noble, and so many follow the course of the vile!\n\nThe next division, \"the valley,\" the lowland, or Shephelah, embraced\nthree subdivisions--the north-eastern Shephelah with her fourteen\ntowns (vv. 33-36), the middle, with sixteen (vv. 37-41), and the\nsouthern, with nine (vv. 42-44); to which are added three of the\ncities of the Philistines,--Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza (vv. 45-47). Many\nof the places in this list became famous in the history. Eshtaol and\nZorah were of note in the history of Samson, but in his time they were\nDanite settlements. Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, and Makkedah had been\nconspicuous in Joshua's great battle of Bethhoron. Adullam and Keilah\nfigured afterwards in David's outlaw history, and Ashdod and Ekron\nwere two of the Philistine cities to which the ark was taken after the\nbattle of Ebenezer and Aphek (1 Sam. iv. 1, v. 1, 10). In later years\nLachish and Libnah were among the places attacked by Sennacherib, King\nof Assyria, in his great raid upon the country (Isa. xxxvii. 8).\n\nThe third great group of cities were those of \"the mountain,\" or\nhighlands. These were mostly in the central part of the territory, on\nthe plateau or ridge that runs along it, rising up from the valley of\nthe Dead Sea on the east, and the Shephelah, or \"valley,\" on the west.\nHere there were four groups of cities: eleven on the south-west (vv.\n48-51), nine farther north (vv. 52-54), ten to the east (vv. 55-57),\nand six to the north (vv. 58, 59), along with Kirjath-baal and Rabbah\nin the same neighbourhood. This group included Hebron, of which we\nhear so much; also Carmel, Maon, and Ziph, conspicuous in the outlaw\nlife of David. It is remarkable that there is no mention of Bethlehem,\nwhich lay in \"the mountain\": it probably had not yet attained to the\nrank of a town. But its very omission may be regarded as a proof of\nthe contemporaneous date of the book; for soon after Bethlehem was a\nwell-known place (Ruth i.-iv.), and if the Book of Joshua had been\nwritten at the late date sometimes assigned to it, that city could not\nhave failed to have a place in the enumeration.\n\nA fourth group of cities were in \"the wilderness\" or Migdar. This was\na wild rocky region extending between the Dead Sea and the mountains\nof Hebron. \"It is a plateau of white chalk, terminated on the east by\ncliffs which rise vertically from the Dead Sea shore to a height of\nabout two thousand feet. The scenery is barren and wild beyond all\ndescription. The chalky ridges are scored by innumerable torrents, and\ntheir narrow crests are separated by broad, flat valleys. Peaks and\nknolls of fantastic forms rise suddenly from the swelling downs, and\nmagnificent precipices of rugged limestone stand up like fortress\nwalls above the sea. Not a tree nor a spring is visible in the waste;\nand only the desert partridge and the ibex are found ranging the\nsolitude.\"[23] This district was in large measure the scene of David's\nwanderings, and well might he call it \"a dry and thirsty land where\nthere is no water\" (Psalm lxiii. 1). It was also the scene of the\npreaching of John the Baptist, at least at the beginning (Matt. iii.\n1); for when the administration of baptism became common, it was\nnecessary for him to remove to a better-watered region (John iii. 23).\nThere is some reason to believe that it was also the scene of our\nLord's temptation (Matt. iv. 1), the more especially because one of\nthe Evangelists has said that \"He was there with the wild beasts\"\n(Mark i. 12).\n\n [23] Conder's \"Handbook to the Bible,\" pp. 213, 214.\n\nOnly six cities are enumerated as \"in the wilderness\" (vv. 61, 62), so\nthat its population must have been very small. And of those mentioned\nsome are wholly unknown. The most interesting of the six is Engedi,\nwhich derived its name from a celebrated fountain, meaning \"fountain\nof the kid.\" It is noted as one of the hiding-places of David; Saul\npursued him to it, and it was there that David spared his life when he\nfound him in a cave (1 Sam. xxiv.). Solomon extols its vineyards and\nits camphire (Song of Solomon i. 14) [henna-flowers, R.V.], Josephus\nits balsam (Ant., ix. 1, \u00a7 2), and Pliny its palms (v. 17). In ancient\ntimes it was the site of a town, and in the fourth century, in\nJerome's time, there was still a considerable village; now, however,\nthere is no trace of anything of the kind. Sir Walter Scott, in the\n\"Talisman,\" makes it the abode of a Christian hermit--Theodoric of\nEngaddi. It is situated near the middle of the western shore of the\nDead Sea. A rich plain, half a mile square, slopes gently from the\nbase of the mountains to the sea; and about a mile up the western\nacclivity, four hundred feet above the plain, is the fountain of Ain\nJiddy, from which the place gets its name.\n\nSuch, then, was the distribution of the cities of Judah over the four\nsections of the territory, the south, the Shephelah, the highlands,\nand the wilderness. It was an ample and varied domain, and after Caleb\nexpelled the Anakim, there seems to have been little or no opposition\nto the occupation of the whole by the tribe. But \"the crook in the\nlot\" was not wanting. The great Jebusite fortress, Jerusalem, was on\nthe very edge of the northern boundary of Judah. Nominally, as we have\nsaid, Jerusalem was in the territory of Benjamin, but really it was a\ncity of Judah. For it is said (ver. 63), \"As for the Jebusites, the\nchildren of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell\nwith the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.\"[24] For some\nreason Joshua had omitted to take possession of this stronghold after\nthe battle of Bethhoron. The stream of pursuit had gone westward, and\nthe opportunity of taking Jerusalem when the king had been slain and\nhis army cut to pieces, was lost. And just as in modern history, when\nthe opportunity of taking Sebastopol was lost after the battle of the\nAlma, and a long, harassing and most disastrous siege had to be\nresorted to, so it was with Jerusalem; the Jebusites, recovering their\nspirits after the defeat, were able to hold it, and to defy the tribe\nof Judah, and all the tribes, for many a long year. While the fortress\nwas held by the Jebusites, Jew and Jebusite dwelt together in the\ncity, leading no doubt a comfortless life, neither the one nor the\nother feeling truly at home.\n\n [24] A proof that Joshua was written before the time of David.\n\nThe moral is not far to seek. There is a crisis in some men's lives,\nwhen they come under the power of religion, and feel the obligation to\nlive to God. If they had decision and courage enough at this crisis to\nbreak off all sinful habits and connections, to renounce all\nunchristian ways of life, to declare with Joshua, \"As for me and my\nhouse, we will serve the Lord,\"--they would no doubt experience a\nsharp opposition, but it would pass over, and peace would come. But\noften they hesitate, and shrink, and cower; they cannot endure\nopposition and ridicule; they retain religion enough to appease their\nconsciences, but not to give them satisfaction and joy. It is another\ncase of the men of Judah dwelling with the Jebusites, and with the\nsame result; they are not happy, they are not at rest; they bring\nlittle or no honour to their Master, and they have little influence on\nthe world for good.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n_THE INHERITANCE OF JOSEPH._\n\nJOSHUA xvi., xvii.\n\n\nNext to Judah, the most important tribe was Joseph; that is, the\ndouble tribe to which his two sons gave names, Ephraim and Manasseh.\nIn perpetual acknowledgment of the service rendered by Joseph to the\nfamily, by keeping them alive in the famine, it was ordained by Jacob\nthat his two sons should rank with their uncles as founders of tribes\n(Gen. xlviii. 5). It was also prophetically ordained by Jacob that\nEphraim, the younger son, should take rank before Manasseh (Gen.\nxlviii. 19). The privilege of the double portion, however, remained to\nManasseh as the elder son. Hence, in addition to his lot in Gilead and\nBashan, he had also a portion in Western Palestine. But Ephraim was\notherwise the more important tribe; and when the separation of the two\nkingdoms took place, Ephraim often gave his name to the larger\ndivision. And in the beautiful prophetic vision of Ezekiel, when the\ncoming re-union of the nation is symbolized, it is on this wise: \"Son\nof man, take thou one stick and write upon it, For Judah, and for the\nchildren of Israel his companions; then take another stick and write\nupon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of\nIsrael his companions, and join them for thee one to another into one\nstick, that they may become one in thine hand\" (xxxvii. 16, 17). The\nsuperiority allotted to Ephraim was not followed by very happy\nresults; it raised an arrogant spirit in that tribe, of which we find\nsome indications in the present chapter, but more pronounced and\nmischievous manifestations further on.\n\nThe delimitation of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh is not easy to\nfollow, particularly in the Authorized Version, which not only does\nnot translate very accurately, but uses some English expressions of\nuncertain meaning. The Revised Version is much more helpful,\ncorrecting both classes of defects in its predecessor. Yet even the\nRevised Version sometimes leaves us at a loss. It has been supposed,\nindeed, that some words have dropped out of the text. Moreover, it has\nnot been found possible to ascertain the position of all the places\nmentioned. Uncertainty as to the precise boundaries cannot but\nprevail, and differences of opinion among commentators. But the\nuncertainty applies only to the minuter features of the description,\nit bears chiefly on the points at which one tribe adjoined another.\nThe portion of the land occupied by Ephraim and Manasseh is, on the\nwhole, very clearly known, just as their influence on the history of\nthe country is very distinctly marked.\n\nIn point of fact, the lot of Joseph in Western Palestine was, in many\nrespects, the most desirable of any. It was a fertile and beautiful\ndistrict. It embraced the valley of Shechem, the first place of\nAbraham's sojourn, and reckoned by travellers to be one of the most\nbeautiful spots, some say the most beautiful spot, in Palestine.\nSamaria, at the head of another valley celebrated for its \"glorious\nbeauty,\" and for its \"fatness\" or fertility (Isa. xxviii. 1), was at\nno great distance. Tirzah, a symbol of beauty, in the Song of Solomon\n(vi. 4) was another of its cities, as was also Jezreel, \"a lovely\nposition for a capital city\" (_Tristram_). On the other hand, this\nportion of the country laboured under the disadvantage of not having\nbeen well cleared of its original inhabitants. The men of Ephraim did\nnot exert themselves as much as the men of Judah. This is apparent\nfrom what is said in chap. xvi. 10, \"They drove not out the Canaanites\nthat dwelt in Gezer\"; and also from Joshua's answer to the request of\nEphraim for more land (xvii. 15-18).\n\nAs we have said already, we have no information regarding Joshua's\nconquest of this part of the country. It seems to have been run over\nmore superficially than the north and the south. Consequently the\nancient inhabitants were still very numerous, and they were formidable\nlikewise, because they had chariots of iron.\n\nIn the definition of boundaries we have first a notice applicable to\nJoseph as a whole, then specifications applicable to Ephraim and\nManasseh respectively. The southern border is delineated twice with\nconsiderable minuteness, and its general course, extending from near\nthe Jordan at Jericho, past Bethel and Luz, and down the pass of\nBethhoron to the Mediterranean, is clear enough. The border between\nEphraim and Manasseh is not so clear, nor the northern border of\nManasseh. It is further to be remarked that, while we have an\nelaborate statement of boundaries, we have no list of towns in Ephraim\nand Manasseh such as we have for the tribe of Judah. This gives\ncountenance to the supposition that part of the ancient record has\nsomehow dropped out. We find, however, another statement about towns\nwhich is of no small significance. At chap. xvi. 9 we find that\nseveral cities were appropriated to Ephraim that were situated in the\nterritory of Manasseh. And in like manner several cities were given\nto Manasseh which were situated in the tribes of Issachar and Asher.\nOf these last the names are given. They were Bethshean, Ibleam, Dor,\nEndor, Taanach, and Megiddo. Some of them were famous in after\nhistory. Bethshean was the city to whose wall the bodies of Saul and\nhis sons were fixed after the fatal battle of Gilboa; Ibleam was in\nthe neighbourhood of Naboth's vineyard (2 Kings ix. 25, 27); Endor was\nthe place of abode of the woman with a familiar spirit whom Saul went\nto consult; Taanach was the battle-field of the kings of Canaan whom\nBarak defeated, and of whom Deborah sung,--\n\n \"The kings came and fought;\n Then fought the kings of Canaan,\n In Taanach by the waters of Megiddo:\n They took no gain of money\" (Judg. v. 19).\n\nAs for Megiddo, many a battle was fought in its plain. So early as the\ndays of Thotmes III. of Egypt (about 1600 B.C.) it was famous in\nbattle, for in an inscription on the temple of Karnak, containing a\nrecord of his conquests in Syria, Megiddo flourishes as the scene of a\ngreat conflict. The saddest and most notable of its battles was that\nbetween King Josiah and the Egyptians, in which that good young king\nwas killed. In fact, Megiddo obtained such notoriety as a battle-field\nthat in the Apocalypse (xvi. 16) Ar-Mageddon (Har-magedon, R.V.) is\nthe symbol of another kind of battle-ground--the meeting-place for\n\"the war of the great day of God the Almighty.\"\n\nWe can only conjecture why these cities, most of which were in\nIssachar, were given to Manasseh. They were strongholds in the great\nplain of Esdraelon, where most of the great battles of Canaan were\nfought. For the defence of the plain it seemed important that these\nplaces should be held by a stronger tribe than Issachar. Hence they\nappear to have been given to Manasseh. But, like Ephraim, Manasseh was\nnot able to hold them at first. \"The children of Manasseh could not\ndrive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would\ndwell in that land. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel\nwere waxen strong that they put the Canaanites to task-work, and did\nnot utterly drive them out\" (R.V.). This last verse appears to have\nbeen inserted at a later date, and it agrees with 1 Chron. vii. 29,\nwhere several of the same towns are enumerated, and it is added, \"In\nthese dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of Israel.\"\n\nUndoubtedly these sons of Joseph occupied a position which gave them\nunrivalled opportunities of benefiting their country. But with the\nexception of the splendid exploit of Gideon, a man of Manasseh, and\nhis little band, we hear of little in the history that redounded to\nthe credit of Joseph's descendants. Nobility of character is not\nhereditary. Sometimes nature appears to spend all her intellectual and\nmoral wealth on the father, and almost to impoverish the sons. And\nsometimes the sons live on the virtues of their fathers, and cannot be\nroused to the exertion or the sacrifice needed to continue their work\nand maintain their reputation. A humorous saying is recorded of an\neminent pastor of the Waldensian Church who found his people much\ndisposed to live on the reputation of their fathers, and tried in vain\nto get them to do as their fathers did; he said that they were like\nthe potato--the best part of them was under the ground. If you say,\n\"We have Abraham for our father,\" take care that you say it in the\nproper sense. Be sure that you are following hard in his footsteps,\nand using his example as a spur to move your languid energies, and not\nas a screen to conceal your miserable defects. If you think of Abraham\nor of any forefather or body of forefathers as a cover for your\nnakedness, or a compensation for your defects, you are resorting to a\ndevice which has never proved successful in past ages, and is not\nlikely to change its character with you.\n\nAfter the division, the vain, self-important spirit of Ephraim broke\nout in a characteristic way. \"Why,\" said he to Joshua, \"hast thou\ngiven me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a\ngreat people, forasmuch as hitherto the Lord hath blessed me?\" A\ngrumbling reference seems to be made here to his brother Manasseh, who\nhad received two lots, one on each side of the Jordan. At first it\nappears that there was some reason in the complaint of Ephraim. The\n_free_ part of his lot seems to have been small, that is, the part not\noccupied by Canaanites. But we cannot think that the whole inheritance\nof Ephraim was so small as we find represented in the map of Major\nConder, of the Palestine Exploration Fund, in his \"Handbook to the\nBible,\" because it is said, both in the Authorized and in the Revised\nVersion, that his western boundary extended to the sea, while Major\nConder makes it cease much sooner. But, looking at the whole\ncircumstances, it is probable that Ephraim's complaint was dictated by\njealousy of Manasseh, who certainly had received the double\ninheritance.\n\nAlas, how apt is the spirit of discontent still to crop up when we\ncompare our lot with that of others! Were we quite alone, or were\nthere no case for comparison, we might be content enough; it is when\nwe think how much more our brother has than we, that we are most\nliable to murmur. And, bad though murmuring and grieving at the good\nof our brother may be, it is by no means certain that the evil spirit\nwill stop there. At the very dawn of history we find Cain the murderer\nof his brother because the one had the favour of God and not the\nother. What an evil feeling it is that grudges to our brother a larger\nshare of God's blessing; if at the beginning it be not kept under it\nmay carry us on to deeds that may well make us shudder.\n\nJoshua dealt very wisely and fearlessly with the complaint of Ephraim,\nthough it was his own tribe. You say you are a great people--be it so;\nbut if you are a great people, you must be capable of great deeds. Two\ngreat undertakings are before you now. There are great woodlands in\nyour lot that have not been cleared--direct your energies to them, and\nthey will afford you more room for settlements. Moreover, the\nCanaanites are still in possession of a large portion of your lot; up\nand attack them and drive them out, and you will be furnished with\nanother area for possession. Joshua accepted their estimate of their\nimportance, but gave it a very different practical turn. What they had\nwished him to do was to take away a portion from some other tribe and\ngive it as an extra allotment to them, so that it would be theirs\nwithout labour or trouble. What Joshua did was to spur them to\ncourageous and self-denying exertion, in order that their object might\nbe gained through the instrumentality of their own labour. For the\nsickly sentiment that desires a mine of gold to start into being and\nscatter its untold treasure at our feet, he substituted the manly\nsentiment of the proverb, \"No gains without pains.\" \"The soul of the\nsluggard desireth and hath nothing; but the hand of the diligent\nmaketh rich.\" If they wished more land they must work for it; they\nmust not take idleness for their patron-saint.\n\nWe have all heard of the dying father who informed his sons that there\nwas a valuable treasure in a certain field, and counselled them to set\nto work to find it. With great care they turned up every morsel of the\nsoil; but no treasure appeared, till, observing in autumn what a rich\ncrop covered the field, they came to understand that the fruit of\npersevering labour was the treasure which their father meant. We have\nheard, too, of a physician who was consulted by a rich man suffering\ncruelly from gout, and asked if he had any cure for it. \"Yes,\" said\nthe doctor, \"live on sixpence a day, and work for it.\" The same\nprinciple underlay the counsel of Joshua. Of course it gratifies a\ncertain part of our nature to get a mass of wealth without working for\nit. But this is not the best part of our nature. Probably in no class\nhas the great object of life been so much lost, and the habit of\nindolence and self-indulgence become so predominant as in that of\nyoung men born to the possession of a great fortune, and never\nrequiring to turn a hand for anything they desired. After all, the\nnecessity of work is a great blessing. We speak of the curse of toil,\nbut except when the labour is excessive, or unhealthy in its\nconditions, or when it has to be prosecuted in sickness or failing\nstrength, it is not a curse but a blessing. Instead of being ashamed\nof labour, we have cause rather to be proud of it. It guards from\nnumberless temptations; it promotes a healthy body and a healthy mind;\nit increases the zest of life; it promotes cheerfulness and flowing\nspirits; it makes rest and healthy recreation far sweeter when they\ncome, and it gives us affinity to the great Heavenly Worker, by whom,\nand through whom, and for whom are all things.\n\nThis great principle of ordinary life has its place too in the\nspiritual economy. The age is now past that had for its favourite\nnotion, that seclusion from the world and exemption from all secular\nemployment was the most desirable condition for a servant of God. The\nexperiment of the hermits was tried, but it was a failure. Seclusion\nfrom the world and the consecration of the whole being to private acts\nof devotion and piety were no success. He who moves about among his\nfellows, and day by day knows the strain of labour, is more likely to\nprosper spiritually than he who shuts himself up in a cell, and looks\non all secular work as pollution. It is not the spiritual invalid who\nis for ever feeling his pulse and whom every whiff of wind throws into\na fever of alarm, that grows up to the full stature of the Christian;\nbut the man who, like Paul, has his hands and his heart for ever full,\nand whose every spiritual fibre gains strength and vitality from his\ndesires and labours for the good of others. And it is with churches as\nwith individuals. An idle church is a stagnant church, prone to\nstrife, and to all morbid experiences. A church that throws itself\ninto the work of faith and labour of love is far more in the way to be\nspiritually healthy and strong. It was not for the good of the world\nmerely, but of the church herself likewise, that our Lord gave out\nthat magnificent _mot d'ordre_,--\"Go ye into all the world, and preach\nthe gospel to every creature.\"\n\nBefore we pass from the inheritance of the sons of Joseph, it is\nproper that we should direct attention to an incident which may seem\ntrifling to us, but which was evidently regarded as of no little\nmoment at the time. What we refer to is the petition presented by the\nfive daughters of Zelophehad, a member of the tribe of Manasseh, for\nan inheritance in their tribe. Their father had no son, so that the\nfamily was represented wholly by daughters. No fewer than four times\nthe incident is referred to, and the names of the five girls given in\nfull (Numb. xxvi. 33, xxvii. 1-11, xxxvi. 11; Josh. xvii. 3). We know\nnot if there be another case in Scripture of such prominence given to\nnames for no moral or spiritual quality, but simply in connection with\na law of property.\n\nThe question decided by their case was the right of females to inherit\nproperty in land when there were no heirs male in the family. We find\nthat the young women themselves had to be champions of their own\ncause. Evidently possessed of more than ordinary spirit, they had\nalready presented themselves before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the\nprinces of the congregation, at the door of the tabernacle, and\nformally made a claim to the inheritance that would have fallen to\ntheir father had he been alive. The case was deemed of sufficient\nimportance to be laid before the Lord, because the decision on it\nwould settle similar cases for the whole nation and for all time. The\ndecision was, that in such cases the women should inherit, but under\nthe condition that they should not marry out of their own tribe, so\nthat the property should not be transferred to another tribe. In point\nof fact, the five sisters married their cousins, and thus kept the\nproperty in the tribe of Manasseh.\n\nThe incident is interesting, because it shows a larger regard to the\nrights of women than was usually conceded at the time. Some have,\nindeed, found fault with the decision as not going far enough. Why,\nthey have asked, was the right of women to inherit land limited to\ncases in which there were no men in the family? The decision implied\nthat if there had been one brother, he would have got all the land;\nthe sisters would have been entitled to nothing. The answer to this\nobjection is, that had the rights of women been recognised to this\nextent, it would have been too great an advance on the public opinion\nof the time. It was not God's method to enjoin laws absolutely\nperfect, but to enjoin what the conscience and public opinion of the\ntime might be fairly expected to recognise and support. It may be that\nunder a perfect system women ought to inherit property on equal terms\nwith men. But the Jewish nation was not sufficiently advanced for such\na law. The benefit of the enactment was that, when propounded, it met\nwith general approval.\n\nCertainly it was a considerable advance on the ordinary practice of\nthe nations. It established the principle that woman was not a mere\nchattel, an inferior creature, subject to the control of the man, with\nno rights of her own. But it was far from being the first time when\nthis principle obtained recognition. The wives of the patriarchs--Sarah,\nRebekah, Rachel--were neither chattels, nor drudges, nor concubines.\nThey were ladies, exerting the influence and enjoying the respect due\nto cultivated, companionable women. And though the law of succession\ndid not give the females of the family equal rights with the males, it\nrecognised them in another way. While the eldest son succeeded to the\nfamily home and a double portion of the land, he was expected to make\nsome provision for his widowed mother and unmarried sisters. In most\ncases the sisters came to be provided for by marriage. It is the\ncircumstance that among us so many women remain unmarried that has\ndrawn so keen attention to their rights, and already caused so much to\nbe done, as no doubt more will be done speedily, for enlarging their\nsphere and protecting their interests.\n\nNo doubt these spirited daughters of Zelophehad conferred a great\nbenefit on their sex in Israel. Their names are entitled to grateful\nremembrance, as the names of all are who bring about beneficial\narrangements that operate in many directions and to all time. Yet one\nwould be sorry to think that this was the only service which they\nrendered in their day. One would like to think of them as shedding\nover their households and friends the lustre of those gentle, womanly\nqualities which are the glory of the sex. Advocacy of public rights\nmay be a high duty, for the faithful discharge of which the highest\npraise is due; but such a career emits little of the fragrance which\nradiates from a female life of faithful love, domestic activity, and\nsacred devotion. What blessed ideals of life Christianity furnishes\nfor women even of middling talent and ordinary education! It is\nbeautiful to see distinguished talents, high gifts, and persuasive\nelements directed to the advocacy of neglected claims. \"And yet I show\nunto you a more excellent way.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n_THE DISTRIBUTION COMPLETED._\n\nJOSHUA xviii., xix.\n\n\nAn event of great importance now occurs; the civil arrangements of the\ncountry are in a measure provided for, and it is time to set in order\nthe ecclesiastical establishment. First, a place has to be found as\nthe centre of the religious life; next, the tabernacle has to be\nerected at that place--and this is to be done in the presence of all\nthe congregation. It is well that a godly man like Joshua is at the\nhead of the nation; a less earnest servant of God might have left this\ngreat work unheeded. How often, in the emigrations of men, drawn far\nfrom their native land in search of a new home, have arrangements for\nDivine service been forgotten! In such cases the degeneracy into rough\nmanners, uncouth ways of life, perhaps into profanity, debauchery, and\nlawlessness, has usually been awfully rapid. On the other hand, when\nthe rule of the old puritan has been followed, \"Wherever I have a\nhouse, there God shall have an altar\"; when the modest spire of the\nwooden church in the prairie indicates that regard has been had to the\ngospel precept--\"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His\nrighteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you,\"--a touch\nof heaven is imparted to the rude and primitive settlement; we may\nbelieve that the spirit of Christ is not unknown; the angels of virtue\nand piety are surely hovering around it.\n\nThe narrative is very brief, and no reason is given why Shiloh was\nselected as the religious centre of the nation. We should have thought\nthat the preference would be given to Shechem, a few miles north, in\nthe neighbourhood of Ebal and Gerizim, which had already been\nconsecrated in a sense to God. That Shiloh was chosen by Divine\ndirection we can hardly doubt, although there may have been reasons of\nvarious kinds that commended it to Joshua. Josephus says it was\nselected for the beauty of the situation; but if the present Seil\u00fbn\ndenotes its position, as is generally believed, there is not much to\ncorroborate the assertion of Josephus. Its locality is carefully\ndefined in the Book of Judges (xxi. 19),--\"on the north side of\nBethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to\nShechem, and on the south of Lebonah.\" As for its appearance, Dean\nStanley says, \"Shiloh is so utterly featureless that had it not been\nfor the preservation of its name, Seil\u00fbn, and for the extreme\nprecision with which its situation is described in the Book of Judges,\nthe spot could never have been identified; and, indeed, from the time\nof Jerome till the year 1838 [when Robinson identified it], its real\nsite was completely forgotten.\" Robinson does not think so poorly of\nit as Stanley, describing it as \"surrounded by hills, and looking out\ninto a beautiful oval basin\" (\"Biblical Researches,\" ii. 268).\n\nFrom the days of Joshua, all through the period of the Judges, and on\nto the last days of Eli the high priest, Shiloh continued to be the\nabode of the tabernacle, and the great national sanctuary of Israel.\nSituated about half-way between Bethel and Shechem, in the tribe of\nEphraim, it was close to the centre of the country, and, moreover, not\ndifficult of access for the eastern tribes. Here for many generations\nthe annual assemblies of the nation took place. Here came Hannah from\nher home in Mount Ephraim to pray for a son; and here little Samuel,\n\"lent to the Lord,\" spent his beautiful childhood. Through that\nopening in the mountains, old Eli saw the ark carried by the rash\nhands of his sons into the battle with the Philistines, and there he\nsat on his stool watching for the messenger that was to bring tidings\nof the battle. After the ark was taken by the Philistines, the city\nthat had grown up around the tabernacle appears to have been taken and\nsacked and the inhabitants massacred (Psalm lxxviii. 60-64). We hear\nof it in later history as the abode of Ahijah the prophet (1 Kings xi.\n29); afterwards it sinks into obscurity. It is to be noted that its\nname occurs nowhere among the towns of the Canaanites; it is likely\nthat it was a new place, founded by Joshua, and that it derived its\nname, Shiloh, \"rest,\" from the sacred purpose to which it was now\ndevoted.\n\nHere, then, assembled the whole congregation of the children of\nIsrael, to set up the tabernacle, probably with some such rites as\nDavid performed when it was transferred from the house of Obed-Edom to\nMount Zion. Hitherto it had remained at Gilgal, the headquarters and\ndep\u00f4t of the nation. The \"whole congregation\" that now assembled does\nnot necessarily mean the whole community, but only selected\nrepresentatives, not only of the part that had been engaged in\nwarfare, but also of the rest of the nation.\n\nIf we try to form a picture of the state of Israel while Joshua was\ncarrying on his warlike campaigns, it will appear that his army being\nbut a part of the whole, the rest of the people were occupied in a\nsomewhat random manner, here and there, in providing food for the\ncommunity, in sowing and reaping the fields, pasturing their flocks,\nand gathering in the fruits. And from the tone of Joshua it would\nappear that many of them were content to lead this somewhat irregular\nlife. In a somewhat sharp and reproachful tone he says to them, \"How\nlong are ye slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of your\nfathers has given you?\" One of Joshua's great difficulties was to\norganize the vast mass of people over whom he presided, to prevent\nthem from falling into careless, slatternly ways, and to keep them up\nto the mark of absolute regularity and order. Many of them would have\nbeen content to jog on carelessly as they had been doing in the\ndesert, in a sort of confused jumble, and to forage about, here and\nthere, as the case might be, in pursuit of the necessaries of life.\nTheir listlessness was provoking. They knew that the Divine plan was\nquite different, that each tribe was to have a territory of its own,\nand that measures ought to be taken at once to settle the boundaries\nof each tribe. But they were taking no steps for this purpose; they\nwere content with social hugger-mugger.\n\nJoshua is old, but his impatience with laziness and irregularity still\ngives sharpness to his remonstrance, \"How long are ye slack to possess\nthe land?\" The ring of authority is still in his voice; it still\ncommands obedience. More than that, the organizing faculty is still\nactive--the faculty that decides how a thing is to be done. \"Give out\nfrom among you three men for each tribe; and I will send them, and\nthey shall rise and go through the land and describe it according to\nthe inheritance of them.\"\n\nThe men are chosen, three from each of the seven tribes that are not\nyet settled; and they go through and make a survey of the land. Judah\nand Joseph are not to be disturbed in the settlements that have\nalready been given to them; but the men are to divide the rest of the\ncountry into seven parts, and thereafter it is to be determined by lot\nto which tribe each part shall belong. It would appear that special\nnote was to be taken of the cities, for when the surveyors returned\nand gave in their report they \"described the land by cities into seven\nparts in a book.\" Each city had a certain portion of land connected\nwith it, and the land always went with the city. The art of writing\nwas sufficiently practised to enable them to compose what has been\ncalled the \"Domesday Book\" of Canaan, and the record being in writing\nwas a great safeguard against the disputes that might have arisen had\nso large a report consisted of mere oral statement. When the seven\nportions had been balloted for, there was no excuse for any of the\ntribes clinging any longer to that nomad life, for which, while in the\nwilderness, they seem to have acquired a real love.\n\nAnd now we come to the actual division. The most interesting of the\ntribes yet unsupplied was Benjamin, and the region that fell to him\nwas interesting too. It may be remarked as an unusual arrangement,\nthat when portions were allotted to Judah and to Ephraim, a space was\nallowed to remain between them, so that the northern border of Judah\nwas at some distance from the southern border of Ephraim. As Judah and\nEphraim were the two leading tribes, and in some respects rivals, the\nbenefit of this intervening space between them is apparent. But for\nthis, whenever their relations became strained, hostilities might have\ntaken place.\n\nNow it was this intervening space that constituted the inheritance of\nthe tribe of Benjamin. For the most part it consisted of deep ravines\nrunning from west to east, from the central table-land down to the\nvalley of the Jordan, with mountains between. Many of its cities were\nperched high in the mountains, as is shown by the commonness of the\nnames Gibeon, Gibeah, Geba, or Gaba, all of which signify \"hill\";\nwhile Ramah is a \"high place,\" and Mizpeh a \"tower.\" In the\nwilderness, Benjamin had marched along with Ephraim and Manasseh, all\nthe descendants of Joseph forming a united company; and after the\nsettlement Benjamin naturally inclined towards fellowship with these\ntribes. But, as events went on, he came more into fellowship with the\ntribe of Judah, and though Saul, Shimei, and Sheba, the bitterest\nenemies of the house of David, were all Benjamites, yet, when the\nseparation of the two kingdoms took place under Rehoboam, Benjamin\ntook the side of Judah (1 Kings xii. 21). On the return from the\ncaptivity it was the tribes of Judah and Benjamin that took the lead\n(Ezra i. 5), and throughout the Book of Ezra the returned patriots are\nusually spoken of as \"the men of Judah and Benjamin.\"\n\nThe cities of Benjamin included several of the most famous. Among them\nwas Jericho, the rebuilding of which as a fortified place had been\nforbidden, but which was still in some degree inhabited; Bethel, which\nwas already very famous in the history, but which, after the\nseparation of the kingdoms, was taken possession of by Jeroboam, and\nmade the shrine of his calves; Gibeon, the capital of the Gibeonites,\nand afterwards a shrine frequented by Solomon (1 Kings iii. 5); Ramah,\nafterwards the dwelling-place of Samuel (1 Sam. vii. 17); Mizpeh, one\nof the three places where he judged Israel (1 Sam. vii. 16); Gibeath,\nor Gibeah, where Saul had his palace (1 Sam. x. 26); and last, not\nleast, Jerusalem. As to Jerusalem, some have thought that it lay\npartly in the territory of Judah, and partly in that of Benjamin. When\ncertain terms in the description of the boundaries are studied there\nare difficulties that might suggest this solution. But we have seen\nthat in practice there was a considerable amount of giving and taking\namong the tribes with reference to particular cities, and that\nsometimes a city, locally within one tribe, belonged to the people of\nanother. So it was with Jerusalem; locally within the inheritance of\nBenjamin, it was practically occupied by the men of Judah (see chap.\nxv. 63).\n\nBenjamin was counted the least of the tribes (1 Sam. ix. 31), and\nwhen, with other tribes, it was represented by its chief magistrate,\nit was rather disparagingly distinguished as \"little Benjamin with\ntheir ruler\" (Psalm lxviii. 27). Yet it was strong enough, on one\noccasion, to set at defiance for a time the combined forces of the\nother tribes (Judg. xx. 12, etc.). It was distinguished for the\nsingular skill of its slingers; seven hundred, who were left-handed,\n\"could every one sling stones at an hair-breadth and not miss\" (Judg.\nxx. 16). The character of its territory, abounding in rocky mountains,\nand probably in game, for the capture of which the sling was adapted,\nmight, in some degree, account for this peculiarity.\n\nMany famous battles were fought on the soil of Benjamin. The battle of\nAi; that of Gibeon, followed by the pursuit through Bethhoron, both\nunder Joshua; Jonathan's battle with the Philistines at Michmash (1\nSam. xiv.); and the duel at Gibeon between twelve men of Saul and\ntwelve of David (2 Sam. ii. 15, 16); were all fought within the\nterritory of Benjamin. And when Sennacherib approached Jerusalem from\nthe north, the places which were thrown into panic as he came near\nwere in this tribe. \"He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron;\nat Michmash he layeth up his baggage: they are gone over the pass;\nthey have taken up their lodging at Geba: Ramah trembleth; Gibeah of\nSaul is fled. Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! hearken,\nO Laishah! O thou poor Anathoth! Madmenah is a fugitive; the\ninhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. This very day shall he\nhalt at Nob: he shaketh his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion,\nthe hill of Jerusalem\" (Isa. x. 28-32, R.V.). In later times Judas\nMaccabeus gained a victory over the Syrian forces at Bethhoron; and,\nagain, Cestius and his Roman troops were defeated by the Jews; and,\nonce more, centuries later, Richard C\u0153ur de Lion and the flower of\nEnglish chivalry, when they pushed up through Bethhoron in the hope of\nreaching Jerusalem, were compelled to retire.\n\nEven down to New Testament times, as Dean Stanley remarks, the\ninfluence of Benjamin remained, for the name of Saul, the king whom\nBenjamin gave to the nation, was preserved in Hebrew families; and\nwhen a far greater of that name appeals to his descent, or to the past\nhistory of his nation, a glow of satisfaction is visible in the marked\nemphasis with which he alludes to \"the stock of Israel, the tribe of\nBenjamin\" (Phil. iii. 5), and to God's gift of \"Saul the son of Kish,\na man of the tribe of Benjamin\" (Acts xiii. 21).\n\nThere is little to be said of Simeon, the second of the seven that\ndrew his lot. It is admitted that his portion was taken out of the\nfirst allotment to Judah (ver. 9), which was found to be larger than\nthat tribe required, and many of his cities are contained in Judah's\nlist. One act of valour is recorded of Simeon in the first chapter of\nJudges; after the first settlement, he responded to the appeal of\nJudah and accompanied him against the Canaanites. But the history of\nthis tribe as a whole might be written in the words of Jacob's\nprophecy--\"I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.\"\nThere is no historical reason for the supposition of Wellhausen that\nSimeon and Levi were all but annihilated on occasion of their attack\non the Canaanites. If Simeon had been virtually extinguished, it would\nnot have had a territory assigned to it in the ideal division of the\ncountry by Ezekiel (xlviii. 24), nor would it have afforded the twelve\nthousand of the \"sealed\" in the symbolical vision of St. John (Rev.\nvii. 7). While the tribe was scattered, the name of its founder\nsurvived, and both as Simeon and Simon it was crowned with honour. It\nwas the name of one of the family of Maccabean patriots; it was borne\nby the just and devout man that waited in the temple for the\nconsolation of Israel; and it was the Hebrew name of the great Apostle\nwhose honour it was to lay the foundation of the Christian Church.\n\nNext came the tribe of Zebulun, the boundaries of which are given with\nmuch precision; but as most of the names are now unknown, and there\nare also appearances of imperfection in the text, the delineation\ncannot be followed. \"The brook that is before Jokneam\" is supposed to\nbe the Kishon, and Chisloth-Tabor, or the flanks of Tabor, points to\nthe mountain which is the traditional, though probably not the real\nscene of our Lord's transfiguration. Gittah-hepher, or Gath-hepher,\nwas the birthplace of the prophet Jonah. Bethlehem, now Beit-Lahm, is\na miserable village, not to be confounded with the Bethlehem of Judah.\nAs no mention is made either of the sea or the lake of Galilee as a\nboundary, it is probable that Zebulun was wholly an inland tribe.\nStrange to say, there is no mention, either here or in any part of the\nOld Testament, of by far the most famous place in the tribe,--Nazareth,\nthe early residence of our Lord. Yet its situation would indicate that\nit must have been a very ancient place. Nor is it likely to have\nescaped the notice of the surveyors when they went through the land.\nThe omission of this name has given rise to the opinion that the list\nis incomplete.\n\nIssachar occupied an interesting and important site. Jezreel, the\nfirst name in the definition of its boundaries, is also the most\nfamous. Jezreel, now represented by Zerin, was situated on a lofty\nheight, and gave name to the whole valley around. Here Ahab had his\npalace in the days of Elijah. By its association with the worship of\nBaal, Jezreel got a bad reputation, and in the prophet Hosea\ndegenerate Israel is called Jezreel, a name somewhat similar, but with\nvery different associations (chap. i. 4). Shunem was the place of\nencampment of the Philistine army before the battle of Gilboa, and\nalso the residence of the woman whose son Elisha restored to life.\nBethshemesh must not be confounded with the town of the same name in\nJudah, nor with that in the tribe of Naphtali. Signifying \"house of\nthe sun,\" it was a very common name among the Canaanites, as being\nnoted for the worship of the heavenly bodies. As we have already\nremarked in connection with Megiddo which belonged to Manasseh, the\nvalley of Jezreel, now usually called the plain of Esdraelon, was\nnoted as the great battle-field of Palestine.\n\nAsher also had an interesting territory. Theoretically it extended\nfrom Carmel to Sidon, embracing the whole of the Ph\u0153nician strip;\nbut practically it did not reach so far. Naphtali was adjacent to\nAsher, and had the Jordan and the lakes of Merom and Galilee for its\neastern boundary. It is in the New Testament that Naphtali enjoys its\ngreatest distinction, the lake of Galilee and the towns on its banks,\nso conspicuous in the gospel history, having been situated there.\n\nThese northern tribes, as is well known, constituted the district of\nGalilee. The contrast between its early insignificance and its later\nglory is well brought out in the Revised Version of Isa. ix. 1, 2:\n\"But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. In the former\ntime He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of\nNaphtali, but in the latter time hath He made it glorious, by the way\nof the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people that\nwalked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the\nland of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.\"\n\nDan was the last tribe whose lot was drawn. And it really seemed as if\nthe least desirable of all the portions fell to him. He was hemmed in\nbetween Judah on the one hand and the Philistines on the other, and\nthe Philistines were anything but comfortable neighbours. The best\npart of the level land was no doubt in their hands, and Dan was\nlimited to what lay at the base of the mountains (see Judg. i. 34,\n35). Very early, therefore, in the history, a colony of Dan went out\nin search of further possessions, and, having dispossessed some\nSidonians at Laish in the extreme north, gave their name to that city,\nwhich proverbially denoted the most northerly city in the country, as\nBeersheba, in like manner, denoted the most southerly.\n\nThe division of the country was now completed, save that one\nindividual was still unprovided for. And that was Joshua himself. As\nin a shipwreck, the captain is the last to leave the doomed vessel, so\nhere the leader of the nation was the last to receive a portion. With\nrare self-denial he waited till every one else was provided for. Here\nwe have a glimpse of his noble spirit. That there would be much\ngrumbling over the division of the country, he no doubt counted\ninevitable, and that the people would be disposed to come with their\ncomplaints to him followed as matter of course. See how he circumvents\nthem! Whoever might be disposed to go to him complaining of his lot,\nknew the ready answer he would get--you are not worse off than I am,\nfor as yet I have got none! Joshua was content to see the fairest\ninheritances disposed of to others, while as yet none had been\nallotted to him. When, last of all, his turn did come, his request was\na modest one--\"They gave him the city that he asked, even\nTimnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim.\" He might have asked for\nan inheritance in the fertile and beautiful vale of Shechem,\nconsecrated by one of the earliest promises to Abraham, near to\nJacob's well and his ancestor Joseph's tomb, or under shadow of the\ntwo mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, where so solemn a transaction had\ntaken place after his people entered the land. He asks for nothing of\nthe kind, but for a spot on one of the highland hills of Ephraim, a\nplace so obscure that no trace of it remains. It is described in Judg.\nii. 9 as \"Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north\nof the mountain of Gaash.\" The north side of the mountain does not\nindicate a spot remarkable either for amenity or fertility. In the\ndays of Jerome, his friend Paula is said to have expressed surprise\nthat the distributer of the whole country reserved so wild and\nmountainous a district for himself.\n\nCould it have been that it was a farm rejected by every one else? that\nthe head of the nation was content with what no one else would have?\nIf it was so, how must this have exalted Joshua in the eyes of his\ncountrymen, and how well fitted it is to exalt him in ours! Whether it\nwas a portion that every one else had despised or not, it undoubtedly\nwas comparatively a poor and far-off inheritance. His choice of it was\na splendid rebuke to the grumbling of his tribe, to the pride and\nselfishness of the \"great people\" who would not be content with a\nsingle lot, and wished an additional one to be assigned to them. \"Up\nwith you to the mountain\" was Joshua's spirited reply; \"cut down the\nwood, and drive out the Canaanites!\"\n\nAnd Joshua was not the man to give a prescription to others that he\nwas not prepared to take to himself. Up to the mountain he certainly\ndid go; and as he was now too old to fight, he quite probably spent\nhis last years in clearing his lot, cutting down timber, and\nlaboriously preparing the soil for crops. In any case, he set a\nsplendid example of disinterested humility. He showed himself the\nworthy successor of Moses, who had never hinted at any distinction for\nhis family or any possession in the country beyond what might be\ngiven to an ordinary Levite. How nobly both contrasted with men like\nNapoleon, who used his influence so greedily for the enrichment and\naggrandisement of every member of his family! Joshua came very near to\nthe spirit of our blessed Lord, who \"though He was in the form of God,\nand thought it no robbery to be equal with God, made Himself of no\nreputation, and took on Him the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of man.\" As we see the Old Testament Jesus retiring in His\nold age, not to a paradise in some fertile and flowery vale, but to a\nbleak and rocky farm on the north side of the mountain of Gaash, or to\na shaggy forest, still held by the wolf and the bear, we are reminded\nof the Joshua of the New Testament: \"Foxes have holes, and the birds\nof the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his\nhead.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n_THE CITIES OF REFUGE._\n\nJOSHUA XX.\n\n\nCities of refuge had a very prominent place assigned to them in the\nrecords of the Mosaic legislation. First, in that which all allow to\nbe the earliest legislation (Exod. xx.-xxiii.) intimation is given of\nGod's intention to institute such cities (Exod. xxi. 13); then in\nNumbers (xxxv. 9-34) the plan of these places is given in full, and\nall the regulations applicable to them; again in Deuteronomy (xix.\n1-13) the law on the subject is rehearsed; and finally, in this\nchapter, we read how the cities were actually instituted, three on\neither side of Jordan. This frequent introduction of the subject shows\nthat it was regarded as one of great importance, and leads us to\nexpect that we shall find principles underlying it of great value in\ntheir bearing even on modern life.[25]\n\n [25] These frequent references do not prevent modern critics from\n affirming that the cities of refuge were no part of the Mosaic\n legislation. They found this view upon the absence throughout the\n history of all reference to them as being in actual use. They were\n not instituted, it is said, till after the Exile. But the very\n test that rejects them from the early legislation fails here.\n There is no reference to them as actually occupied in the\n post-exilian books, amounting, as these are said to do, to half\n the Old Testament. Their occupation, it is said, with the other\n Levitical cities, was postponed to the time of Messiah. The shifts\n to which the critics are put in connection with this institution\n do not merely indicate a weak point in their theory; they show\n also how precarious is the position that when you do not _hear_ of\n an institution as in actual operation you may conclude that it was\n of later date.\n\nLittle needs to be said on the particular cities selected, except that\nthey were conveniently dispersed over the country. Kedesh in Galilee\nin the northern part, Shechem in the central, and Hebron in the south,\nwere all accessible to the people in these regions respectively; as\nwere also, on the other side the river, Bezer in the tribes of Reuben,\nRamoth in Gilead, and Golan in Bashan. Those who are fond of detecting\nthe types of spiritual things in material, and who take a hint from\nHeb. vi. 18, connecting these cities with the sinner's refuge in\nChrist, naturally think in this connection of the nearness of the\nSaviour to all who seek Him, and the certainty of protection and\ndeliverance when they put their trust in Him.\n\n1. The first thought that naturally occurs to us when we read of these\ncities concerns the sanctity of human life; or, if we take the\nmaterial symbol, the preciousness of human blood. God wished to\nimpress on His people that to put an end to a man's life under any\ncircumstances, was a serious thing. Man was something higher than the\nbeasts that perish. To end a human career; to efface by one dread act\nall the joys of a man's life, all his dreams and hopes of coming good;\nto snap all the threads that bound him to his fellows, perhaps to\nbring want into the homes and desolation into the hearts of all who\nloved him or leant on him--this, even if done unintentionally, was a\nvery serious thing. To mark this in a very emphatic way was the\npurpose of these cities of refuge. Though in certain respects (as we\nshall see) the practice of avenging blood by the next-of-kin\nindicated a relic of barbarism, yet, as a testimony to the sacredness\nof human life, it was characteristic of civilization. It is natural\nfor us to have a feeling, when through carelessness but quite\nunintentionally one has killed another; when a young man, for example,\nbelieving a gun to be unloaded, has discharged its contents into the\nheart of his sister or his mother, and when the author of this deed\ngets off scot-free,--we may have a feeling that something is wanting\nto vindicate the sanctity of human life, and bear witness to the\nterribleness of the act that extinguished it. And yet it cannot be\ndenied that in our day life is invested with pre-eminent sanctity.\nNever, probably, was its value higher, or the act of destroying it\nwilfully, or even carelessly, treated as more serious. Perhaps, too,\nas things are with us, it is better in cases of unintentional killing\nto leave the unhappy perpetrator to the punishment of his own\nfeelings, rather than subject him to any legal process, which, while\nending with a declaration of his innocence, might needlessly aggravate\na most excruciating pain.\n\nIt is not a very pleasing feature of the Hebrew economy that this\nregard to the sanctity of human life was limited to members of the\nHebrew nation. All outside the Hebrew circle were treated as little\nbetter than the beasts that perish. For Canaanites there was nothing\nbut indiscriminate slaughter. Even in the times of King David we find\na barbarity in the treatment of enemies that seems to shut out all\nsense of brotherhood, and to smother all claim to compassion. We have\nhere a point in which even the Hebrew race were still far behind. They\nhad not come under the influence of that blessed Teacher who taught us\nto love our enemies. They had no sense of the obligation arising from\nthe great truth that \"God hath made of one blood all the nations of\nmen for to dwell on all the face of the earth.\" This is one of the\npoints at which we are enabled to see the vast change that was\neffected by the spirit of Jesus Christ. The very psalms in some places\nreflect the old spirit, for the writers had not learned to pray as He\ndid--\"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.\"\n\n2. Even as apportioned to the Hebrew people, there was still an\nuncivilized element in the arrangements connected with these cities of\nrefuge. This lay in the practice of making the go-el, or nearest of\nkin, the avenger of blood. The moment a man's blood was shed, the\nnearest relative became responsible for avenging it. He felt himself\npossessed by a spirit of retribution, which demanded, with\nirrepressible urgency, the blood of the man who had killed his\nrelation. It was an unreasoning, restless spirit, making no allowance\nfor the circumstances in which the blood was shed, seeing nothing and\nknowing nothing save that his relative had been slain, and that it was\nhis duty, at the earliest possible moment, to have blood for blood.\nHad the law been perfect, it would have simply handed over the killer\nto the magistrate, whose duty would have been calmly to investigate\nthe case, and either punish or acquit, according as he should find\nthat the man had committed a crime or had caused a misfortune. But, as\nwe have seen, it was characteristic of the Hebrew legislation that it\nadapted itself to the condition of things which it found, and not to\nan ideal perfection which the people were not capable of at once\nrealizing. In the office of the go-el there was much that was of\nwholesome tendency. The feeling was deeply rooted in the Hebrew mind\nthat the nearest of kin was the guardian of his brother's life, and\nfor this reason he was bound to avenge his death; and instead of\ncrossing this feeling, or seeking wholly to uproot it, the object of\nMoses was to place it under salutary checks, which should prevent it\nfrom inflicting gross injustice where no crime had really been\ncommitted. There was something both sacred and salutary in the\nrelation of the go-el to his nearest of kin. When poverty obliged a\nman to dispose of his property, it was the go-el that was bound to\nintervene and \"redeem\" the property. The law served as a check to the\ncold spirit that is so ready to ask, in reference to one broken down,\n\"Am I my brother's keeper?\" It maintained a friendly relation between\nmembers of families that might otherwise have been entirely severed\nfrom each other. The avenging of blood was regarded as one of the\nduties resulting from this relation, and had this part of the duty\nbeen rudely or summarily superseded, the whole relationship, with all\nthe friendly offices which it involved, might have suffered shipwreck.\n\n3. The course to be followed by the involuntary manslayer was very\nminutely prescribed. He was to hurry with all speed to the nearest\ncity of refuge, and stand at the entering of the gate till the elders\nassembled, and then to declare his cause in their ears. If he failed\nto establish his innocence, he got no protection; but if he made out\nhis case he was free from the avenger of blood, so long as he remained\nwithin the city or its precincts. If, however, he wandered out, he was\nat the mercy of the avenger. Further, he was to remain in the city\ntill the death of the high priest. Some have sought a mystical meaning\nin this last regulation, as if the high priest figured the Redeemer,\nand the death of the high priest the completion of redemption by the\ndeath of Christ. But this is too far-fetched to be of weight. The\ndeath of the high priest was probably fixed on as a convenient time\nfor releasing the manslayer, it being probable that by that time all\nkeen feeling in reference to his deed would have subsided, and no one\nwould then think that justice had been defrauded when a man with blood\non his hands was allowed to go at large.\n\n4. As it was, the involuntary manslayer had thus to undergo a\nconsiderable penalty. Having to reside in the city of refuge, he could\nno longer cultivate his farm or follow his ordinary avocations; he\nmust have found the means of living in some new employment as best he\ncould. His friendships, his whole associations in life, were changed;\nperhaps he was even separated from his family. To us all this appears\na harder line than justice would have prescribed. But, on the one\nhand, it was a necessary testimony to the strong, though somewhat\nunreasonable feeling respecting the awfulness, through whatever cause,\nof shedding innocent blood. A man had to accept of this quietly, just\nas many a man has to accept the consequences--the social outlawry, it\nmay be, and other penalties--of having had a father of bad character,\nor of having been present in the company of wicked men when some evil\ndeed was done by them. Then, on the other hand, the fact that the\ninvoluntary destruction of life was sure, even at the best, to be\nfollowed by such consequences, was fitted to make men very careful.\nThey would naturally endeavour to the utmost to guard against an act\nthat might land them in such a situation; and thus the ordinary\noperations of daily life would be rendered more secure. And perhaps it\nwas in this way that the whole appointment secured its end. Some laws\nare never broken. And here may be the explanation of the fact that the\ncities of refuge were not much used. In all Bible history we do not\nmeet with a single instance; but this might indicate, not the\nnon-existence of the institution, but the indirect success of the\nprovision, which, though framed to cure, operated by preventing. It\nmade men careful, and thus in silence checked the evil more\neffectually than if it had often been put in execution.\n\nThe desire for vengeance is a very strong feeling of human nature. Nor\nis it a feeling that soon dies out; it has been known to live, and to\nlive keenly and earnestly, even for centuries. We talk of ancient\nbarbarism; but even in comparatively modern times the story of its\ndeeds is appalling. Witness its operation in the island of Corsica.\nThe historian Filippini says that in thirty years of his own time\n28,000 Corsicans had been murdered out of revenge. Another historian\ncalculates that the number of the victims of the Vendetta from 1359 to\n1729 was 330,000.[26] If an equal number be allowed for the wounded,\nwe have 666,000 Corsicans victims of revenge. And Corsica was but one\npart of Italy where the same passion raged. In former ages Florence,\nBologna, Verona, Padua, and Milan were conspicuous for the same wild\nspirit. And, however raised, even by trifling causes, the spirit of\nvengeance is uncontrollable. The causes, indeed, are often in\nludicrous disproportion to the effects. \"In Ireland, for instance, it\nis not so long since one of these blood-feuds in the county of\nTipperary had acquired such formidable proportions that the\nauthorities of the Roman Catholic Church there were compelled to\nresort to a mission in order to put an end to it. A man had been\nkilled nearly a century before in an affray which commenced about the\nage of a colt. His relatives felt bound to avenge the murder, and\ntheir vengeance was again deemed to require fresh vengeance, until\nfaction fights between the 'Three Year Olds' and the 'Four Year Olds'\nhad grown almost into petty wars.\"[27] When we find the spirit of\nrevenge so blindly fierce even in comparatively modern times, we can\nthe better appreciate the necessity of such a check on its exercise as\nthe cities of refuge supplied. The mere fact that blood had been shed\nwas enough to rouse the legal avenger to the pitch of frenzy; in his\nblind passion he could think of nothing but blood for blood; and if,\nin the first excitement of the news, the involuntary manslayer had\ncrossed his path, nothing could have restrained him from falling on\nhim and crimsoning the ground with his blood.\n\n [26] Gregorovius, \"Wanderings in Corsica.\"\n\n [27] \"Pulpit Comment.,\" _in loco_.\n\nIn New Testament times the practice that committed the avenging of\nblood to the nearest of kin seems to have fallen into abeyance. No\nsuch keen desire for revenge was prevalent then. Such cases as those\nnow provided for were doubtless dealt with by the ordinary magistrate.\nAnd thus our Lord could grapple directly with the spirit of revenge\nand retaliation in all its manifestations. \"Ye have heard that it was\nsaid of old time, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I\nsay unto you, Resist not him that is evil; but whosoever smiteth thee\non thy right cheek, turn to him the other also\" (R.V.). The old\npractice was hurtful, because, even in cases where punishment was\ndeserved, it made vengeance or retribution so much a matter of\npersonal feeling. It stimulated to the utmost pitch what was fiercest\nin human temper. It is a far better system that commits the dealing\nwith crime to the hands of magistrates, who ought to be, and who are\npresumed to be, exempt from all personal feeling in the matter. And\nnow, for those whose personal feelings are roused, whether in a case\nof premeditated or of unintended manslaughter, or of any lesser injury\ndone to themselves, the Christian rule is that those personal feelings\nare to be overcome; the law of love is to be called into exercise, and\nretribution is to be left in the hands of the great Judge:--\"Vengeance\nis Mine; I will recompense, saith the Lord.\"\n\nThe attempt to find in the cities of refuge a typical representation\nof the great salvation fails at every point but one. The safety that\nwas found in the refuge corresponds to the safety that is found in\nChrist. But even in this point of view the city of refuge rather\naffords an illustration than constitutes a type. The benefit of the\nrefuge was only for unintentional offences; the salvation of Christ is\nfor all. What Christ saves from is not our misfortune but our guilt.\nThe protection of the city was needed only till the death of the high\npriest; the protection of Christ is needed till the great public\nacquittal. All that the manslayer received in the city was safety; but\nfrom Christ there is a constant flow of higher and holier blessings.\nHis name is called Jesus because He saves His people from their sins.\nNot merely from the penalty, but from the sins themselves. It is His\nhigh office not only to atone for sin, but to destroy it. \"If the Son\nmakes you free, ye shall be free indeed.\" The virtue that goes out of\nHim comes into contact with the lust itself and transforms it. The\nfinal benefit of Christ is the blessing of transformation. It is the\nacquisition of the Christlike spirit. \"Moreover whom He did foreknow,\nthem He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,\nthat He might be the firstborn of many brethren.\"\n\nIn turning an incident like this to account, as bearing on our modern\nlife, we are led to think how much harm we are liable to do to others\nwithout intending harm, and how deeply we ought to be affected by this\nconsideration, when we discover what we have really done. We may be\nhelped here by thinking of the case of St. Paul. What harm he did in\nthe unconverted period of his life, without intending to do harm,\ncannot be calculated. But when he came to the light, nothing could\nhave exceeded the depth of his contrition, and, to his last hour, he\ncould not think of the past without horror. It was his great joy to\nknow that his Lord had pardoned him, and that he had been able to find\none good use of the very enormity of his conduct--to show the\nexceeding riches of His pardoning love. But, all his life long, the\nApostle was animated by an overwhelming desire to neutralise, as far\nas he could, the mischief of his early life, and very much of the\nself-denial and contempt of ease that continued to characterise him\nwas due to this vehement feeling. For though Paul felt that he had\ndone harm in ignorance, and for this cause had obtained mercy, he did\nnot consider that his ignorance excused him altogether. It was an\nignorance that proceeded from culpable causes, and that involved\neffects from which a rightly ordered heart could not but recoil.\n\nIn the case of His own murderers our blessed Lord, in His beautiful\nprayer, recognised a double condition,--they were ignorant, yet they\nwere guilty, \"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.\"\nThey were ignorant of what they were doing, and yet they were doing\nwhat needed forgiveness, because it involved guilt. And what we admire\nin Paul is, that he did not make his ignorance a self-justifying plea,\nbut in the deepest humility owned the inexcusableness of his conduct.\nTo have done harm to our fellow-creatures under any circumstances is a\ndistressing thing, even when we meant the best; but to have down harm\nto their moral life owing to something wrong in our own, is not only\ndistressing, but humiliating. It is something which we dare not\nlightly dismiss from our minds, under the plea that we meant the best,\nbut unfortunately we were mistaken. Had we been more careful, had our\neye been more single, we should have been full of light, and we should\nhave known that we were not taking the right way to do the best.\nErrors in moral life always resolve themselves into disorder of our\nmoral nature, and, if traced to their source, will bring to light some\nfault of indolence, or selfishness, or pride, or carelessness, which\nwas the real cause of our mistaken act.\n\nAnd where is the man--parent, teacher, pastor, or friend--that does\nnot become conscious, at some time or other, of having influenced for\nharm those committed to his care? We taught them, perhaps, to despise\nsome good man whose true worth we have afterwards been led to see. We\nrepressed their zeal when we thought it misdirected, with a force\nwhich chilled their enthusiasm and carnalised their hearts. We failed\nto stimulate them to decision for Christ, and allowed the golden\nopportunity to pass which might have settled their relation to God all\nthe rest of their life. The great realities of the spiritual life were\nnot brought home to them with the earnestness, the fidelity, the\naffection that was fitting. \"Who can understand his errors?\" Who among\nus but, as he turns some new corner in the path of life, as he reaches\nsome new view-point, as he sees a new flash from heaven reflected on\nthe past,--who among us but feels profoundly that all his life has\nbeen marred by unsuspected flaws, and almost wishes that he had never\nbeen born? Is there no city of refuge for us to fly to, and to escape\nthe condemnation of our hearts?\n\nIt is here that the blessed Lord presents Himself to us in a most\nblessed light. \"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,\nand I will give you rest.\" Do we not labour indeed, are we not in\ntruth very heavy laden, when we feel the burden of unintentional evil,\nwhen we feel that unconsciously we have been doing hurt to others, and\nincurring the curse of him who causeth the blind to stumble? Are we\nnot heavy laden indeed when we cannot be sure that even yet we are\nthoroughly on the right track--when we feel that peradventure we are\nstill unconsciously continuing the mischief in some other form? Yet is\nnot the promise true?--\"I will give you rest.\" I will give you pardon\nfor the past, and guidance for the future. I will deliver you from the\nfeeling that you have been all your life sowing seeds of mischief,\nsure to spring up and pervert those whom you love most dearly. I will\ngive you comfort in the thought that as I have guided you, I will\nguide them, and you shall have a vision of the future, that may no\ndoubt include some of the terrible features of the shipwreck of St.\nPaul, but of which the end will be the same--\" and so it came to pass\nthat they escaped all safe to land.\"\n\nAnd let us learn a lesson of charity. Let us learn to be very\nconsiderate of mischief done by others either unintentionally or in\nignorance. What more inexcusable than the excitement of parents over\ntheir children or of masters over their servants, when, most\nundesignedly and not through sheer carelessness, an article of some\nvalue is broken or damaged? Have you never done such a thing yourself?\nAnd if a like torrent fell on you then from _your_ parent or master,\ndid you not feel bitterly that it was unjust? And do you not even now\nhave the same feeling when your temper cools? How bitter the thought\nof having done injustice to those dependent on you, and of having\ncreated in their bosoms a sullen sense of wrong! Let them have their\ncity of refuge for undesigned offences, and never again pursue them or\nfall on them in the excited spirit of the avenger of blood!\n\nSo also with regard to opinions. Many who differ from us in religious\nopinion differ through ignorance. They have inherited their opinions\nfrom their parents or their other ancestors. Their views are shared by\nnearly all whom they love and with whom they associate; they are\ncontained in their familiar books; they are woven into the web of\ntheir daily life. If they were better instructed, if their minds were\nmore free from prejudice, they might agree with us more. Let us make\nfor them the allowance of ignorance, and let us make it not bitterly\nbut respectfully. They are doing much mischief, it may be. They are\nretarding the progress of beneficent truth; they are thwarting your\nendeavours to spread Divine light. But they are doing it ignorantly.\nIf you are not called to provide for them a city of refuge, cover them\nat least with the mantle of charity. Believe that their intentions are\nbetter than their acts. Live in the hope of a day \"when perfect light\nshall pour its rays,\" when all the mists of prejudice shall be\nscattered, and you shall perhaps find that in all that is vital in\nChristian truth and for the Christian life, you and your brethren were\nnot so far separate after all.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n_THE INHERITANCE OF THE LEVITES._\n\nJOSHUA xxi. 1-42.\n\n\nOnce and again we have found reference made to the fact that Levites\nreceived no territorial inheritance among their brethren (xiii. 14,\n33, xiv. 3, 4). They had a higher privilege: the Lord was their\ninheritance. In the present chapter we have an elaborate account of\nthe arrangements for their settlement; it will therefore be suitable\nhere to rehearse their history, and ascertain the relation they now\nstood in to the rest of the tribes.\n\nIn the days of the patriarchs and during the sojourn in Egypt there\nwere no official priests. Each head of a house discharged the duties\nof the priesthood in patriarchal times, and a similar arrangement\nprevailed during the residence in Egypt. The whole nation was holy; in\nthis sense it was a nation of priests; all were set apart for the\nservice of God. By-and-by it pleased God to select a portion of the\nnation specially for His service, to establish, as it were, a holy of\nholies within the consecrated nation. The first intimation of this was\ngiven on that awful occasion when the firstborn of the Egyptians was\nslain. In token of His mercy in sparing Israel on that night, all the\nfirstborn of Israel, both of man and beast, were specially consecrated\nto the Lord. The animals were to be offered in sacrifice, except in\nthe case of some, such as the ass, not suited for sacrifice; these\nwere to be redeemed by the sacrifice of another animal. Afterwards a\nsimilar arrangement was made with reference to the firstborn of men,\nthe tribe of Levi being substituted for them (see Numb. iii. 12). But\nthis arrangement was not made till after the tribe of Levi had shown,\nby a special act of service, that they were fitted for this honour.\n\nCertainly we should not have thought beforehand that the descendants\nof Levi would be the specially sacred tribe. Levi himself comes before\nus in the patriarchal history in no attractive light. He and Simeon\nwere associated together in that massacre of the Shechemites, which we\ncan never read of without horror (Gen. xxxiv. 25). Levi was likewise\nan accomplice with his brethren in the lamentable tragedy of Joseph.\nAnd as nothing better is recorded of him, we are apt to think of him\nas through life the same. But this were hardly fair. Why should not\nLevi have shared in that softening influence which undoubtedly came on\nthe other brethren? Why may he not have become a true man of God, and\ntransmitted to his tribe the memory and the example of a holy\ncharacter? Certain it is that we find among his descendants in Egypt\nsome very noble specimens of godliness. The mother of Moses, a\ndaughter of the house of Levi, is a woman of incomparable faith.\nMoses, her son, is emphatically \"the man of God.\" Aaron, his brother,\nmoved by a Divine influence, goes to the wilderness to find him when\nthe very crisis of oppression seems to indicate that God's time for\nthe deliverance of Israel is drawing nigh. Miriam, his sister, though\nfar from faultless, piously watched his bulrush-cradle, and\nafterwards led the choir whose praises rose to God in a great volume\nof thanksgiving after crossing the sea.\n\nThe first honour conferred on Levi in connection with religious\nservice was the appointment of Aaron and his sons to the special\nservice of the priesthood (Exod. xxviii.; Numb. xviii. 1). This did\nnot necessarily involve any spiritual distinction for the whole tribe\nof which Aaron was a member, nor was that distinction conferred at\nthat time. It was after the affair of the golden calf that the tribe\nof Levi received this honour. For when Moses, in his holy zeal against\nthat scandal, called upon all who were on the Lord's side to come to\nhim, \"all the sons of Levi gathered themselves unto him\" (Exod. xxxii.\n26). This seems to imply that that tribe alone held itself aloof from\nthe atrocious idolatry into which even Aaron had been drawn. And\napparently it was in connection with this high act of service that\nLevi was selected as the sacred tribe, and in due time formally\nsubstituted for the firstborn in every family (Numb. iii. 12, _sqq._,\nviii. 6 _sqq._, xviii. 2 _sqq._). From this time the tribe of Levi\nstood to God in a relation of peculiar honour and sacredness, and had\nduties assigned to them in harmony with this eminent position.\n\nThe tribe of Levi consisted of three main branches, corresponding to\nLevi's three sons--Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. The Kohathites, though\napparently not the oldest (see Numb. iii. 17) were the most\ndistinguished, Moses and Aaron being of that branch. As Levites, the\nKohathites had charge of the ark and its sacred furniture, guarding it\nat all times, and carrying it from place to place during the journeys\nof the wilderness. The Gershonites had charge of the tabernacle, with\nits cords, curtains, and coverings. The sons of Merari had charge of\nthe more solid parts of the tabernacle, \"its boards and bars, its\npillars and its pins, and all the vessels thereof.\" Korah, the leader\nof the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, was, like them, of the\nfamily of Kohath, and the object of his rebellion was to punish what\nhe considered the presumption of the two brothers in giving to Aaron\nthe special honours of a priesthood which, in former days, had\nbelonged alike to all the congregation (Numb. xvi. 3). We are\naccustomed to think that the supernatural proofs of the Divine\ncommission to Moses were so overwhelming that it would have been out\nof the question for any man to challenge them. But many things show\nthat, though we might have thought opposition to Moses impossible, it\nprevailed to a great extent. The making of the golden calf, the report\nof the spies and the commotion that followed, the rebellion of Korah,\nand many other things, prove that the prevalent spirit was usually\nthat of unbelief and rebellion, and that it was only after many signal\nmiracles and signal judgments that Moses was enabled at last to\nexercise an unchallenged authority. The rationalist idea, that it was\nenthusiasm for Moses that led the people to follow him out of Egypt,\nand endure all the hardships of the wilderness, and that there is\nnothing more in the Exodus than the story of an Eastern nation leaving\none country under a trusted leader to settle in another, is one to\nwhich the whole tenor of the history offers unqualified contradiction.\nAnd not the least valid ground of opposition is the bitter, deadly\nspirit in which attempts to frustrate Moses were so often made.\n\nMany of the duties of the Levites as detailed in the Pentateuch were\nduties for the wilderness. After the settlement in Canaan, and the\nestablishment of the tabernacle at Shiloh, these duties would undergo\na change. The Levites were not all needed to be about the tabernacle.\nThe Gibeonites indeed had been retained as \"hewers of wood and drawers\nof water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord,\" so that\nthe more laborious part of the work at Shiloh would be done by them.\nIf the Levites had clustered like a swarm of bees around the sacred\nestablishment, loss would have been sustained alike by themselves and\nby the people. It was desirable, in accordance with the great law of\ndistribution already referred to, that they should be dispersed over\nthe whole country. The men that stood nearest to God, and who were a\nstanding testimony to the superiority of the spiritual over the\nsecular, who were Divine witnesses, indeed, to the higher part of\nman's nature, as well as to God's pre-eminent claims, must have failed\negregiously of their mission had they been confined to a single city\nor to the territory of a single tribe. Jacob had foretold both of\nSimeon and Levi that they would be \"divided in Jacob and scattered in\nIsrael.\" In the case of Levi, the scattering was overruled for good.\nDesigned to point God-wards and heavenwards, the mission of Levi was\nto remind the people over the whole country that they were not mere\nearth-worms, created to grub and burrow in the ground, but beings with\na nobler destiny, whose highest honour it was to be in communion with\nGod.\n\nThe functions of the Levites throughout the country seem to have\ndiffered somewhat in successive periods of their history. Here, as in\nother matters, there was doubtless some development, according as new\nwants appeared in the spiritual condition of the people, and\nconsequently new obligations for the Levites to fulfil. When the\npeople fell under special temptations to idolatry, it would naturally\nfall to the Levites, in connection with the priesthood, to warn them\nagainst these temptations, and strive to keep them faithful to their\nGod. But it does not appear that even the Levites could be trusted to\ncontinue faithful. It is a sad and singular fact that a grandson of\nMoses was one of the first to go astray. The Authorized Version,\nindeed, says that the young man who became a priest to the Danites\nwhen they set up a graven image in the city of Dan, was Jonathan, the\nson of Gershom, the son of Manasseh (Judg. xviii. 30). But the Revised\nVersion, not without authority, calls him Jonathan, the son of\nGershom, the son of Moses. Here we have a glimpse of two remarkable\nfacts: in the first place, that a grandson of Moses, a Levite, was\nlocated in so confined a place that he had to leave it in search of\nanother, \"to sojourn where he could find a place\"--so entirely had\nMoses abstained from steps to secure superior provision for his own\nfamily; and, in the second place, that even with his remarkable\nadvantages and relations, this Jonathan, in defiance of the law, was\ntempted to assume an office of priesthood, and to discharge that\noffice at the shrine of a graven image. We are far indeed from the\ntruth when we suppose that the whole nation of Israel submitted to the\nlaw of Moses from the beginning with absolute loyalty, or when we\naccept the prevalent practice among them at any one period as\nundoubted evidence of what was then the law.\n\nBut let us now turn our attention to the distribution of the Levites\nas it was planned. We say deliberately \"as it was planned,\" because\nthere is every reason to believe that the plan was not effectually\ncarried out. In no case does there seem to have been such a failure\nof official arrangements as in the case of Levi. And the reason is not\ndifficult to find. Few of the cities allotted to them were free of\nCanaanites at the time. To get actual possession of the cities they\nmust have dispossessed the remaining Canaanites. But, scattered as\nthey were, this was peculiarly difficult. And the other tribes seem to\nhave been in no humour to help them. Hence it is that in the early\nperiod of the Judges we find Levites wandering here and there seeking\nfor a settlement, and glad of any occupation they could find (Judg.\nxviii. 7, xix. 1).\n\nThe provision made by Joshua for the Levites was that out of all the\nother tribes, forty-eight cities with their suburbs, including the six\ncities of refuge, were allotted to them. It is necessary for us here\nto call to mind how much Canaan, like other Eastern countries and some\ncountries not Eastern, was a land of towns and villages. Cottages and\ncountry-houses standing by themselves were hardly known. A house in\nits own grounds--\"a lodge in a garden of cucumbers\"--might shelter a\nman for a time, but could not be his permanent home. The country was\ntoo liable to hostile raids for its inhabitants to dwell thus\nunprotected. Most of the people had their homes in the towns and\nvillages with which their fields were connected. In consequence of\nthis each town had a circuit of land around it, which always fell to\nthe conquerors when the town was taken. And it is this fact that\nsometimes makes the boundaries of the tribes so difficult to follow,\nbecause these boundaries had to embrace all the lands connected with\nthe cities which they embraced. If it be asked, Did the Levites\nreceive as part of their inheritance all the lands adjacent to their\ncities, the answer is, No. For in that case the only difference\nbetween them and the other tribes would have been that the Levites had\nforty-eight little territories instead of one large possession, and\nthere would have been no ground for the distinction so emphatically\nmade that \"the Lord was their inheritance,\" or \"the sacrifices of the\nLord made by fire.\"\n\nThe cities given to the Levites, even when cleared of Canaanites, were\nnot possessed by Levites alone. We may gather the normal state of\naffairs from what is said regarding Hebron and Caleb. Hebron was a\nLevitical city, a city of the priests, a city of refuge; they gave to\nthe Kohathites the city, with the suburbs thereof roundabout; \"but the\nfields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the\nson of Jephunneh for his possession\" (vv. 11, 12). What are called\n\"suburbs,\" or, as some prefer to render, \"cattle-drives,\" extended for\ntwo thousand cubits round about the city on every side (Numb. xxxv.\n5), and were used only for pasture. It behoved the Levites to have\ncattle of some kind to supply them with their food, the main part of\nwhich, besides fruit, was milk and its produce. But, beyond this, the\nLevites were not entangled with the business of husbandry. They were\nleft free for more spiritual service. It was their part to raise the\nsouls of the people above the level of earth, and, like the angel in\nthe \"Pilgrim's Progress,\" call on those who might otherwise have\nworshipped the mud-rake to lift up their eyes to the crown of glory,\nand accept the heavenly gift.\n\nIn fact, the whole function of the Levites, ideally at least, was as\nMoses sung:--\n\n \"And of Levi he said,\n Let thy Urim and thy Thummim be with thy godly one,\n Whom thou didst prove at Massah,\n With whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;\n Who said of his father, and of his mother, I have not seen him;\n Neither did he acknowledge his brethren,\n Nor knew his own children:\n For they have observed Thy word,\n And kept Thy covenant.\n _They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments,\n And Israel Thy law_:\n They shall put incense before Thee,\n And whole burnt offering upon Thine altar.\n Bless, Lord, his substance,\n And accept the work of his hands:\n Smite through the loins of them that rise up against him,\n And of them that hate him, that they rise not again.\"\n\n Deut. xxxiii. 8-11 (R.V.).\n\nBut to come now to the division itself. The Kohathites, or leading\nfamily, had no fewer than thirteen cities in the tribes of Judah,\nBenjamin, and Simeon, and ten more in Ephraim, Dan, and Manasseh. The\nthirteen in Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon were for the priests; the\nother ten were for the other branches of the Kohathites. At first the\npriests, strictly so called, could not occupy them all. But, as the\nhistory advances, the priests become more and more prominent, while\nthe Levites as such seem to hold a less and less conspicuous place. In\nthe Psalms, for example, we sometimes find the house of Levi left out\nwhen all classes of worshippers are called on to praise the Lord. In\nthe 135th Psalm all are included:--\n\n \"O house of Israel, bless ye the Lord:\n O house of Aaron, bless ye the Lord:\n O house of Levi, bless ye the Lord:\n Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord.\"\n\nBut in the 115th the Levites are left out:--\n\n \"O Israel, trust thou in the Lord:\n He is their help and their shield.\n O house of Aaron, trust ye in the Lord:\n He is their help and their shield.\n Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord:\n He is their help and their shield.\"\n\nAnd in the 118th:--\n\n \"Let Israel now say\n That His mercy endureth for ever.\n Let the house of Aaron now say\n That His mercy endureth for ever.\n Let them now that fear the Lord say\n That His mercy endureth for ever.\"\n\nThere is this to be said for the region where the priests, the house\nof Aaron, had their cities, viz., the tribe of Judah, that it\nmaintained its integrity longest of any; nor did it thoroughly succumb\nto idolatry till the dark days of Manasseh, one of its later kings.\nBut, on the other hand, in New Testament times, Jud\u00e6a was the most\nbigoted part of the country, and the most bitterly opposed to our\nLord. And the explanation is, that the true spirit of Divine service\nhad utterly evaporated from among the priesthood, and the miserable\nspirit of formalism had come in. The living sap of the institution had\nbeen turned into stone, and the plant of renown of early days had\nbecome a stony fossil. So true is it that the best institutions, when\nperverted from their true end, become the sources of greatest evil,\nand the highest gifts of heaven, when seized by the devil and turned\nto his purposes, become the most efficient instruments of hell.\n\nThe other portions of the family of Kohath were distributed in ten\ncities over the central part of Western Palestine. Some of them were\nimportant centres of influence, such as Bethhoron, Shechem, and\nTaanach. But the influence of the Levites for good seems to have been\nfeeble in this region, for it was here that Jeroboam reigned, and here\nthat Ahab and Jezebel all but obliterated the worship of Jehovah. It\nis commonly believed that Samuel was a member of the tribe of Levi,\nalthough there is some confusion in the genealogy as given in 1 Chron.\nvi. 28, 34; yet Ramathaim Zophim, his father's place of abode, was not\none of the Levitical cities. And Samuel's influence was exerted more\non the southern than the central district; for, after the destruction\nof Shiloh, Mizpeh appears to have been his ordinary residence (1 Sam.\nvii. 6), and afterwards Ramah[28] (vii. 17). It would indeed be a\npleasant thought that the inefficiency of the Kohathites as a whole\nwas in some measure redeemed by the incomparable service of Samuel. If\nSamuel was a Levite, he was a noble instance of what may be done by\none zealous and consecrated man, amid the all but universal defection\nof his official brethren.\n\n [28] Ramathaim and Ramah are used interchangeably (1 Sam. i. 1 and\n 19, ii. 11).\n\nThe Gershonites were placed in cities in eastern Manasseh, Issachar,\nAsher, and Naphtali; while the Merarites were in Zebulun, and in the\ntransjordanic tribes of Gad and Reuben. They thus garrisoned the\nnorthern and eastern districts. Those placed in the north ought to\nhave been barriers against the gross idolatry of Tyre and Sidon, and\nthose in the east, besides resisting the idolatry of the desert\ntribes, should have held back that of Damascus and Syria. But there is\nvery little to show that the Levites as a whole rose to the dignity of\ntheir mission in these regions, or that they formed a very efficient\nbarrier against the idolatry and corruption which they were designed\nto meet. No doubt they did much to train the people to the outward\nobservance of the law. They would call them to the celebration of the\ngreat annual festivals, and of the new moons and other observances\nthat had to be locally celebrated. They would look after cases of\nceremonial defilement, and no doubt they would be careful to enjoin\npayment of the tithes to which they had a claim. They would do their\nbest to maintain the external distinctions in religion, by which the\nnation was separated from its neighbours. But, except in rare cases,\nthey do not appear to have been spiritually earnest, nor to have done\nmuch of that service which Samuel did in the southern part of the\ncountry. Externalism and formalism seem to have been their most\nfrequent characteristics; and externalism and formalism are poor\nweapons when the enemy cometh in like a food.\n\nAnd, whatever may have been the usual life and work of the Levites\nover the country, they never seem to have realized the glory of the\ndistinction divinely accorded to them--\"The Lord is their\ninheritance.\" Few, indeed, in any age or country have come to know\nwhat is meant by having God for their portion. Unbelief can never\ngrasp that there is a life in God--a real life, so full of enjoyment\nthat all other happiness may be dispensed with; a real property, so\nrich in every blessing, that the goods and chattels of this world are\nmere shadows in comparison. Yet that there have been men profoundly\nimpressed by these convictions, in all ages and in many lands, amid\nprevailing ungodliness, cannot be denied. How otherwise is such a life\nas that of St. Bernard or that of St. Francis to be accounted for? Or\nthat of St. Columba and the missionaries of Iona? Or, to go farther\nback, that of St. Paul? There is a magic virtue, or rather a Divine\npower, in real consecration. \"Them that honour Me, I will honour.\" It\nis the want of such men that makes our churches feeble. It is our\nmixing up our own interests with the interests of God's kingdom and\nrefusing to leave self out of view while we profess to give ourselves\nwholly to God, that explains the slowness of our progress. If the\nLevites had all been consecrated men, idolatry and its great brood of\ncorruptions would never have spread over the land of Israel. If all\nChristian ministers were like their Master, Christianity would spread\nlike wildfire, and in a very little time the light of salvation would\nbrighten the globe.\n\n NOTE.--In this chapter we have accepted the statements of the\n Pentateuch regarding the Levites as they stand. We readily own\n that there are difficulties not a few connected with the received\n view. The modern critical theory that maintains that the\n Levitical order was a much later institution would no doubt\n remove many of these difficulties, but only by creating other\n difficulties far more serious. Besides, the hypothesis of\n Wellhausen that the tribe of Levi was destroyed with Simeon at\n the invasion of Canaan--having no foundation to rest on, except\n the assumption that the prophecy ascribed to Jacob was written at\n a later date--is ludicrously inadequate to sustain the structure\n made to rest on it. Nor is it conceivable that, after the\n captivity, the priests should have been able to make the people\n believe a totally different account of the history of one of the\n tribes from that which had previously been received. It is\n likewise incredible that the Levites should have been\n \"annihilated\" or \"extinguished\" in the days of Joshua, without a\n single allusion in the history to so terrible a fact. How\n inconsistent with the concern expressed when the tribe of\n Benjamin was in danger of extinction (Judg. xxi. 17). The loss of\n a tribe was like the loss of a limb; it would have marred\n essentially the symmetry of the nation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\n_NO FAILURE OF GOD'S PROMISE._\n\nJOSHUA xxi. 43-45.\n\n\nThe historian has reached a point where he may stand still and look\nback. One look is comparatively limited; another reaches very far. The\nimmediate survey extends only over the last few years; the remote\nembraces centuries, and goes back to the time of Abraham.\n\nThe historian sees the venerable patriarch of the nation among his\nflocks and herds in Ur of the Chaldees; receiving there a Divine\nsummons to remove to an unknown land; obeying the call, tarrying at\nHaran, then traversing the desert, and crossing the Jordan. At\nShechem, at Bethel, at Mamre, and at Beersheba, he perceives him\nlistening to the Divine voice that promises that, stranger and pilgrim\nthough he was, the Lord would give his posterity all that land; that\nhe would bless those that blessed him, and curse those that cursed\nhim; and that in him and in his seed all the nations of the earth\nshould be blessed.\n\nFor one hundred long years Abraham had wandered over the country\nwithout so much as a house or homestead in it. Isaac had come after\nhim, living the same pilgrim life. Jacob, with a much more stirring\nand troubled life, had in his old age gone down to Joseph in Egypt,\nleaving but one field in the country which he could call his own.\n\nThen came the long centuries of Egyptian bondage. At last the Divine\ncall is heard to leave Egypt, but after this, forty long years have\nstill to be spent in the wilderness. Then Moses, the great leader of\nthe people, dies--dies at the very time when he is apparently most\nneeded, just at the very crisis of Israel's history.\n\nBut Joshua comes in Moses' room, and the Lord is with Joshua; He\nrewards his faith and gives him victory over all his enemies. And now\nat last comes the fulfilment of the promises to the fathers, hoary\nwith age, and seemingly long forgotten. The bill has at last matured\nand fallen due. After so many generations, it might be thought that it\nwould have been enough to discharge the main substance of the\nobligation or that some compromise might have been proposed reducing\nthe claim. After having lain long out of their money, creditors are\nusually ready to accept a composition. But this was not God's method\nof settlement. During the whole period of Joshua's leadership, God had\nbeen doing nothing but discharging old obligations. Not one word of\nthe original bill had been obliterated; not one item had been allowed\nto lapse through time. East and west and north and south He had been\ngiving what He had promised to give. And now, as the transaction comes\nto an end, it is seen that nothing has been omitted or forgotten.\n\"There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken\nconcerning Israel; all came to pass.\" He proved Himself, as Moses had\nsaid, \"the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them\nthat love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.\"\n\nThree gifts are specified which God bestowed on Israel: possession,\nrest, and victory. First, He gave them the land which He had sworn to\ngive unto their fathers, and they possessed it; next, He gave them\nrest round about, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers;\nand, lastly, He gave them victory over all their enemies. \"He\nsatisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness.\"\nHe brought His bride to her home, and surrounded her with comforts.\nAnd had the bride only been as faithful to her obligations as the\nDivine bridegroom, it might have been said that\n\n \"Time had run back, and fetched the age of gold.\"\n\nBut, it may perhaps be said,--this is only the historian's view of the\nmatter, and it is hardly in accordance with facts. Are we not told\nthat, at an early period, a colony of the tribe of Dan had to go\nelsewhere in search of land, because they were too hampered in the\nallotment they had received? And, in the beginning of Judges, are we\nnot told that after the death of Joshua, Judah and Simeon had a\ndesperate tussle with Canaanites and Perizzites who were still in\ntheir territories, and that in Bezek alone there were slain of them\nten thousand men? And is not the whole of the first chapter of Judges\na record of the relations of Israel in various places to the original\ninhabitants, from which it appears that very many of the Canaanites\ncontinued to dwell in the land? Surely this was not what God's promise\nto the fathers was fitted to convey. Had not God promised that He\nwould \"drive out\" the seven nations, and give the seed of Abraham\npossession of the whole? How then could His word be said to be\nimplemented when so many of the original inhabitants remained? And,\nin particular, how could the historian of Joshua say so explicitly\nthat \"there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had\nspoken unto the house of Israel.\"\n\nIn answer to this objection it is to be remarked that God had never\npromised to give the people full possession of the land _save through\ntheir own exertions made in dependence on Him_. Their possessions were\nnot to fall into their hands as the manna fell in the wilderness or as\nthe water gushed from the rock. The seven nations were not to rush\nfrom before them the moment they crossed the Jordan. God always meant\nthat they were to be His instruments for clearing the country. Now,\nthat clearance was evidently designed to be effected in two ways.\nFirst, under Joshua, a general encounter with the former possessors\nwas to take place, their confederacies were to be shattered, their\nspirit was to be broken, and to a certain extent their lands were to\nbe set free. But beyond this, there was to be a further process of\nclearing out. When each tribe was settled in its lot, it was to\naddress itself, in detail, to the task of dispossessing such\nCanaanites as yet lingered there. It might not be expedient that all\nshould be engaged in this task together, for this would necessarily\ninterfere with the ordinary operations of agriculture. It was judged\nbetter that it should be done piecemeal, and therefore God was asked\nto say which of the tribes ought to begin it. Judah was named, and\nJudah aided by Simeon did his work well, and set a good example to the\nrest. But the other tribes did not act with Judah's spirit, and\ntherefore they did not enjoy his reward. The testimony of the\nhistorian is, that nothing failed of any good thing which _the Lord_\n_had spoken_ unto the house of Israel. The Lord faithfully performed\nevery part of His obligation. He did not add Israel's obligations to\nHis own, and discharge them too, when they were remiss concerning\nthem. The ultimate result of the whole business was, that trouble\nbefell Israel, inasmuch as he neglected his obligations, while the\nLord faithfully performed every one of His. Time therefore did not run\nback and fetch the age of gold. Israel did not enjoy all the\npossessions that had been allotted to him. Canaanites remained in the\ncountry to torment him like thorns in his sides. But this was Israel's\nfault, not God's. Though you were to give a lazy farmer the finest\nfarm in the country, you could not make him prosperous if he neglected\nhis fields and idled away the time that should be spent in continuous\nlabour. You cannot keep a man in health if he breathes unwholesome air\nor drinks water poisoned with putrid matter. No more could Israel be\nwholly prosperous if he allowed Canaanites to settle quietly at his\nside. If he had roused himself, and attacked them with courage and in\nfaith, God would have made him to prevail. But, since he preferred\nease and quiet to the painfulness of duty, God left him to reap as he\nhad sowed, and suffer the consequences of his neglect. He had seldom\nlong periods of prosperity, and often he had very bitter experiences\nof calamity and distress.\n\nCertainly God had furnished His people with the materials for a happy\nand prosperous life, if only they had used them aright. There was\nfirst the element of possessions. They had comfortable homes and all\nthe requisites of a comfortable life. It is most true that \"a man's\nlife consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he\npossesseth.\" But moderate possessions are one element, though not the\nchief or most essential of human prosperity. Possessions, however rich\nor manifold, in connection with a discontented temper, an ungodly\nspirit, or a selfish nature, can bring no genuine pleasure. In\naddition to possessions, the Lord had given Israel rest. Their enemies\nwere not disposed to attack them even when dwelling by their side.\nTrue it is that the rest into which Joshua brought them was not the\ntrue, the ultimate rest. If Joshua had given them that rest, the Holy\nSpirit would not have spoken of a rest that was still to come (Heb.\niv. 8). But external rest, like external possessions though not all,\nwas one contribution towards prosperity. Moreover, none of their\nenemies had been able to stand before them; in every encounter that\nhad yet taken place the Lord had delivered them into their hand.\n\nThis was a blessed presage for the future. Whatever encounters might\nyet remain, they might count on the same result, if they lifted up\ntheir eyes to God. Their life in the future would not be without toil,\nwithout anxiety, without danger. But if they looked to Him and made\nthe requisite efforts, God was ready to bless their toil, He was able\nto overcome their anxieties, He was sure as in the past to subdue\ntheir enemies. The gifts that God had conferred on them, and the\nmaterials of enjoyment with which He had surrounded them, were not\ndesigned to make them independent, as if they could now do everything\nfor themselves. God's purpose was the very reverse. He wished to keep\nup the sense of dependence on Him, and to encourage at every turn the\nhabit that seeks unto God, and goes to Him for help.\n\nFor this, after all, is the great lesson for all human beings. The\ngreat thing for us all is to keep up a living connection with God, so\nthat our whole nature shall be replenished out of His fulness, and\npurified and elevated by His Divine influence. Whatever draws us to\nGod draws us to the fountain of all that is best and purest and\nnoblest. God would have conferred but a poor blessing on Israel if He\nhad just settled them in the land, and then left them to themselves,\nwithout any occasion or inducement to fellowship with Him. The\ninducements to resort to Him which they were to be continually under\nwere by far the most valuable part of what God now conferred upon\nthem. The certainty that all would go wrong, that their possessions\nwould be invaded and their rest disturbed, and that their enemies\nwould prove victorious unless they sought continually to their God,\nfostered the most precious of all habits--that drawing near to God\nwhich brings with it all spiritual blessing.\n\n \"Nearer, my God, to Thee,\n Nearer to Thee!\n E'en though it be a cross\n That raiseth me,\n Still all my song would be\n Nearer, my God, to Thee,\n Nearer to Thee!\"\n\nThere is no small amount of instruction to be drawn by all of us from\nthis record of Israel's experience.\n\nFirst, it is of supreme importance for us all to have our hearts\nfirmly established in the conviction of the faithfulness of God. It\nshould be our habit to regard this as an attribute on which we not\nonly may, but must rely. To ascribe to God any laxity as to His word\nor promises were to cast a fearful imputation on His holy nature.\n\"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away.\"\n\"He is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should\nrepent.\" Nothing can be conceived that could make it better to God to\nbreak His word than to keep it. This is the root of all religion; it\nis the basis of faith, the true ground of trust. To train our minds to\nhabitual reliance on all that God has said, is one of the most vital\nand blessed exercises of spiritual religion. It is alike honouring to\nGod and beneficial to ourselves. To search out from the body of\nScripture the promises of God; to fasten our attention on them one by\none; and to exercise our minds on the thought that in Christ Jesus\nthey are yea, and in Him Amen, is a most blessed help to spiritual\nstability and spiritual growth. And in our prayers there is nothing\nmore fitted to give us confidence than to plead in this spirit the\npromises that God has made. No plea is more powerful than the\nPsalmist's--\"Remember Thy word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast\ncaused me to hope.\" How many sadly perplexed men have found rest from\nthe words: \"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He\nshall bring it to pass.\" \"Faithful is He that calleth you, who also\nwill do it.\"\n\nBut secondly, we may learn from this passage that, wherever the\npromises of God _seem_ to fail, the fault is not His, but ours. On the\none hand, we are taught clearly that delay is not failure, and on the\nother that where there does seem to be failure there is none really on\nthe part of God. At least five-and-twenty long years elapsed between\nGod's first promise to Abraham and the birth of Isaac. Four hundred\nyears were to be spent by the chosen seed in bondage in Egypt. And\neven after the deliverance from Egypt there came the sojourn in the\nwilderness of other forty years. Yet God was faithful all the time.\nHow often we need to recall the text, that one day is with the Lord\nas a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day! \"Though the\nvision tarry,\" do not give it up in despair, but \"wait for it\" (Hab.\nii. 3).\n\nPerhaps it is in the matter of answers to prayer that we are most\nliable to the temptation that God forgets His promises. Have we not\nthe most explicit and abundant promises that prayer will be answered?\nYet how many have prayed, and seemingly prayed in vain! Nay, does not\nthe very opposite of what we pray for often come? We entreat God to\nspare a beloved life; that life is taken away. We pray for victory\nover temptation; the temptation seems to acquire a redoubled force. We\npray for success in business; the clouds seem to thicken the more. We\nask, \"Has God forgotten to be gracious? Is His mercy clean gone for\never? Does His promise fail for evermore?\" Nay, let us rally our\nfaith. \"Then I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the\nyears of the right hand of the Most High\" (Psalm lxxvii. 10). If my\nprayer was not answered, it was not God's fault. It may be that, like\nIsrael, I failed in my part. I may have been laying the whole burden\non God, and omitting something that it fell to me to do. I may have\nbeen asking for something that would not have been for my good or for\nGod's glory. I may have failed in that spirit of affectionate trust\nwhich is a requisite of acceptable prayer. Let us remember that God\nknows what things we have need of before we ask Him. And God is\ninfinitely kind and willing to bless us. What He longs for on our part\nis the spirit of filial trust. What He values prayer for is that it is\nthe channel of this spirit. We can never say that God disregards\nprayer unless we can say that we approached Him, and spoke to Him\nlike confiding children dealing with a loving father, and He cast us\noff. But how often do we go to the footstool half hoping, half\ndoubting, instead of going in the full conviction,--\"Our gracious\nFather is sure to hear us; and if He do not give us the precise thing\nwe ask, He is sure to give us something better.\" Let prayer ever be\nthe outcome of a profound belief in the infinite love of God, and His\nconstant readiness to bless us in Christ; let it be the communing of a\nchild with his father; and let it never be darkened by a shade of\nsuspicion that the Hearer of prayer will not be faithful to His word.\n\nIt is the happy experience both of individuals and the Church to have\noccasional periods of fulfilment--it may be after long periods of\nexpectation and trial. The patriarch Job had a terrible time of trial,\nwhen God seemed so untrue to His promises that he was sometimes on the\nvery edge of blaspheming His name. But a time of fulfilment came at\nlast, and through all the mystery of the past Job at length saw \"the\nend of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy\"\n(James v. 11). The aged Simeon and the aged Anna in the temple had\nwaited long, but the hour came at last when all that they had been\nlooking for was accomplished, and with a feeling of perfect\nsatisfaction they could sing their \"Nunc dimittis.\" The souls under\nthe altar of them that were slain for the word of God and for the\ntestimony which they held, when they groaned out their sad \"How long?\"\nhad still to wait a little season; but the time came when, clothed in\nwhite robes and with palms in their hands, they attained complete\nsatisfaction, crying with a loud voice, \"Salvation to our God that\nsitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb\" (Rev. vi. 10, vii. 10). And in\nmore recent times there have been eras of fulfilment and\ncorresponding rejoicing. When St. Augustine, after year upon year of\nrestless tossing, at length found pardon and peace in Christ; when\nColumbus, after perils and privations innumerable, at length saw the\ndim coast which he had often prayed to behold; when Wilberforce heard\nthe slave trade declared an illegal traffic, and Fowell Buxton saw the\nlast fetter struck from the slave in the dominions of Great Britain;\nwhen Lord Shaftesbury found the ten hours factory bill turned into\nlaw; or when the friends of the slave learned that the President of\nthe United States had signed the proclamation which set four millions\nat liberty--the old experience of Joshua's days seemed to be repeated,\nand gratitude to Him who had failed in no good thing was the one\nfeeling that filled the heart. Sometimes the death-bed affords a\nretrospect that kindles the same emotion. The dying man looks along\nthe way by which he has been led, and, with the walls of the New\nJerusalem gleaming before him, he owns that he has been conducted by\nthe right way to the city of habitation. The objects of earth and\nheaven are seen by him in a truer light. Valuations are made more\naccurately on the margin of eternity. The things that have been shaken\nand that have perished--of how little value are they seen to be,\ncompared to the things that cannot be shaken! The loving purpose of\nDivine providence in shattering so many hopes, in defeating so many\nprojects, in inflicting so much pain, is clearly apprehended. The\nheart is grieved that it was so near charging God foolishly when His\npurpose was really so merciful and so kind. The bright era of\nfulfilment is at hand; and even already, while the day is only\ndawning, the soul can give forth its testimony that \"no good thing has\nfailed of all that the Lord hath spoken.\"\n\nAnd then at last will come the end of the mystery. The Lord shall send\nHis angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather\ntogether His elect from the four winds, from the one end of heaven to\nthe other. On the sea of glass mingled with fire they take their\nstand, having the harps of God, and sing the song of Moses, the\nservant of God, and the song of the Lamb: \"Great and marvellous are\nThy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of\nsaints.\" What a scene and what a sensation! What joy in entering on\npossession of the Promised Land, in experiencing the rest of the\nredeemed, and in the consciousness that not a single enemy survives to\nannoy! What delight in the harmonious working of the new nature, in\nthe free and happy play of all its faculties and feelings, and in the\nconscious presence of a God and Saviour to whose image you have been\nthoroughly conformed! The last shadow that dimmed your vision on earth\nshall have fled away; the last vestige of complaint of your earthly\nlot shall have vanished. Whatever you may have thought once, no other\nfeeling will now occupy your heart but gratitude to Him who has not\nonly not failed to fulfil all His promises, but has done in you\nexceeding abundantly above all that ye could ask or think!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\n_THE ALTAR ED._\n\nJOSHUA xxii.\n\n\nThe two tribes and a half had behaved well. They had kept their word,\nremained with their brethren during all Joshua's campaign, and taken\ntheir part in all the perils and struggles through which the host had\npassed. And now they receive the merited reward of honourable conduct.\nThey are complimented by their general; their service's are rehearsed\nwith approval; their threefold fidelity, to God, to Moses, and to\nJoshua, is commended; they are dismissed with honour, and they receive\nas their reward a substantial share of the spoil which had been taken\nfrom the enemy. \"Return,\" said Joshua, \"with much riches unto your\ntents, and with very much cattle, with silver and with gold, and with\nbrass, and with iron, and with very much raiment; divide the spoil of\nyour enemies with your brethren.\" It thus appeared that honour, like\nhonesty, is the best policy. Had these two tribes and a half chosen\nthe alternative of selfishness, refused to cross the Jordan to help\ntheir brethren, and devoted their whole energies at once to their\nfields and flocks, they would have fared worse in the end. No doubt as\nthey recrossed the Jordan, bearing with them the treasure which had\nbeen acquired on the western side, their hearts would be full of that\nhappy feeling which results from duty faithfully performed, and\nhonourable conduct amply rewarded. They brought back \"peace with\nhonour,\" and prosperity to the bargain. After all, it is high\nprinciple that pays. It demands a time of patient working and of\npatient waiting, but its bills are fully implemented in the end.\n\nIn sending away the two tribes and a half Joshua pressed two counsels\non them. One was that they were to divide the spoil with those of\ntheir brethren that had remained at home. Here, again, selfishness\nmight possibly have found a footing. Why should the men that had\nincurred none of the labour and the peril enjoy any of the spoil?\nWould it not have been fair that those who had borne the burden and\nheat of the day should alone enjoy its rewards? But, in point of fact,\nthere had been good reason why a portion should remain at home. To\nleave the women and children wholly undefended would have been\nrecklessness itself. Some arrangement, too, had to be made for looking\nafter the flocks and herds. And as the supply of manna had ceased, the\nproduction of food had to be provided for. The men at home had been\ndoing the duty assigned to them as well as the men abroad. If they\ncould not establish a claim in justice to a share of the spoil, the\nspirit of brotherhood and generosity pleaded on their behalf. The\nsoldier-section of the two and a half tribes had done their part\nhonourably and generously to the nine and a half; let them act in the\nsame spirit to their own brethren. Let them share in the good things\nwhich they had brought home, so that a spirit of joy and satisfaction\nmight be diffused throughout the community, and the welcome given to\nthose who had been absent might be cordial and complete, without one\ntrace of discontent or envy.\n\nOccasions may occur still on which this counsel of Joshua may come in\nvery suitably. It does not always happen that brothers or near\nrelatives who have prospered abroad are very mindful of those whom\nthey have left at home. They like to enjoy their abundance, and if the\ncase of their poor relations comes across their minds, they dismiss it\nwith the thought that men's lots must differ, and that they are not\ngoing to lose all the benefit of their success by supporting other\nfamilies besides their own. Yet, how much good might accrue from a\nlittle generosity, though it were but an occasional gift, towards\nthose who are straitened? And how much better it would be to kindle by\nthis means a thankful and kindly feeling, than to have envy and\njealousy rankling in their hearts!\n\nThe other counsel of Joshua bore upon that which was ever uppermost in\nhis heart--loyalty to God. \"Take diligent heed to do the commandment\nand the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love\nthe Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep all His\ncommandments, and to cleave unto Him, and to serve Him with all your\nheart and with all your soul.\" It is evident that Joshua poured his\nwhole heart into this counsel. He was evidently anxious as to the\neffect which their separation from their brethren would have on their\nreligious condition. It was west of the Jordan that the sanctuary had\nbeen placed, and that the great central influence in support of the\nnational worship would mainly operate. Would not these eastern tribes\nbe in great danger of drifting away from the recognised worship of\nGod, and becoming idolaters? Joshua knew well that as yet the nation\nwas far from being weaned from idolatry (see xxiv. 14). He knew that\namong many there were strong propensities towards it. He had\nsomething of the feeling that an earnest Christian parent would have\nin sending off a son, not very decided in religion, to some colony\nwhere the public sentiment was loose, and where the temptations to\nworldliness and religious indifference were strong. He was therefore\nall the more earnest in his exhortations to them, for he felt that all\ntheir prosperity, all their happiness, their very life itself,\ndepended on their being faithful to their God.\n\nWe cannot tell how long time had elapsed when word was brought to the\nwestern side that the two and a half tribes had built a great altar on\nthe edge of Jordan, apparently as a rival to the ecclesiastical\nestablishment at Shiloh. That this was their intention seems to have\nbeen taken for granted, for we find the congregation or general\nassembly of Israel assembled at Shiloh to prepare for war with the\nschismatical tribes. War had evidently become a familiar idea with\nthem, and at first no other course suggested itself for arresting the\nproposal. It was one of the many occasions of unreasoning impetuosity\nwhich the history of Israel presents.\n\nNo mention is made of Joshua in the narrative of this transaction; he\nhad retired from active life, and perhaps what is here recorded did\nnot take place for a considerable time after the return of the two and\na half tribes. It may be that we have here an instance of the method\nso often pursued in Hebrew annals, of recording together certain\nincidents pertaining to the same transaction, or to the same people,\nthough these incidents were separated from each other by a\nconsiderable interval of time.\n\nIt was well that the congregation assembled at Shiloh. They would be\nreminded by the very place that great national movements were not to\nbe undertaken rashly, since God was the supreme ruler of the nation.\nWe are not told whether the usual method of asking counsel of God was\nresorted to, but certainly the course followed was more reasonable\nthan rushing into war. It was resolved to begin by remonstrating with\nthe two and a half tribes. The idea that their proposal was\nschismatical, nay, even idolatrous, was not given up, but it was\nthought that if a solemn remonstrance and warning were addressed to\nthem, they might be induced to abandon their project.\n\nA deputation was sent over, consisting of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar\nthe priest, as representing the religious interest, and ten princes,\nrepresenting the ten tribes, to have an interview with the heads of\nthe two and a half tribes. When they met, the deputation opened very\nfiercely on their brethren. They charged them with unheard-of\nwickedness. What they had done was a daring act of rebellion. It was\nworthy to be classed with the iniquity of Peor--one of the vilest\ndeeds that ever disgraced the nation. It was fitted to bring down\nGod's judgments on the whole nation, and would certainly do so. If the\nsecret act of Achan involved the congregation in wrath, what calamity\nto the whole people would not result from this daring and open deed of\nrebellion? They were not safe for a single day. The vials of the\nDivine wrath could not but be ready, and in twenty-four hours the\nwhole congregation of Israel might be overwhelmed by the tokens of His\ndispleasure.\n\nOne should have said that if anything was fitted to have a bad effect\non the two and a half tribes, it was this mode of dealing. It is not\nwise to assume that your brother is a villain. And scolding, as has\nbeen well said, does not make men sorry for their sins. But one thing\nwas said by the deputation that was fitted to have a different effect.\n\"Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass\nye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the\nLord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel\nnot against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar\nbeside the altar of the Lord our God.\"\n\nHere was a generous, a self-denying proposal; the ten tribes were some\nof them in straits themselves, finding the room available for them far\ntoo narrow; nevertheless they were prepared to divide what they had\nwith their brethren, if their real feeling was that the east side of\nthe Jordan was outside the hallowed and hallowing influence of the\npresence of the Lord.\n\nInstead, therefore, of firing up the fierce reproof of their brethren,\nthe two and a half tribes were softened by this really kind proposal\nand returned a reassuring answer. They solemnly repudiated all idea of\na rival establishment. They knew that there was but one place where\nthe tabernacle and the ark of the covenant could be, and they had not\nthe remotest intention of interfering with the spot that had been\nchosen for that purpose. They had never entertained the thought of\noffering burnt offerings, or meat offerings, or peace offerings on\ntheir altar. They solemnly abjured all intention to show disrespect to\nthe Lord, or to His law. The altar which they had built had a very\ndifferent purpose. It was occasioned by the physical structure of the\ncountry, and the effect which that might have on their children in\nyears to come. \"In time to come your children might speak unto our\nchildren, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel? For\nLord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of\nReuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your\nchildren make our children cease from fearing the Lord. Therefore we\nsaid, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering,\nnor for sacrifice; but that it may be a witness between us, and you,\nand our generations after us.\" It was not a rival, but a witness, a\npattern; a reminder to the two and a half tribes that the true altar,\nthe Divine sanctuary, hallowed by the token of God's presence was\nelsewhere, and that there, and only there, were the public sacrifices\nto be offered.\n\nThe acquaintance with the physical structure of Palestine which we\nhave obtained in recent years enables us to appreciate the feeling of\nthe two and a half tribes better than could have been done before. The\nmere fact that a river separated the east from the west of Palestine\nwould not have been enough to account for the sense of isolation and\nthe fear thence arising which had taken hold of the heads of the two\nand a half tribes. It is the peculiar structure of the valley in which\nthe river runs that explains the story. The Jordan valley, as has\nalready been mentioned, is depressed below the level of the\nMediterranean Sea, the depression increasing gradually as the river\nflows towards the Dead Sea, where it amounts to 1300 feet. In addition\nto this, the mountainous plateau on each side of the Jordan valley\nrises to the height of 2000 or 2500 feet above the sea, so that the\nentire depression, counting from the top of the plateau to the edge of\nthe river, is between three and four thousand feet. On each side the\napproach to the Jordan is difficult, while, during the warm season,\nthe great heat increases the fatigue of travelling and discourages\nthe attempt. All these things make the separation between the two\nparts of the country caused by the river and its valley much more\ncomplete than in ordinary cases of river boundaries. There can be no\ndoubt now that the heads of the two and a half tribes had considerable\nground for their apprehensions. There was some risk that they should\ncease to be regarded as part of the nation; and their explanation of\nthe altar seems to have been an honest one. It was designed simply as\na memorial, not for sacrifices. We see what a happy thing it was for\nthe whole nation that the deputation was sent across before resorting\nto arms. A new light was thrown on what had seemed a daring sin; it\nwas but an innocent arrangement; and the terrible forebodings which it\nawakened are at once scattered to the winds.\n\nBut who can estimate all the misery that has come in almost every age,\nin circles both public and private, from hasty suspicions of evil,\nwhich a little patience, a little inquiry, a little opportunity of\nexplanation, might have at once averted? History, tradition, fiction,\nalike furnish us with instances. We recall the story of Llewellyn and\nhis dog Gelert, stabbed by his master, who thought the stains upon his\nmouth were the blood of his beloved child; while, on raising the\ncradle which had been turned over, he found his child asleep and well,\nand a huge wolf dead, from whose fangs the dog had delivered him. We\nremember the tragedy of Othello and Desdemona; we see how the fondest\nlove may be poisoned by hasty suspicion, and the dearest of wives\nmurdered, when a little patience would have shown her innocent--shown\nher all too pure to come in contact with even a vestige of the evil\nthing. We think of the many stories of crusaders and others leaving\ntheir homes with their love pledged to another, detained in distant\nlands without means of communication, hearing a rumour that their\nbeloved one had turned false, and doing some rash and irrevocable\ndeed, while a little further waiting would have realized all their\nhopes. But perhaps it is in less tragic circumstances that the spirit\nof suspicion and unjust accusation is most commonly manifested. A\nrumour unfavourable to your character gets into circulation; you\nsuspect some one of being the author, and deal fiercely with him\naccordingly; it turns out that he is wholly innocent. A friend has\napparently written a letter against you which has made you furious;\nyou pour a torrent of reproaches upon him; it turns out that the\nletter was written by some one else with a similar name. But indeed\nthere is no end to the mischief that is bred by impatience, and by\nwant of inquiry, or of waiting for explanations that would put a quite\ndifferent complexion on our matters of complaint. True charity\n\"thinketh no evil,\" for it \"rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth\nin truth. It beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all\nthings, endureth all things.\" If its gentle voice were more regarded,\nwhat a multitude of offences would vanish, and how much wider would be\nthe reign of peace!\n\nThe explanation that had been offered by Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh\nproved satisfactory to Phinehas and the princes of the congregation,\nand likewise to the people of the west generally, when the deputation\nreported their proceedings. The remark of Phinehas before he left his\neastern brethren was a striking one: \"This day do we perceive that the\nLord is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against\nthe Lord; now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the\nhand of the Lord.\" There was a great difference between the Lord being\namong them, and their being in the hand of the Lord. If the Lord were\namong them they were under all manner of gracious influence; if they\nwere in the hand of the Lord they were exposed to the utmost\nvisitations of His wrath. It was the joy of Phinehas to find not only\nthat no provocation had been given to God's righteous jealousy, but\nthat proof had been afforded that He was graciously blessing them. If\nGod often departs from us without our suspecting it, He is sometimes\ngraciously present with us when we have been fearing that He was gone.\nSo it was now. Phinehas in imagination had seen the gathering of a\nterrible storm, as if the very enemy of man had been stirring up his\ncountrymen to rebellion and contempt of God; but in place of that, he\nsees that they have been consulting for God's honour, for the\npermanence of His institutions, and for the preservation of unity\nbetween the two sections of the nation; and in this he finds a proof\nthat God has been graciously working among them. For God is the God of\npeace, not of strife, and the Spirit is the Spirit of order, and not\nof confusion. And when two sections of a community are led to desire\nthe advancement of His service and the honour of His name, even by\nmethods which are not in all respects alike, it is a proof that He is\namong them, drawing their hearts to Himself and to one another.\n\nPerhaps the common adage might have been applied to the case--that\nthere were faults on both sides. If the ten tribes were too hasty in\npreparing for war, the two and a half tribes had been too hasty in\ndeciding on the erection of their altar, without communication with\nthe priests and the civil heads of the nation. In a matter so sacred,\nno such step should have been taken without full consultation and a\nclear view of duty. The goodness of their motive did not excuse them\nfor not taking all available methods to carry out their plan in a way\nwholly unexceptional. As it was, they ran a great risk of kindling a\nfire which might have at once destroyed themselves and weakened the\nrest of the nation through all time. In their effort to promote unity,\nthey had almost occasioned a fatal schism. Thus both sections of the\nnation had been on the edge of a fearful catastrophe.\n\nBut now it appeared that the section that had seemed to be so highly\noffending were animated by a quite loyal sentiment. Phinehas gladly\nseized on the fact as a proof that God was among them. A less godly\nman would not have thought of this as of much importance. He would\nhardly have believed in it as anything that could exist except in a\nfanatical imagination. But the more one knows of God the more real\ndoes the privilege seem, and the more blessed. Nay, it comes to be\nfelt as that which makes the greatest conceivable difference between\none individual or one community and another. The great curse of sin is\nthat it has severed us from God. The glory of the grace of God in\nChrist is that we are brought together. Man without God is like the\nearth without the sun, or the body without the soul. Man in fellowship\nwith God is man replenished with all Divine blessings and holy\ninfluences. A church in which God does not dwell is a hold of unclean\nspirits and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. A church\ninhabited by God, like the bride in the Song of Solomon, \"looketh\nforth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible\nas an army with banners.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\n_JEHOVAH THE CHAMPION OF ISRAEL._\n\nJOSHUA xxiii.\n\n\nThe last two chapters of Joshua are very like each other. Each\nprofesses to be a report of the aged leader's farewell meeting with\nthe heads of the people. No place of meeting is specified in the one;\nShechem is the place named in the other. The address reported in the\ntwenty-third chapter is in somewhat general terms; in the\ntwenty-fourth, we have more of detail. The question arises, Were there\ntwo meetings, or have we in these chapters different reports of the\nsame? The question is of no great importance in itself; but it bears\non the structure of the book. In our judgment, both reports bear on\nthe same occasion; and if so, all that needs to be said as to their\norigin is, that the author of the book, having obtained two reports\nfrom trustworthy sources, did not adopt the plan of weaving them into\none, but gave them separately, just as he had received them. The\ncircumstance is a proof of the trustworthiness of the narrative; had\nthe writer put on record merely what Joshua might be _supposed_ to\nhave said, he would not have adopted this twofold form of narrative.\n\nJoshua had been a close follower of Moses in many things, and now he\nfollows him by calling the people together to hear his closing words.\nOn the edge of the future life, on the eve of giving in his own\naccount, in the crisis when men are most disposed to utter the truth,\nthe whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he calls his children\naround him to hear his parting words. He knows, as Moses also knew,\nthe impulsive, fitful temper of the people. All the more did he regard\nit as desirable not to omit such an opportunity of impression. \"All\npathetic occasions,\" it has been well said, \"should be treasured in\nthe memory; the last interview, the last sermon, the last prayer, the\nlast fond, lingering look; all these things may be frivolously treated\nas sentimental; but he who treats them so is a fool in his heart.\nWhatever can subdue the spirit, chasten the character, and enlarge the\ncharity of the soul, should be encouraged as a ministry from God.\"[29]\n\n [29] \"The People's Bible,\" by Joseph Parker.\n\nWhat was the burden of Joshua's address? What was alike the keynote,\nand the central note, and the closing note--the beginning, and the\nmiddle, and the end? You have it in the words--\"The Lord your God is\nHe that fighteth for you\"; therefore \"cleave unto the Lord your God.\"\nYou owe everything to the Lord; therefore render to Him all His due.\nLet Him receive from you in the proportion in which He has given to\nyou; let Him be honoured by you in the ratio in which you have been\nblessed by Him; and see that none of you ever, to the last day of your\nlives, give the faintest countenance to the idolatry of your\nneighbours, or consent to any entangling connection that would furnish\na temptation to join in their wickedness.\n\nThis starting-point of Joshua's address--\"The Lord your God is He\nthat fighteth for you\"--is a serious one, and demands careful\ninvestigation. God is expressly set forth as the champion of Israel,\nfighting for him against the Canaanites, and driving them out. He is\nhere the God of battles; and the terrible desolation that followed the\ntrack of Israel is here ascribed to the championship of the Most High.\n\nThere are some expositors who explain these sayings in a general\nsense. There are great laws of conquest, they say, roughly sanctioned\nby Providence, whereby one race advances upon another. Nations\nenervated through luxury and idleness are usually supplanted by more\nvigorous races. The Goths and Vandals overcame the Romans; the\nAnglo-Saxons subdued the Britons, to be in time conquered by the\nNormans; Dutch rule has prevailed over the negro, English over the\nHindu, American over the native Indian. In the treatment of the\nconquered races by the conquerors, there has often been much that is\ngross and objectionable. Even when a civilized and cultured race has\nhad to deal with a barbarous one, instead of the sweetness and light\nof culture you have often had the devices of injustice and oppression.\nWe cannot vindicate all the rule of the British in India; greed,\ninsolence, and lust have left behind them many a stain. Still, the\nresult on the whole has been for good. The English have a higher\nconception of human life than the Hindus. They have a higher sense of\norder, of justice, of family life, of national well-being. There is a\nvigour about them that will not tolerate the policy of drifting; that\ncannot stand still or lie still and see everything going wrong; that\nstrives to remedy injustice, to reform abuse, to correct what is\nvicious and disorderly, and foster organization and progress. In\nthese respects British rule has been a benefit to India. There may\nhave been deeds of oppression and wrong that curdle the blood, or\nhabits of self-indulgence may have been practised at the expense of\nthe natives that shock our sense of humanity, as if the inferior race\ncould have no rights against the superior; but these are but the\neddies or by-play of a great beneficent current, and in the summing up\nof the long account they hold but an insignificant place. In\nthemselves, they are to be detested and denounced; but when you are\nestimating great national forces, when you are trying the question\nwhether on the whole these forces have been beneficent or evil,\nwhether they have been of heaven or of the devil, these episodes of\nwrong are not to be allowed to determine the whole question. You are\nconstrained to take a wider view. And when you survey the grand\nresult; when you see a great continent like India peaceable and\norderly that used to be distracted on every side by domestic warfare;\nwhen you see justice carefully administered, life and property\nprotected, education and civilization advanced, to say nothing, of the\nspirit of Christianity introduced, you are unable to resist the\nconclusion that the influence of its new masters has been a gain to\nIndia, and therefore that the British rule has had the sanction of\nheaven.\n\nWe say there are some expositors who hold that it is only in a way\nparallel to this that the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites enjoyed\nthe sanction of God. Without making a great deal of the wickedness of\nthe Canaanite tribes, they dwell on their weakness, their poor ideas\nof life, their feeble aims, their want of developing power, their\ninability to rise. Into the heart of these tribes there comes a race\nthat somehow possesses extraordinary capabilities and force. History\nhas shown it to be one of the great dominant races of the world. The\nnew people apply themselves with extraordinary energy to acquire the\ncountry of the other. Dispossession of one race by another was the\ncommon practice of the times, and in a moral point of view was little\nthought of. The times were rude and wild, property had not become\nsacred, human life was cheap, pain and suffering got small\nconsideration. Having spent some centuries in Egypt, the new race\nbrought with it a share of Egyptian culture and accomplishment; but\nits great strength lay in its religious ardour, and in the habits of\norder and self-control which its religion fostered. The memory of\ntheir ancestors, who had dwelt as pilgrims in that country, but under\nthe strongest promises on the part of God that He would give it as an\ninheritance to their descendants, increased the ardour of the invasion\nand the confidence of the invaders. With all the enthusiasm of a\nheaven-guided race, they dashed against the old inhabitants, who\nstaggered under the blow. To a large extent the former occupants fell\nunder the usual violence of invaders--the sword of battle and the\nmassacre after victory. The process was accompanied by many wild\ndeeds, which in these days of ours would excite horror. Had it been\ncompletely successful it would have utterly annihilated the native\nraces; but the courage and perseverance of the invaders were not equal\nto this result; many of the original inhabitants remained, and were\nfinally amalgamated with their conquerors.\n\nNow, in this case, as in the conquest of India by Britain, a process\nwent on which was a great benefit on a large scale. It was not\ndesigned to be of benefit to the original inhabitants, as was the\nBritish occupation of India, for they were a doomed race, as we shall\nimmediately see. But the settlement of the people of Israel in Canaan\nwas designed and was fitted to be a great benefit to the world.\nExplain it as we may, Israel had higher ideas of life than the other\nnations, richer gifts of head and heart, more capacity of governing,\nand a far purer religious sentiment. Wherever Israel might be planted,\nif he remained in purity, mankind must be benefited. A people so\ngifted, with such intellectual capacity, with such moral and spiritual\npower, with such high ideals, and producing from time to time men of\nsuch remarkable character and influence, could not but help to elevate\nother races. That such a people should prevail over tribes emasculated\nby vice, degraded by idolatrous superstition, and enfeebled and\nstunted through mutual strife, was only in accordance with the nature\nof things. On the principle that a race like this must necessarily\nprevail over such tribes as had occupied Palestine before, the\nconquest of Joshua might well be said to have Divine approval. God\nmight truly be said to go forth with the armies of Israel, and to\nscatter their enemies as smoke is scattered by the wind.\n\nBut this was not all. There was already a judicial sentence against\nthe seven nations of which Israel was appointed to be the executioner.\nEven in Abraham's time we have abundant proof that they were far gone\nin corruption, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was but an\nearly stroke of that holy sword which was to come down over a far\nwider area when the iniquity of the Amorites should become full. We\nhave no elaborate account of the moral and religious condition of the\npeople in Joshua's time, but we have certain glimpses which tell\nmuch. In the story of Baal-peor we have an awful picture of the\nidolatrous debauchery of the Moabites; and the Moabites were not so\nsunk in vice as the Canaanites. The first Canaanite house that any of\nthe Israelites entered was that of an immoral woman, who, however, was\nsaved by her faith, as any and every Canaanite would have been had he\nbelieved. The most revolting picture we have of Canaanite vice is\nconnected with the burning of children alive in sacrifice to the gods.\nWhat a hideous practice it was! Who can estimate its effect on the\nblithe nature of children, or tell how the very thought of it and the\npossibility of suffering from it must have weighed like a nightmare on\nmany a child, converting the season of merry childhood into a time of\ndreadful foreboding, if not for themselves, at least for some of their\ncompanions. Loathsome vice consecrated by the seal of religion;\nunnatural lust, turning human beings into worse than beasts; natural\naffection converted into an instrument of the most horrid\ncruelty--could any practices show more powerfully the hopeless\ndegradation of these nations in a moral and religious sense, or their\nripeness for judgment? Israel was the appointed executioner of God's\njustice against them, and in order that Israel might fulfil that\nfunction, God went before him in his battles and delivered his enemies\ninto his hands. And what Israel did in this way was done under a\nsolemn sense that he was inflicting Divine retribution. That the\nprocess was carried out with something of the solemnity of an\nexecution appears, as we have already seen, from the injunction at\nJericho, which forbade all on pain of death to touch an atom of the\nspoil. And this lesson was burnt into their inmost souls by the\nterrible fate of Achan. Afterwards, it is true, they were allowed to\nappropriate the spoil, but not till after they had been taught most\nimpressively at Jericho that the spoil was God's, so that, even when\nit became theirs, it was as if they had received it from His hand.\n\nWe cannot suppose that the people uniformly acted with the moderation\nand self-restraint becoming God's executioners. No doubt there were\nmany instances of unwarrantable and inhuman violence. Such excesses\nare unavoidable when human beings are employed as the executioners of\nGod. To charge these on God is not fair. They were the spots and\nstains that ever indicate the hand of man, even when doing the work of\nGod. It is not necessary to approve of these while we vindicate the\nlaw which doomed the Canaanites to extermination, and made the\nIsraelites their executioners. It is not necessary to vindicate all\nthat the English have done in India, while we hold that their presence\nand influence there have been in accordance with a Divine and\nbeneficent purpose. Where God and man are in partnership, we may\nexpect a chequered product, but never let us ascribe the flaws of one\nto the influence of the other.\n\nIf it be said that the language of the historian seems sometime to\nascribe to God what really arose from the passions of the people, it\nis to be observed that we are not told in what form the Lord\ncommunicated His commands. No doubt the Hebrews were disposed to claim\nDivine authority for what they did to the very fullest extent. There\nmay have been times when they imagined that they were fulfilling the\nrequirements of God, when they were only giving effect to feelings of\ntheir own. And generally they may have been prone to suppose that\nmodes of slaughter that seemed to them quite proper were well\npleasing in the sight of God. They may have believed that God\nparticipated in what was in reality but the spirit of the age. Thus\nthey may have been led to think, and through them the impression may\nhave come to us, that God had a more active hand, so to speak, in many\nof the details of warfare than we ought to ascribe to Him. For God\noften accomplishes His holy purposes by leaving His instruments to act\nin their own way.\n\nBut we have wandered from Joshua, and the assembly of Israel. What we\nhave been trying is to show the soundness of Joshua's fundamental\nposition--that God fought for Israel. The same thing might be shown by\na negative process. If God had not been actively and supernaturally\nwith Israel, Israel could never have become what he was. What made\nIsrael so remarkable and powerful a nation? If you appeal to heredity\nand go back to his forefather, you find the whole career of Abraham\ndetermined by what he undoubtedly regarded as a supernatural promise,\nthat in him and his seed all the families of the earth should be\nblessed. If you speak of Moses as the founder of the nation, you find\na man who was utterly defeated and humiliated when he acted on his own\nresources, and successful only when he came in contact with\nsupernatural might. If you inquire into the cause of the military\nsuperiority of Israel, you cannot find it in their slave condition in\nEgypt, nor in their wandering, pastoral life in the desert. You are\nbaffled in trying to account for the warlike energy and skill that\nswept the Canaanites with all their resources before their invincible\nmight. That an Alexander the Great, or a C\u00e6sar, or a Napoleon, with\ntheir long experience, their trained legions, their splendid prestige\nand unrivalled resources, should have swept the board of their\nenemies we do not wonder. But Moses and his bevy of slaves, Joshua and\nhis army of shepherds--what could have made such soldiers of these men\nif the Lord had not fought on their side?\n\nThe getting possession of Canaan, as Joshua reminded the people, was a\nthreefold process: God fighting for them had subdued their enemies;\nJoshua had divided the land; and now God was prepared to expel the\nremaining people, but only through their instrumentality. Emphasis is\nlaid on \"expelling\" and \"driving out\" (ver. 5), from which we gather\nthat further massacre was not to take place, but that the remainder of\nthe Canaanites must seek settlements elsewhere. A sufficient\nretribution had fallen on them for their sins, in the virtual\ndestruction of their people and the loss of their country; the\nmiserable remnant might have a chance of escape, in some ill-filled\ncountry where they would never rise to influence and where terror\nwould restrain them from their former wickedness.\n\nJoshua was very emphatic in forbidding intermarriage and friendly\nsocial intercourse with Canaanites. He saw much need for the prayer,\n\"Lead us not into temptation.\" He understood the meaning of enchanted\nground. He knew that between the realm of holiness and the realm of\nsin there is a kind of neutral territory, which belongs strictly to\nneither, but which slopes towards the realm of sin, and in point of\nfact most commonly furnishes recruits not a few to the army of evil.\nAlas, how true is this still! Marriages between believers and\nunbelievers; friendly social fellowship, on equal terms, between the\nChurch and the world; partnership in business between the godly and\nthe ungodly--who does not know the usual result? In a few solitary\ncases, it may be, the child of the world is brought into the kingdom;\nbut in how many instances do we find the buds of Christian promise\nnipped, and lukewarmness and backsliding, if not apostasy, coming in\ntheir room! There is no better help for the Christian life, no greater\nencouragement to fellowship with God, than congenial fellowship with\nother Christians, especially in the home, as there is no greater\nhindrance to these things than an alien spirit there. And if men and\nwomen would remember that of all that concerns them in this life their\nrelation to God is infinitely the most momentous, and that whatever\nbrings that relation into peril is the evil of all others most to be\ndreaded, we should not find them so ready for entangling connections\nwhich may be a gain for the things of this world, but for the things\nof eternity are commonly a grievous loss.\n\nIt is a very vivid picture that Joshua draws of the effects of that\nsinful compromise with their Canaanite neighbours against which he had\nwarned them. \"If ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the\nremnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall\nmake marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: know\nfor a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of\nthese nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto\nyou, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye\nperish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given\nyou.\"\n\nThe Garden of Eden was not the only paradise that sin ruined. Here was\nsomething like a new paradise for the children of Israel; and yet\nthere was a possibility--more than a possibility--of its being ruined\nby sin. The history of the future showed that Joshua was right. The\nCanaanites remaining in the land were scourges and thorns to the\npeople of Israel, and the compliance of Israel with their idolatrous\nways led first to invasion and oppression, then to captivity and\nexile, and finally to dispersion over the face of the earth. However\nsin may deceive at the beginning, in the end it always proves true to\nits real character--\"the wages of sin is death.\" The trouble is that\nmen will not believe what they do not like to believe. Sin has many a\npleasure; and as long as the pleasure is not gross, but wears an air\nof refinement, there seems no harm in it, and it is freely enjoyed.\nBut, unseen, it works like dry-rot, pulverising the soul, destroying\nall traces of spiritual relish or enjoyment of Divine things, and\nattaching the heart more strongly to mere material good. And sometimes\nwhen death comes in sight and it is felt that God has to be reckoned\nwith, and the effort is honestly made to prepare for that solemn\nmeeting by looking to the Divine Redeemer, the bent of the heart is\nfound to be entirely the other way. Faith and repentance will not\ncome; turning Godwards is an uncongenial, an impossible attitude; the\nheart has its roots too much in the world to be thus withdrawn from\nit. They allowed themselves to be drawn away from their early hope by\nthe influence of worldly fellowship, to find that it profits a man\nnothing to gain the whole world if he lose his own soul.\n\nHow awful are the words of St. James: \"Ye adulterers and adulteresses,\nknow ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?\nWhosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of\nGod.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\n_JOSHUA'S LAST APPEAL._\n\nJOSHUA xxiv.\n\n\nIt was at Shechem that Joshua's last meeting with the people took\nplace. The Septuagint makes it Shiloh in one verse (ver. 1), but\nShechem in another (ver. 25); but there is no sufficient reason for\nrejecting the common reading. Joshua might feel that a meeting which\nwas not connected with the ordinary business of the sanctuary, but\nwhich was more for a personal purpose, a solemn leave-taking on his\npart from the people, might be held better at Shechem. There was much\nto recommend that place. It lay a few miles to the north-west of\nShiloh, and was not only distinguished (as we have already said) as\nAbraham's first resting-place in the country, and the scene of the\nearliest of the promises given in it to him; but likewise as the place\nwhere, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, the blessings and curses of\nthe law had been read out soon after Joshua entered the land, and the\nsolemn assent of the people given to them. And whereas it is said\n(ver. 26) that the great stone set up as a witness was \"by the\nsanctuary of the Lord,\" this stone may have been placed at Shiloh\nafter the meeting, because there it would be more fully in the\nobservation of the people as they came up to the annual festivals (see\n1 Sam. i. 7, 9). Shechem was therefore the scene of Joshua's farewell\naddress. Possibly it was delivered close to the well of Jacob and the\ntomb of Joseph; at the very place where, many centuries later, the New\nTestament Joshua sat wearied with His journey, and unfolded the riches\nof Divine grace to the woman of Samaria.\n\n1. In the record of Joshua's speech contained in the twenty-fourth\nchapter, he begins by rehearsing the history of the nation. He has an\nexcellent reason for beginning with the revered name of Abraham,\nbecause Abraham had been conspicuous for that very grace, loyalty to\nJehovah, which he is bent on impressing on them. Abraham had made a\nsolemn choice in religion. He had deliberately broken with one kind of\nworship, and accepted another. His fathers had been idolaters, and he\nhad been brought up an idolater. But Abraham renounced idolatry for\never. He did this at a great sacrifice, and what Joshua entreated of\nthe people was, that they would be as thorough and as firm as he was\nin their repudiation of idolatry. The rehearsal of the history is\ngiven in the words of God to remind them that the whole history of\nIsrael had been planned and ordered by Him. He had been among them\nfrom first to last; He had been with them through all the lives of the\npatriarchs; it was He that had delivered them from Egypt by Moses and\nAaron, that had buried the Egyptians under the waters of the sea, that\nhad driven the Amorites out of the eastern provinces, had turned the\ncurse of Balaam into a blessing, had dispossessed the seven nations,\nand had settled the Israelites in their pleasant and peaceful abodes.\n\nWe mark in this rehearsal the well-known features of the national\nhistory, as they were always represented; the frank recognition of the\nsupernatural, with no indication of myth or legend, with nothing of\nthe mist or glamour in which the legend is commonly enveloped. And,\nseeing that God had done all this for them, the inference was that He\nwas entitled to their heartiest loyalty and obedience. \"Now therefore\nfear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away\nthe gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and\nin Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.\" It seems strange that at that very\ntime the people needed to be called to put away other gods. But this\nonly shows how destitute of foundation the common impression is, that\nfrom and after the departure from Egypt the whole host of Israel were\ninclined to the law as it had been given by Moses. There was still a\ngreat amount of idolatry among them, and a strong tendency towards it.\nThey were not a wholly reformed or converted people. This Joshua knew\nright well; he knew that there was a suppressed fire among them liable\nto burst into a conflagration; hence his aggressive attitude, and his\neffort to foster an aggressive spirit in them; he must bind them over\nby every consideration to renounce wholly all recognition of other\ngods, and to make Jehovah the one only object of their worship. Never\nwas a good man more in earnest, or more thoroughly persuaded that all\nthat made for a nation's welfare was involved in the course which he\npressed upon them.\n\n2. But Joshua did not urge this merely on the strength of his own\nconviction. He must enlist their reason on his side; and for this\ncause he now called on them deliberately to weigh the claims of other\ngods and the advantages of other modes of worship, and choose that\nwhich must be pronounced the best. There were four claimants to be\nconsidered: (1) Jehovah; (2) the Chald\u00e6an gods worshipped by their\nancestors; (3) the gods of the Egyptians; and (4) the gods of the\nAmorites among whom they dwelt. Make your choice between these, said\nJoshua, if you are dissatisfied with Jehovah. But could there be any\nreasonable choice between these gods and Jehovah? It is often useful,\nwhen we hesitate as to a course, to set down the various reasons for\nand against,--it may be the reasons of our judgment against the\nreasons of our feelings; for often this course enables us to see how\nutterly the one outweighs the other. May it not be useful for us to do\nas Joshua urged Israel to do?\n\nIf we set down the reasons for making God, God in Christ, the supreme\nobject of our worship, against those in favour of the world, how\ninfinitely will the one scale outweigh the other! In the choice of a\nmaster, it is reasonable for a servant to consider which has the\ngreatest claim upon him; which is intrinsically the most worthy to be\nserved; which will bring him the greatest advantages; which will give\nhim most inward satisfaction and peace; which will exercise the best\ninfluence on his character, and which comes recommended most by old\nservants whose testimony ought to weigh with him. If these are the\ngrounds of a reasonable choice in the case of a servant engaging with\na master, how much more in reference to the Master of our spirits!\nNothing can be plainer than that the Israelites in Joshua's time had\nevery conceivable reason for choosing their fathers' God as the\nsupreme object of their worship, and that any other course would have\nbeen alike the guiltiest and the silliest that could have been taken.\nAre the reasons a whit less powerful why every one of us should devote\nheart and life and mind and soul to the service of Him who gave\nHimself for us, and has loved us with an everlasting love?\n\n3. But Joshua is fully prepared to add example to precept. Whatever\nyou do in this matter, my mind is made up, my course is clear--\"as for\nme and my house, we will serve Jehovah.\" He reminds us of a general\nexhorting his troops to mount the deadly breach and dash into the\nenemy's citadel. Strong and urgent are his appeals; but stronger and\nmore telling is his act when, facing the danger right in front, he\nrushes on, determined that, whatever others may do, he will not flinch\nfrom his duty. It is the old Joshua back again, the Joshua that alone\nwith Caleb stood faithful amid the treachery of the spies, that has\nbeen loyal to God all his life, and now in the decrepitude of old age\nis still prepared to stand alone rather than dishonour the living God.\n\"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.\" He was happy in\nbeing able to associate his house with himself as sharing his\nconvictions and his purpose. He owed this, in all likelihood, to his\nown firm and intrepid attitude throughout his life. His house saw how\nconsistently and constantly he recognised the supreme claims of\nJehovah. Not less clearly did they see how constantly he experienced\nthe blessedness of his choice.\n\n4. Convinced by his arguments, moved by his eloquence, and carried\nalong by the magnetism of his example, the people respond with\nenthusiasm, deprecate the very thought of forsaking Jehovah to serve\nother gods, and recognise most cordially the claims he has placed them\nunder, by delivering them from Egypt, preserving them in the\nwilderness, and driving out the Amorites from their land. After this\nan ordinary leader would have felt quite at ease, and would have\nthanked God that his appeal had met with such a response, and that\nsuch demonstration had been given of the loyalty of the people. But\nJoshua knew something of their fickle temper. He may have called to\nmind the extraordinary enthusiasm of their fathers when the tabernacle\nwas in preparation; the singular readiness with which they had\ncontributed their most valued treasures, and the grievous change they\nunderwent after the return of the spies. Even an enthusiastic burst\nlike this is not to be trusted. He must go deeper; he must try to\ninduce them to think more earnestly of the matter, and not trust to\nthe feeling of the moment.\n\n5. Hence he draws a somewhat dark picture of Jehovah's character. He\ndwells on those attributes which are least agreeable to the natural\nman, His holiness, His jealousy, and His inexorable opposition to sin.\nWhen he says, \"He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins,\"\nhe cannot mean that God is not a God of forgiveness. He cannot wish to\ncontradict the first part of that gracious memorial which God gave to\nMoses: \"The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, longsuffering\nand abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and\ntransgression and sin.\" His object is to emphasize the clause, \"and\nthat will by no means clear the guilty.\" Evidently he means that the\nsin of idolatry is one that God cannot pass over, cannot fail to\npunish, until, probably through terrible judgments, the authors of it\nare brought to contrition, and humble themselves in the dust before\nhim. \"Ye cannot serve the Lord,\" said Joshua; \"take care how you\nundertake what is beyond your strength!\" Perhaps he wished to impress\non them the need of Divine strength for so difficult a duty. Certainly\nhe did not change their purpose, but only drew from them a more\nresolute expression. \"Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua\nsaid unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have\nchosen the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses.\"\n\n6. And now Joshua comes to a point which had doubtless been in his\nmind all the time, but which he had been waiting for a favourable\nopportunity to bring forward. He had pledged the people to an absolute\nand unreserved service of God, and now he demands a practical proof of\ntheir sincerity. He knows quite well that they have \"strange gods\"\namong them. Teraphim, images, or ornaments having a reference to the\npagan gods, he knows that they possess. And he does not speak as if\nthis were a rare thing, confined to a very few. He speaks as if it\nwere a common practice, generally prevalent. Again we see how far from\nthe mark we are when we think of the whole nation as cordially\nfollowing the religion of Moses, in the sense of renouncing all other\ngods. Minor forms of idolatry, minor recognitions of the gods of the\nChald\u00e6ans and the Egyptians and the Amorites, were prevalent even yet.\nProbably Joshua called to mind the scene that had occurred at that\nvery place hundreds of years before, when Jacob, rebuked by God, and\nobliged to remove from Shechem, called on his household: \"Put away the\nstrange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your\ngarments.... And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were\nin the land, and all the ear-rings which were in their ears; and Jacob\nhid them under the oak which was by Shechem.\" Alas! that, centuries\nlater, it was necessary for Joshua in the same place to issue the same\norder,--Put away the gods which are among you, and serve ye the Lord.\nWhat a weed sin is, and how it is for ever reappearing! And\nreappearing among ourselves too, in a different variety, but\nessentially the same. For what honest and earnest heart does not feel\nthat there are idols and images among ourselves that interfere with\nGod's claims and God's glory as much as the teraphim and the ear-rings\nof the Israelites did? The images of the Israelites were little\nimages, and it was probably at by-times and in retirement that they\nmade use of them; and so, it may not be on the leading occasions or in\nthe outstanding work of our lives that we are wont to dishonour God.\nBut who that knows himself but must think with humiliation of the\nnumberless occasions on which he indulges little whims or inclinations\nwithout thinking of the will of God; the many little acts of his daily\nlife on which conscience is not brought to bear; the disengaged state\nof his mind from that supreme controlling influence which would bear\non it if God were constantly recognised as his Master? And who does\nnot find that, despite his endeavour from time to time to be more\nconscientious, the old habit, like a weed whose roots have only been\ncut over, is ever showing itself alive?\n\n7. And now comes the closing and clinching transaction of this meeting\nat Shechem. Joshua enters into a formal covenant with the people; he\nrecords their words in the book of the law of the Lord; he takes a\ngreat stone and sets it up under an oak that was by the sanctuary of\nthe Lord; and he constitutes the stone a witness, as if it had heard\nall that had been spoken by the Lord to them and by them to the Lord.\nThe covenant was a transaction invested with special solemnity among\nall Eastern peoples, and especially among the Israelites. Many\ninstances had occurred in their history, of covenants with God, and of\nother covenants, like that of Abraham with Abimelech, or that of\nJacob with Laban. The wanton violation of a covenant was held an act\nof gross impiety, deserving the reprobation alike of God and man. When\nJoshua got the people bound by a transaction of this sort, he seemed\nto obtain a new guarantee for their fidelity; a new barrier was\nerected against their lapsing into idolatry. It was natural for him to\nexpect that some good would come of it, and no doubt it contributed to\nthe happy result; \"for Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,\nand all the days of the elders which overlived Joshua, and which had\nknown all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel.\" And yet\nit was but a temporary barrier against a flood which seemed ever to be\ngathering strength unseen, and preparing for another fierce discharge\nof its disastrous waters.\n\nAt the least, this meeting secured for Joshua a peaceful sunset, and\nenabled him to sing his \"Nunc dimittis.\" The evil which he dreaded\nmost was not at work as the current of life ebbed away from him; it\nwas his great privilege to look round him and see his people faithful\nto their Lord. It does not appear that Joshua had any very\ncomprehensive or far-reaching aims with reference to the moral\ntraining and development of the people. His idea of religion seems to\nhave been, a very simple loyalty to Jehovah, in opposition to the\nperversions of idolatry. It is not even very plain whether or not he\nwas much impressed by the capacity of true religion to pervade all the\nrelations and engagements of men, and brighten and purify the whole\nlife. We are too prone to ascribe all the virtues to the good men of\nthe Old Testament, forgetting that of many virtues there was only a\nprogressive development, and that it is not reasonable to look for\nexcellence beyond the measure of the age. Joshua was a soldier, a\nsoldier of the Old Testament, a splendid man for his day, but not\nbeyond his day. As a soldier, his business was to conquer his enemies,\nand to be loyal to his heavenly Master. It did not lie to him to\nenforce the numberless bearings which the spirit of trust in God might\nhave on all the interests of life--on the family, on books, on\nagriculture and commerce, or on the development of the humanities, and\nthe courtesies of society. Other men were raised up from time to time,\nmany other men, with commission from God to devote their energies to\nsuch matters.\n\nIt is quite possible that, under Joshua, religion did not appear in\nvery close relation to many things that are lovely and of good report.\nA celebrated English writer (Matthew Arnold) has asked whether, if\nVirgil or Shakespeare had sailed in the _Mayflower_ with the puritan\nfathers, they would have found themselves in congenial society. The\nquestion is not a fair one, for it supposes that men whose destiny was\nto fight as for very life, and for what was dearer than life, were of\nthe same mould with others who could devote themselves in peaceful\nleisure to the amenities of literature. Joshua had doubtless much of\nthe ruggedness of the early soldier, and it is not fair to blame him\nfor want of sweetness and light. Very probably it was from him that\nDeborah drew somewhat of her scorn, and Jael, the wife of Heber, of\nher rugged courage. The whole Book of Judges is penetrated by his\nspirit. He was not the apostle of charity or gentleness. He had one\nvirtue, but it was the supreme virtue--he honoured God. Wherever God's\nclaims were involved, he could see nothing, listen to nothing, care\nfor nothing, but that He should obtain His due. Wherever God's claims\nwere acknowledged and fulfilled, things were essentially right, and\nother interests would come right. For his absolute and supreme loyalty\nto his Lord he is entitled to our highest reverence. This loyalty is a\nrare virtue, in the sublime proportions in which it appeared in him.\nWhen a man honours God in this way, he has something of the appearance\nof a supernatural being, rising high above the fears and the\nfeebleness of poor humanity. He fills his fellows with a sort of awe.\n\nAmong the reformers, the puritans, and the covenanters such men were\noften found. The best of them, indeed, were men of this type, and very\ngenuine men they were. They were not men whom the world loved; they\nwere too jealous of God's claims for that, and too severe on those who\nrefused them. And we have still the type of the fighting Christian.\nBut alas! it is a type subject to fearful degeneration. Loyalty to\nhuman tradition is often substituted, unconsciously no doubt, for\nloyalty to God. The sublime purity and nobility of the one passes into\nthe obstinacy, the self-righteousness, the self-assertion of the\nother. When a man of the genuine type does appear, men are arrested,\nastonished, as if by a supernatural apparition. The very rareness, the\neccentricity of the character, secures a respectful homage. And yet,\nwho can deny that it is the true representation of what every man\nshould be who says, \"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of\nheaven and earth\"?\n\nAfter a life of a hundred and ten years the hour comes when Joshua\nmust die. We have no record of the inner workings of his spirit, no\nindication of his feelings in view of his sins, no hint as to the\nsource of his trust for forgiveness and acceptance. But we readily\nthink of him as the heir of the faith of his father Abraham, the heir\nof the righteousness that is by faith, and as passing calmly into the\npresence of his Judge, because, like Jacob, he has waited for His\nsalvation. He was well entitled to the highest honours that the nation\ncould bestow on his memory; for all owed to him their homes and their\nrest. His name must ever be coupled with that of the greatest hero of\nthe nation: Moses led them out of the house of bondage; Joshua led\nthem into the house of rest. Sometimes, as we have already said, it\nhas been attempted to draw a sharp antithesis between Moses and\nJoshua, the one as representing the law, and the other as representing\nthe gospel. The antithesis is more in word than in deed. Moses\nrepresented both gospel and law, for he brought the people out of the\nbondage of Egypt; he brought them to their marriage altar, and he\nunfolded to the bride the law of her Divine husband's house. Joshua\nconducted the bride to her home, and to the rest which she was to\nenjoy there; but he was not less emphatic than Moses in insisting that\nshe must be an obedient wife, following the law of her husband. It\nwere difficult to say which of them was the more instructive type of\nChrist, both in feeling and in act. The love of each for his people\nwas most intense, most self-denying; and neither of them, had he been\ncalled on, would have hesitated to surrender his life for their sake.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt is probably a mere incidental arrangement that the book concludes\nwith a record of the burial of Joseph, and of the death and burial of\nEleazar, the son of Aaron. In point of time, we can hardly suppose\nthat the burial of Joseph in the field of his father Jacob in Shechem\nwas delayed till after the death of Joshua. It would be a most\nsuitable transaction after the division of the country, and especially\nafter the territory that contained the field had been assigned to\nEphraim, Joseph's son. It would be like a great doxology--a Te Deum\ncelebration of the fulfilment of the promise in which, so many\ncenturies before, Joseph had so nobly shown his trust.\n\nBut why did not Joseph's bones find their resting-place in the\ntime-honoured cave of Macpelah? Why was he not laid side by side with\nhis father, who would doubtless have liked right well that his beloved\nson should be laid at his side? We can only say in regard to Joseph as\nin regard to Rachel, that the right of burial in that tomb seems to\nhave been limited to the wife who was recognised by law, and to the\nson who inherited the Messianic promise. The other members of the\nfamily must have their resting-place elsewhere; moreover, there was\nthis benefit in Joseph having his burial-place at Shechem, that it was\nin the very centre of the country, and near the spot where the tribes\nwere to assemble for the great annual festivals. For many a generation\nthe tomb of Joseph would be a memorable witness to the people; by it\nthe patriarch, though dead, would continue to testify to the\nfaithfulness of God; while he would point the hopes of the godly\npeople still onward to the future, when the last clause of the promise\nto Abraham would be emphatically fulfilled, and that Seed would come\nforth among them in whom all the families of the earth would be\nblessed.\n\nWas there a reason for recording the death of Eleazar? Certainly there\nwas a fitness in placing together the record of the death of Joshua\nand the death of Eleazar. For Joshua was the successor of Moses, and\nEleazar was the successor of Aaron. The simultaneous mention of the\ndeath of both is a significant indication that the generation to which\nthey belonged had now passed away. A second age after the departure\nfrom Egypt had now slipped into the silent past. It was a token that\nthe duties and responsibilities of life had now come to a new\ngeneration, and a silent warning to them to remember how\n\n \"Time like an ever-rolling stream\n Bears all its sons away;\n They fly forgotten, as a dream\n Dies at the opening day.\"\n\nHow short the life of a generation seems when we look back to these\ndistant days! How short the life of the individual when he realizes\nthat his journey is practically ended! How vain the expectation once\ncherished of an indefinite future, when there would be ample time to\nmake up for all the neglects of earlier years! God give us all to know\nthe true meaning of that word, \"the time is short,\" and \"so teach us\nto number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n_JOSHUA'S WORK FOR ISRAEL._\n\n\nIt now only remains for us to take a retrospective view of the work of\nJoshua, and indicate what he did for Israel and the mark he left on\nthe national history.\n\n1. Joshua was a soldier--a believing soldier. He was the first of a\ntype that has furnished many remarkable specimens. Abraham had fought,\nbut he had fought as a quaker might be induced to fight, for he was\nessentially a man of peace. Moses had superintended military\ncampaigns, but Moses was essentially a priest and a prophet. Joshua\nwas neither quaker, nor priest, nor prophet, but simply a soldier.\nThere were fighting men in abundance, no doubt, before the flood, but\nso far as we know, not believing men. Joshua was the first of an order\nthat seems to many a moral paradox--a devoted servant of God, yet an\nenthusiastic fighter. His mind ran naturally in the groove of military\nwork. To plan expeditions, to devise methods of attacking, scattering,\nor annihilating opponents, came naturally to him. A military genius,\nhe entered _con amore_ into his work.\n\nYet along with this the fear of God continually controlled and guided\nhim. He would do nothing deliberately unless he was convinced that it\nwas the will of God. In all his work of slaughter, he believed\nhimself to be fulfilling the righteous purposes of Jehovah. His life\nwas habitually guided by regard to the unseen. He had no ambition but\nto serve his God and to serve his country. He would have been content\nwith the plainest conditions of life, for his habits were simple and\nhis tastes natural. He believed that God was behind him, and the\nbelief made him fearless. His career of almost unbroken success\njustified his faith.\n\nThere have been soldiers who were religious in spite of their being\nsoldiers--some of them in their secret hearts regretting the\ndistressing fortune that made the sword their weapon; but there have\nalso been men whose energy in religion and in fighting have supported\nand strengthened each other. Such men, however, are usually found only\nin times of great moral and spiritual struggle, when the brute force\nof the world has been mustered in overwhelming mass to crush some\nreligious movement. They have an intense conviction that the movement\nis of God, and as to the use of the sword, they cannot help\nthemselves; they have no choice, for the instinct of self-defence\ncompels them to draw it. Such are the warriors of the Apocalypse, the\nsoldiers of Armageddon; for though their battle is essentially\nspiritual, it is presented to us in that military book under the\nsymbols of material warfare. Such were the Ziskas and Procopses of the\nBohemian reformation; the Gustavus Adolphuses of the Thirty Years'\nWar; the Cromwells of the Commonwealth, and the General Leslies of the\nCovenant. Ruled supremely by the fear of God, and convinced of a\nDivine call to their work, they have communed about it with Him as\nclosely and as truly as the missionary about his preaching or his\ntranslating, or the philanthropist about his homes or his rescue\nagencies. To God's great goodness it has ever been their habit to\nascribe their successes; and when an enterprise has failed, the causes\nof failure have been sought for in the Divine displeasure. Nor in\ntheir intercourse with their families and friends have they been\nusually wanting in gentler graces, in affection, in generosity, or in\npity. All this must be freely admitted, even by those to whom war is\nmost obnoxious. It is quite consistent with the conviction that a\nlarge proportion of wars has been utterly unjustifiable, and that in\nordinary circumstances the sword is no more to be regarded as the\nright and proper weapon for settling the quarrels of nations than the\nduel for settling the quarrels of individuals. And the best of\nsoldiers cannot but feel that fighting is at best a cruel necessity,\nand that it will be a happy day for the world when men shall beat\ntheir swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks.\n\n2. Being a soldier, Joshua confined himself in the main to the work of\na soldier. That work was to conquer the enemy and to divide the land.\nTo these two departments he limited himself, in subordination,\nhowever, to his deep conviction that they were only means to an end,\nand that that end would be utterly missed unless the people were\npervaded by loyalty to God and devotion to the mode of worship which\nHe had prescribed. No opportunity of impressing that consideration on\ntheir minds was neglected. It lay at the root of all their prosperity;\nand if Joshua had not pressed it on them by every available means, all\nhis work would have been like pouring water on sand or sowing seed\nupon the rocks of the seashore.\n\nJoshua was not called to ecclesiastical work, certainly not in the\nsense of carrying out ecclesiastical details That department belonged\nto the high priest and his brethren. While Moses lived, it had been\nunder him, because Moses was head of all departments. Neither did\nJoshua take in hand the arrangement in detail of the civil department\nof the commonwealth. That was mainly work for the elders and officers\nappointed to regulate it. It is from the circumstance that Joshua\npersonally confined himself to his two great duties, that the book\nwhich bears his name travels so little beyond these. Reading Joshua\nalone, we might have the impression that very little attention was\npaid to the ritual enacted in the books of Moses. We might suppose\nthat but little was done to carry out the provisions of the Torah, as\nthe law came to be called. But the inference would not be warranted,\nfor the plain reason that such things did not come within the sphere\nof Joshua or the scope of the book which bears his name. We may make\nwhat we can of incidental allusions, but we need not expect elaborate\ndescriptions. There are many things that it would have been highly\ninteresting for us to know regarding this period of the history of\nIsrael; but the book limits itself as Joshua limited himself. It is\nnot a full history of the times. It is not a chapter of universal\nnational annals. It is a history of the settlement, and of Joshua's\nshare in the settlement.\n\nAnd the fact that it has this character is a testimony to its\nauthenticity. Had it been a work of much later date, it is not likely\nthat it would have been confined within such narrow limits. It would\nin all likelihood have presented a much larger view of the state and\nprogress of the nation than the existing book does. The fact that it\nis made to revolve so closely round Joshua seems to indicate that\nJoshua's personality was still a great power; the remembrance of him\nwas bright and vivid when the book was written. Moreover, the lists of\nnames, many of which seem to have been the old Canaanite names, and to\nhave dropped out of the Hebrew history because the cities were not\nactually taken from the Canaanites, and did not become Hebrew cities,\nis another testimony to the contemporary date of the book, or of the\ndocuments on which it is founded.\n\n3. If we examine carefully Joshua's character as a soldier, or rather\nas a strategist, we shall probably find that he had one defect. He\ndoes not appear to have succeeded in making his conquests permanent.\nWhat he gained one day was often won back by the enemy after a little\ntime. To read the account of what happened after the victory of Gibeon\nand Bethhoron, one would infer that all the region south of Gibeon\nfell completely into his hands. Yet by-and-by we find Hebron and\nJerusalem in possession of the enemy, while a hitherto unheard-of king\nhas come into view, Adonibezek, of Bezek, of whose people there were\nslain, after the death of Joshua, ten thousand men (Judg. i. 4). With\nregard to Hebron we read first that Joshua \"fought against it and took\nit, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and\nall the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left\nnone remaining, but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were\ntherein\" (Josh. x. 37). Yet not long after, when Caleb requested\nHebron for his inheritance, it was (as we have seen) on the very\nground that it was strongly held by the enemy: \"if so be the Lord will\nbe with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said\"\n(xiv. 12). Again, in the campaign against Jabin, King of Hazor, while\nit is said that Hazor was utterly destroyed, it is also said that\nJoshua did not destroy \"the cities that stood on their mounds\" (xi.\n13, R.V.); accordingly we find that some time after, another Jabin was\nat the head of a restored Hazor, and it was against him that the\nexpedition to which Barak was stimulated by the prophetess Deborah was\nundertaken (Judg. iv. 2). Whether Joshua miscalculated the number and\nresources of the Canaanites in the country; or whether he was unable\nto divide his own forces so as to prevent the re-occupation and\nrestoration of places that had once been destroyed; or whether he\nover-estimated the effects of his first victories and did not allow\nenough for the determination of a conquered people to fight for their\nhomes and their altars to the last, we cannot determine; but certainly\nthe result was, that after being defeated and scattered at the first,\nthey rallied and gathered together, and presented a most formidable\nproblem to the tribes in their various settlements. There is no reason\nfor resorting to the explanation of our modern critics that we have\nhere traces of two writers, of whom the policy of the one was to\nrepresent that Joshua was wholly victorious, and of the other that he\nwas very far from successful. The true view is, that his first\ninvasion, or run-over, as it may be called, was a complete success,\nbut that, through the rallying of his opponents, much of the ground\nwhich he gained at the beginning was afterwards lost.\n\n4. The great service of Joshua to his people (as we have already\nremarked) was, that he gave them a settlement. He gave them--Rest.\nSome, indeed, may be disposed to question whether that which Joshua\ndid give them was worthy of the name of rest. If the Canaanites were\nstill among them, disputing the possession of the country; if savage\nAdonibezeks were still at large, whose victims bore in their\nmutilated bodies the marks of their cruelty and barbarity; if the\npower of the Philistines in the south, the Sidonians in the north, and\nthe Geshurites in the north-east was still unbroken, how could they be\nsaid to have obtained rest?\n\nThe objection proceeds from inability to estimate the force of the\ncomparative degree. Joshua gave them rest in the sense that he gave\nthem homes of their own. There was no more need for the wandering life\nwhich they had led in the wilderness. They had more compact and\ncomfortable habitations than the tents of the desert with their slim\ncoverings that could effectually shut out neither the cold of winter,\nnor the heat of summer, nor the drenching rains. They had brighter\nobjects to look out on than the scanty and monotonous vegetation of\nthe wilderness. No doubt they had to defend their new homes, and in\norder to do so they had to expel the Canaanites who were still\nhovering about them. But still they were real homes; they were not\nhomes which they merely expected or hoped to get, but homes which they\nhad actually gotten. They were homes with the manifold attractions of\ncountry life--the field, the well, the garden, the orchard, stocked\nwith vine, fig, and pomegranate; the olive grove, the rocky crag, and\nthe quiet glen. The sheep and the oxen might be seen browsing in\npicturesque groups on the pasture grounds, as if they were part of the\nfamily. It was an interest to watch the progress of vegetation, to\nmark how the vine budded, and the lily sprang into beauty, to pluck\nthe first rose, or to divide the first ripe pomegranate. Life had a\nnew interest when on a bright spring morning the young man could thus\ninvite his bride:--\n\n \"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.\n For, lo, the winter is past,\n The rain is over and gone;\n The flowers appear on the earth;\n The time of the singing of birds is come,\n And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;\n The fig tree putteth forth her green figs,\n And the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.\"\n\nThis, as it were, was Joshua's gift to Israel, or rather God's gift\nthrough Joshua. It was well fitted to kindle their gratitude, and\nthough not yet complete or perfectly secure, it was entitled to be\ncalled \"rest.\" For if there was still need of fighting to complete the\nconquest, it was fighting under easy conditions. If they went out\nunder the influence of that faith of which Joshua had set them so\nmemorable an example, they were sure of protection and of victory.\nPast experience had shown to demonstration that none of their enemies\ncould stand before them, and the future would be as the past had been.\nGod was still among them; if they called on Him, He would arise, their\nenemies would be scattered, and they that hated Him would flee before\nHim. Fidelity to Him would secure all the blessings that had been read\nout at Mount Gerizim, and to which they had enthusiastically shouted,\nAmen. The picture drawn by Moses before his death would be realized in\nits brightest colours: \"Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed\nshalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body,\nand the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase\nof thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket\nand thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed\nwhen thou goest out.\"\n\nBut here a very serious objection may be interposed. Is it\nconceivable, it may be asked, that this serene satisfaction was\nenjoyed by the Israelites when they had got their new homes only by\ndispossessing the former owners; when all around them was stained by\nthe blood of the slain, and the shrieks and groans of their\npredecessors were yet sounding in their ears? If these homes were not\nhaunted by the ghosts of their former owners, must not the hearts and\nconsciences of the new occupants have been haunted by recollections of\nthe scenes of horror which had been enacted there? is it possible that\nthey should have been in that tranquil and happy frame in which they\nwould really enjoy the sweetness of their new abodes?\n\nThe question is certainly a disturbing one, and any answer that may be\ngiven to it must seem imperfect, just because we are incapable of\nplacing ourselves wholly in the circumstances of the children of\nIsrael.\n\nWe are incapable of entering into the callousness of the Oriental\nheart in reference to the sufferings or the death of enemies.\nExceptions there no doubt were; but, as a rule, indifference to the\ncondition of enemies, whether in life or in death, was the prevalent\nfeeling.\n\nTwo parts of their nature were liable to be affected by the change\nwhich put the Israelites in possession of the houses and fields of the\ndestroyed Canaanites--their consciences and their hearts.\n\nWith regard to their consciences the case was clear: \"The earth is the\nLord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell\ntherein.\" God, as owner of the land of Canaan, had given it, some six\nhundred years before, to Abraham and his seed. That gift had been\nratified by many solemnities, and belief in it had been kept alive in\nthe hearts of Abraham's descendants from generation to generation.\nThere had been no secret about it, and the Canaanites must have been\nfamiliar with the tradition. Consequently, during all these centuries,\nthey had been but tenants at will. When, under the guidance of\nJehovah, Israel crossed the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh was\ndrowned, a pang must have shot through the breasts of the Canaanites,\nand the news must have come to them as a notice to quit. The echoes of\nthe Song of Moses reverberated through the whole region:--\n\n \"The peoples have heard, they tremble:\n Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.\n Then were the dukes of Edom amazed;\n The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh hold of them:\n All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.\n Terror and dread falleth upon them;\n By the greatness of Thine arm they are as still as a stone;\n Till Thy people pass over, O Lord,\n Till the people pass over which Thou hast purchased.\n Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine\n inheritance\n The place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in,\n The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.\n The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.\"\n\nIt was well known, therefore, that, so far as Divine right went, the\nchildren of Israel were entitled to the land. But even after that, the\nCanaanites had a respite and enjoyed possession for forty years.\nBesides, they had been judicially condemned on account of their sins;\nand, moreover, when they first came into the country, they had\ndispossessed the former inhabitants. At last, after long delay, the\nhour of destiny arrived. When the Israelites took possession they felt\nthat they were only regaining their own. It was not they, but the\nCanaanites, that were the intruders, and any feeling on the question\nof right in the minds of the Israelites would rather be that of\nindignation at having been kept out so long of what had been promised\nto Abraham, than of squeamishness at dispossessing the Canaanites of\nproperty which was not their own.\n\nStill, one might suppose there remained scope for natural pity. But\nthis was not very active. We may gather something of the prevalent\nfeeling from the song of Deborah and the action of Jael. It was not an\nage of humanity. The whole period of the Judges was indeed an \"iron\nage.\" Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, were men of the roughest fibre. Even\nDavid's treatment of his Ammonite prisoners was revolting. All that\ncan be said for Israel is, that their treatment of enemies did not\nreach that infamous pre-eminence of cruelty for which the Assyrians\nand the Babylonians were notorious. But they had enough of the\nprevailing callousness to enable them to enter without much discomfort\non the homes and possessions of their dispossessed foes. They had no\nsuch sentimental reserve as to interfere with a lively gratitude to\nJoshua as the man who had given them rest.\n\nProbably, in looking back on those times, we fail to realize the\nmarvellous influence in the direction of all that is humane and loving\nthat came into our world, and began to operate in full force, with the\nadvent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We forget how much darker\na world it _must_ have been before the true light entered, that\nlighteth every man coming into the world. We forget what a gift God\ngave to the world when Jesus entered it, bringing with Him the light\nand love, the joy and peace, the hope and the holiness of heaven. We\nforget that the coming of Jesus was the rising of the Sun of\nRighteousness with healing in His wings. Coming among us as the\nincarnation of Divine love, it was natural that He should correct the\nprevailing practice in the treatment of enemies, and infuse a new\nspirit of humanity. Even the Apostle who afterwards became the Apostle\nof Love could manifest all the bitterness of the old spirit when he\nsuggested the calling down of fire from heaven to burn up the\nSamaritan village that would not receive them. \"Ye know not what\nmanner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of man came not to destroy\nmen's lives, but to save them.\" Who does not feel the humane spirit of\nChristianity to be one of its brightest gems, and one of its chief\ncontrasts with the imperfect economy that preceded it? It is when we\nmark the inveteracy of the old spirit of hatred that we see how great\na change Christ has introduced. If it was the great distinction of\nChrist's love that \"while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us,\"\nHis precept to us to love our enemies ought to meet with our readiest\nobedience. Not without profound prophetic insight did the angel who\nannounced the birth of Jesus proclaim, \"Glory to God in the highest,\non earth peace, good-will to men.\"\n\nAlas! it is with much humiliation we must own that in practising this\nhumane spirit of her Lord the progress of the Church has been slow and\nsmall. It seemed to be implied in the prophecies that Christianity\nwould end war; yet one of the most outstanding phenomena of the world\nis, the so-called Christian nations of Europe armed to the teeth,\nexpending millions of treasure year by year on destructive armaments,\nand withdrawing millions of soldiers from those pursuits which\nincrease wealth and comfort, to be supported by taxes wrung from the\nsinews of the industrious, and to be ready, when called on, to scatter\ndestruction and death among the ranks of their enemies. Surely it is a\nshame to the diplomacy of Europe that so little is done to arrest\nthis crying evil; that nation after nation goes on increasing its\narmaments, and that the only credit a good statesman can gain is that\nof retarding a collision, which, when it does occur, will be the\nwidest in its dimensions, and the vastest and most hideous in the\ndestruction it deals, that the world has ever seen! All honour to the\nfew earnest men who have tried to make arbitration a substitute for\nwar.\n\nAnd surely it is no credit to the Christian Church that, when its\nmembers are divided in opinion, there should be so much bitterness in\nthe spirit of its controversies. Grant that what excites men so keenly\nis the fear that the truth of God being at stake, that which they deem\nmost sacred in itself, and most vital in its influence for good is\nliable to suffer; hence they regard it a duty to rebuke sharply all\nwho are apparently prepared to betray it or compromise it. Is it not\napparent that if love is not mingled with the controversies of\nChristians, it is vain to expect violence and war to cease among the\nnations? More than this, if love is not more apparent among Christians\nthan has been common, we may well tremble for the cause itself. One of\nthe leaders of German unbelief is said to have remarked that he did\nnot think Christianity could be Divine, because he did not find the\npeople called Christians paying more heed than others to the command\nof Jesus to love their enemies.\n\n5. One other service of Joshua to the nation of Israel remains to be\nnoticed: he sought with all his heart that they should be a\nGod-governed people, a people that in every department of life should\nbe ruled by the endeavour to do God's will. He pressed this on them\nwith such earnestness, he commended it by his own example with such\nsincerity, he brought his whole authority and influence to bear on it\nwith such momentum, that to a large extent he succeeded, though the\nimpression hardly survived himself. \"The people served the Lord all\nthe days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived\nJoshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord that He had\nwrought for Israel.\" Joshua seemed always to be contending with an\nidolatrous virus which poisoned the blood of the people, and could not\nbe eradicated. The only thing that seemed capable of crushing it was\nthe outstretched arm of Jehovah, showing itself in some terrible form.\nWhile the effect of that display lasted the tendency to idolatry was\nsubdued, but not extirpated; and as soon as the impression of it was\nspent, the evil broke out anew. It was hard to instil into them ruling\nprinciples of conduct that would guide them in spite of outward\ninfluences. As a rule, they were not like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,\nor like Moses who \"endured as seeing Him who is invisible.\"\nIndividuals there were among them, like Caleb and Joshua himself, who\nwalked by faith; but the great mass of the nation were carnal, and\nthey exemplified the drift or tendency of that spirit--\"The carnal\nmind is enmity against God.\"\n\nStill Joshua laboured to press the lesson--the great lesson of the\ntheocracy--Let God rule you; follow invariably His will. It is a rule\nfor nations, for churches, for individuals. The Hebrew theocracy has\npassed away; but there is a sense in which every Christian nation\nshould be a modified theocracy. So far as God has given abiding rules\nfor the conduct of nations, every nation ought to regard them. If it\nbe a Divine principle that righteousness exalteth a nation; if it be a\nDivine command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; if it be a\nDivine instruction to rulers to deliver the needy when he crieth, the\npoor also and him that hath no helper, in these and in all such\nmatters nations ought to be divinely ruled. It is blasphemous to set\nup rules of expediency above these eternal emanations of the Divine\nwill.\n\nSo, too, churches should be divinely ruled. There is but one Lord in\nthe Christian Church, He that is King of kings, and Lord of lords.\nThere may be many details in Church life which are left to the\ndiscretion of its rulers, acting in accordance with the spirit of\nScripture; but no church should accept of any ruler whose will may set\naside the will of her Lord, nor allow any human authority to supersede\nwhat He has ordained.\n\nAnd for individuals the universal rule is: \"Whatsoever ye do in word\nor deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God\nand the Father by Him.\" Each true Christian heart is a theocracy--a\nChrist-governed soul. Not ruled by external appliances nor by\nmechanical rules, nor by the mere effort to follow a prescribed\nexample; but by the indwelling of Christ's Spirit, by a vital force\ncommunicated from Himself. The spring of the Christian life is\nhere--\"Not I, but Christ liveth in me.\" This is the source of all the\nbeautiful and fruitful Christian lives that ever have been, of all\nthat are, and of all that ever shall be.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n_Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._\n\n * * * * *\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nThe carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is\nsuperscripted (example: D^2).\n\nVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained\nexcept in obvious cases of typographical error.\n\nPage 75: \"who have never been required to work\"--The transcriber has\nadded \"been\".\n\nThe cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the\ntranscriber and is placed in the public domain.","title":"The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Joshua","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":126141}